Major features of Charter Act of 1813 The Charter Act of 1813 passed by the British Parliament renewed the charter of the East India Company for another 20 years, it is also known as the East India Company Act, 1813. This act for the first time defined the constitutional position of British Indian territories. Features … Read more
Lord Dalhousie and its major reforms the development of modern India Lord Dalhousie was an imperialist. His annexations were both of ‘War’ and ‘Peace’. He annexed many territories such as Satara (1848), Jhansi (1854), etc. through the policy of Doctrine of Lapse. However, he introduced a number of reforms which paved the way for the … Read more
Annexation of Punjab into the East India Company’s empire in India In the latter half of the 18th century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh consolidated the state of Punjab. He avoided a direct conflict with the British by the Treaty of Amritsar (1809) and Tripartite Treaty (1838). However, his death in 1839 opened up opportunities for the … Read more
introduction of Mysore, especially Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan & possible threats to British The British viewed every Indian ruler as a potential enemy or ‘ally’ from whom they could usurp territory. Mysore state has grown powerful under the able leadership of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. These rulers were highly critical of the British … Read more
The Battle of Plassey & The English East India Company The Battle of Plassey was a great victory for the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies. This made the company’s rule in Bengal much more secure and helped them become the dominant power in India. Political Supremacy gained … Read more
Course of Anglo-French rivalry & reasons, failure of the French The French attempted to establish a trade link with India as early as 1527, but their appearance on the Indian coasts was late and over time. Initially, both the British and the French came to India for trading purposes, and ultimately became involved in the … Read more
factors responsible for advent of the Europeans to India The Quest for and discovery of a Sea Route to India led Vasco Da Gama to reach Calicut in 1498 and it is generally regarded as the beginning of a new era in world history. Apart from Portuguese, there were other European countries like Dutch, and … Read more
Nature of regional states that rose in the midst of 18th Century in India Along with the decline of the Mughal empire, the 18th Century witnessed the emergence of regional polities. It signified a decentralization of power and not a power vacuum or political chaos. Broadly there were three kinds of states which came into … Read more
Contemporary polity of the 18th Century and disintegration of the Mughal Empire. The edifice of the Mughal central structure began to fragment into many small independent, semi- independent and autonomous states in the 18th century with Aurangzeb’s misguided policies and weak later Mughals. Reasons For the Fragmentation Fall of the Mughals: Aurangzeb’s misguided policies led to … Read more
Trace the reasons for decline of Maratha Empire in 19th Century The Maratha Empire was founded by the Maratha warrior-king Shivaji in the 17th Century. It reached its peak under the rule of the Peshwa Baji Rao I in the early 18th Century, but by the mid-19th century, the empire had declined significantly and led … Read more