History of

INDIA:Early Modern

Expansion of Mughal Empire

16-17th centuries:

• further growth • display of wealth and grandeur• first signs of weakness

Decline of Mughal Empire

• Aurangzeb’s religious bigotry• uprisings (peasants, the Sikhs)• wars of succession • invasions from the Maharthas, Afghans, Iranians• the Mughal dynasty  reduced to puppet rulers in

the 18th century• several smaller states rose to fill the power

vacuum and became contributing factors to the decline

Post-Mughal period

• Regional states arose in c. 1700-1850

• Avadh or Oudh (in the north) and Hyderabad (in the south) - on the basis of older traditions

• the Marathas’, the Jats’, and the Sikhs’ states - no roots in Indian history

Maratha Empire

• yeoman warriors

from Deccan

• founder - Shivaji

(of an aristocratic Bhonsle clan)

• later - under the rule of peshwas (Citpavan Brahman ministers)

Sikh Empire

• originally – a religious sect • founder of the religion - Guru Nanak • 15th-16th centuries• a community of scribes and traders• the Sikh army – the Khalsa• formal start of the Sikh Empire -  the merger of Misls under Ranjit Singh

Southern states

• Travancore in modern Kerala (under Martanda Varma and Rama Varma) – succeeded in wars against the Dutch and Mysore; often allied with the British• Mysore in modern Karnataka (under the Wodeyar dynasty:Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan) – lost in wars against the British; puppet monarchs Maharajas

First Europeans

• Alexander the Great – Punjab in 327–325 BCE

• Greek kingdoms – Punjab from the 2nd century BCE till the 1st century

• Marco Polo, Niccolò dei Conti and Afanasy Nikitin

• Vasco da Gama – Calicut (now Kozhikode) in 1498

• Europeans = Yavanas (from Ionians)

Portuguese• colony began in 1502 - the first European trading centre at Kollam, Kerala • Francisco de Almeida - appointed as the first Portuguese viceroy in 1505 • Afonso de Albuquerque - in 1509• conquered the city of Goa in 1510• policy of mixed marriages - miscegenation in Goa• will to evangelize and promote Catholicism through

Jesuits• northern province included settlements

at Daman, Diu, Chaul, Baçaim, Salsette, and Mumbai (Bombay)

•  Princess Catherine of Portugal married Charles II of England, with a dowry that included the city of Bombay

Dutch• First voyage in 1595 by Jan Huyghen van Linschoten  • Primary goal – neither religion, nor empire but trade• the Dutch East India Company - trading posts on different

parts along the Indian coast - in Travancore- in Tamil Nadu• controlled in the 17th-18th centuries- Malabar southwest coast- Coromandel southeastern coast - Surat  • Seized the English trading post at Amboina, the Amboina

Massacre• the Company went bankrupt due to corruption in 1800• the richest company ever – 7.4 trillion dollars

French

•  the first trading base - Pondicherry (Puducherry), southeastern India in 1674- Chandernagore in Bengal, northeastern India in 1688- Yanam in Andhra Pradesh in 1723 - Mahe in 1725- Karaikal in 1739• Conflicts with the British in the South and North East• defeated - in Bengal in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 - in the southeast in the Battle of Wandiwash in 1761 • The French enclaves were integrated only in the 20th century

British

• East Indian Company (the oldest)• Established in 1600 by Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Charter• Indian rule in 1757• control of the seas• greater resources• more advanced military training and technology • attractive to the Indian elite • not only trade but raw materials supply to the British

Empire• entered non-economic arenas: education, social reform,

and culture

Modern Age

• 1848 - 1885 • The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the East India Company• the consolidation and demarcation of

sovereignty• the surveillance of the population• the education of citizens • technological changes: railways, canals, the

telegraph

Road to Independence• Indian Rebellion/Mutiny of 1857 • Suppressed by 1859• Reasons: - lack of adequate respect towards local cultures and religions- summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes - invasive British-style social reforms - harsh land taxes - general disaffection with the Company The Mutiny led- to the dissolution of the East India Company- to the direct administration of India by the British government The new government The British Raj - proclaimed a unitary state- a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system- protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future

unrest Public life gradually emerged all over IndiaThe founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885.

Technology and Commercialization effects

— +

economic setbacks

small farmers dependent on thewhims of far-away markets

an increase in the number of largescale famines (20 mln victims)

little industrial employment was forIndians

commercial cropping

increased food production forInternal consumption

provision of critical famine relief

notable reduction of the cost ofmoving goods

help to nascent Indian-ownedindustry

New period

• World War I (one million Indians served)• Repressive legislation• the beginnings of a non-violent movement of non-

cooperation inspired by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

• World War II (three million Indians served)• an upsurge of Muslim nationalism• All India Muslim League established in 1906 • bloody partition of the subcontinent into two states: India

and Pakistan• Independence in 1947• First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Challenges

• seemingly unyielding poverty • religious and caste-related violence • Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies • separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and wars

with Pakistan fought in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999

• unresolved territorial disputes with China, which escalated into the Sino-Indian War of 1962

• India–Pakistan nuclear rivalry

Webpage

www.english-studies.ru - MSU - Year 3

Additional Lectures7 марта (четверг) 19.00 Символ и миф в индуизме Библиотека Волошина,

Новодевичий проезд, 10

11 марта (понедельник) 19.00

Махабхарата Библиотека Волошина, Новодевичий проезд, 10

24 марта (воскресенье) 16.00

Цивилизации долины Инда Музей ВостокаНикитский бульвар, 12А

29 марта (пятница) 14.00 Открытие выставки «Сокровища Гималаев»

Экспозиция «Ветошный»Ветошный пер, 13

7 апреля (воскресенье) 16.00

Индия от ариев до Гуптов Музей ВостокаНикитский бульвар, 12А

Next classLecture:

Demography. Society. Economy.

Presentations:

The economic prospects of India

The caste system in India

Discussion:

Colonialism: a curse or a blessing?