The beginning of European colonization in India

The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 blocked the passage of Europe to Asia. The European powers began to find alternative routes to reach Asia from Europe. The four major European powers were the Portuguese, Dutch, British and French which subsequently held colonial possessions in India. The European powers initially were only concerned in trade with India but in the 18^th century with the disintegration of the Mughal Empire the Portuguese, French and British fought among themselves for the control of India. In the end the British became the masters of the whole of India by defeating the Portuguese, Dutch and the French.

The Portuguese were the first to come to India for trade and established factories and colonial posts in India. The Portuguese under the command of Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut in May 1498. Having arrived there he obtained permission from the Zamorin of Calicut to trade with India. Subsequently the Portuguese established settlements at Quilon, Daman, Diu, Goa and Mumbai. Goa was their chief possession and it was ultimately taken over by India. From Portugal in 1961.The Portuguese promoted Catholicism and the Jesuit missionaries played an active role in the conversion of Indians to Christianity.

The Dutch East India Company was established on 20^th March 1602 to trade with Mughal India. By the end of the 16^th century and the beginning of the 17^th century  the Mughal empire under Akbar had ushered in a period of rapid economic growth and the Bengal subah was the most developed  province of Mughal India from which 50% of textiles and 80% of silk were imported. The Dutch controlled the Malabar Coast of India and established trading posts at Pallipuram, Cochin, Quilon, Cannanore and Surat.They conquered Ceylon (Srilanka) from the Portuguese. The Dutch did not play a major role and later they were expelled from India by the Mughals in the 17^th century.

It was finally the British and the French who competed for dominance over India. The East India Company (EIC) was started in 1600 in England by a charter given by Queen Elizabeth I to trade with India. In 1608 the Company sent its representative Captain William Hawkins to the Mughal emperor Jahangir to set up settlement at Surat .They were initially refused by Jahangir but later in 1609 Jahangir gave a Farman (royal order) to establish a factory at Surat. Factories were established at Surat and Masulipatnam. In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe visited Jahangir and received a farman to carry free trade and got exemption from inland toll. During the rule of Aurangzeb royal farman was issued which exempted the EIC to pay custom duties in Bengal. In 1700, the EIC built a fort called Fort Williams in Calcutta. In 1717, the Mughal emperor Farruksiyar gave a royal farman giving trade concessions to the British.

The French East India Company was set up in 1664 during the reign of Louis XIV.The first French settlement was established at Surat (1668) and second at Masulipatnam (1669).Other settlements were Chandranagar and Pondicherry. The French intensified their territorial conquests in India in the mid 18^th century.

After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 and the defeat of the Maratha empire at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 the British and the French changed their motives  from commercial to territorial expansion .They began to meddle in the internal politics of India. In the later 18^th century Great Britain and France struggled for dominance in India. In 1757 Siraj ud Daulah was the Nawab of Bengal and Mir Jafar  his commander in chief. The British wanted to seize control of Bengal .Hence they bribed Mir Jafar in the Battle of Plassey fought on 23^rd June 1757 in which Robert Clive and the British East India Company defeated Siraj ud Daulah and installed Mir Jafar as the Nawab of Bengal. After Mir  Jafar became the new  Nawab of  Bengal the British made him a puppet ruler. Mir Qasim(son in law of Mir Jafar) got the support of the British  to become the new Nawab and under the pressure of the British Mir Jafar decided to resign in favour of Mir Qasim. An alliance of Mir Qasim, Shah Alam II and Shuja ud Daula fought the battle of Buxar in 1764 with the British under Robert Clive as they believed that the British were misusing the farmans issued to them by Mir Qasim..With this the province of Bengal was conquered by the British.

After this the British turned their attention towards the Marathas. After the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 the Maratha Empire was in decline which gave an opportunity to the British to interfere in the internal politics of the Marathas leading to the First and Second Anglo Maratha wars. In the Third Anglo Maratha war the British defeated the Marathas in 1818.

The Kingdom of Mysore existed in south India. The French allied themselves with the rulers of Mysore and later Hyder Ali and  his son Tipu Sultan fought four wars with the British which came to be known a s the Anglo Mysore wars. In the Fourth Anglo Mysore War Tipu Sultan was killed in 1799 at the siege of Seringapatam and the Kingdom of Mysore was annexed by the British.

Finally in the 19^th century the British defeated the Sikhs in the Second Anglo Sikh war. In the First Anglo Sikh war the Sikh Empire defeated the British and the treaty of Lahore was signed in 1846.However, the British continued to interfere in the internal matters of the Sikh empire which led to the outbreak of the Second Anglo Sikh war in 1848.The Sikh empire was defeated and subsequently Punjab was annexed by the British. 

The British started as traders in the Mughal Empire but they took advantage of the weakness and disunity of the Indian rulers in the 18^th century to fulfill their territorial ambitions in India and ruled the country for over 200 years.

The role of great women in the Mughal Empire

Image source: Nur Jahan ((History and chronicles, wordpress.com)

Image source:  Mumtaz Mahal (travelogyindia.com)

The Mughal Empire founded by Babur by defeating Ibrahim Lodhi in the First Battle of Panipat was the largest empire in medieval India. After Babur, Humayun came, then Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb. The role of great Mughal women is largely ignored by historians. From wives to mothers to daughters each of them played an important role in the Mughal period.

They excelled in the arts, poetry, painting, music and administration. It was they who worked behind the curtains acting as regents, and advisors to the Mughal emperors. The most famous of the Mughal  women were Khanzada Begum, Gulbadan Begum, Maham Begum and Bega Begum.When Akbar came to the throne at the young age of 13 foster mothers such as Jiji Anaga and Maham Anaga became powerful. With the growth of the Mughal empire the wives of the emperors gained influence. So there was Harkha Bai, Salima Sultan Begum, Nurjahan and Mumtaz Mahal. As the empire prospered under Shah Jahan unmarried daughters became powerful like Jahanara Begum and Roshanara Begum. Finally under the last great mughal Aurangzeb we have his daughters like Zeb un nissa and Zeenat un nisa.

The early Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun had great respect for their mothers and grandmothers. Babur and his son Humayun had great respect for their elder sister Khanzada Begum. When they were invading India on horseback it was Khanzada  who secured Babur’s’ safety from the Uzbek warlord  Shaibani Khan.

There was no distinction between public and private space during the period of the earlier Mughals. Gulbadan Begum, Babur’s daughter and Humayun’s sister was asked by Akbar her grandnephew to write a biography of Babur and Humayun called Humayunnama. It has been translated in to English from Persian and is a major source about the life of the Mughal Women. With the coming of Akbar to the throne his  foster mother Maham Anaga played a prominent role in the Mughal court. She controlled the empire as regent when Akbar was young. A highly shrewd and ambitious woman she advanced her own authority in the Mughal court. When Akbar married a Rajput princess Harkha Bai it changed its outlook towards the Rajputs and led to a gradual shift in his attitude towards Hindus.

Akbar gave her the title Mariam-uz-Zamani and she bore him a son which later ascended the Mughal throne with the title of Jahangir. When Jahangir became the emperor he married Mehr-un-nissa and conferred on her the title of Nur Jahan meaning light of the world. After her marriage to Jahangir she swiftly rose in ranks and became the real power behind the throne. The emperor consulted her on every matter and her approval was necessary on any imperial seal. In the later years of Jahangir’s reign the Nurjahan junta came to dominate the Mughal court. Itimad ud Daula the father of Nurjahan, Asaf khan, Nurjahan’s brother and prince Khurram (the future emperor Shah Jahan) formed an alliance which came to be known as the Nur Jahan junta. Asaf Khan married his daughter Arjumand Banu Begum (Mumtaz Mahal) to prince Khurram (Shah jahan). Shah Jahan conferred on her the title of Mumtaz Mahal and the TajMahal was built by Shah Jahan in the memory of his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Mahal was a religious woman and she took keen interest in the day to day administration of the empire. She had no political aspirations in contrast to her aunt Nur Jahan who wielded considerable influence in the Mughal court during the reign of Jahangir. She bore Shah Jahan fourteen children and died an untimely death in 1631. The TajMahal at Agra was built by Shah Jahan as the final resting place for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. Shah jahan’s daughters Jahanara and Roshanara also played an active role in the Mughal court. When the war of succession broke out between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb over the Mughal throne. Jahanara supported his brother the heir apparent Dara Shikoh. Eventually Aurangzeb ascended the mughal throne by defeating and killing all his brothers.

Aurangzeb’s daughters Zeb un nissa and Zeenat un nissa also held important positions during his reign. Both were known for their deep knowledge of Islam and extensive charity. Aurangzeb’s chief wife Dilras Banu Begum also known as Rabia-ud-daurani had a deep influence over his religious policies.

Thus it can be said that the role of the great women in the Mughal Empire cannot be underestimated. They played different roles as wives, mothers and daughters. From, the beginnings of the empire by Babur till the death of Aurangzeb in 1707.  It was the Mughal women who worked as the real power behind the throne of the Mughal emperors.