About the lecture

In the first module, we look at the key events of British expansion in India from 1700 to 1900. In particular, we will focus on the key questions: (i) What were the key events that shaped British expansion in India between 1700 and 1900?; (ii) How did the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 impact the British East India Company's influence in India?; (iii) What was the significance of the royal order issued by Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1717 for the East India Company's trade?; (iv) How did the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 influence the British political and economic control in Bengal?; (v) What were the consequences of the 1770 famine in Bengal for the East India Company's governance?; (vi) How did the Regulating Act and the establishment of the Supreme Court of Judicature in Calcutta in 1773 change the administration of British India?; (vii) What impact did the Anglo-Mysore Wars and the defeat of Tipu Sultan have on British expansion in India?; (viii) How did Thomas Babington Macaulay's Minute on Indian Education in 1835 influence British educational policies in India?; (ix) What was the Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Lord Dalhousie, and how did it contribute to the British annexation of Indian states?; and (x) How did the Great Rebellion of 1857 and the subsequent transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown affect India?

About the lecturer

Dr Apurba Chatterjee is a research fellow at the University of Reading. She specialises in the history of the British Empire in India and the histories of medicine, science, and visual culture. With this in mind, she has published widely, including ‘Monarchy, imperialism, and visuality: Imaging George III of Great Britain (1760-1810)’ in Astrid Wendel-Hansen, Francisca Hoyer, and Katarina Nordström (eds), Essays in Honor of Margaret R. Hunt (Uppsala: Opuscula Historica Upsaliensia, 2022).