Europeans in India Part 10 Anglo-French Rivalry Section I: First Carnatic War – French Ascendancy

Canberra, 15 May 2023 The 18th century was one of enormous changes for the English East India Company—it was during the first half of this century that the Company started to evolve from being a global trader to becoming a State by itself. This period also witnessed increasing government oversight of its revenue and political […]

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Europeans in India Part 9 The French Arrive in India Section I: Pondicherry is Established

Canberra 2 April 2023 France was the fourth European nation to enter the race to establish commercial relations with India and for cornering the spice trade, if the minor incursions of the Danes are discounted as being almost insignificant. The French had noticed that the Portuguese, Dutch and the English had profited considerably from their […]

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Europeans in India Part 8 The English East India Company Section III: Early Decades – The Steady March

Canberra, 17 March 2023 The East India Company’s beginnings in India were not very promising, mainly because of the concerted Portuguese opposition and the inability of the English to obtain permission from the Mughal Viceroy of Gujarat to erect a factory in Surat. The Portuguese were opposed to any new arrivals in India and made […]

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Europeans in India Part 7 The Dutch Enter the Fray Section II Commercial Activities – Gujarat, The Coromandel & Bengal

Canberra, 29 January 2023 The Dutch arrived in India and faced great opposition from the Portuguese, who pushed back with force. The animosity was such that they moved on to the Far-East and established themselves in today’s Indonesia. From their base in the archipelago, they made gradual and initially surreptitious inroads into South Asia, initially […]

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Indian History Part 68 The Qutb Shahis of Golconda-Hyderabad Section IV Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah

Canberra, 1 December 2018 FOCUS ON CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Ibrahim left behind six surviving sons and was succeeded by his third son, Muhammad Quli. Obviously some palace intrigue took place, as the eldest did not automatically ascend the throne. It is highly likely that Muhammad was elevated to the throne by ambitious nobles since he was […]

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