Question

Explain the European colonialism and India considering the British in terms of these foreigners.

Answer 1

1. The British established ‘East India Company’ on 31st December 1600. Queen Elizabeth granted permission to the company to trade in the Eastern countries.
2. In the latter half of the 17th century, the company operated from Surat and Chennai (Madras).
3. The eastern coast, Odisha, Bengal in India and other eastern countries were under the company’s jurisdiction. The factories at Rajapur in Maharashtra, port city of Mokha (Mocha in Yemen) in the Red Sea, Basra in the Persian Gulf were controlled by the Surat centre.
4. The company started building forts in India as part of their strategy. They built a fort and a factory in Chennai. The fort was named as ‘Fort St. George’.
5. A mint was also established in Chennai. The British issued their own coinage of gold, silver, alloys and copper from this mint.
6. In 1661, Charles II, the king of England was engaged to Braganza, the Princess of Portugal. The king of Portugal gifted the islands of Mumbai to Charles II on this occasion.
7. Abraham Shipman, an Englishman was assigned 500 soldiers and was appointed as the ‘Governor of Bombay’. In 1665, Mumbai was fully under the British control.
8. Mumbai comprised seven islands, namely, Mumbai, Mahim, Paral, Wadala, Worli, Sion (Shiv) and Mazgaon.
9. Charles II leased Mumbai to the East India Company because the expenditure for its maintainance exceeded than the income earned from it.
10. In 1669, the company appointed Sir George Oxenden as Governor of Surat and Commander-in-Chief of Mumbai. A British mint was established in Mumbai and coins of silver, copper and zinc were issued from there.
11. This encouraged merchants and artisans to come and settle down in Mumbai. The company had 5-6 small ships and around 300 soldiers to ensure the security of Mumbai. The soldiers were given guns and swords.