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136-917: During the era of European colonization , territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia were known as the Spanish East Indies for 333 years before the American conquest and later the independence of the Philippines . Dutch occupied colonies in the area were known for about 300 years as the Dutch East Indies until Indonesian independence . The East Indies may also include the former French Indochina , former British territories Brunei , Hong Kong and Singapore and former Portuguese Macau and Timor . It does not, however, include

272-643: A British-dominated territory. By the early eighteenth century, the French had become the chief European rivals of the British. During the eighteenth century, it was highly possible for the Indian subcontinent to have succumbed to French control, but the defeat inflicted on them in the Seven Years War (1756–1763) permanently curtailed French ambitions. The Treaty of Paris of 1763 restored the original five to

408-633: A colony; the company's lands were controlled directly and the rest through the rulers of what it called the Princely states . There were 565 princely states when the Indian subcontinent gained independence from Britain in August 1947. During period of the British Raj , famines in India , often attributed to El Nino droughts and failed government policies, were some of the worst ever recorded, including

544-602: A global empire. The British Parliament 's attempt to raise taxes from North American colonists raised fears among the Americans that their rights as "Englishmen", and particularly their rights of self-government, were in danger. From 1765, a series of disputes with Parliament over taxation led to the American Revolution , first to informal committees of correspondence among the colonies, then to coordinated protest and resistance, with an important event in 1770,

680-514: A licence from the company were liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo (half of which would go to the Crown and half to the company), as well as imprisonment at the "royal pleasure." The charter named Thomas Smythe as the first governor of the company, and 24 directors (including James Lancaster) or "committees", who made up a Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to a Court of Proprietors, who appointed them. Ten committees reported to

816-479: A longstanding African slave trade ; at that point a minor trade, one the Portuguese would soon reverse and surpass . Around 1450, based on North African fishing boats, a lighter ship was developed , the caravel , which could sail further and faster, was highly maneuverable, and could sail " into the wind ". Enabled by new nautical technology, with the added incentive to find an alternative " Silk Road " after

952-661: A massive profit in Europe provided another reason for crossing the Atlantic, in particular, furs from Canada, tobacco, and cotton grown in Virginia and sugar in the islands of the Caribbean and Brazil. Due to the massive depletion of indigenous labor, plantation owners had to look elsewhere for manpower for these labour-intensive crops. They turned to the centuries-old slave trade of west Africa and began transporting Africans across

1088-706: A period of political instability , the Romanovs came to power in 1613 and the expansion-colonization process of Russia continued. While western Europe colonized the New World, Russia expanded overland – to the east, north and south. This continued for centuries; by the end of the 19th century, the Russian Empire reached from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and for some time included colonies in

1224-568: A private fleet of 200 ships. It specialised in the spice trade and gave its shareholders 40% annual dividend. The British East India Company was fiercely competitive with the Dutch and French throughout the 17th and 18th centuries over spices from the Spice Islands . Some spices, at the time, could only be found on these islands, such as nutmeg and cloves; and they could bring profits as high as 400 per cent from one voyage. The tension

1360-719: A relative of the Grand Mughal , though there is no evidence to suggest that it was his daughter and her retinue. The loot from the Ganj-i-Sawai had a total value between £325,000 and £600,000, including 500,000 gold and silver pieces, and has become known as the richest ship ever taken by pirates. When the news arrived in England it caused an outcry. To appease Aurangzeb, the East India Company promised to pay all financial reparations, while Parliament declared

1496-529: A return of some 5,000 per cent. Thus started an important element in the eastern design during the late sixteenth century. Soon after the Spanish Armada 's defeat in 1588, the captured Spanish and Portuguese ships and cargoes enabled English voyagers to travel the globe in search of riches. London merchants presented a petition to Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. The aim

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1632-690: A wide variety of language families such as the Austronesian and Sino-Tibetan languages , and should not be confused with the term Indo-Aryan , a group of languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent . Regions of the East Indies are sometimes known by the colonial empire they once belonged to, hence, Spanish East Indies means the Philippines , Dutch East Indies means Indonesia , and British East Indies refers to Malaysia . Historically,

1768-637: A young Mughal Prince as Emperor with the Company as the de jure protectors of the Empire from their position of direct control in Bengal. This relationship was repeatedly strained as the Company continued its expansion and exploitation, however it lasted in some form until 1858 when the last Mughal Emperor was exiled as the Company was disbanded and its assets were taken over by the British Crown. In 1634,

1904-723: Is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by the Phoenicians , Greeks , Romans , Turks , Han Chinese , and Arabs . Colonialism in the modern sense began with the " Age of Discovery ", led by the Portuguese , who became increasingly expansionist following the conquest of Ceuta in 1415, aiming to control navigation through the Strait of Gibraltar , spread Christianity , amass wealth and plunder, and suppress predation on Portuguese populations by Barbary pirates as part of

2040-644: The Fancy , reached the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb , where he teamed up with five other pirate captains to make an attack on the Indian fleet returning from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca . The Mughal convoy included the treasure-laden Ganj-i-Sawai , reported to be the greatest in the Mughal fleet and the largest ship operational in the Indian Ocean, and its escort, the Fateh Muhammed . They were spotted passing

2176-529: The de facto ruler of Mughal Bengal , opposed British attempts to use these permits. This led to the Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which the armies of the East India Company, led by Robert Clive , defeated the Nawab's forces. This was the first political foothold with territorial implications that the British had acquired in India. Clive was appointed by the company as its first Governor of Bengal in 1757. This

2312-684: The Alaska (1732–1867) and a short-lived unofficial colony in Africa (1889) in present-day Djibouti . The acquisition of new territories, especially in the Caucasus, had an invigorating effect on the rest of Russia. According to two Russian historians: The first stage to 1650 was an expansion eastward from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Geographical expeditions mapped much of Siberia. The second stage from 1785 to 1830 looked south to

2448-743: The Boston Massacre . A standing army was formed by the United Colonies , and independence was declared by the Second Continental Congress on 4 July 1776. A new nation was born, the United States of America , and all royal officials were expelled. On their own the Patriots captured a British Invasion army and France recognized the new nation, formed a military alliance, declared war on Britain, and left

2584-545: The British East India Company and Dutch East India Company , among others, in the 17th century. The New World was initially thought to be the easternmost part of the Indies by explorer Christopher Columbus , who had grossly underestimated the westerly distance from Europe to Asia. Later, to avoid confusion, the New World came to be called the "West Indies", while the original Indies came to be called

2720-608: The Crown of Castile , from 1402 to 1496, has been described as the first instance of European settler colonialism in Africa. In 1462, the previously uninhabited Cape Verde archipelago became the first European settlement in the tropics , and thereafter a site of Jewish exile during the height of the Spanish Inquisition in the 1490s; the Portuguese soon also brought slaves from the West African coast. Because of

2856-612: The Dominican Republic ). The Portuguese and Spanish Empires were the first global empires because they were the first to stretch across different continents (discounting Eurasian empires and those with land in Africa along the Mediterranean), covering vast territories around the globe. Between 1580 and 1640, the Portuguese and Spanish empires were both ruled by the Spanish monarchs in personal union . During

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2992-619: The Dutch , the English —who set up a trading post in the west-coast port of Surat in 1619—and the French. The internal conflicts among Indian Kingdoms gave opportunities to the European traders to gradually establish political influence and appropriate lands. Although these continental European powers were to control various regions of southern and eastern India during the ensuing century, they would eventually lose all their territories in India to

3128-827: The East India Companies and the Hudson's Bay Company . Imperial Russia had no state-sponsored expeditions or colonization in the Americas, but did charter the first Russian joint-stock commercial enterprise, the Russian America Company , which did sponsor those activities in its territories. In May 1498, the Portuguese set foot in Kozhikode in Kerala , making them the first Europeans to sail to India. Rivalry among reigning European powers saw

3264-489: The English Company Trading to the East Indies ) was floated under a state-backed indemnity of £2 million. The powerful stockholders of the old company quickly subscribed a sum of £315,000 in the new concern, and dominated the new body. The two companies wrestled with each other for some time, both in England and in India, for a dominant share of the trade. It quickly became evident that, in practice,

3400-627: The First Opium War in 1839, which involved a succession of British naval attacks along the Chinese coast over the course of several months. As part of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, the Qing were forced to give British merchants special treatment and the right to sell opium. The Chinese also ceded territory to the British, including the island of Hong Kong . The prosperity that the officers of

3536-587: The French Revolution in this slave society. Although independence was declared in 1804, it was not until 1825 that it was formally recognized by King Charles X of France . The gradual decline of Spain as an imperial power throughout the 17th century was hastened by the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), as a result of which it lost its European imperial possessions. The death knell for

3672-511: The Great Famine of 1876–78 , in which 6.1 million to 10.3 million people died and the Indian famine of 1899–1900 , in which 1.25 to 10 million people died. The Third Plague Pandemic started in China in the middle of the 19th century, spreading plague to all inhabited continents and killing 10 million people in India alone. Despite persistent diseases and famines, however, the population of

3808-535: The Indian subcontinent , which stood at about 125 million in 1750, had reached 389 million by 1941. Like the other European colonists, the French began their colonization via commercial activities, starting with the establishment of a factory in Surat in 1668. The French started to settle down in India in 1673, beginning with the purchase of land at Chandernagore from the Mughal Governor of Bengal, followed by

3944-544: The Indies . Eventually, the region would be broken up into a series of Indies : The East Indies, which was also called "Old Indies" or "Great Indies", consisting of India , and the West Indies, also called "New Indies" or "Little Indies", consisting of the Americas . These regions were important sources of trading goods, particularly cotton , indigo and spices after the establishment of European trading companies:

4080-835: The Malay Peninsula , they preyed on Spanish and Portuguese ships there before returning to England in 1594. The biggest prize that galvanised English trade was the seizure of a large Portuguese carrack , the Madre de Deus , by Walter Raleigh and the Earl of Cumberland at the Battle of Flores on 13 August 1592. When she was brought in to Dartmouth she was the largest vessel ever seen in England and she carried chests of jewels, pearls, gold, silver coins, ambergris , cloth, tapestries, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, benjamin (a highly aromatic balsamic resin used for perfumes and medicines), red dye, cochineal and ebony. Equally valuable

4216-620: The Moghul rule and dynasty itself in less than a century. The East India Company monopolized the trade of Bengal. They introduced a land taxation system called the Permanent Settlement which introduced a feudal-like structure (See Zamindar ) in the Bengal Presidency . By the 1850s, the East India Company controlled most of the Indian subcontinent , which included present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh . Their policy

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4352-532: The Scramble for Africa regulated by the terms of the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885. The conference effectively divided Africa among the European powers. Vast regions of Africa came under the sway of Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Italy and Spain. Gilmartin argues that these three waves of colonialism were linked to capitalism . The first wave of European expansion involved exploring

4488-459: The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 , the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of present-day Bangladesh, Pakistan and India in the form of the new British Indian Empire . The company subsequently experienced recurring problems with its finances, despite frequent government intervention. The company was dissolved in 1874 under the terms of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act enacted one year earlier, as

4624-439: The Straits of Malacca by ousting the Portuguese in 1640–1641. With reduced Portuguese and Spanish influence in the region, the EIC and VOC entered a period of intense competition, resulting in the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. The British were also interested in trans-Himalayan trade routes, as they would create access to untapped markets for British manufactured goods in Tibet and China. This economic interest

4760-454: The Thirteen Colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States and other colonies such as Newfoundland and Rupert's Land in what is now Canada. However, the English, French and Dutch were no more averse to making a profit than the Spanish and Portuguese, and whilst their areas of settlement in the Americas proved to be devoid of the precious metals found by the Spanish, trade in other commodities and products that could be sold at

4896-441: The early modern period , when East Asians such as the Han Chinese started to migrate south and became known as the Peranakans or Straits Chinese. Buddhism , Christianity , Islam and Hinduism are the most popular religions throughout the region, while Sikhism , Jainism , Chinese folk religion and various other traditional beliefs and practices are also prominent in some areas. The major languages in this area draw from

5032-415: The economics of plantations , especially sugar , European colonial expansion and slavery would remain linked into the 1800s. The use of exile to penal colonies would also continue. The European "discovery" of the New World , as named by Amerigo Vespucci in 1503, opened another colonial chapter, beginning with the colonization of the Caribbean in 1493 with Hispaniola (later to become Haiti and

5168-402: The fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottoman Empire effectively closed profitable trade routes with Asia, early European exploration of Africa was followed by the Spanish exploration of the Americas , further exploration along the coasts of Africa , and explorations of West Asia (also known as the Middle East ), South Asia , and East Asia . The conquest of the Canary Islands by

5304-491: The "East Indies". The designation East Indian was once primarily used to describe people of all of the East Indies, in order to avoid the potential confusion from the term American Indian who were once simply referred to as Indians (see the Native American name controversy for more information). 1°00′N 103°00′E  /  1.000°N 103.000°E  / 1.000; 103.000 History of colonialism The historical phenomenon of colonization

5440-441: The 1770s in exchange for goods like porcelain and tea , causing a series of opioid addiction outbreaks across China in 1820. The ruling Qing dynasty outlawed the opium trade in 1796 and 1800, but British merchants continued illegally nonetheless. The Qing took measures to prevent the East India Company from selling opium, and destroyed tens of thousands of chests of opium already in the country. This series of events led to

5576-430: The 1870s (circa opening of Suez Canal and Second Industrial Revolution ) and the outbreak of World War I in 1914 are often characterized as the " New Imperialism ". The period is distinguished by an unprecedented pursuit of what has been termed "empire for empire's sake," aggressive competition for overseas territorial acquisitions, and the emergence in colonizing countries of doctrines of racial superiority which denied

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5712-424: The 20th century, the colonies of the defeated central powers in World War I were distributed amongst the victors as mandates , but it was not until the end of World War II that the second phase of decolonization began in earnest. Some commentators identify three waves of European colonialism. The two main countries in the first wave of European colonialism were Portugal and Spain . The Portuguese started

5848-431: The Americas who are often called American Indians . However, in colonial times, the non-Indian Southeast Asians were also called "Indians". Peoples of the East Indies comprise a wide variety of cultural diversity, and the inhabitants do not consider themselves as belonging to a single ethnic group . The region is mostly populated by the Austronesians , who first expanded from the island of Taiwan , and later on during

5984-404: The Americas ; and several other sea-farers who had served with Drake and Raleigh. On 22 September, the group stated their intention "to venture in the pretended voyage to the East Indies (the which it may please the Lord to prosper)" and to themselves invest £30,133 (over £4,000,000 in today's money). Two days later, the "Adventurers" reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of

6120-425: The Atlantic on a massive scale – historians estimate that the Atlantic slave trade brought between 10 and 12 million black African slaves to the New World. The islands of the Caribbean soon came to be populated by slaves of African descent, ruled over by a white minority of plantation owners interested in making a fortune and then returning to their home country to spend it. From its very outset, Western colonialism

6256-424: The British state and the Royal Navy in the form of the West Africa Squadron , which discovered various ships had contained evidence of the illegal trade. In 1613, during the rule of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate , the British ship Clove , under the command of Captain John Saris , was the first English ship to call on Japan. Saris was the chief factor of the EIC's trading post in Java, and with

6392-520: The British, with the exception of the French outposts of Pondicherry and Chandernagore , the Dutch port in Travancore , and the Portuguese colonies of Goa , Daman , and Diu . The English East India Company had been given permission by the Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1617 to trade in India. Gradually the company's increasing influence led the de jure Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar to grant them dastaks or permits for duty-free trade in Bengal in 1717. The Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Daulah ,

6528-475: The Court of Directors. By tradition, business was initially transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolph's church in Bishopsgate , before moving to East India House in Leadenhall Street . Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601 aboard Red Dragon . The following year, whilst sailing in the Malacca Straits , Lancaster took the rich 1,200 ton Portuguese carrack Sao Thome carrying pepper and spices. The booty enabled

6664-618: The Dutch turned their attention to the Old World, particularly South Africa and South Asia, particularly Southeast Asia , where coastal enclaves had already been established. In the 19th century, the Second Industrial Revolution led to what has been termed the era of New Imperialism , when the pace of colonization rapidly accelerated, the height of which was the Scramble for Africa , in which Belgium, Germany, and Italy were also participants. There were deadly battles between colonizing states and revolutions from colonized areas shaping areas of control and establishing independent nations. During

6800-415: The Dutch. This compelled the company to formally abandon their efforts in the Spice Islands, and turn their attention to Bengal where, by this time, they were making steady, if less exciting, profits. After gaining the indifferent patronage of the Mughal Empire , whose cities were 'the megacities of their time' and whose wealth was unrivaled outside of Asia in the 17th Century, the Company's first century in

6936-430: The EIC surrendered in 1690, and the company sent envoys to Aurangzeb 's camp to plead for a pardon. The company's envoys had to prostrate themselves before the emperor, pay a large indemnity, and promise better behaviour in the future. The emperor withdrew his troops, and the company subsequently re-established itself in Bombay and set up a new base in Calcutta. The East India Company's archives suggest its involvement in

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7072-420: The East Asian seaboard, where Japan joined the European powers' scramble for territory. The Berlin Conference (1884–1885) mediated the imperial competition among Britain, France, and Germany, defining "effective occupation" as the criterion for international recognition of colonial claims and codifying the imposition of direct rule , accomplished usually through armed force. In Germany, rising pan-Germanism

7208-400: The East India Company's troops with British Army soldiers, the Company overcame the rebellion. The nominal leader of the uprising, the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar , was exiled to Burma, his children were beheaded and the Moghul line was abolished. In the aftermath all power was transferred from the East India Company to the British Crown , which began to administer most of India as

7344-429: The English. In March 1604, Sir Henry Middleton commanded the company's second voyage . General William Keeling , a captain during the second voyage, led the third voyage aboard Red Dragon from 1607 to 1610 along with Hector under Captain William Hawkins and Consent under Captain David Middleton . Early in 1608, Alexander Sharpeigh was made captain of the company's Ascension , and general or commander of

7480-413: The French colony of Saint-Domingue , established Haïti as a free, black republic , the first of its kind. Haiti became the second independent nation that was a former European colony in the Western Hemisphere after the United States. Africans and people of African ancestry freed themselves from slavery and colonization by taking advantage of the conflict among whites over how to implement the reforms of

7616-485: The French while making it clear that France could not expand its control beyond these areas. The beginning of the Portuguese occupation of India can be traced back to the arrival of Vasco da Gama near Calicut on 20 May 1498. Soon after this, other explorers, traders and missionaries followed. By 1515, the Portuguese were the strongest naval power in the Indian Ocean and the Malabar Coast was dominated by them. The policy and ideology of European colonial expansion between

7752-424: The Government of India Act had by then rendered it vestigial, powerless, and obsolete. The official government machinery of the British Empire had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. In 1577, Francis Drake set out on an expedition from England to plunder Spanish settlements in South America in search of gold and silver. Sailing in the Golden Hind he achieved this, and then sailed across

7888-405: The Iberian kingdoms of Castile and Portugal along a north-south meridian, 370 leagues west of Cape Verde . According to this international agreement, the larger part of the Americas and the Pacific Ocean were open to Spanish exploration and colonization, while Africa, the Indian Ocean , and most of Asia were assigned to Portugal. The boundaries specified by the Treaty of Tordesillas were put to

8024-430: The Indian Ocean. The company achieved a major victory over the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally in 1612, at Suvali in Surat . The company decided to explore the feasibility of a foothold in mainland India, with official sanction from both Britain and the Mughal Empire , and requested that the Crown launch a diplomatic mission. Company ships docked at Surat in Gujarat in 1608. The company's first Indian factory

8160-422: The Islamic Ottoman Empire , itself gaining territories and colonies in Eastern Europe. The first foothold outside of Europe was gained with the conquest of Ceuta in 1415. During the 15th century, Portuguese sailors discovered the Atlantic islands of Madeira , Azores , and Cape Verde , which were duly populated, and pressed progressively further along the west African coast until Bartolomeu Dias demonstrated it

8296-602: The Jesuits still stand, such as the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Macau and the Santisima Trinidad de Paraná in Paraguay , the latter an example of the Jesuit Reductions . The Dominican and Franciscan buildings of California's missions and New Mexico's missions stand restored, such as Mission Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California and San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico . As characteristically happens in any colonialism, European or not, previous or subsequent, both Spain and Portugal profited handsomely from their newfound overseas colonies:

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8432-416: The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan extended his hospitality to the English traders to the richest region of the Mutual Empire Bengal , and in 1717 customs duties were completely waived for the English in Bengal. The company's mainstay businesses were by then cotton, silk, opium, indigo dye , saltpetre , and tea. The Dutch were aggressive competitors and had meanwhile expanded their monopoly of the spice trade in

8568-738: The Mughal-ruled areas was spent cultivating their relationship with the Mughal Dynasty, and conducting peaceful trade at great profit. At first it should be said the EIC was drawn into the Mughal system, acting as a kind of vassal to Mughal authority in present-day Bangladesh: from this position that the EIC would ultimately outplay and outmaneuver everyone else in the region, to eventually use that same system to hold power. What started as trading posts on undesirable land were developed into sprawling factory complexes with hundreds of workers sending exotic goods to England and managing protected points to export English finished goods to local merchants. The Company's initial rise in Bengal and successes generally came at

8704-489: The Pacific Ocean in 1579, known then only to the Spanish and Portuguese. Drake eventually sailed into the East Indies and came across the Moluccas , also known as the Spice Islands, and met Sultan Babullah . In exchange for linen, gold, and silver, the English obtained a large haul of exotic spices, including cloves and nutmeg. Drake returned to England in 1580 and became a hero; his circumnavigation raised an enormous amount of money for England's coffers, and investors received

8840-454: The Portuguese encountered ancient and well populated societies, and established a seaborne empire consisting of armed coastal trading posts along their trade routes (such as Goa , Malacca and Macau ), so they had relatively little cultural impact on the societies they engaged. In the Western Hemisphere, the European colonization involved the emigration of large numbers of settlers, soldiers and administrators intent on owning land and exploiting

8976-606: The Spanish Empire in the Americas was Napoleon's invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 1808. With the installation of his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne, the main tie between the metropole and its colonies in the Americas, the Spanish monarchy, had been cut, leading the colonists to question their continued subordination to a declining and distant country. With an eye on the events of the American Revolution forty years earlier, revolutionary leaders began bloody wars of independence against Spain, whose armies were ultimately unable to maintain control. By 1831, Spain had been ejected from

9112-409: The Spanish from gold and silver from mines such as Potosí and Zacatecas in New Spain , the Portuguese from the huge markups they enjoyed as trade intermediaries, particularly during the Nanban Japan trade period. The influx of precious metals to the Spanish monarchy's coffers allowed it to finance costly religious wars in Europe which ultimately proved its economic undoing: the supply of metals

9248-460: The United States and Canada, or islands in the Caribbean, such as Aruba , Martinique , and Barbados , that had been abandoned by the Spanish in favor of the mainland and larger islands. Whereas Spanish colonialism was based on the religious conversion and exploitation of local populations via encomiendas (many Spaniards emigrated to the Americas to elevate their social status, and were not interested in manual labor), Northern European colonialism

9384-417: The acquisition of Pondicherry from the Sultan of Bijapur the next year. Both became the centers of the maritime commercial activities that the French conducted in India. The French also had trading posts in Mahe, Karikal and Yanaon . Similar to the situation in Tahiti and Martinique , the French colonial administrative area was insular, but, in India, the French authority was isolated on the peripheries of

9520-440: The adventurer Edward Michelborne , the nobleman William Cavendish and other aldermen and citizens. She granted her charter to their corporation named Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies . For a period of fifteen years, the charter awarded the company a monopoly on English trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan . Any traders there without

9656-486: The apparently primitive (as perceived by Old World standards) indigenous peoples of the Americas . The result was that the colonization of the New World was catastrophic: native peoples were no match for European technology, ruthlessness, or their diseases which decimated the indigenous population . Spanish treatment of the indigenous populations caused a fierce debate, the Valladolid Controversy , over whether Indians possessed souls and if so, whether they were entitled to

9792-751: The areas between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea . The key areas were Armenia and Georgia , with some better penetration of the Ottoman Empire, and Persia . By 1829, Russia controlled all of the Caucasus as shown in the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829. The third era, 1850 to 1860, was a brief interlude jumping to the East Coast, annexing the region from the Amur River to Manchuria . The fourth era, 1865 to 1885 incorporated Turkestan, and

9928-1096: The assistance of William Adams , an English sailor who had arrived in Japan in 1600, he was able to gain permission from the ruler to establish a commercial house in Hirado on the Japanese island of Kyushu : We give free license to the subjects of the King of Great Britaine, Sir Thomas Smythe, Governor and Company of the East Indian Merchants and Adventurers forever safely come into any of our ports of our Empire of Japan with their shippes and merchandise, without any hindrance to them or their goods, and to abide, buy, sell and barter according to their own manner with all nations, to tarry here as long as they think good, and to depart at their pleasure. Unable to obtain Japanese raw silk for export to China, and with their trading area reduced to Hirado and Nagasaki from 1616 onwards,

10064-541: The attention of Britain, France, and the Netherlands. The entrance of these three powers into the Caribbean and North America perpetuated European colonialism in these regions. The second wave of European colonialism commenced with Britain's involvement in Asia in support of the British East India Company ; other countries such as France, Portugal and the Netherlands also had involvement in European expansion in Asia. The third wave ("New Imperialism") consisted of

10200-762: The basic rights of mankind. Bartolomé de Las Casas , author of A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies , championed the cause of the native peoples, and was opposed by Sepúlveda , who claimed Amerindians were "natural slaves". The Roman Catholic Church played a large role in Spanish and Portuguese overseas activities. The Dominicans , Jesuits , and Franciscans , notably Francis Xavier in Asia and Junípero Serra in North America, were particularly active in this endeavour. Many buildings erected by

10336-453: The beginnings of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent . The company eventually came to rule large areas of the Indian subcontinent, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company-ruled areas in the region gradually expanded after the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and by 1858 most of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was either ruled by the company or princely states closely tied to it by treaty. Following

10472-589: The chaos widened and the stakes were raised. Ultimately, the company won out, generally through as much diplomacy and state-craft(fraud and deception). The gradual rise of the EIC within the Mughal network culminated in the Second Anglo-Maratha War , in which the Company successfully ousted the Empire's official protectors in the Maratha, the Maratha high water point in their rise to power, and installed

10608-521: The clause in Adam's will excluding his authority from the New World. This challenge initially took the form of piratical attacks (such as those by Francis Drake ) on Spanish treasure fleets or coastal settlements. Later the Northern European countries began establishing settlements of their own, primarily in areas that were outside of Spanish interests, such as what is now the eastern seaboard of

10744-579: The coast of China that helped secure EIC ports in China, independently attacking the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf Residencies primarily for political reasons. The company established trading posts in Surat (1619) and Madras (1639). By 1647, the company had 23 factories and settlements in India, and 90 employees. Many of the major factories became some of the most populated and commercially influential cities in Bengal, including

10880-666: The company closed its factory in 1623. The first of the Anglo-Indian wars occurred in 1686 when the company conducted naval operations against Shaista Khan , the governor of Mughal Bengal . This led to the siege of Bombay and the subsequent intervention of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb . Subsequently, the English company was defeated and fined. In September 1695, Captain Henry Every , an English pirate on board

11016-574: The company enjoyed allowed them to return to Britain and establish sprawling estates and businesses, and to obtain political power, such as seats in the House of Commons. Ship captains sold their appointments to successors for up to £500. As recruits aimed to return to Britain wealthy by securing Indian money, their loyalties to their homeland increased. The company developed a lobby in the English parliament. Pressure from ambitious tradesmen and former company associates (pejoratively termed Interlopers by

11152-555: The company's factories in India and imprison their officers, who were almost lynched by a mob of angry Mughals , blaming them for their countryman's depredations, and threatened to put an end to all English trading in India. To appease Emperor Aurangzeb and particularly his Grand Vizier Asad Khan , Parliament exempted Every from all of the Acts of Grace (pardons) and amnesties it would subsequently issue to other pirates. The East India Company started selling opium to Chinese merchants in

11288-518: The company), who wanted to establish private trading firms in India, led to the passing of the deregulating act in 1694. This act allowed any English firm to trade with India, unless specifically prohibited by act of parliament, thereby annulling the charter that had been in force for almost 100 years. When the East India Company Act 1697 ( 9 Will. 3 . c. 44) was passed in 1697, a new "parallel" East India Company (officially titled

11424-400: The continent as they individually contended with others, steadily amassing more land and power in India to themselves. In the 18th Century, the primary source of the Company's profits in Bengal became taxation in conquered and controlled provinces, as the factories became fortresses and administrative hubs for networks of tax collectors that expanded into enormous cities. The Mughal Empire was

11560-571: The entry of the Dutch , English , French , Danish and others. The kingdoms of India were gradually taken over by the Europeans and indirectly controlled by puppet rulers. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I accorded a charter , forming the East India Company to trade with India and eastern Asia. The English landed in India in Surat in 1612. By the 19th century, they had assumed direct and indirect control over most of India. After

11696-480: The expense of competing European powers through the art of currying favors and well-placed bribes, as the company was matched at every step with French expansion in the region (whose equivalent company carried substantial royal support). See French East India Company . Throughout the entire century the company only resorted to force against the Mughals once, with terrible consequences. The Anglo-Mughal war (1686–1690)

11832-490: The first direct contact between Europeans and the peoples inhabiting present day countries such as Mozambique , Madagascar , Sri Lanka , Malaysia , Indonesia , East Timor (1512), China, and finally Japan. In the opposite direction, the Portuguese colonized the huge territory that eventually became Brasil, and the Spanish conquistadors established the vast Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru , and later of Río de la Plata (Argentina) and New Granada (Colombia). In Asia,

11968-504: The fitness of subjugated peoples for self-government. During this period, Europe's powers added nearly 8,880,000 square miles (23,000,000 km ) to their overseas colonial possessions. As it was mostly unoccupied by the Western powers as late as the 1880s, Africa became the primary target of the "new" imperialist expansion (known as the Scramble for Africa ), although conquest took place also in other areas – notably south-east Asia and

12104-575: The former Dutch New Guinea , which is geographically considered to be part of Melanesia . The inhabitants of the East Indies are never called East Indians , as they are not linguistically related to South Asia, most specifically the Indo-Aryan languages . It distinguishes them both from inhabitants of the Caribbean (which is also called the West Indies ) and from the indigenous peoples of

12240-470: The former independent country which is now part of Yemen . European colonization of both Eastern and Western Hemispheres has its roots in Portuguese exploration. There were financial and religious motives behind this exploration. By finding the source of the lucrative spice trade , the Portuguese could reap its profits for themselves. They would also be able to probe the existence of the fabled Christian kingdom of Prester John , with an eye to encircling

12376-502: The fourth voyage. Thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union (captained by Richard Rowles), sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1608. This expedition was lost. Initially, the company struggled in the spice trade because of competition from the well-established Dutch East India Company . This rivalry led to military skirmishes, with each company establishing fortified trading posts, fleets, and alliances with local rulers. The Dutch, better financed and supported by their government, gained

12512-651: The imperial patronage, soon expanded its commercial trading operations. It eclipsed the Portuguese Estado da Índia , which had established bases in Goa , Chittagong , and Bombay ; Portugal later ceded Bombay to England as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II . The East India Company also launched a joint attack with the Dutch United East India Company (VOC) on Portuguese and Spanish ships off

12648-468: The king of Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia ) was identified with " Prester John of the Indies", since that part of the world was imagined to be one of "Three Indias". Exploration of the East Indies by European powers began in the last three years of the 15th century and continued into the 16th century, led by the Portuguese explorers . The Portuguese described the entire region they discovered as

12784-632: The late 16th and 17th centuries, England , France , and the Dutch Republic also established their own overseas empires, in direct competition with one another. The end of the 18th and mid 19th century saw the first era of decolonization , when most of the European colonies in the Americas, notably those of Spain, New France , and the Thirteen Colonies , gained their independence from their metropole . The Kingdom of Great Britain (uniting Scotland and England), France, Portugal, and

12920-553: The long age of European colonization with the conquest of Ceuta, Morocco in 1415, and the conquest and discovery of other African territories and islands, this would also start the movement known as the Age of Discoveries. The Spanish and Portuguese launched the colonization of the Americas , basing their territorial claims on the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494. This treaty demarcated the respective spheres of influence of Spain and Portugal. The expansion achieved by Spain and Portugal caught

13056-535: The mainland of the Americas, leaving a collection of independent republics that stretched from Chile and Argentina in the south to Mexico in the north. Spain's colonial possessions were reduced to Cuba , Puerto Rico , the Philippines, and a number of small islands in the Pacific, all of which she was to lose to the United States in the 1898 Spanish–American War or sell to Germany shortly thereafter. Brazil

13192-465: The military system necessary to support and defend the colonies outran the total trade they produced. Apart from the British Empire, they have not favored destinations for the immigration of surplus populations. British East India Company The East India Company ( EIC ) (1600–1874) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It

13328-599: The northern approaches to India, sparking British fears of a threat to India in the Great Game . During the five decades following 1770, Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal lost many of their possessions in the Americas. After the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, Britain had emerged as the world's dominant power but found itself mired in debt and struggling to finance the Navy and Army necessary to maintain

13464-402: The original company faced scarcely any measurable competition. The companies merged in 1708, by a tripartite indenture involving both companies and the state, with the charter and agreement for the new United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies being awarded by Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin . Under this arrangement, the merged company lent a sum of £3,200,000 to

13600-470: The people he encountered there were Indians with red skin. This is why Native Americans have been called Indians or red-Indians. In truth, Columbus had arrived on a continent that was new to the Europeans, the Americas . After Columbus' first trips, competing Spanish and Portuguese claims to new territories and sea routes were solved with the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which divided the world outside of Europe in two areas of trade and exploration, between

13736-556: The pirates hostis humani generis ("the enemy of humanity"). In mid-1696 the government issued a £500 bounty on Every's head and offered a free pardon to any informer who disclosed his whereabouts. The first worldwide manhunt in recorded history was underway. The plunder of Aurangzeb's treasure ship had serious consequences for the English East India Company. The furious Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ordered Sidi Yaqub and Nawab Daud Khan to attack and close four of

13872-409: The power of the EIC, King Charles II granted the EIC (in a series of five acts around 1670) the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas. In 1689, a Mughal fleet commanded by Sidi Yaqub attacked Bombay. After a year of resistance

14008-445: The pre-1707 Mughal fiefs and holdings, with their capital Delhi routinely under the control of Maratha, Afghan, or usurper generals' armies. The EIC was able to take advantage of this chaos, slowly assuming direct control of the province of Bengal , and fighting numerous wars against the French for control of the east coast. The Company's position in the Mughal court as it fell apart made it possible to sponsor various powerful people on

14144-558: The project. Although their first attempt had not been completely successful, they sought the Queen's unofficial approval to continue. They bought ships for the venture and increased their investment to £68,373. They convened again a year later, on 31 December 1600, and this time they succeeded; the Queen responded favourably to a petition by George, Earl of Cumberland and 218 others, including James Lancaster, Sir John Harte , Sir John Spencer (both of whom had been Lord Mayor of London ),

14280-456: The region's battlefields for a thousand years, with cannon so well integrated that the Mughals fought with cannon mounted on elephants; all were no match to line infantry with decent discipline supported with field cannon. Repeatedly, a few thousand company sepoys fought vastly larger Mughal forces numerically and came out victorious. Afghan, Mughal, and Maratha factions started creating their own European-style forces, often with French equipment, as

14416-459: The richest in the world in 1700, and the East India Company tried to strip it bare for a century thereafter. Dalrymple calls it "the single largest transfer of wealth until the Nazis." What was in the 17th century the production capital of the world for textiles was forced to become a market for British-made textiles. Statues, jewels, and various other valuables were moved from the palaces of Bengal to

14552-546: The size of the British Army at certain times. Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies," the company rose to account for half of the world's trade during the mid-1700s and early 1800s, particularly in basic commodities including cotton , silk , indigo dye , sugar , salt , spices , saltpetre , tea , and later, opium . The company also initiated

14688-541: The slave trade began in 1684, when a Captain Robert Knox was ordered to buy and transport 250 slaves from Madagascar to St. Helena . The East India Company began using and transporting slaves in Asia and the Atlantic in the early 1620s, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, or in 1621, according to Richard Allen. Eventually, the company ended the trade in 1834 after numerous legal threats from

14824-408: The straits en route to Surat . The pirates gave chase and caught up with the Fateh Muhammed some days later, and meeting little resistance, took some £40,000 of silver. Every continued in pursuit and managed to overhaul Ganj-i-Sawai , which resisted strongly before eventually striking . Ganj-i-Sawai carried enormous wealth and, according to contemporary East India Company sources, was carrying

14960-627: The superpower without any major ally. The American War of Independence continued until 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed. Britain recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded by the British possessions to the North, Florida to the South, and the Mississippi River to the west. The Haitian Revolution , a slave revolt led by Toussaint L'Ouverture in

15096-471: The test in 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan and his Spanish sailors (among other Europeans), sailing for the Spanish Crown became the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean, reaching Guam and the Philippines, parts of which the Portuguese had already explored, sailing from the Indian Ocean. The two by now global empires, which had set out from opposing directions, had finally met on the other side of

15232-536: The townhouses of the English countryside. Bengal in particular suffered the worst of Company tax farming, highlighted by the Great Bengal famine of 1770 . The primary tool of expansion for the company was the Sepoy. The Sepoys were locally raised, mostly Muslim, soldiers with European training and equipment, who changed warfare in present-day South Asia. Mounted forces and their superior mobility had been king on

15368-540: The upper hand by establishing a stronghold in the spice islands (now Indonesia), enforcing a near-monopoly through aggressive policies that eventually drove the EIC to seek trade opportunities in India instead. The English company opened a factory (trading post) in Bantam on Java on its first voyage, and imports of pepper from Java remained an important part of the company's trade for twenty years. English traders frequently fought their Dutch and Portuguese counterparts in

15504-569: The voyagers to set up two " factories " (trading posts) – one at Bantam on Java and another in the Moluccas (Spice Islands) before leaving. On return to England in 1603, they learned of Elizabeth's death, but Lancaster was knighted by the new king, James I , on account of the voyage's success. By this time, the war with Spain had ended but the company had profitably breached the Spanish-Portuguese duopoly; new horizons opened for

15640-575: The walled forts of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St George in Madras, and Bombay Castle . The first century of the Company, despite its original profits coming primarily from piracy in the Spice Islands between competing European powers and their companies, saw the East India Company change focus after suffering a major setback in 1623 when their factory in Amboyna in the Moluccas was attacked by

15776-642: The world to find new revenue and perpetuating European feudalism . The second wave focused on developing the mercantile capitalism system and the manufacturing industry in Europe. The last wave of European colonialism solidified all capitalistic endeavours by providing new markets and raw materials. As a result of these waves of European colonial expansion, only thirteen present-day independent countries escaped formal colonization by European powers: Afghanistan , Bhutan , Iran , Japan , Liberia , Mongolia , Nepal , China , North Korea , Saudi Arabia , South Korea , Thailand , and Turkey as well as North Yemen ,

15912-453: The world. The conflicts that arose between both powers were finally solved with the Treaty of Zaragoza in 1529, which defined the areas of Spanish and Portuguese influence in Asia, establishing the anti-meridian, or line of demarcation on the other side of the world. During the 16th century the Portuguese continued to press both eastwards and westwards into the Oceans. Towards Asia they made

16048-510: Was a complete defeat, ending when the EIC effectively swore fealty to the Mughals to get their factories back. The East India Company's fortunes changed for the better in 1707 when Bengal and other regions under Mughal rule fell into anarchy after the death of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb . A series of large-scale rebellions, and the collapse of the Mughal taxation system led to the effective independence of virtually all of

16184-460: Was bolstered by those emigrating for religious reasons (for example, the Mayflower voyage). The motive for emigration was not to become an aristocrat or to spread one's faith but to start a new society afresh, structured according to the colonist's wishes. The most populous emigration of the 17th century was that of the English, who after a series of wars with the Dutch and French came to dominate

16320-589: Was combined with British victories over the French at Madras , Wandiwash and Pondicherry that, along with wider British successes during the Seven Years' War , reduced French influence in India. After the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the company acquired the civil rights of administration in Bengal from the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II ; it marked the beginning of its formal rule, which was to engulf eventually most of India and extinguish

16456-549: Was consulted on Indian affairs and gave even more valuable information to Lancaster. In 1599, a group of prominent merchants and explorers met to discuss a potential East Indies venture under a royal charter . Besides Fitch and Lancaster, the group included Stephen Soame , then Lord Mayor of London ; Thomas Smythe , a powerful London politician and administrator who had established the Levant Company ; Richard Hakluyt , writer and proponent of British colonization of

16592-480: Was coupled to imperialism in the Alldeutsche Verband ("Pangermanic League"), which argued that Britain's world power position gave the British unfair advantages on international markets, thus limiting Germany's economic growth and threatening its security. Asking whether colonies paid, economic historian Grover Clark argues an emphatic "No!" He reports that in every case the support cost, especially

16728-541: Was established in 1611 at Masulipatnam on the Andhra Coast of the Bay of Bengal , and its second in 1615 at Surat. The high profits reported by the company after landing in India initially prompted James I to grant subsidiary licences to other trading companies in England. However, in 1609, he renewed the East India Company's charter for an indefinite period, with the proviso that its privileges would be annulled if trade

16864-440: Was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region , initially with the East Indies (South Asia and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company gained control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and Hong Kong . At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world by various measures and had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three presidency armies , totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice

17000-1113: Was highly successful, and Jahangir sent a letter to James through Sir Thomas Roe: Upon which assurance of your royal love I have given my general command to all the kingdoms and ports of my dominions to receive all the merchants of the English nation as the subjects of my friend; that in what place soever they choose to live, they may have free liberty without any restraint; and at what port soever they shall arrive, that neither Portugal nor any other shall dare to molest their quiet; and in what city soever they shall have residence, I have commanded all my governors and captains to give them freedom answerable to their own desires; to sell, buy, and to transport into their country at their pleasure. For confirmation of our love and friendship, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to bring in their ships of all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace; and that you be pleased to send me your royal letters by every opportunity, that I may rejoice in your health and prosperous affairs; that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal. The company, which benefited from

17136-643: Was left in charge of Brazil and in 1822 he declared independence from Portugal and himself the Emperor of Brazil. Unlike Spain's former colonies which had abandoned the monarchy in favor of republicanism, Brazil, therefore, retained its links with its monarchy, the House of Braganza . Vasco da Gama 's maritime success to discover for Europeans a new sea route to India in 1498 paved the way for direct Indo-European commerce. The Portuguese soon set up trading-posts in Goa , Daman , Diu and Bombay . The next to arrive were

17272-423: Was not infinite and the large inflow caused inflation and debt, and subsequently affected the rest of Europe. It was not long before the exclusivity of Iberian claims to the Americas was challenged by other up and coming European powers, primarily the Netherlands, France and England: the view taken by the rulers of these nations is epitomized by the quotation attributed to Francis I of France demanding to be shown

17408-459: Was operated as a joint public-private venture. Columbus' voyages to the Americas were partially funded by Italian investors, but whereas the Spanish state maintained a tight rein on trade with its colonies (by law, the colonies could only trade with one designated port in the mother country and treasure was brought back in special convoys ), the English, French and Dutch granted what were effectively trade monopolies to joint-stock companies such as

17544-534: Was possible to sail around Africa by rounding the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, paving the way for Vasco da Gama to reach India in 1498. Portuguese successes led to Spanish financing of a mission by Christopher Columbus in 1492 to explore an alternative route to Asia, by sailing west. When Columbus eventually made landfall in the Caribbean Antilles he believed he had reached the coast of India, and that

17680-603: Was showcased by the Anglo-Nepalese war (1814–1816). The Draft History of the Qing records the Chinese Qing dynasty as formally commencing trade with the British in 1698. Within the first two decades of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie , (VOC) was the wealthiest commercial operation in the world with 50,000 employees worldwide and

17816-527: Was so high between the Dutch and the British East Indies Trading Companies that it escalated into at least four Anglo-Dutch wars: 1652–1654, 1665–1667, 1672–1674 and 1780–1784. Competition arose in 1635 when Charles I granted a trading licence to Sir William Courteen , which permitted the rival Courteen association to trade with the east at any location in which the EIC had no presence. In an act aimed at strengthening

17952-534: Was sometimes summed up as Divide and Rule , taking advantage of the enmity festering between various princely states and social and religious groups. The first major movement against the British Company's high-handed rule resulted in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , also known as the "Indian Mutiny" or "Sepoy Mutiny" or the "First War of Independence". After a year of turmoil, and reinforcement of

18088-516: Was the only country in Latin America to gain its independence without bloodshed. The invasion of Portugal by Napoleon in 1808 had forced King João VI to escape to Brazil and establish his court in Rio de Janeiro. For thirteen years, Portugal was ruled from Brazil (the only instance of such a reversal of roles between colony and metropole) until his return to Portugal in 1821. His son, Dom Pedro ,

18224-549: Was the ship's rutter (mariner's handbook) containing vital information on the China , India, and Japan trade routes. In 1596, three more English ships sailed east but all were lost at sea. A year later however saw the arrival of Ralph Fitch , an adventurer merchant who, with his companions, had made a remarkable nine year overland journey to Mesopotamia , the Persian Gulf , the Indian Ocean, India and Southeast Asia. Fitch

18360-531: Was to deliver a decisive blow to the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of far-eastern trade. Elizabeth granted her permission and in 1591, James Lancaster in the Bonaventure with two other ships, financed by the Levant Company , sailed from England around the Cape of Good Hope to the Arabian Sea , becoming the first English expedition to reach India that way. Having sailed around Cape Comorin to

18496-525: Was unprofitable for three consecutive years. In 1615, James I instructed Sir Thomas Roe to visit the Mughal Emperor Nur-ud-din Salim Jahangir (r. 1605–1627) to arrange for a commercial treaty that would give the company exclusive rights to reside and establish factories in Surat and other areas. In return, the company offered to provide the Emperor with goods and rarities from the European market. This mission

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