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Great Britain and India, 1763-1823
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Great Britain and India, 1763-1823
We turn from the West to the East, from America to India, where these twenty years, from 1763-83, are hardly less important. Two things must be borne in mind. First, India was still in a state of anarchy. The boundaries of States were constantly shifting; there was no such thing, it was said at the time, as a frontier in India. Adventurers sprang up who carved out new States for themselves, or usurped the thrones of old ones; and the Great Mogul Emperor was under the tutelage now of one potentate and then of another. In the second place, the East India Company was in a very undefined and uncertain position after the Seven Years War was over. The Nabob of the Carnatic and the Nizam of Hyderabad were its allies. It possessed some territory, but not much, on the east coast, and round Bombay and Madras. In Bengal, however, its position was peculiar. Except for Calcutta and some districts near it, the Nabob still governed that province. But he was the Company's nominee, and - put briefly - it may be said that his object was to extract as much money as possible from the country, whilst the Company's officials collected from the Nabob what money and privileges they could obtain, collectively for the Company and individually for themselves.
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Chronology
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