East India Company
Who started the East India Company?
merchants
Why did the English blockade Indian ports?
The Mughals did not allow the English to expand their trading.
What other European nations had companies in India and fought on the side of the Indians?
France
What were the lives of the Indians like under the control of the East India Company?
they lived in poverty and violence
What major event was started as a result of the English control over South Asia?
Industrial Revolution
Why was the East India Company started?
To trade in Asia to get spices, cotton and indigo dye and then sell them in England for profit
Eventually the East India Company and the Mughals’ fought the Anglo-Mughal War and the English blockade ports and fought battles against the Mughal army. What does blockade mean?
To stop the Mughal ships from entering or leaving the port.
During the Battle of Plassey, what British fort did the Bengali attack?
Fort Williams
Why did some Indian princes lose their position but others were able to keep it?
The ones that kept their position agreed to support the English.
How did the British control in Southern Asia change the lives of people in Britain?
The East India Company’s control of India significantly impacted the British economy. Britain was able to export vast quantities of goods such as tea and pepper and sell them for a great profit. - gave people jobs in textile mills
In 1600, who approved the creation of the East India Company?
Queen Elizabeth I
What did the English build across India?
trading posts and factories
Some people from India fought on the side of the English. What were they called?
Sepoys
How did Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia, an Indian man, make money off of the English?
He built ships for the English.
How was the Battle of Plassey a turning point for the East India Company?
1) Siraj ud-Daulah, who preferred the French to the British, was defeated.
2) Competition from the French East India Company was removed.
In 1639, a company representative purchased land in southern India to build the first fort owned by the East India Tea Company. What was the name of the fort?
Fort St. George
Since the English lost the Anglo-Mughal War, what was the consequence?
They had to apologize and pay a fine.
Why were the British able to win the Battle of Plassey?
The head of the Bengali army, Mir Jafar, secretly switched sides to the British so he could be the leader of the Bengali.
Give another example of the English not treating the people of India fairly.
1) Indian workers were forced to sell their goods to the British at very low prices and were then made to buy British products at much higher prices.
2) high taxes
When did the English government take control of India away from the East India Company?
After the rebellion of 1857
Q: Why did Mughal rulers welcome English traders in India?
They thought they could benefit from the English through trade.
Why didn’t the Mughal rule make a harsher punishment?
The Mughal’s were at war with the Maratha empire.
What started the rebellion of 1857?
To load a new rifle, sepoys (soldiers from India that fought for the English) believed they would have to bite off the end of a cartridge which was covered in pigs’ and cows’ grease. This would have been an insult to both Muslims and Hindus, as it is against the religious beliefs of Muslims to eat pig products and it is against the religious beliefs of Hindus to eat cow products.
What happened during the famine of 1770?
Due to bad weather the harvest had failed to produce enough crops. Many farmers had no reserves of food because they had to sell their food to afford the high taxes demanded by the East India Company. The East India Company did not put a relief plan in place, and up to 10 million people died of starvation and illness.
Why was India called “The Jewel of the Crown” by the British.
Some of the Indian crown jewels were taken to England.