11/01/2011 - 12/01/2011 | Incredible India

Siraj-Ud-Daulah captures Calcutta

,

The Battle of Plassey As the East India Company grew in size so did its lust for power. The decline of the Mughal empire and the rise of regional provinces like Bengal, presented the Company an opportunity for political interference. In 1740, Nawab Alivardi Khan of Bengal became practically independent. In 1756, his death led to a power struggle between his widow Ghasiti Begum and grandson Siraj Ud Daulah who became the Nawab of Bengal. The company's support for Ghasiti Begum earned it the wrath of Siraj. The Company also started fortifying ...

War of Deccan

,

Dupleix and French Policy Two principal factories on the east coast of India were the British station at Fort St. George, now Madras, and the French station at Pondicherry, eighty miles farther south. The first man who seems to have entertained definite notions about building up a European sovereignty upon the ruins of the Mogul Empire was Dupleix, the French Governor at Pondicherry. His long residence in the East had given him knowledge of Indian affairs that few Europeans possessed. His restless, capacious, and inventive mind had formed...

The Anglo-French Struggle

,

The Anglo-French Struggle Since the 15th century when Europeans first arrived in India the fight for supremacy between rival factions became a part of the Indian history. But the Anglo-French struggles should get special mentions, as there role in shaping the course of modern India is far more important than that of any other contemporary struggles. The actual onset of the struggles arose from Anglo-French commercial and political rivalry in India and political rivalry in Europe. In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century the French...

Maratha raids Bengal

,

Marathas & Bengal Maratha Raids a scourge in eighteenth-century Bengal were a sequel to Maratha rivalry with the Mughals. Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughals, had started operations for the annexation of the entire Deccan and his ever-extending warfare affected the Marathas. His attempt to win the Maratha chiefs by grant of mansabs ultimately proved a failure. Some Maratha chiefs were won over, but others took their place in building new fortunes by ravaging Mughal districts. The name (Bargi) by which these Maratha raiders are known...

Accession of Baji Rao Peshwa at Poona

,

Bajirao Peshwa Baji Rao Peshwa became Peshwa at the age of 20. There was criticism against appting a person so young but Raja Shahu was committed to the appt. Besides by the circumstances of his upbringing and inclination, he lacked the will to assert himself and be bothered about the details of administration. The subsequent Maratha rulers refused to accept the treaty of 1719 referred to above, accept Maratha claims on Gujarat and Malwa. The Nizam, Mir Qamar-ud-din used the Marathas to overcome his Mughal rivals but refused to cooperate with...

Death of Aurangzeb

,

End of the Emperor Of all the men who sat upon the throne in Delhi no name evokes such an image of somber grandeur as that of Aurangzeb. His rule, which stretched across nearly half a century of Indian history, ended with his death in 1707. Despite Aurangzeb's personal hostility to the arts and his removal of the seat of government to the south, Delhi remained an artistic and cultural center and the foremost city of the empir...

Rajaram

,

Rajaram During the years that followed the death of Sambhaji, the Marathas continued at intervals to plunder Ahmadnagar territories. If it was the emperor's idea that, Maratha resistance could be stifled after the death of Sambhaji, he was entirely wrong. Under the leadership of Rajaram who was proclaimed king, Ramchandrapant Amatya, Pralhad Niraji, Sahtaji Ghorpade, Dhanaji Jadhav and other Maratha noblemen carried on the struggle against the Moghal invaders inspite of the fall of Rayagad and capture of Yesubai and Shahu, the son of Sambhaji. The Marathas carried the war into the very...

Sambhaji Raje

,

Sambhaji's Execution Early in 1685 Aurangzeb moved his armies to the south and invested Bijapur on 27th March. Bijapur capitulated on 12th September 1686. Golkonda was then invaded on 28th January 1687 and was captured on 1st October 1687. During the course of these invasions, the main attention of the emperor had been withdrawn from the Maratha country. Prince Akbar again and again urged Sambhaji to make a sudden sweep upon the emperor's central camp and effecting a complete rout of his powerful armies. But either Sambhaji was half-hearted...

Death of Shah Jahan

,

The Emperor on Death Bed SHAH JAHAN, Mogul emperor of Delhi, the fifth of the dynasty. After revolting against his father Jahangir, as the latter had revolted against Akbar, he succeeded to the throne on his father�s death in 1627. It was during his reign that the Mogul power attained its greatest prosperity. The chief events of his reign were the destruction of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar (1636), the loss of Kandahar to the Persians (1653), and a second war against the Deccan princes (1655). In 1658 he fell ill, and was confined by his son...

Emperor Aurangzeb

,

Prelude to Aurangzeb's Reign Shah Jahan was a bigoted Muslim and a confirmed nepotist. He provided for the imperial princes before anyone else in the matter of administrative and judicial postings regardless of age, capability and talent. He also started the practice of conferring the cream of the offices on each prince; like Dara Shikoh was made the governor of Punjab and Multan, Aurangzeb was appointed governor of all the four provinces of the Deccan and so on. This might have been just a clever way to keep them occupied, but that was not...

Aurangzeb - The viceroy of Deccan

,

Aurangzeb Aurangzeb was the greatest king among the Mughals and ruled over the largest territory of any ruler in Indian history. His empire extended from Kabul in present Afghanistan to areas in South India bordering Madurai in present Tamil Nadu State. He was a kind-hearted man and led a simple life. He was a just ruler and forgave his enemies. He abolished all non-Islamic practices at his court; abolished Ilahi calendar introduced by Akbar and reinstated Islamic lunar calendar. He enforced laws against gambling and drinking. He abolished taxes...

Shah Jahan - The Emperor

,

Shah-Jahan (1628-58) Shah Jahan ascended the throne in 1628 and assumed the title of Abul Muzaffar Shahbuddin Muhammad Sahib-i Kiran-i Sani. His reign opened with the execution of his brothers and nephews. In the first year of his reign Shah Jahan had to face the rebellion of Jujhar Singh, son of Bir Singh Deo, the Bundela chief who was responsible for murder of Abul Fazl. He made encroachment on the Mughal territory and showed signs of rebellion. Initially he surrendered to the Mughal army but he revolted again in 1635. Later he was pursued...

Shah Jahan revolts against Jahangir

,

The History Jahangir was crowned emperor by his father when the latter had been on his deathbed in 1605. He had to face the usual share of revolts and rebellions. The very first one being from prince Khusro, in which he was in good company � for Khusro revolted when Jahangir's son, Shah Jahan, came to the throne as well. The single most important person in Jahangir's life was his wife, the enigmatic Nur Jahan, whom he married in 1611. Nur Jahan was the real power behind Jahangir. She was a great queen, and a woman of amazing gifts. She was...

Capture of Kangra Fort

,

Capture of Kangra Fort Jahangir, after being enthroned the king, was seized with the desire to conquer Kangra and capture the fort, about which it was believed: "He who held the fort, ruled all the hill states". In 1615, he sent a strong contingent of troops under the command of Sheikh Farid Murtaza Khan and Raja Suraj Mal of Nurpur, his trusted confidant. But the troops returned without success. Unfazed, the king sent another contingent in 1620 under the command of Sunder Dass. This time the troops succeeded in capturing the fort after facing...

Submission of Mewar to the Mughals

,

Maharana Amar Singh I Maharana Amar Singh I, fifty-fifth ruler of the Mewar Dynasty (r. 1597-1620); eldest of the seventeen sons of the hero Maharana PRATAP SINGH I, he succeeded his father, January 19, 1597 at CHAVAND, aged 38, and ruled for twenty-three years from Udaipur. Because Pratap Singh had insisted on quitting the comforts of Udaipur and fighting the Mughals in guerilla warfare conditions in the Aravalli Hills, Amar Singh's first job after succession was to make Udaipur the capital of Mewar once more. He had to persuade his subjects,...

Dutch Factory at Pulicat

,

Dutch East India Company - VOC On March 20, 1602, the representatives of the provinces of the Dutch republic, granted a the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) a monopoly on the trade in the East Indies. Its purpose was not only trade; the Compagnie also had to fight the enemies of the Republic and prevent other European nations to enter the East India trade. During its history of 200 years, the VOC became the largest company of its kind, trading spices like nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and pepper, and other consumer...

East India company

,

East India company In the sixteenth century the English started trade with the east. The English had to pay high prices for goods bought from the east. Lured by the Portuguese profits the English too wished to have their share of wealth and profits. Attaining power in this area would result in getting goods at prices they decide. Besides this the defeat of the Spanish Armada had made England the mistress of the seas. In 1500 a group of merchants under the Chairman ship of Lord Mayor formed an association in London to trade with India. In 1600 Queen...

Akbar conquers Ahmadnagar

,

Last Conquest - Ahmednagar By 1527, there were mainly five Muslim kingdoms in deccan, they were, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda, Berar and Bedar. These were mainly the remnants of the old Bahmani kingdom, established by Bahman Shah in 14th century after revolting against Delhi. The history of these kingdoms is a record of almost continuous strife. Common jealousies not only prolonged the existence of smaller states but saved each of the larger of annihilation, and the usual course of warfare was a campaign of two of the larger states against...

Akbar invades Khandesh

,

Akbar troops invade Khandesh The annexation of Khandesh in 1601 by Akbar was an event of great military and economic importance in the history of Mughal India. Khandesh provided a territorial link between the north and the south. The Mughals realised this; they made use of its resources to promote, preserve and protect the imperial interests. The region, in fact, assumed far greater importance under the Mughals than it had under the Faruqis. For a century and a quarter (1601-1724), Khandesh as a Mughal province played a vital role in the history of medieval Decca...

The Battle of Haldighati

,

Haldighati The battle of Haldighati has gone down in the annals of Indian history as one which showcased the great valour of the Rajput troops led by their scion Rana Pratap. The result was indecisive, but the battle was truly symbolic of the raw courage, spirit of sacrifice, and loyalty of the Rajputs in their heroic defence of their motherland. Location Haldighati, is a small village in the Aravalli Hills about 44 km north of Udaipur and about 1,839 m. above sea level. Beyond this is Haldighati Pass, a narrow defile almost a kilometre in...

Fall of Chittorgarh

,

Fall of Chittorgarh Mewar was the Rajput kingdom which did not ally with Akbar. In fact, it offended him by giving shelter to Baz Bahadur of Malwa. However Akbar did not keep quiet. Taking advantage of the death of the king Rana Sanga and the weakness of his son Udai Singh, Akbar besieged the fort of Chittor in October, 1567. Udai Singh fled to the hills leaving his kingdom. But the noble followers of Rana Sanga especially Jaimall and Patta fought continuously for four months till Jaimall was shot dead by Akbar and Patta also died. The death...

Battle of Talikota

,

Battle of Talikota After the death of Achyuta Raya in AD 1541, his son Venkatadri or Venkata-I ascended the throne, but could not reign long, and within six months the crown was passed to the nephew of Achyuta - Sadasiva. Sadasiva Raya was a mere puppet in the hand of his minister Rama Raya of the Aravidu dynasty. Rama Raya was able to restore the power of Vijayanagara, which had sunk after Krishna Devaraya's rule. The important policy of Rama Raya was to interfere in the quarrels among the Deccan Sultanates, in alliance first with one, and then with another. He indeed was successful...

Humayun recovers the throne of Delhi

,

Sudden death of Sher Shah Suri In 1545, after the accidental death ofSher Shah, his son Jalal Khan succeeded him. Jalal Khan got the title of Islam Shah, commonly known as Salim Shah. Islam Shah was as capable as his father and kept his father's kingdom intact. He followed his father's reforms and kept the army intact. Unfortunately, he ruled for only nine years. Following his death in November 1554, disorder followed. His minor son, Firuz Khan, was murdered by his maternal uncle, Mubariz Khan, and there was total confusion in the empire. Mubariz Khan took the throne and assumed the...

Portuguese captures Goa

,

Goa: Alternative for Portuguese The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut, in present day Kerala in 1498. This discovery and the establishment of a new sea route to India around the Cape of Good Hope gave an impetus to to the Portuguese who wanted very much to exploit it to their advantage and profit from it. They soon realized that they had to have a permanent trading post established to effectively do so. Repeated attempts to do just that along the malabar coast ( controlled by the Zamorin of Calicut) of India proved difficult...

Vasco da Gama

,

Vasco da Gama Arrives in India Vasco da Gama is famous for his completion of the first all water trade route between Europe and India. Da Gama�s father, Estavao, had originally been chosen by King Joao II to make this historic voyage, but he died before he could complete the mission. It is also said that the opportunity was then given to da Gama's brother, Paulo, who turned it down. The trip needed to be made, and as a last choice, King Emmanuel looked to da Gama to complete the mission. Vasco da Gama was born in Sines, Portugal in 1469....

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Incredible India | © 2012 by O Pregador and Dicas Blogger | Powered by Blogger