Arrival of Europeans in India-MPSC History Notes

By Ganesh Mankar|Updated : January 16th, 2022

Hello Students

The conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Byzantine Empire, by Ottoman Turks in 1453 closed the land-trade route between India and Europe, the Gulf of Iran-Constantinople-Italy. This topic is very important for the MPSC State Services Prelims Exam, MPSC Combined prelims exam as well as Maharashtra Police Recruitment etc. In this article, we will now look at how various Europeans arrived in India.

Table of Content

Arrival of Europeans in India

Sequence of Europeans arrive in India

Sequence

Europeans

Year

1

Portuguese

1498

2

British East India Company

1600

3

Dutch East India Company

1602

4

French East India Company

1664

Portuguese

  • Vasco-da-Gama reached the port of Calicut in 1498 during the reign of king Zamorin (Hindu ruler of Calicut).
  • Settlements: Daman, Salsette, Chaul, and Bombay (West coast), San Thome (near Madras) and at Hooghly.
  • Alfonso de Albuquerque, the second Governor of India (first being Fransisco de Almeida) arrived in 1509 and captured Goa in AD 1510.

Dutch

  • Dutch East India Company was formed in AD 1602.
  • Dutch were defeated by English at the Battle of Bedara in AD 1759 and as per the agreement, the Dutch gained control over Indonesia and the British over India, Sri Lanka and Malaya.
  • They set up their first factory at Masulipatnam in 1605. Their other factories were at Pulicat, Chinsura, Patna, Balasore, Naga pattanam, Cochin, Surat, Karikal, and Kasimbazar.

English

  • The English East India Company was formed in 1599 under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1600. Jahangir granted a Farman to Captain William Hawkins permitting the English to erect a factory at Surat (1613).
  • In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe succeeded in getting an imperial farman to trade and establish a factory in all parts of the Mughal Empire by ruler Jahangir.
  • In 1690, a factory was established at Suttanati by Jab Charnock. In 1698, following the acquisition of zamindari of three villages of Suttanati, Kalikata and Govindpur, the city of Calcutta was founded. Fort William was set up in 1700.
  • In 1717, John Surman obtained a farman from Farrukhsiyar, which gave large concessions to the company. This farman has been called the Magna Carta of the Company.
  • Battle of Plassey (1757) English defeated Sirajuddaula, the Nawab of Bengal.
  • Battle of Buxar (1764) Captain Munro defeated joint forces of Mir Qasim (Bengal), Shujauddaula (Awadh) and Shah Alam II (Mughal).

French

  • The French East India Company was formed by Colbert under state patronage in 1664. The First French factory was established at Surat by Francois Caron in 1668. A factory at Masulipatnam was set up in 1669.
  • French were defeated by the English in the Battle of Wandiwash (1760).

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FAQs

  •  The State Service Pre-Examination of MPSC consists of about fifteen to twenty questions on the subject of history.

  •  The MPSC Combined Prelims exam consists of a total of fifteen questions on the subject of History.

  •  No! In the MPSC Combined Prelims exam, only questions about the history of Modern India are asked.

  • Yes! In Maharashtra Police Recruitment Examination, two to three questions come on the subject of history.

  • Yes! History is the subject in General Studies Paper 1 of MPSC State Service Main Examination. Also PSI / STI / ASO main exam paper is about history.

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