The Anglo-French Struggle for Supremacy: the Carnatic Wars, Causes for the English Success and the French Failure.
Immediate Cause of Rebellion. Offensive and Support. Retreat and Further Conflict. Resolution and Aftermath. Role of Nur JahanEarly Life and Marriage.
Family Influence and Political Rise. Role in Governance and Administration. Cultural Contributions and Legacy. Relationship with Jahangir and Shah JahanPolitical
and Administrative Developments. Jahangir's Reign and Challenges. Nur Jahan's Influence and Succession Issues.
The imperial history of Britain started with the conquest of Ireland in the sixteenth century.
The English then sprang up as the ‘new Romans’, charged with civilising so-called backward races throughout the world.
Post-Enlightenment intellectuals of Britain, in particular, and of Europe, in general, started certifying themselves as civilised vis-a-vis the Orient peoples and others.
The nature of imperial ideology of Britain changed over time but its fundamentals remained the same.
Was the British Conquest Accidental or Intentional?
Historians have debated over the fundamental query: whether the British conquest of India was accidental or intentional.
John Seeley: "The British conquest of India was made blindly, unintentionally and accidentally, and in a 'fit of absent-mindedness'."
This school argues that the British came to trade in India and had no desire to acquire territories or to squander their profits on war waged for territorial expansion.
The English, it is argued, were unwillingly drawn into the political turmoil created by the Indians themselves and were almost forced to acquire territories.
Another group: The British came to India with the clear intention of establishing a large and powerful empire, completing their plan bit by bit over the years.
They dismiss as propaganda the claim of the peaceful intent and political neutrality of the English East India Company in its early days.
John Seeley: "Our acquisition of India was made blindly. Nothing great that has ever been done by Englishman was done so unintentionally and so accidentally, as the conquest of India."
Judith Brown: "The deeper reasons of intention and motive for the Company’s acquisition of vast areas of territory are more obscure...for the expansion occurred in such different parts of India at different times. In each particular situation the precise British interests at stake varied, and the perceived danger to them; as did the relative weight in decision-making of different British groups concerned in Indian affairs."
The enormous profits from trade in the East, notably India, attracted the English traders (the Company) as it did other Europeans.
A desire for quick profits, personal ambitions of individuals, plain avarice, and effects of political developments in Europe were some factors that made the British increase their political clout in India.
At times, they waged wars to protect their commercial interests and, at others, they did so to protect their Indian allies from the attacks of potential rivals.
Lord Wellesley resorted to aggressive application of the subsidiary alliance system to extend British dominion in India as a defensive countermeasure against the imperialistic designs of France and Russia.
From 1798 to 1818, the British motives were consciously imperialistic.
Lord Hastings further carried the policy of Wellesley and treated India as a conquered rather than an acquired country.
Thereafter, the British seemed to work on a set design to conquer the whole of India and even some neighbouring states.
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