European colonies in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
European colonies in India were set up by several European nations beginning at the end of the 15th century. In 1498, the Portuguese set foot in Goa. Rivalry between reigning European powers saw the entry of the Dutch, British and French among others. The fractured debilitated kingdoms of India were gradually taken over by the Europeans and indirectly controlled by puppet rulers. By the 19th century, the British had assumed direct and indirect control over most of India.
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[edit] Portuguese
Main article: Portuguese India
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in India in 1498. The closing of traditional trade routes in western Asia by the Ottomans and rivalry with the Italian states, set Portugal in search of an alternate sea route to India. The first successful voyage to India was by Vasco da Gama in 1498, when he arrived in Calicut, Kerala. He proceeded to Goa. The Portuguese established a chain of outposts along India's west coast and on the island of Sri Lanka in the early 16th century. Goa was their prized possession and, the seat of Portugal's viceroy who governed Portugal's empire in Asia. Portugal's northern province included settlements at Daman, Diu, Chaul, Baçaim, Salsette, and Mumbai. Mumbai was given to the British crown in 1661 as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza. The rest of the northern province, with the exception of Daman and Diu, was lost to the Marathas in the early 18th century. Dadra and Nagar Haveli was occupied in 1779. Dadra and Nagar Haveli was occupied by India in 1954, and Goa, Daman, and Diu were annexed to India in 1961.
[edit] British
Main article: British Raj
In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I accorded a charter, forming the East India Company to trade with India and eastern Asia. The British landed in India in Surat in 1612. Permission was granted by the ruling sovereign, Jehangir, to open up outposts in Calcutta and Madras. The British soon took advantage of their position by actively supporting the kingdoms militarily and gradually entering their politics. The Anglo-French wars of the 1700s, saw the British and the French fighting proxy wars on the behalf of the rulers. During the last of these wars, Robert Clive decisively defeated the French and greatly extended British rule. By early 19th century, the French were almost defeated and the British East India Company indirectly ruled most of India through puppet kings. In 1857, an insurrection in the army sepoys ensued in the popular Revolt of 1857 (Sepoy Mutiny). This mobilised resistance, though short-lasting, was caused due to the widespread resentment due to British discriminatory and religious policies. As a result of this, India formally became a Crown colony. At the height of British power in the closing part of the 19th century, the British Empire stretched from Burma (now Myanmar) to Afghanistan, covering almost the entire undivided India consisting of modern day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Areas also under occupation were Bhutan (for a short period) and Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka). The British rule in India ended on August 15, 1947.
[edit] French
Main article: French India
Following the British, the French also established trading bases in India. At the height of French power in the mid-18th century, the French occupied most of southern India and the area lying in today's northern Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The French, however, suffered major military setbacks against the British, losing their possessions by the end of the 18th century. The enclaves of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Yanam, Mahé and Chandernagore were returned to France in 1816, and were integrated with India after independence.
[edit] Dutch
The Dutch (Dutch East India Company) established trading posts on different parts along the Indian coast. For some while, they controlled the Malabar east coast (Cranganore/Cranganor/Kodungallor, Cochin de Cima/Pallipuram, Cochin, Cochin de Baixo/Santa Cruz, Quilon (Coylan), Cannanore, Kundapura, Kayankulam, Ponnani) and the Coromandel south coast (Golkonda, Bimilipatnam, Jaggernaikpoeram/Kakinada, Palikol, Pulicat, Porto Novo/Parangippettai, Negapatnam) and Surat (1616-1795). They conquered Ceylon, nowadays Sri Lanka (1658 - 1796), from the Portuguese. The Dutch also established trading stations in Travancore and coastal Tamil Nadu as well as at Rajshahi in present-day Bangladesh, Pipely, Hugli-Chinsura, and Murshidabad in present-day West Bengal, Balasore (Baleshwar or Bellasoor) in Orissa, and Ava, Arakan, and Syriam in present-day Myanmar (Burma). Ceylon was lost at the Congress of Vienna in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, where the Dutch having fallen subject to France, saw their colonies raided by Britain. The Dutch, later became less involved in India, as they had the Dutch East Indies, (now Indonesia) as their prized possession. (See Dutch Empire)
[edit] Danish
Main article: Danish India
Denmark was the last of the colonial powers to set foot in India. They established trading outposts in Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu (1620), Serampore, West Bengal (1755) and the Nicobar Islands (1750's). At one time, the main Danish and Swedish East Asia companies together imported more tea to Europe than the British did. Their outposts lost economic and strategic importance, and Tranquebar, the last Danish outpost, was sold to the British in 1845.
[edit] Other Nations
Other colonial nations such as Belgium, Italy and Germany did not set foot in India. Spain did not have territorial rights to India due to the Line of Demarcation drawn by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 with the Bull Inter caetera, ceding the eastern hemisphere to Portugal. Japan briefly occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during World War 2.
