Imperialism in South Asia

Portugal, France, and England competed for control of India’s spices, gems, and trade with regions to the east. Portugal established a coastal trading port on the southwestern coast, in Goa, in the early 16th century. However, it never extended its control inland. France established trading ports in the 17th century. However, its loss to Britain in the global conflict known as the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) drove the French out of India.

England’s East India Company (EIC), steadily encroached on the land of the weak Mughal Empire. Eventually, Britain controlled the entire Indian subcontinent, from Pakistan in the west to Kashmir in the north to Bengal in the east to the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in the south. At first, the EIC’s small forces of British soldiers protected the firm’s employees. As the British crept into India’s interior, they began recruiting native Indian soldiers, called sepoys, to join the British colonial army. However, as explained in the next topic, the sepoys ignited an unsuccessful rebellion against the British in 1857.