How did the East India Company establish itself in India?

Migration – India, 1700-1900

In this course, Professor Shruti Kapila (University of Cambridge) explores the history of India in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the first module, we look at the key question: “How did the East India Company establish itself in India?”. After this, we turn to answer the questions: “How did the East India Company colonise India and what tensions did this create in Britain?”. Then, we look at the question: “How did the East India Company transform India?”. In the fourth module, we focus on the key questions: “How can the Indian Rebellion of 1857 be defined and what were its effects?”. Then, we look at the question: “What were the causes and effects of the famines of the 1870s?”. Finally, we explore the question: “How did the British Raj transform India?”.

How did the East India Company establish itself in India?

In this module, we look at the key question: “How did the East India Company establish itself in India?”. With this in mind, we focus on the questions: (i) What was the significance of the Mughal Empire in India prior to the rise of British power?; (ii) How did the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 affect the political landscape in India?; (iii) What role did the East India Company play in transforming from a commercial enterprise to an imperial power?; (iv) How did the East India Company's acquisition of the Diwani in 1757 change its role in India?; (v) What factors contributed to the East India Company's ability to recruit and maintain a large army in India?; (vi) How did commerce and warfare interact to facilitate the British establishment in India?; (vii) What was the impact of Indian merchant capital and the financial needs of Indian states on the rise of British power?; and (viii) How did the erosion of political rights for Indians occur during this period of transition to British dominance?