1. BACKGROUND: ARRIVAL OF EUROPEAN POWERS

1. BACKGROUND: ARRIVAL OF EUROPEAN POWERS

• Portuguese: First Europeans to arrive by sea route. Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut on 17 May 1498 (via Cape of Good Hope route). Established base at Goa (1510) under Afonso de Albuquerque. Later lost ground to Dutch/English/French.
• Dutch: East India Company formed 1602; focused on spice trade (Indonesia); factories at Pulicat, Nagapattinam; declined after Battle of Bedara (1759) against English.
• English East India Company (EEIC): Chartered by Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600. First factory at Surat (1613), permission from Mughal Emperor Jahangir following Sir Thomas Roe's embassy (1615–19) to Jahangir's court.
  • Key settlements: Surat (1613), Madras/Fort St. George (1639), Bombay (1668, transferred from Portuguese as dowry to Charles II in 1661, leased to EEIC 1668), Calcutta/Fort William (1690, Job Charnock).
• French: Compagnie des Indes Orientales, 1664, under Colbert. Key settlements: Pondicherry (1673), Chandernagore. Rivalry with English culminated in the Carnatic Wars.
• Danish: Tranquebar, Serampore — minor presence.

Key Facts / Quick Revision Points

• EEIC chartered 1600; first Indian factory Surat 1613.
• Battle for supremacy in India was primarily between English and French by mid-18th century.
• Anglo-French rivalry played out through three Carnatic Wars (1746–1763) — ended with Treaty of Paris (1763), confirming British dominance; French retained only trading posts (Pondicherry, Mahe, Karaikal, Yanam, Chandernagore) with no political power.
• Robert Clive and the "dual system" of trade (dastak/farman misuse) set the stage for Bengal's conquest.