Page 11 - SST Class 08

The Dutch 1615 AD to the court of the Mughal emperor
Jahangir to obtain trade concessions and to set up
The Dutch were the next to reach India in 1595.
They formed their company in 1602 and more factories at Agra, Ahmedabad and Broach.
established trading centres at Surat, Baraoch, Jahangir granted them rights to set up factories at
Surat, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and
Cambay and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Cochin in
Kerala, Nagpattam in Madras, Masulipatanam in Masulipatanam. Thus the company established its
Andhra, Chinsura in Bengal, Patna in Bihar and first factory at Surat in 1611. And made a huge
profit in purchasing goods at low prices in India
Agra in Uttar Pradesh. They established their first
factory at Masulipatanam then in Chinsura, Pulicat and selling them at higher prices in the European
markets.
and Surat. They exported indigo, silk, cotton
textiles, salt petre and opium from India.
However, the Dutch did not try to gain political
advantage here. They were more interested in the
islands of South-East Asia where they created their
empire. India was only a link for their trade in the
south-east. Therefore, they left the British and
French to contend between themselves for trade
and political power in India.

F ind Outind Out

Which country do the Dutch belong to?
Old East India House
The French
In 1691, the English received a ferman from the
The French East India Company was established in great Mughal emperor Aurangzeb which
1664. It established its head quarters at
exempted the British company from paying,
Pondicherry, Madras, Chandranagar in Bengal, custom duties in Bengal. Later in 1717, another
Mauritius, in the Arabian Sea. It was largely a
Mughal emperor, Farrukhsiyar granted a ferman
government controlled company which depended
extending the privilege to the British in Gujarat
on the French government for finances and and Deccan.
military support. They became a strong rival to the
British company. During the time of the French
governor Joseph Dupleix their rivalry became very
intense.
However they paid less attention to trade and
more attention to politics, which resulted in three
wars against the British. These three wars, famous
in history as Carnatic or Karnataka wars, sealed
Captain Hawkins Thomas Roe
the fate of the French in India. They lost their
dream of establishing an empire in India. This privilege helped the British in the extension
of their empire because this proved the main
The English
cause of conflict with the native rulers. The British
By a charter from queen Elizabeth I of Britain on had political ambitions, but they never gave up
31 December 1600, the British East India trade. Rather they mixed politics with trade. They
Company was established. The British traders enriched their trade whenever they gained
reached India in 1606-1607 for the first time. The political power in any part. The volume of trade
company sent its two ambassadors, Captain increased manifold, despite the fact that the British
Hawkins in 1608 AD and later Sir Thomas Roe in government imposed heavy duties on Indian
Establishment of Company Power
11