Wars

The rise of the EICo in India was marked by many wars and battles, all culminating in the Battle of Plassey and finally in the Battle of Buxar. Although I will not go into details of these conflicts, I have listed them here, should my intrepid readers want to pursue this bloody history on their own:

• Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)
• First Carnatic War (1746-1748)
• Second Carnatic War (1749–1754)
• Third Carnatic War (1756–1763)
• Bengal War (1756–1765)
• First Anglo-Mysore War (1766–1769)
• First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782)
• Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1784)
• Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792)
• Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–99)
• Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1806)
• Vellore Mutiny (1806)
• Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816)
• Paika Rebellion (1817)
• Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818)
• First Anglo-Burmese War (1824 to 1826)
• First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)
• First Anglo-Marri War (1840)
• Gwalior Campaign (1843)
• Sindh War (1843)
• First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846)
• Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–1849)
• Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852 to 1853)

The End of the Company

It must be said with some caution that not everyone was pleased with the EICo or indeed with their greedy officials. However, the British state was willing to turn a somewhat blind eye – one-tenth of their exchequer’s revenue at one point came solely from the customs duties on EICo imports. Attempts to regulate this behemoth of a company had been tried with varying degrees of success as far back as 1773, and the East India Company Acts started in 1697. Nothing could prevent the rampant greed, no matter how much the government back in London chomped at the bit – as soon as the East India Company signed the treaty of Allahabad, it used the taxes to further its expansion to the rest of India and not have to rely on venture capital from London while returning a high profit to those who risked their money for earlier ventures into Bengal. Widespread corruption and looting of resources, primarily from Bengal, resulted directly in the impoverishment of the province.

Following the mutiny, the Government of India Act of 1858 liquidated the EICo and transferred all governmental responsibilities to the British Crown and transferred the 240’000 strong military force to the authority of the Crown, significantly reducing their influence. In 1873, with the implementation of the East India Dividend Redemption Act, the EICo officially ceased to exist.

While the East India Company and subsequently the British Raj existed, their machinations would permanently change the landscape of India, subdividing the country into presidencies and provinces, many of which have now vanished. We shall now see just how complicated this rule was and what happened to those who had attempted it before them.