1.
Princely state
–
A princely state, also called native state or Indian state, was a nominally sovereign monarchy under a local or regional ruler in a subsidiary alliance with a greater power. At the time of the British withdrawal,565 princely states were recognised in the Indian subcontinent, apart from thousands of zamindaris. Rulers of salute states entitled to a gun salute of eleven guns and above received from the British the style of Highness, while the Nizam of Hyderabad had the unique style of Exalted Highness. At the other end of the scale, the principality of Lawa covered an area of 49 km2, or smaller than Bermuda. Some two hundred of the states had an area of less than 25 km2. The era of the princely states effectively ended with Indian independence in 1947, by 1950, almost all of the principalities had acceded to either India or Pakistan – thirteen to Pakistan and the rest to India. During this time, the princely states were merged into unions, each of which was headed by a former ruling prince with the title of Rajpramukh. In 1956, the position of Rajpramukh was abolished and the federations dissolved, the Indian Government formally derecognised the princely families in 1971, followed by the Government of Pakistan in 1972. The widespread expansion of Islam during this time brought many principalities into tributary relations with Islamic sultanates, notably the Delhi Sultanate, in the south, however, the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire remained dominant until the mid-17th century, among its tributaries was the future Mysore Kingdom. The Turco-Mongol Mughal Empire brought a majority of the existing Indian kingdoms and principalities under its suzerainty by the 17th century, beginning with its foundation in the early 16th century. The advent of Sikhism resulted in the creation of the Sikh Empire in the north by the early 18th century, at the same time, the Marathas carved out their own states to form the Maratha Empire. Through the 18th century, former Mughal governors formed their own independent states, India under the British Raj consisted of two types of territory, British India and the Native states or Princely states. In general the term British India had been used also to refer to the regions under the rule of the East India Company in India from 1774 to 1858, the term has also been used to refer to the British in India. More prestigious Hindu rulers often used the title Raja, Raje or a variant such as Rana, Rao, also in this class were several Thakurs or Thakores and a few particular titles, such as Sardar, Mankari, Deshmukh, Sar Desai, Raja Inamdar, Saranjamdar. The most prestigious Hindu rulers usually had the prefix maha in their titles, as in Maharaja, Maharana, Maharao, etc. The states of Travancore and Cochin had queens regnant styled Maharani, generally the female forms applied only to sisters, spouses and widows, there were also compound titles, such as rajadhiraj, Raj-i-rajgan, often relics from an elaborate system of hierarchical titles under the Mughal emperors. For example, the addition of the adjective Bahadur raised the status of the one level. Furthermore, most dynasties used a variety of titles, such as Varma in South India
2.
French India
–
French India, formally the Établissements français dans lInde, was a French colony comprising geographically separate enclaves on the Indian subcontinent. The possessions were acquired by the French East India Company beginning in the second half of the 17th century. The French establishments included Pondichéry, Karikal and Yanaon on the Coromandel Coast, Mahé on the Malabar Coast and Chandernagor in Bengal. French India also included several loges in other towns, but after 1816, the loges had little commercial importance, by 1950, the total area measured 510 km2, of which 293 km2 belonged to the territory of Pondichéry. In 1936, the population of the colony totalled 298,851 inhabitants, France was the last of the major European maritime powers of the 17th century to enter the East India trade. Historians have sought to explain Frances late entrance in the East India trade, in 1604 a company was granted letters patent by King Henry IV, but the project failed. Fresh letters patent were issued in 1615, and two went to India, only one returning. From 1658, François Bernier, a French physician and traveller, was for years the personal physician at the court of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. La Compagnie française des Indes orientales was formed under the auspices of Cardinal Richelieu and reconstructed under Jean-Baptiste Colbert, in 1667 the French India Company sent out another expedition, under the command of François Caron, which reached Surat in 1668 and established the first French factory in India. In 1669, Marcara succeeded in establishing another French factory at Masulipatam, in 1672, Saint Thomas was taken but the French were driven out by the Dutch. Chandernagore was established in 1692, with the permission of Nawab Shaista Khan, in 1673, the French acquired the area of Pondicherry from the qiladar of Valikondapuram under the Sultan of Bijapur, and thus the foundation of Pondichéry was laid. By 1720, the French had lost their factories at Surat, on 4 February 1673, Bellanger, a French officer, took up residence in the Danish Lodge in Pondichéry, thereby commencing the French administration of Pondichéry. In 1674 François Martin, the first Governor, initiated ambitious projects to transform Pondichéry from a fishing village into a flourishing port-town. The French, though, found themselves in conflict with the Dutch. In 1693 the Dutch captured Pondichéry and augmented the fortifications, the French regained the town in 1699 through the Treaty of Ryswick, signed on 20 September 1697. From their arrival until 1741, the objectives of the French, during this period, the French East India Company peacefully acquired Yanam in 1723, Mahe on Malabar Coast in 1725 and Karaikal in 1739. In the early 18th century, the town of Pondichéry was laid out on a grid pattern, able governors like Pierre Christophe Le Noir and Pierre Benoît Dumas expanded the Pondichéry area and made it a large and rich town. Under the command of the Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau, Dupleixs army successfully controlled the area between Hyderabad and Cape Comorin, but then Robert Clive arrived in India in 1744, a British officer who dashed the hopes of Dupleix to create a French empire India
3.
East India Company
–
The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
4.
Nizam of Hyderabad
–
The Asaf Jah Dynasty was founded by Mir Qamar-ud-Din Siddiqi, a viceroy of the Deccan under the Mughal Empire from 1713 to 1721. He intermittently ruled after Aurangzebs death in 1707, in 1724, Mughal control lapsed, and Asaf Jah declared himself independent in Hyderabad. Following the decline of the Mughal power, the region of Deccan saw the rise of Maratha Empire, the Nizam himself saw many invasions by the Marathas in the 1720s, which resulted in the Nizam paying a regular tax to the Marathas. The major battles fought between the Marathas and the Nizam include Palkhed, Bhopal, Rakshasbhuvan, and Kharda, in all of which the Nizam lost. Following the conquest of Deccan by Bajirao I and the imposition of chauth by him, Nizam remained a tributary of the Marathas for all intent and purposes. In 1805, after the British victory in the Second Anglo-Maratha War, in 1903 the Berar region of the state was separated and merged into the Central Provinces of British India, to form the Central Provinces and Berar. In 1947, at the time of the partition of India, Britain offered the 566 princely states in the sub-continent the option of acceding to either India or Pakistan, Hyderabad was the largest and most prosperous state of all princely states in India. It covered 82,698 square miles of fairly homogeneous territory and had a population of roughly 16.34 million people, Hyderabad State had its own army, airline, telecommunication system, railway network, postal system, currency and radio broadcasting service. In spite of the overwhelming Hindu majority, Hindus were severely under-represented in government, police, of 1765 officers in the State Army,1268 were Muslims,421 were Hindus, and 121 others were Christians, Parsis and Sikhs. Of the officials drawing a salary between Rs. 600-1200 per month,59 were Muslims,5 were Hindus and 38 were of other religions, the Nizam and his nobles, who were mostly Muslims, owned 40% of the total land in the state. The Nizam decided to keep Hyderabad independent, unlike the other princely states, in September 1948, in Operation Polo, the Indian Army marched into Hyderabad, deposed the Nizam, and annexed the state into the Indian Union. Seven Nizams ruled Hyderabad for two centuries until 1947, the Asaf Jahi rulers were great patrons of literature, art, architecture, and culture, and rich food. The Nizams patronized aspects of a Persianate society, copied from their Turco-Mongol Mughal overlords, the last Nizam had been the richest man in the world in his time. He pushed education, science, and establishment of Osmania University, nizām-ul-mulk was a title first used in Urdu around 1600 to mean Governor of the realm or Deputy for the Whole Empire. The word is derived from the Arabic language, as in Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi, better known by his title of Nizam al-Mulk, Nizām, meaning order. The Nizam was referred to as Ala Hadrat / Ala Hazrat or Nizam Sarkar, the first Nizam ruled on behalf of the Mughal emperors. After the death of Aurangzeb, the Nizams split from the Mughals to form an independent kingdom, when the British achieved paramountcy over India, the Nizams were allowed to continue to rule their princely states as client kings. The Nizams retained internal power over Hyderabad State until 17 September 1948 when Hyderabad was integrated into the new Indian Union
5.
Robert Clive
–
He is credited with securing a large swath of South Asia and the wealth that followed, for the British crown. Together with Warren Hastings he was one of the key figures in the creation of British India, with all his attention focused on one prize. He also sat as a Tory Member of Parliament in London, Clive was one of the most controversial figures in all British military history. His achievements included establishing control over much of India, and laying the foundation of the entire British Raj, for that he was vilified by his contemporaries in England, and put on trial before Parliament. Of special concern was that he amassed a fortune in India. Modern historians have criticised him for atrocities, for high taxes, Robert Clive was born at Styche, the Clive family estate, near Market Drayton in Shropshire, on 29 September 1725 to Richard Clive and Rebecca Gaskell Clive. The family had held the estate since the time of Henry VII. The family had a history of public service, members of the family included an Irish chancellor of the exchequer under Henry VIII. Roberts father, who supplemented the estates modest income as a lawyer, also served in Parliament for many years, Robert was their eldest son of thirteen children, he had seven sisters and five brothers, six of whom died in infancy. Clives father was known to have a temper, which the boy apparently inherited, for reasons that have not been documented, Clive was sent to live with his mothers sister in Manchester while still a toddler. Biographer Robert Harvey suggests that this move was made because Clives father was busy in London trying to provide for the family, daniel Bayley, the sisters husband, reported that the boy was out of measure addicted to fighting. He was a troublemaker in the schools he was sent to. When he was older he and a gang of teenagers established a protection racket that vandalised the shops of merchants in Market Drayton. Clive also exhibited fearlessness at an early age and he is reputed to have climbed the tower of St Marys Parish Church in Market Drayton and perched on a gargoyle, frightening those down below. He was said to have been a pupil at Stand Grammar School in Whitefield and he climbed the tower there and threw slates at passers by. When Clive was nine his aunt died, and, after a stint in his fathers cramped London quarters. There he attended the Market Drayton Grammar School, where his unruly behaviour prompted his father to him to Merchant Taylors School in London. His bad behaviour continued, and he was sent to a trade school in Hertfordshire to complete a basic education
6.
Mir Jafar
–
Mir Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur was the first Nawab of Bengal with support from the British East India Company. He was the son of Sayyid Ahmad Najafi. His rule is considered the start of British imperialism in India and was a key step in the eventual British domination of vast areas of the subcontinent. Thus after helping the British defeat Siraj ud-Daulah he became the new Nawab of Bengal in 1757 with military support from the British East India Company as a reward for his betrayal, however, Jafar failed to satisfy constant British demands for money. In 1758, Robert Clive discovered that through his agent Khoja Wajid, Dutch ships of war were also seen in the River Hooghly. Circumstances led to the Battle of Chinsurah, British company official Henry Vansittart proposed that since Jafar was unable to cope with the difficulties, Mir Qasim, Jafars son-in-law, should act as Deputy Subahdar. In October 1760, the company forced him to abdicate in favor of Qasim. However, Qasims independent spirit and plan to force the East India company out of his led to his overthrow. Mir Qasim however refused to accept this and went to war against the company, Jafar ruled until his death on January 17,1765 and lies buried at the Jafarganj Cemetery in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. In 1747 the Marathas led by Raghoji I Bhonsle, began to raid, pillage and annex the territories of the Alivardi Khan, the enraged Alivardi Khan then dismissed the shamed Mir Jafar. Mir Jafar pretended loyalty to Alivardi Khans successor Siraj Ud Daulah, after Siraj Ud Daulah’s defeat and subsequent execution, Jafar achieved his long-pursued dream of gaining the throne, and was propped up by the British East India company as puppet Nawab. Jafar paid Rs.17,700,000 as compensation for the attack on Calcutta to the company, in addition, he gave bribes to the officials of the company. However, the British defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Chinsurah in November 1759, however, Qasim proved to be both able and independent, strongly condemned the interference of East India company in the governing of his domain. Mir Qasim formed an alliance to force the British East India company out of East India, the Company soon went to war with him and his allies. With the defeat in Buxar, Mir Qasim was eventually overthrown, Mir Jafar managed to regain the good graces of the British, he was again installed Nawab in 1763 and held the position until his death in 1765. But the conflict involved the assertive British East India Company. The Mughals were led by Prince Ali Gauhar, who was accompanied by Muhammad Quli Khan, Hidayat Ali, Mir Afzal and their forces were reinforced by the forces of Shuja-ud-Daula and Najib-ud-Daula. The Mughals were also joined by Jean Law and 200 Frenchmen, the breakup of the centralized Mughal empire by 1750, led to creation of a large number of independent kingdoms
7.
Battle of Buxar
–
British army was engaged in the fighting numbered 7,071 comprising 857 British,5,297 Indian sepoys and 918 Indian cavalry. The alliance armys numbers were estimated to be over 40,000, according to other sources, the combined army of the Mughals, Awadh and Mir Qasim consisting of 40,000 men was defeated by a British army comprising 10,000 men. The lack of basic co-ordination among the three desperate allies was responsible for their decisive defeat, according to the British, Durrani and Rohilla cavalry were also present and fought during the battle in various skirmishes. But by midday the battle was over and Shuja-ud-Daula blew up large tumbrils, Mir Qasim also fled with his 3 million rupees worth of Gemstones and later even committed suicide. Mirza Najaf Khan reorganised formations around Shah Alam II, who retreated and he also claimed that the three Indian allies suffered 2,000 dead and that many more were wounded. Another source says there were 69 European and 664 sepoy casualties on the British side and 6,000 casualties on the Mughal side. The victors captured 133 pieces of artillery and over 1 million rupees of cash, the British victory at Buxar had at one fell swoop, disposed of the three main scions of Moghul power in Upper India. Mir Kasim disappeared into an impoverished obscurity, Shah Alam realigned himself with the British, and Shah Shuja fled west hotly pursued by the victors. The whole Ganges valley lay at the Companys mercy, Shah Shuja eventually surrendered, Battle of Plassey A detailed description of the Battle of Buxar
8.
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
–
Richard Colley Wesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley KG PC PC was styled Viscount Wellesley from birth until 1781 and was known as Earl of Mornington from 1781 until 1799. He was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator and he was the eldest son of The 1st Earl of Mornington, an Irish peer, and Anne, the eldest daughter of The 1st Viscount Dungannon. He was also the brother of Field Marshal The 1st Duke of Wellington and he first made his name as Governor-General of India between 1798 and 1805 and later served as Foreign Secretary in the British Cabinet and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Wellesley was born in 1760 in Ireland, where his family were part of the Ascendancy and he was educated at the Royal School, Armagh, Harrow School and Eton College, where he distinguished himself as a classical scholar, and at Christ Church, Oxford. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1782, due to the extravagance of his father and grandfather, he found himself so indebted that he was ultimately forced to sell all the Irish estates. However, in 1781 he was appointed to the position of Custos Rotulorum of Meath. In 1784 he joined also the British House of Commons as member for Bere Alston, soon afterwards he was appointed a Lord of the Treasury by William Pitt the Younger. Mornington seems to have caught Pitts large political spirit in the period 1793 to 1797, Robert Clive won and Warren Hastings consolidated the British ascendancy in India, but Mornington extended it into an empire. On the voyage outwards, he formed the design of annihilating French influence in the Deccan, soon after his landing, in April 1798, he learned that an alliance was being negotiated between Tipu Sultan and the French republic. Mornington resolved to anticipate the action of the enemy, and ordered preparations for war, the first step was to effect the disbandment of the French troops entertained by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The invasion of Mysore followed in February 1799, and the campaign was brought to a conclusion by the capture of Seringapatam on 4 May 1799. In 1803, the restoration of the Peshwa proved the prelude to the Mahratha war against Sindhia and he found the East India Company a trading body, but left it an imperial power. He was an excellent administrator, and picked two of his brothers for his staff, Arthur was his military adviser, and Henry was his personal secretary. He founded Fort William College, a training centre intended for those who would be involved in governing India, a free-trader like Pitt, he endeavoured to remove some of the restrictions on the trade between Britain and India. He reached England just in time to see Pitt before his death and he had been created a Peer of Great Britain in 1797, and in 1799 became Marquess Wellesley in the Peerage of Ireland. He formed a collection of over 2,500 painted miniatures in the Company style of Indian natural history. A motion by James Paull to impeach Wellesley due to his expulsion of the traders from Oudh was defeated in the House of Commons by 182 votes to 31 in 1808. Resolutions condemning him for the abuse of power were moved in both the Lords and Commons, but defeated by large majorities, in 1809 Wellesley was appointed ambassador to Spain
9.
Awadh
–
Nepalgunj was an administrative region, which serves as the present-day capital of Province No.5 of Nepal. The region is home to a dialect, Awadhi, spoken by Awadhis. Awadh, known as the granary of India, was important strategically for the control of the Doab and it was a wealthy kingdom, able to maintain its independence against threats from the Marathas, the British and the Afghans. Awadhs political unity can be traced back to the ancient Hindu kingdom of Kosala, modern Awadh finds historical mention only in the Mughal time of Akbar the Great, in the late 16th century. In prehistoric times, Awadh, reputedly the kingdom of Rama, contained five main divisions, Uttara Kosala or the districts, now known as Bahraich, Gonda, Basti. Silliana, consisting of range of hills to the north of Uttara Kosala, now belonging to Nepal. Pachhimrath, which may be described as the country between Ghaghra and Gomti west to the line from Ayodhya to Sultanpur. This division included about third of present district of Faizabad, a portion of the north of Sultanpur, greater part of Barabanki. Purabrath, which may be described as the country between Ghaghra and Gomti east to the line from Ayodhya to Sultanpur. This division included about two-thirds of present district of Faizabad, the corner of Sultanpur. Arbar, extended soutwards Gomti to the Sai river, since 1350 AD different parts of the Awadh region were ruled by the Delhi Sultanate, Sharqi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, Nawabs of Awadh, East India Company and the British Raj. Lucknow was one of the centres of Indian rebellion of 1857, participated actively in Indias Independence movement. For about eighty-four years, Awadh was part of the Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur, Emperor Jehangir granted an estate in Awadh to a nobleman, Sheik Abdul Rahim, who had won his favour. Sheik Abdul Rahim later built Machchi Bhawan in this estate, this became the seat of power from where his descendants. Until 1719, the Subah of Awadh was a province of the Mughal Empire, Nawab –the plural of the Arabic word Naib, meaning assistant– was the term given to subahdars appointed by the Mughal emperor all over India to assist him in managing the Empire. In the absence of transport and communication facilities, they were practically independent rulers of their territory and wielded the power of life. Persian adventurer Saadat Khan, also called Burhan-ul-Mulk, was appointed the Nazim of Awadh in 1722, the city was North Indias cultural capital, its nawabs, best remembered for their refined and extravagant lifestyles, were patrons of the arts. Under them music and dance flourished, and many monuments were erected, of the monuments standing today, the Bara Imambara, the Chhota Imambara and the Rumi Darwaza are notable examples
