History Wonders

The French were late entrants to Indian trade through the sea route. The French East India Company was established in 1664. The French established their factories at Surat, Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Yanam, Mahe, and Karaikal. Pondicherry became the main administrative centre of French possessions in India. In the Carnatic region, the French and the English fought … Read more

Portugal was enjoying a monopoly in the spice trade and making huge profits from it in the 16th century. Other European countries did not want to be left behind. Several merchants in London came together and formed the East India Company in 1600 AD, and obtained a royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I. However, it … Read more

If the 16th century was the century of the Portuguese in trade with India, the 17th century belonged to the Dutch. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company, known as the VOC   was formed, and it soon left behind the Portuguese and the English in Asian trade. Dutch trade was much more diversified than Portuguese … Read more

The East India Company had employed a huge number of Indian sepoys in its army. In 1857, the Company introduced the Enfield rifle in India. When Indian sepoys came to know that the cartridges used in this rifle were greased with cow and pig fat, their religious sentiments were deeply hurt. The Indian sepoys resisted, … Read more

If the East India Company emerged as a kingmaker in Bengal after the Battle of Plassey (1757), it became the king itself after the Battle of Buxar (1764). After the Battle of Plassey, Mir Jafar was made the Nawab of Bengal, and the plunder of Bengal began. The East India Company was paid a huge … Read more

The Battle of Plassey in 1757 was an important battle that paved the way for British rule in India. The Second Battle of Tarain in 1192  paved the way for the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, the First Battle of Panipat in 1526  facilitated the rise of the Mughal Empire, and the battle of palassey … Read more

Babur inherited the throne of Fergana at a young age and aspired to rule over Samarkand. He was initially successful in capturing Samarkand, but in 1501 he was defeated by the Uzbek ruler Shaybani Khan. After this defeat, Babur wandered as a fugitive for several years. In 1504, he moved eastward and managed to take … Read more

Awadh was originally under the control of the Mughal Empire. In 1722, Saadat Khan was appointed as the governor of Awadh. After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire began to decline, and Awadh gradually became autonomous. The position of the Nawab became hereditary. In 1764, the combined forces of Awadh, Mughal Emperor Shah Alam … Read more

The Mughals believed in the principle of survival of the fittest, and after the death of a Mughal king, the one who survived the war of succession became the emperor. During the reign of Shah Jahan, the war of succession started even before his death. Shah Jahan had four sons—Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb, Murad, and Shuja. … Read more

Punjab was the last major kingdom to be annexed by the East India Company in India. With the annexation of Punjab in 1849, almost the entire Indian subcontinent came under the Company’s control. It is said that when a map of India, showing British territories in red, was shown to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, he remarked, … Read more