The early history of Bangladesh is riddled with the formation of various city-states, pan-Indian empires, and maritime kingdoms. The name Bangladesh was not used until 1971 after the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh was originally known as Bengal. It is unclear where the name Bengal came from but it is believed that it was derived from Vanga, the Dravidian tribe that settled in the area around 1000 BC.
By the 16th century, the Mughal Empire came to power. The Mughal Empire was a Persian speaking empire rooted in Islam that extended over large parts of the Indian subcontinent. During the Mughal administration, Portuguese traders from Goa began traveling the sea route through the Ganges to Bengal. In 1537, twenty years after the arrival of the Portuguese traders, Mughal allowed them to settle and open customs houses in Chittagong. Because of this, Bengal was one of the richest parts of the subcontinent until the late 16th century.
During the 18th century, the Maratha Empire, a Hindu empire overran the Mughals. The Maratha performed a series of raids on the Bengali region demolishing large parts of its economy. The Maratha imposed a tax on the Bengalis called the Chauth. The Chauth amounted to roughly one fourth of total revenue in the region. Meanwhile, European traders began to have a larger influence and the British East India Company took control following victory in the Battle of Plassey, 1757. When the British took over they abolished the Chauth, resulting in continued raids from the Marathas. The raids sustained until the British ultimately defeated the Marathas in a series of three Anglo-Maratha Wars form 1777 to 1818.
The supremacy of the East India Company lasted for an entire century. As the wealt...
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Although many efforts have been made to improve the standard of living in Bangladesh, the country still has many problems. The history of corruption and military intervention that has disrupted the development of the country can be seen everywhere. Even though enrollment in school has shown large improvement, drop out rates and the quality of that education are still dismal. The country has a very large population and with very low cost of labor, it should be growing at a rate similar to China, not slower than India. Bangladesh will encounter many new issues going forward as it transitions from a rural, to a more urban population. Infrastructure development will play a major role and is one of the largest problems facing Bangladesh today. In a country stricken with frequent cyclones, having strong infrastructure can make or break economic development.
In the early 19th century, the British East India Company established more trade warehouses and thoroughfares in the Indian subcontinent. This occupation of Indian lands was welcomed by some groups and fiercely opposed by others. While met by more opposition, the British Empire expanded into the other Indian Ocean territories up to the end of the century. Because the trans-Atlantic slave trade was profitable for African elites and brought many valuable goods to West Africa, when it was effectively shut down after 1808 by British patrols, people along this coast were eager to keep the European trade lines alive. The imposition of this “legitimate trade” (any non-slave trade) saw a huge rise in African exports of gold and palm oil.
In the beginning of the 1600's, the East India Trading Company first landed in India. Once the EIC landed they immediately decided that they would take direct control of the area. Meaning that they had no regard for the inhabitants. After complete domination of India the EIC later had to deal with the Sepoy Mutiny; therefore, there was death and a change in leadership soon to fallow. Britain then took control of India by kicking out the smaller version of themselves, but over 50 years later history repeats itself with another massacre. Although Britain imperialism can be looked at positively by advances made in India, it is outweighed by its negative counterpart which crippled the country through India's economic shutdown, High death tolls,
After Europeans arrived in East Asia via the Indian Ocean, trade in the Far East changed dramatically moving towards a globalized economy. Between 1450 (39 years before the arrival of Vasco Da Gama) until 1750, the levels of trade in Asia reached a new peak; initial changes came in the form of the addition of new goods; and the eventual addition of colonization into the Indian Ocean Trade Network ultimately turned traditional “trade” into imperial relations. However, the importance of raw materials and the main Asian groups involved in the Indian Ocean trade network largely remained constant after European exposure until the start of British Imperial rule of India. Throughout these three centuries, economic superpowers rose and fell, leadership changed, and cultural exchange was highly prevalent, but the general philosophies, and religions of the societies involved in trade remained intact, resulting in far more positive interaction than in the New World.
The british thought of the native indian people as barbaric, so they felt no shame in putting them to work with little or no pay. The british attempted to convert the indians to christianity and educate them. This did more harm than good, and the damage done to the indians well being was devastating. however The situation backfired on the East british company. A massive rebellion consisting of sepoys, (Indian soldiers who loathed the british company) Attacked the british. The Attack was seen as unsuccessful to the eyes of the natives. But the result of this rebellion was the crash of the east british company a year after the incident. It was becoming obvious to the british that their actions were leading to indian frustration. Even though the east british company was no longer official, the land was still being used for factories and crop production. An official labour payment was established, which softened the british up. It was the perfect time for famous anti colonist Gandhi to speak up and spread the word. This led to many policy adjustments, political complications and british frustration. Gandhi's following of indians greatly overpowered the remaining british
“Englishmen.. have given the people of India the greatest human blessing - peace.” (Dutt). Merely coming to India in the 1600s to trade, the British East India Company established trading outposts. After ridding of French influence in India during the Seven Years’ War and having Indians mutiny against British rule, Britain gained full control of India. India was under the imperialist control of the British until their independence in 1947.
In 1707, The Mughal Empire was collapsing while the east india company (Britain) was using this as an advantage to take power over india,by 1757 after the battle of plassey they have taking rule over india leading them to use india for its resource/workforce.The laws created by the British had a structured government,but was strucerd to control the indians.Raw resources from india was moved to east india company control which ,however lead to the need of a workforce.British control as far as it goes for social was not positive because of the millions of deaths from the cause of famine which was the cause of cash crops.British control was not positive it was negative impact on india and its people.
To commence, the Islamic Empire’s great location made the Muslim traders very successful. In the years before 1500 AD, they controlled a lot of the “international traffic
In conclusion, the British East India Company imposed a lot of taxes and laws on the colonists and people of Boston. They made them feel like they were treated unfairly, and used just for wealth and income for their mother country. In the end they had a big war called The American Revolution. The colonists won and gained back the rights and freedoms they had before the British exerted control over them.
The Portuguese empire had advanced technology and good military strategies compared to the lands they conquered and used it to their advantage. The Mughal Indians on the other hand used mostly brute force and military strength to conquer. To maintain their empires the Mughal Indians and the Portuguese were very different. The Portuguese had their capital placed in Portugal and conquered in the New World. The Portuguese monarchy often sent lawyers and officials to the New World to carry out the government there. Unlike Portugal, the Mughal Indians had their capital within their empire and all power went to the sultan. This method proved to be faulty because with the growing empire, the sultan lost contact with his subjects and had a hard time maintaining his empire.
In the early 1600’s Queen Elizabeth granted the East Indian Company (EIC) its first charter. The EIC was the company that was to handle all the trading of goods in the East Indies (Carp, 7-8). The Company did so well that it helped with Europe’s economy, and “helped to support the government through payment of customs duties” (Carp, 8). Anyone who had any part to do with the EIC would accumulate a great amount of wealth. The EIC acquired most of its wealth through the trading of, “spices, silk, cotton, opium, gold, silver, and tea across enormous distances, paying out generous dividends to its shareholders” (Carp, 8). This was the reason for mostly everyone who had a part in the EIC would accumulate a great amount of wealth. Everything was
" India was where the riches of the world came from, the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. The British needed to dispel the threat of other Europeans in Africa to maintain control of India, and they did so efficiently. They quickly gained control of both the major sea routes to India and then turned their eyes to the rest of the continent. Whether the British were trying to foster public support or prevent another nation from becoming a threat, all British actions in Africa were directly or indirectly linked to India. The British were motivated by their desire to become powerful, and they skillfully combined enterprise and conquest to create a globe spanning empire centered around the wealth of India.
Have you ever heard of the company FedEx? Imagine if they had horses and ships instead of cars and planes. They also had their own army and covered a huge part of the world. That is the British East India Company. The company was super powerful in several ways. Their connection to Brittan gave them a monopoly over trade and their armies made them able to control their own lands. The British East India Tea Company helped start the Revolutionary war.
By the year 1857 the British had established complete political control of India. As Western education was introduced and missionaries eroded Hindu society resentment among Indian people grew and it was joined by unease among the old governing class when the British decided to formally abolish the Mughal Empire.
1 Moore, Robin J., "Imperial India, 1858-1914", in Porter, Andrew, Oxford History of the British Empire: The Nineteenth Century, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001a, p.422-446,
India was the first major Asian civilizations to fall victim to European predatory activities (Duiker 31). With conquering India, the British had various purposes behind it. Their main purpose was to achieve a monopolistic trading position (The Economic and Social Impact of Colonial Rule in India). The second purpose was the control of India; this was a key element in the world power structure, in terms of geography, logistics and military manpower (The Economic and Social Impact of Colonial Rule in India). When the East India Company continued to trade under the British, huge armies were created, largely composed of Indian sepoys (Marshall). The armies were used to defend the Company’s territories protect the Indian states (Marshall).