Question

Discuss the events that paved the way for the English East India company established trading rights in India ?

Answer 1

Dear Student,

The East India Company (EIC) in 1600 AD, acquired a charter from the ruler of England, Queen Elizabeth I, which means getting permission to trade with the East, without competition from other British traders.
They established trading posts (called factories) in India and these factories were set up in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The first English factory was set up in Hugli River in Bengal in 1651 and in by 1696, the Company began building a fort around the Hugli settlement.

The EIC started giving bribes to the Mughal officials and in return they giving the EIC the Zamindari rights over different villages, like Calcutta.
They also convinced the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to issue a Farman (means an official order) granting the Company the right to trade duty-free in Bengal and other provinces.
After the death of Aurangzeb, there were different wars between Britisher’s and Nawabs of Bengal like the Battle of Plassey (1757), the Battle of Buxar (1764).

The later Mughal Kings appointed the EIC as the Diwan of the provinces of Bengal, and they began to exploit and collected the vast revenue resources.
The money from the Indian Subcontinent and illegitimate power corrupted the EIC officials and servants. Originally Britain was a poor country in those days, constantly fighting with its European neighbors, so they became very rich through corrupt trade and other practices in India.

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