History Quiz: Modern History |12 Apr, 2021

Historians have observed that the idea of finding an ocean route to India had become an obsession for Prince Henry of Portugal, who was nicknamed the ‘Navigator’.

• In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, due to which merchandise trade from India to the European markets came under Arab Muslim intermediaries. The Red Sea trade route was a state monopoly from which Islamic rulers earned tremendous revenues.
• In 15th Century, Europe made great advances in the art of ship-building and navigation. Hence, there was eagerness all over Europe for adventurous sea voyages to reach the unknown corners of the East.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

Under the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), the rulers of Portugal and Spain divided the non-Christian world between them by an imaginary line in the Atlantic, some 1,300 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.

Under the treaty, Portugal could claim and occupy everything to the east of the line while Spain could claim everything to the west.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

In 1505, the King of Portugal appointed a governor Francisco De Almeida in India for a three-year term and he was asked to consolidate the position of the Portuguese in India and to destroy Muslim trade by seizing Aden, Ormuz and Malacca.

• Francisco de Almeida wanted that Portuguese should maintain supremacy on sea and confine their activities to purely commercial transactions and to realize his vision he implemented Blue water policy.
• The Blue Water Policy was the fortification of Indian Ocean, not for the security but for the establishment of Portuguese business in the Indian Ocean.
• The Blue water policy was reversed by Alfonso de Albuquerque.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

French position in India from starting days was badly affected with the outbreak of war between the Dutch and the French and when the War of Spanish Succession broke out in Europe.

Due to this they had to abandon their factories at Surat, Masulipatnam and Bantam in the early 18th century.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

Treaty of Ryswick: In July 1697 the treaty brought to an end the Nine Years War, in which Louis XIV’s France faced a grand coalition of England, the Dutch, and Spain.

• Louis agreed to return most of his territorial acquisitions or réunions made since Nijmegen, but retained the important fortress town of Strasbourg.
• The Dutch were allowed to garrison barrier fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands. In India Pondicherry was restored to French by Dutch.
• The treaty, negotiated with much difficulty, lasted only four years before the War of the Spanish Succession broke out.

Treaty of Aix-La Chapelle: It was signed between British and French in 1748 after first Carnatic war.

• Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle 1748 was negotiated largely by Britain and France, with the other powers following their lead, ending the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48).

• The treaty was marked by the mutual restitution of conquests, including the fortress of Louisburg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, to France; Madras in India, to England.

Treaty of peace of Paris: The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War between Great Britain and France, as well as their respective allies.

• In the terms of the treaty, France gave up all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there.
• In India Pondicherry, Karaikal and other French possessions were returned to the French on condition that they should not fortify them and it ended the third Carnatic war in 1763.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

Battle of Karnal: It was held between Nadir Shah and Mughals (Emperor Muhammad Shah) in 1739 and mughals were defeated in the war and later Muhammad Shah was imprisoned and annexed areas west of the Indus into the Persian Empire.

Battle of Plassey: The battle was fought between the East India Company headed by Robert Clive and the Nawab of Bengal (Siraj-Ud-Daulah) and his French Troop in 1757. This battle is often termed as the ‘decisive event’ which became the source of ultimate rule of the British in India. Mughal emperor Alamgir-II was ruling the empire when the Battle of Plassey took place.

Battle of Buxar: It was a battle fought between the English Forces, and a joint army of the Nawab of Oudh, Nawab of Bengal, and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II in 1764. The battle was the result of misuse of trade privileges granted by the Nawab of Bengal and also the colonialist ambitions of East India Company.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

The Kunjali Marakkars were maritime merchants of Arab descent who supported the trade in the Indian Ocean who settled in the coastal regions of Kayalpattinam, Kilakarai, Thoothukudi, Nagore and Karaikal.

• With the emergence of the Portuguese in India, some Marakkars were forced to take up arms and enlist themselves in service of the Hindu king (the zamorin) of Calicut.
• The Marakkar naval chiefs of the Calicut were known as Kunjali Marakkars.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

Bengal, the richest province of the Mughal Empire included present day Bangladesh, and its Nawab had authority over the region constituting present day states of Bihar and Odisha.

Exports from Bengal to Europe consisted of raw products such as saltpetre, rice, indigo, pepper, sugar, silk, cotton textiles, handicrafts, etc.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

Robert Clive concluded two important treaties at Allahabad in August 1765 – one with the Nawab of Awadh and the other with the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II.

• Under the treaty Nawab of Awadh Shuja-ud-Daula agreed to surrender Allahabad and Kara to Emperor Shah Alam II.

• Under the treaty Nawab of Awadh Shuja-ud-Daula agreed to pay Rs 50 lakh to the Company as war indemnity.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.

Policy of Ring Fence: It is followed by Warren Hastings, under which aimed at creating buffer zones to defend the Company’s frontiers. Broadly speaking, it was the policy of defence of their neighbours’ frontiers for safeguarding their own territories. This policy of Warren Hastings was reflected in his war against the Marathas and Mysore.

Policy of Subsidiary Alliance: It is followed by Lord Wellesley, under which the allying Indian state’s ruler was compelled to accept the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its maintenance.

• Also, the Indian ruler had to agree to the posting of a British resident in his court. Under the system, the Indian ruler could not employ any European in his service without the prior approval of the British.
• Nor could he negotiate with any other Indian ruler without consulting the governor-general. In return for all this, the British would defend the ruler from his enemies and adopt a policy of noninterference in the internal matters of the allied state.

Policy of Doctrine of Lapse: It is followed by Lord Dalhosie, under which the adopted son could be the heir to his foster father’s private property, but not the state; it was for the paramount power (the British) to decide whether to bestow the state on the adopted son or to annex it.

Source: Spectrum Modern India.