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FOREIGN POSSESSIONS IN INDIA.

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ing works are to be found in the bridges over the Bheema, Kistna, and Toombudra.

FOREIGN POSSESSIONS IN INDIA.

1. FRENCH.-The French possessions are

(a.) Pondicherry, and a small surrounding territory near the delta of the S. Pennair.

(b.) Caricall, and adjacent territory in the Cauvery delta. (c.) Yanaon, in the Godavery delta.

(d.) Chandernagore, on the Hoogly above Calcutta. (e.) Mahé, on the Malabar coast.

These are all that remain to France of her once extensive possessions in India. The population is about 250,000. They are mainly depôts for her trade.

2. PORTUGUESE,

(a.) Goa, an important province on the west coast, on 15° N. lat., including the whole territory between the Ghauts and the sea for several miles. It has several towns, the most important of which are Goa, and Panjim, or New Goa, both on very good harbours.

(b.) Daman, a small town and surrounding territory, on the S.E. shore of the Gulf of Cambay.

(c.) Diu Island and Fort, off the south shore of Gujerat.

VI. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY.

It is, of course, as impossible to write a history of India in a few pages as it would be of Europe or England. To give a mere chronology would be useless or meaningless. We shall, therefore, attempt to give a short historical account of the Honourable East India Company, as it was on the whole deservedly called; and to indicate the great landmarks in the gradual growth of the British power in the peninsula.

1. Early History.-The great facts in the early history

are

(a.) The expedition of Alexander the Great to the Punjaub, A.D. 330.

(b.) From the 7th to the 10th centuries the Mohammedans made invasions, and finally settlements. Mahmoud of Ghuznee, in the Solyman Mountains, captured Delhi a little before our Norman Conquest. Lahore ultimately became the capital of Mohammedan power, and Hindoo principalities gradually fell before it.

(c.) The next great conquest was that of the Tartars (as if from Tartarus, but properly Tatars). Tamerlane, or Timour the Tartar, captured Delhi in the 14th century, and pro

claimed himself Emperor of India. Baber, a descendant of his, was the first real master of India (1519–30, ¿.e., time of our Henry VIII.) This Tartar Empire was called the MOGUL Empire, and reached the highest point of its greatness under AURUNGZEBE (1658-1707), who usurped the throne, and, in the Eastern manner, slew his brother and imprisoned his father. This was in the time of our William III. and Anne. After his death a period of anarchy succeeded, during which the country was gradually subdued and divided among Rajpoots, Sikhs, and MAHRATTAS.

2. European Conquests.

(1.) Portuguese.-Vasco di Gama landed in India, at Calicut, in 1498. Gradually the Portuguese extended their power over the western coast and Ceylon, and Indian trade was directed to Lisbon instead of to Venice and Constantinople, as it had been before the discovery of the passage round the Cape. (2.) Dutch. The Dutch first rounded the Cape in 1594, and made settlements in India and the East Indian islands. Wars ensued between the Dutch and Portuguese, as between the English and French in America and afterwards also in India. Finally the Dutch remained masters, and the trade of India went to Amsterdam. The Dutch East India Com

pany was at one time very important.

(3.) French.-Later on, the French owned a large part of South India, owing to the genius of their governor, Dupleix; but Clive wrested most of the country from him.

(4.) English.-And now we must give a short account of the East India Company.

A. TRADING COMPANY.

This

This company consisted at first of a few private individuals in London, associated for commercial purposes under the name, "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading to the East Indies." was in 1599. No. of shares, 101; capital, £30,000. From this small beginning arose the British Empire in India. The following is a brief chronological summary of its history :1601. First venture in five ships from Tor Bay; successful. 1603-7. Other ventures, realising a profit of from 100 to 200 per cent.

1609. Charter of Company renewed indefinitely, subject to three years' notice.

1611. Company obtained permission from Mogul to establish Factories at Surat, Ahmedabad, and Cambay, on condition of paying 3 per cent. on shipments.

1624. Functions of government first exercised.

1636. A rival association founded under the title of Merchant Adventurers, which soon after joined the first company. Capital now about £2,500,000.

1648. Settlement first made at Madras, on Coromandel coast.

1668. Island of Bombay given to Company by Charles II., who obtained it as dowry with Catharine of Braganza. The Company were to pay the King £10 a year for it.

1664 & 1670. Two attacks on Surat by the Mahrattas under Sevajee, the founder of the Mahratta States, repelled. These were the first wars.

The Company gradually extended its operations, and increased in wealth. It possessed a rigid monopoly of the trade, and any interlopers caught were executed or closely imprisoned. The imports into England were saltpetre, pepper, indigo, calicoes, drugs, and tea.

1693. Charter renewed for twenty-one years. Soon after, the House of Commons passed a resolution, "That it is the right of all Englishmen to trade to the East Indies, or any part of the world, unless prohibited by Act of Parliament." Bribery was largely resorted to in this case. Danby Duke of Leeds is said to have received £5000.

Soon after, a new company, called "General Society," or The English Company trading to the East Indies, bought a charter by lending to the Government £2,000,000 at 3 per cent.

1702. The two companies united, with Queen Anne's sanction, under the title, The United Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies. Twenty-four Directors were appointed, 12 from each body.

1708. The Company advanced £1,200,000 to Government without interest, and received a charter which gave them important privileges, long enjoyed. The capital was now £3,200,000. In 1794 it had increased to £6,000,000.

At this time the Home Government consisted of(a.) Court of Proprietors, who elected the Directors. (b.) Court of Directors, 24 in number, who appointed the Governor-General and other Governors, subject to the approval of the Crown.

(c.) Board of Control, established by Pitt's India Bill in 1794. This, of course, brought the Government in India more immediately under that of the ministers of the Crown.

1813. Charter renewed for twenty years, but the trade of India was thrown open, that of China being still retained as a monopoly to the Company.

1833. Charter renewed for twenty years, but all trade thrown open. Average gross profits to Directors, from 1733 to 1772, about 120 per cent. per annum. For a long time the Company had a monopoly of the tea trade, but the duty was sometimes so high that as much was smuggled as the Company imported. Pitt reduced the duty to 12 per cent. ad valorem, and the Company's imports went up at once from 6,000,000 lb. a year to 16,000,000. But their trade was gradually falling off, for they had now become political governors in India, and had a vast empire to govern. They were no longer a company of traders. Thus, in 1832 only about £150,000 worth of goods were sent in their ships E. of the Cape, whereas in those of private traders no less than £1,500,000. The Company paid considerable sums into the revenue for permission to govern India, and became absolute landlord of all conquered parts of India. They did not retain possession, but let out the country to Ryots and others, and employed Zemindars to collect the revenue on the produce, i.e., rent and taxes in one assessment. This was an odious system, and prevented all improvement, because the more a ryot improved his holding the higher he was assessed. By the Act of 1833 the Company were empowered to alienate lands. The revenue under the Company was about this time £14,000,000.

The Indian Mutiny of 1857, with its fearful massacres, brought about the cession of the Company's charter of 1853, which otherwise would have remained in force until 1873; and in 1858 the Queen was proclaimed EMPRESS OF INDIA and its dependencies. The India House in Leadenhall Street (called "The House that Jack built," by Thackeray and others) was, of course, given up, and the affairs of India managed from the INDIA OFFICE, Westminster. Many famous men served in the old House, e.g., Charles Lamb, John Stuart Mill, and others.

B. RISE AND PROGRESS OF POLITICAL POWER. From the first warlike attack of Sevajee on Surat in 1664 the annals of the Company are a series of wars and conquests, out of which they came not always clean-handed, but with ever-increasing territory; and into which they were driven partly by ambition, partly by commercial necessity, partly by forming defensive and offensive alliances with the native Governments, and partly by the continental wars with France in Europe, which always extended to India. This was especially the case in the wars of 1745-61, which terminated, so far as Madras was concerned, by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748,

RISE AND PROGRESS OF POLITICAL POWER.

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We can point out only the chief additions, and the account will probably be best arranged under the successive GOVERNORGENERALS. The first eight, however, are not very important. 1759. Masulipatam given up by Nizam.

1760. Burdwan and Chittagong by Nabob of Bengal. 1765. Bengal, Behar, &c., from Mogul.

1766. North Circars, from Nizam.

9. WARREN HASTINGS (1771-85), the ninth in order, but the second very important one, reckoning Lord Clive as the first (Col. Clive, 1758; Lord Clive, second time, 1764). Chief annexation, District of Benares. Island of Penang purchased. Island of Salsette from Mahrattas. The student should read Macaulay's essays of Lord Clive and Warren Hastings.

10. John Macpherson, provisionally, 1785.

11. Lord Macartney, declined office, 1785.

12. LORD CORNWALLIS, 1786–90; second time, 1805-6. War with Tippoo Saib. Cession of Malabar, Salem, &c. 13. Major-General W. Meadows, 1790.

14. Sir John Shore (Lord Teignmouth), 1792.

15. Sir Alured Clarke, 1797.

16. LORD MORNINGTON (MARQUIS WELLESLEY) 1797-1805. This was one of the most important periods in regard of annexation of territory.

1798. Canara, Coimbatore, &c., were given up after the final defeat of Tippoo Saib at the storming of Seringapatam. 1799. Tanjore ceded by its Rajah for a pension.

1800. Ceded Districts from Nizam.

1802. Carnatic ceded by Rajah in lieu of a pension. Vizier of Oude ceded the Lower Dooab and the districts of Bareilly, Allahabad, Gorruckpore, &c., as commutation for non-payment of annual subsidy.

In 1802 Wellington defeated the Mahrattas at ASSAYE; and Lake defeated them again at Delhi. Consequently

1804. Cuttack and Balasore were ceded by the Rajah of Berar; and the Upper Dooab with Delhi, &c., by Dowlut Rao Scindia; and in 1805, Gujerat by the Guicowar.

17. Sir George H. Barlow, 1806. Appointment revoked by King.

18. Lord Minto, 1806.

19. EARL OF MOIRA (MARQUIS HASTINGS) 1812-22. Chief cessions of territory—

1815. Kumaon and part of Terrai by Rajah of Nepal. 1817. Saugor and Dharwar by Peishwa.

Ahmedabad by Guicowar.

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