NCERT 8th Class (CBSE) Social Science: The Expansion Of British Power

Question: Describe the changes that occurred in the composition of the Company’s army.

Answer: Several changes occurred in the composition of the Company’s army:

1. The Company began recruitment for its own army, which came to be known as the Sepoy army.
2. As the warfare technology changed from the 1820’s, the cavalry recruitment of the Company’s army declined.
3. The soldiers of the Company’s army had to keep pace with changing military requirements and its infantry regiments now became more important.
4. In the early 19th century the British began to develop a uniform military culture. Soldiers were increasingly subjected to European style training, drill and discipline that regulated Their life for more than before.

Question: Give an account of the Battle of Plassey.

Answer: The Company was very keen to have a puppet ruler in place of Sirajuddaulah, so that it might enjoy trade concessions and other privileges. It began to help one of Sirajuddaulah’s rivals become the nawab. This infuriated Sirajuddaulah. He sternly asked the Company to stop meddling in the political affairs of his dominion. After negotiations failed, the Nawab marched with his soldiers to the English factory at Kasimbazar, captured the Company officials, disarmed all Englishmen and blocked English ships. Then he marched to Calcutta to establish control over the Company’s fort there. As soon as the Company officials in Madras heard the news of the fall of Calcutta, they sent forces under the command of Robert Clive, reinforced by naval fleets. Prolonged negotiations with the Nawab followed. But no concrete solution came out. Finally, in 1759, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey.

In this battle, Sirajuddaulah got defeated. The main reason was that one of his commanders, Mir Jafar, did not fight the battle. He, in fact, supported the Company by not fighting because the Company had promised to make him Nawab after defeating Sirajuddaulah.

The victory of the Company in the Battle of Plassey gave it immense confidence. It was the first major victory of the Company in India.

Question: Who introduced the policy of ‘paramounty’? What did it mean? What sort of resistance did the Company face?

Answer: Lord Hastings, who was the Governor-General of India from 1813 to 1823, introduced a new policy of ‘paramounty’. Now the Company claimed that its authority was paramount or supreme, hence its power was greater than that of Indian states. In order to protect its interests it was justified in annexing or threatening to annex any Indian kingdom.

However, this process did not go unchallenged. For example, when the British tried to annex, the small state of Kitoor (in Karnataka today), Rani Channamma took to arms and led an anti-British resistance movement. She was arrested in 1823 and died in prison in 1829. But this resistance movement did not stop. It was carried on by Rajana, a poor chowkidar of Sangoli in Kitoor. With popular support he destroyed many British camps and records. He was also caught and hanged by the British in 1830.

Question: How did the East India Company begin trade in Bengal?

Answer: The East India Company set up first English factory on the banks of the river Hugh in the year 1651. This became the base from which the Company’s traders, known at that time as ‘factors’, operated. The factory had a warehouse where goods for export were stored and it had offices where Company officials set. As trade expanded, the Company persuaded merchants and traders to come and settle near the factory.

By 1696 the Company began to build a fort around the settlement. Two years later it bribed Mughal officials into giving the Company zamindari rights over three villages. One of these was Kalikata which later developed into a city, known as Calcutta. The Company also persuaded the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to issue a farman granting the Company the right to trade duty-free. The Company tried continuously to press for more concessions and manipulate existing privileges. For instance, Aurangzeb’s farman had granted only the Company the right to trade duty-free. But Company officials who were carrying on private trade on the side, were expected to pay duty. But they refused to pay. This caused huge loss of revenue for Bengal.