THE STORY OF BRITISH INDIA

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 233, 6 November 1909, Page 4

THE STORY OF BRITISH INDIA

A BRILLIANT PICTURE 01 f Ol'R GREAT EASTKRX POSSESSION. (By W. Eden Hooper). Our knowledge of ilie early histoo of ludiu is not "early so complete as our knowledge of Egyptian history UiiU -ince Ml 8.C.. wllen Alexander tin; i.reat led his legions against certain of tin- native rulers in an expedition o; conquest and exploration, liave we any consecutive record of events in this vast tract of the Orient. But from the date of Alexander's invasion we hive a fairly accurate knowledge of events. European trade with India can traced back as far as our knowledge oi' tin- Western races. In tlie fifteenth century, tie European centre for trade was at Venice, and it was controlled by Venetian merchants, whilst Arab merchants controlled it »i. the Ka6t, their great centres lying at Aren, Calicut, and -Malacca. But the rising nations) of Europe, seeing the vast profits that lay in the trade, competed l'or a share of it by direct negotiation and without Venetian and Arab inter niediaries.

WHEN" PORTUGAL RULED TIIE SEAS. Hitherto merchandise had been carri'd by the overland coute; but in USD i Portuguese navigator discovered the sea route round the Cape of Good Hope, and look, hie vessel into Calicut Bay m that year. The Portuguese were then the princiual naval Power, and until they lost their sea supremacy they kept command of the water-borne trade, and gradually obtained a monopoly of the j-astern commerce. They established factories and fortresses along the Malaeea ■and Malabar coasts and ill the island of Ceylon, anu me King of Portugal was practically the dominant ruler of these great trading centres for over half a century. But European complication took the sea-power out of the Portuguese hands, and the Ouuli gained first place. in lliUi, the Dutch East India Company was formed, and another twenty years all tile principal Portuguese settlements were captured. It is interesting to note here that the Dutch trade with the East Indies wu the origin of the Dutch occupation oi the Cape of Good Hope, which they used as a place of call and storage. The English followed theui many years later.

GETTING OUR I'OOff IN. shortly before, with the founding of Dutch India Company, Queen JLiizaucth granted a cUarter to some English merciiants . This was 011 December 31s;, IIMJO. There were 126 shaieiiolders, with a capital ot £iU,UUO, and the title of ta-i company was "ihe Governor and Company oi Mercfiauis ot London Trading in the East Indies." The profits ot eaeii vovage were shared out, together witn the principal amounts ventured, and each Iresh undertaking necessitated new capital. Both the Portuguese and the Dutch "resisted this new ocmpetition, and the expeditious sent out oy the three na tions were constantly resorting to force of arms.

At the sea-fight off Surat, however, in iUI2, the English obtained a pronounced victory over the Portuguese, and thereafter they gradually broke the Dutch power, and liriuly established centres and stations along the Indian coasts, whilst sending trauiug parties into th? interior.

In 101 o King -James 1. oent Sir Thos. Roe, with a large retinue and handsome presents, as a special ambassador to the powerful Mongol Emperor Teliangir, and that potentate s friendly attitude theieal'tcr greatly assisted English ambitions. In IGIO the English company of merchants acquired, by purchase and treaty, a strip ot laud six miles by one mile on the coast of -Madras. This they fortified very strongly, and twelve years later this little British settlement, named Fort St. George, had enlarged its borders, and became an English Presidency. This was the beginning of our rule in India.

In the reign of Charles 1. many rival trading companies, by no means friendly to each other, were in the held, and much fighting and bloodshed resulted. But the strong hand of Oliver Cromwell quickly dealt with this confused state of affairs, and combined the whole of the merchants trading with the East into one single company. The English footing in India was further strengthened by the marriage of Charles It. to Katherine of Braganza, to whom the island of Bombay was presented by Portugal as a dowry. i'liis island was subsequently conveyed to the English king, who, in his turn, conveyed it to the company of nier chants trading with the East Indies, for an anual payment of JC Hi. This was in thu year IUUB.

THE SEED UF (JALCUIITA. The English 'power was now rapidly increasing, and Hie company, iu Hi'JH founded a fortified position on the cuasi of Bengal, under the name of Kurt \\ .1liaui. This small trading station grew into the vast modern city of <Jalcutt i. Ou the eve of the seventeenth centun (1G08), a powerful rival company, witn a capital of £2,000,000, opposed the 'London Company." This new undertaking was styled ''The English East India Company." A few years later the two concerns were amalgamated by Royal Charter under, the title of the "United Company of Merchants of Eng land Trading to the East Indies." In 1745 we were at war with Iraru'i over the Austrian succession. Oonilictbetween the English and French tool; place wherever their interests clashel, and the trading companies of the two • nations in India (for France had also established commercial and territorial lights in the East) were soou engaged in armed conflict. The immediate result was the defeat of the forces of the English merchants and the occupation of the British territory in Madras by the French. Each country followed up these early contests by the despatch of Imperial troops, and after much warfare CUve a a suined command of the British forces, obtaining a series of victories, and the total rout of the French at I'oudicherry ill 1701. JEALOUSIES THAT HELPED. Xativc opposition to the inroads and assumptions of Europeans was now becoming very pronounced, and necessitated the employment of an extensive arm ed service by the English company, ludeed, had it not been for the constant jealousies and internal warfare between the hundreds of native states and poten ] tales, the English position in India could never have been gained. But their jcal I ousies were used uy the British to fur ! ther their own ends, and their support was given to this or that faction, according to the trading rights and spheres of influence gained in return. 11l 1750 the native ruler of Southern Bengal revolted against British inUnence. and it was ia that year that the Euro peans were subjected to the horrors "i imprisonment and death in what li.isince been known ae the Black Hole n: Calcutta.

Clive at once marched against the mi tive forces, and a bloody campaign followed, culminating (1757) in the Battle of Plassey. the overthrow of the natitv< powr. and the establishment of British rule in Bengal. Clive acted as Governor General of the company's territory ii India for a number ot' year* 5 , and in 177: Warren Hastings was appointed Govern or . His administration and military genius greatly improved British rule, and increased its influence. From thai period the history of India k the hn tory of the English in India. It was now that the great Duke ol "Wellington took service with the East 4 India Company, and, as Sir Arthur "We! leslev. conducted a series of brilliant campaigns against powerful states ani H unfriendly rulers, which added tnor mouslv to the company's domains. The charter of "The United Company of Mereli'ints of England Trading to .the East Indies" had now expired, but ir 1793 it was renewed. The title of tV company became "The Honorable East .-India Company." in 1813 the companyV -..absolute monopoly of trade within it* . territories was abolished. About fill?! ■time the country was being devastated kJjj internal wars between native ruler•..Mil groat band's of outlaws, and fh< compim* entered upon a vast pacifying campaign. This was. in turn, followed (-1825) oy the comjresf; of the great province of Acdsam. r endered necessary by, .the insolence and butcheries of it« ruier.l

J(ie insolence and butcheries of it« ruler.) v STEAM AND CFVIMSATION. j . In 1831 steam communication with In-1 dia flyis introduced, and about, this per I fori, also, many brutal native customs—l notably widow-burning, or suttee were prohibited. In 18:13 a further chart,ei j was given to the company, and it wa. I now definitely laid down that the com ) pany's administrative duties, as apart'

from it* emmneicial undertakings. werJ hold in trust under the British throne. Between ISIS and lS.'ili, and whilst Lor.l l)alhou<-ie was (lovernor-liencralj railway. tt'U\nraph. and cheap postage wen' introduced. ami communication by steam via the Sim-/ (.'anal lir>t decided upon, iilthoipjh the canal \va> not finished uiit il 1 Still. It was Lord DaMioiMe who *et tij> tho principle that it a native ruler was guilty of inis-jrovcrHinent ami tyranny his >Uite should lw annexed to Uvitisji territory, nr the erring ruler deposed and another appointed. THE Ml TIXV AT IIEEUL--T.

On May loth, IS.">7, the great mutiny of native troops broke out at Meerut. The .Mutiny wan at the end of the East India Company's rule. liy au "Act for the Better Government of India," parsed in ISSB, the Crown took over tlie entire administration of the country, and a proclamation to all tlie chiefs and peoples of In4ia announced the dcteiliiination of her Britannic Majesty, Victoria, to assume the government of the territories hitherto "administered in trust'' by the Honorable East India Company.

The history of the Indiau Mutiny is a story by itself. Twenty years after the outbreak I (1877) Queen Victoria took the additional title of Empress of India, and King Edward VII. is, of course the first Emperor of India. No native potentates, or rulers of native states, ate now accorded the title of Emperor, the last to j bear the title being tlie powerful Emperor of Delhi, who was displaced some j cars before the Mutiny.

PEACE AND PROGRESS. Since the British Crown assumed go-' verniuent, a policy of peace and adiiiin- j istrative progress lias, as lar as pos- ] sible, been pursued, but the third Burmese war added that 'vast country to tlie British Empire in India. Since the Mutiny, the Indian army has been reorganised, and we are now able to call upon over dUU,UOU men, of whom nearly BU,UUO are wiiite troops. The population is, in round figures, iBS,UUU,OUO, or onefifth of the total estimated population iof the world. Of this number, about iUO,UUU are Europeans.