Dan Snow's History Hit - 1. The British Empire: Mughals & the East India Company

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

This is the story of the British Empire in India. Over two episodes, we'll chart India's history from the birth of the Mughal Empire until the Partition of India. Joining us is Shrabani Basu, a journalist, historian and author of books including Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant.In this first episode, Dan and Shrabani look at the origins of the British Empire in India. We hear about the reigns of the mighty Mughal Emperors and the appearance of a nascent trading company from a far-flung kingdom that would supplant them as the rulers of the subcontinent.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at [e-mail] can take part in our listener survey here.

Hi everybody, welcome to Dan Snow's History Hit. In 1599, a group of men met in a pub, in a small city, in a small kingdom on the very edge of Eurasia. They wanted to talk about trade with the mighty empires of the East. There had been recent discoveries of sea routes to Asia. There had been advances in ship technology. And together those meant that such a trade with Asia was now practical. After a few attempts, they convinced their aged queen to give them a royal charter. And on the 31st of December, 1600, the East India Company came into being.

the East India Company came into being. It was one of the last significant acts of Queen Elizabeth I of England. She had given royal sanction for her seafaring subjects to head east, and no one could possibly have imagined what the next three centuries would bring. Eight years later, 1608, small company ships docked in Surat in Gujarat. We think one of the ships, the Hector, may have been commanded by William Hawkins, who came from seafaring aristocracy. He was the nephew of the legendary sea dog Sir John Hawkins,

who had helped redesign English naval vessels and then led those ships against the Spanish Armada in 1588, alongside his cousin Sir Francis Drake. Hawkins headed inland to meet the ruler of this mighty empire, Jahangir, among whose many titles was Most Mighty of Authority and Master King. He ruled over a vast empire that spread from the Himalayas to the far south of the Indian peninsula. He traced his lineage back to Genghis Khan. To him, Western merchants were supplicants begging favours from a ruler of unimaginable wealth and power. The mission was a success. Hawkins brought back a cargo which made the investors a huge profit. There were follow-up missions.

In 1615, King James I instructed Sir Thomas Rowe to visit the Mughal Emperor to arrange for a commercial treaty that would give the company the exclusive right to live and establish warehouses in Surat and other areas. Jahangir wrote a friendly letter to James I. Upon the assurance of your royal love, I have given my general command to all the kingdoms and ports of my dominions to receive all the merchants of the English nation as the subjects of my friend, that in what place soever they choose to live, they may have free liberty without any restraint. For confirmation of our love and friendship, I desire your majesty to command your merchant to bring in their ships all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace, and that you should be pleased to send me your royal letters by every opportunity,

that I may rejoice in your health and prosperous affairs, that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal. This, as it turns out, would be an optimistic view of the future bilateral relations between the two states. Over the centuries that followed, what had begun as this very unequal trading relationship transformed. In fact, it inverted. Within a century and a half, the British found themselves in a position of power

in India. They could make war. It conquered. And eventually they even forced the Mughal emperor, the descendant of Jahangir, to do their bidding. That friendship proved not to be eternal. Over the next two episodes, I'm going to be telling the story of the English and British in India. I've got Shrabani Basu back on the podcast. She's been on before. She's the author of many wonderful history books like Victoria and Abdul, which was then made into a smash hit movie. Over two episodes, she's going to talk me through one of the most unlikeliest stories in history. And this is The Beginning. Enjoy. Shravani, thank you for coming on the podcast to take on this massive, massive task. It's wonderful to be here, Dan, and this is my favourite subject, so I'm happy to do this. We're going to rattle through a couple of hundred years of history.

We should start, shouldn't we, by talking about the Mughals, the people that came before British India and whose decline is totally wrapped up in the rise of the East India Company and the English and British in India. An extraordinarily powerful dynasty. A good run of monarchs they had, didn't they? Which we start with, is it Babur? It's Babur, definitely. So his full name is Zaheeruddin Babur. And Babur, of course, stands for tiger. So that's him. And we should say not Indian as we would understand it. Not at all, actually. Really interesting heritage because he is born in the Fargana Valley, which is in present day Uzbekistan. And he inherits the throne at the age of 12. His ancestors are really important. So,

these are familiar names from history. From his father's side, he's a direct descendant of Timur, who was the fierce warlord from Turku and Mongolian regions. And from his mother's side, this is even more fierce, he is descended from Genghis Khan. So, he has the blood of Timur and Genghis in his veins. Exactly. And so there is a lot of Mongol descent, Turkish descent. And in fact, the word Mughal actually comes from the word Mongol because they are descended from the Mongols. And they are Islamic, they're Muslim. They are Muslim. And of course, Babur is 12. When he comes to the throne,

and of course Babur is 12. When he comes to the throne, he loses his kingdom immediately. He conquers Samarkand and then he sort of consolidates himself and he looks east. So his first major conquest is in 1504 when he conquers Kabul. And this is big

because now he settles in Kabul. He consolidates his power and he says, well, forget Samarkand, forget Fargana, that's gone. And he settles in Kabul. He consolidates his power. And he says, well, forget Samarkand, forget Fergana, that's gone. And he wants to look east over these mountains. Hindukush and India awaits him. So he's going to go east from now on. And so he conquers much of what we would call India today. Well, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Of course. And this is the Mughal dynasty.

Extraordinary architectural legacy, artistic, probably one of the greatest powers on earth through the 16th century. Absolutely. I mean, he hasn't started the dynasty yet. It's going to start with this battle, very crucial battle in 1526, where he defeats Ibrahim Lodhi. So at this moment, India is ruled by the sultans of Delhi. This is North India. And you see these Lodhi monuments all over Delhi. People are quite

familiar with them. Beautiful architecture. But Babur comes, he defeats the Ibrahim Lodhi, and this is where he sets up the Mughal Empire. And this Mughal Empire is going to last for 300 years. It has six of the most well-known kings that are going to go through this line. And of course, the architecture, the culture, the architecture, it's the Red Fort in Delhi, the Taj Mahal in Agra, all these are Mughal contributions. And his son, Humayun, I visited his tomb in Delhi, right? And that's astonishing. It is beautiful. It's been restored recently. And you can see the beginnings of the Taj Mahal. It's actually a sort of miniature Taj Mahal. It's just not in marble. And it is beautiful.

The grounds are beautiful. So this is the beginning of the Mughal sort of dynasty starting in India, laying its roots. And Humayun is actually really important. Babur, he dies quite quickly. He just has four years in Agra and Delhi. Humayun inherits. But Humayun is actually really important. Babur, he dies quite quickly. He just has four years in Agra and Delhi. Humayun inherits. But Humayun, he extends the empire, but he has two fierce rivals to meet. And they are from East India. So there is the Sur dynasty. And Shesha Suri famously laid down the grand trunk road in India. So he meets him in battle and he's defeated. And so Humayun has to leave Delhi and he flees to Persia. This is important because he spends 15 years in Persia and he really imbibes the culture. So what he brings back later is this Persian

culture, which is so much there as we see in the Mughal texts, in the Mughal architecture, because all these are with Persian influences. And quite importantly, while he's on his way, it's a really hard journey. And he's with his wife. He's sheltered by a Hindu Maharaja. And his wife gives birth to Akbar in the house of a Hindu king. And Akbar is going to be one of the greatest Mughal rulers, one of the most famous. And Akbar, he becomes Akbar the Great. He is. We're already giving a sense here,

jumping around a bit, but of the cultural and the religious and the kind of ethnic complexity and exchange in this period. And this is why modern Indian nationalists have started to sort of paint the Mughals as in some way foreign, right? Not Indian, essentially. Well, it's their view, but they are Indian. They bring cultures to India, and they live in India. The taxes that they raise, unlike later on, are not sent back to some other country. They're not sent to Persia. The taxes are used in India. So they are Indian in every sense. And I think they've made the biggest contribution as well.

So, you know, we have a lot to thank the Mughals for. And so we've got Akbar. He's remembered as, is this the sort of pinnacle of Mughal power? It's a vast empire. It is. Akbar is known as a really enlightened ruler. He's Akbar the Great. He actually makes marriage alliances with other Hindu rulers. He extends the empire. He himself marries a Hindu princess, Jodabai. And, you know, visitors to Agra can see it in

Sikandra, where he's made Jodabai's fort. He's very interesting because he also starts a new religion. It's called the Dine-e-Ilahi and he wants to bring the best of Hinduism and Islam together. He's got a different outlook. He's very enlightened. And of course, he encourages the arts. So he goes down as one of the best known Mughal emperors. Very few hereditary systems ever get it right.

In fact, none of them do by their nature but the Mughals had particularly difficult succession crises didn't they just briefly let's talk about that well it's always blood of thrones when it comes to royalty you know everyone is slaughtering everybody getting in there but the first six are going quite smoothly I think the the real battle happens when Aurangzeb there's a few brothers getting killed, aren't there? And a few... A few along the way. Yeah, a few, okay. So it's not...

But then again, you know, who am I to talk? The old Plantagenets were happy to hack a few pieces off each other. Okay, so we get... After we get Akbar, we get Jahangir, which he's got the best... What's that nickname? It sort of means... It's his cognome and his royal cognome. It means sort of World Caesar or something.

It's unbelievable. I love it. He is. There's this beautiful portrait of him holding the globe. Jahangir was somebody who loved beautiful objects. I mean, some of his stuff is in the V&A, his jade wine cup, for example, his throne, various things. But I do want to just divert for a moment, Dan, if I may, and talk about the Mughal women. Because, you know, when we talk about this enlightened culture, the women were also really enlightened. They were literate. So Humayun's wife had her own library. And Hamida Begum, her library, parts of the manuscripts are actually in the British library

with her seal on them. And they come out for exhibitions sometimes. They're really beautiful to look at. His half-sister Gulbadan, she was a writer. She wrote the first autobiography of a Mughal princess. So this dynasty, very enlightened, very cultured and literate. Even the women, they are not secluded or anything of the sort. And into this enlightened, cosmopolitan, advanced world, we get the English.

Arriving on their wooden ships. Let's look at it from the Mughal point of view. Were they a nuisance? Were they an opportunity? Were they like Vikings? Were they worrying? Who are these people? Well, first, they didn't really care about them at all. So the picture here is that they're latecomers to this party. So what we have in India, in South India, is of course, the Portuguese have arrived. 1498, Vasco da Gama has arrived. He's arrived in Calicut. He gets off this boat, kisses the beach in Kappad. And the Portuguese then send back ships laden with spices, cloves, peppercorn.

One load of peppercorn could pay for things for years. So he goes back with a huge booty and returns again. And of course, everybody else is interested. The Dutch are interested. Dutch are in there by 1605. They want cinnamon from Indonesia. They want pepper. Everyone wants the spices. And they set up little factories in Surat in West India by 1605. The British are nowhere there at this time. So, as you say, the first wooden, rickety wooden ship commanded by Captain William Hawkins. This arrives in 1608. He lands there and he wants to see Jahangir. Jahangir has the Portuguese sort of wooing him and he's not bothered. He keeps him waiting for three months. He does meet him, doesn't give anything. And then William Hawkins writes back to the king and he says,

send better troops, send better gifts. You know, we've got to impress the emperor. So 1612, ship is sent with better gifts, more troops, and they defeat the Portuguese. So Jahangir wakes up. He says, aha, it's a new player here. And Jahangir is so powerful. But the Portuguese, and you mentioned it are when they're establishing these factories they're carving out little toe

holes there's no suggestion they're going to conquer a big empire in india at this point but why does jahangir allow them to even have little bits like around gore and little footholds or or is it because those are parts of india that aren't under mughal control well they, they're in the south. And also, they probably give him things from Europe, which he loves. He's a collector. He loves these things, which is where Britain now cotton on to this. And they decide that they send their first ambassador, formal ambassador to Jahangir's court. They send Sir Thomas Rowe. So he arrives in 1612 and Jahangir meets him. And there is a mural of this meeting where Thomas Rowe is presenting his credentials and it's in Westminster Hall. So all visitors can see this. It's a beautiful mural. And of course, Jahangir now listens to Thomas Rowe and his request is that the British be allowed to start factories in Surat and Jahangir gives in. And in exchange for that, he wants luxury goods from Europe. So they agree to do that. And the English don't look like they're a threat to him. Not at all. Not at all. Yeah, they're a very minor power at this stage. But the English have

discovered another thing at this stage, because they have been eating this wonderful food. In Surat, the merchants are feasting on the food from the Mughal kitchens and they are instantly seduced. And Sir Thomas Rowe himself, he dines in Shah Jahan's palaces and he says the fare that is served, there are like reams, he writes about the courses, just the different types of rice and the meat. I think this is the first encounter of the British with Indian food, and they are instantly seduced.

It was a love affair that has never come to an end. Absolutely. And so you've got these requests for so-called factories. They're basically warehouses, aren't they? And so Indian merchants can sell them lots of stuff. You can stockpile it all. And then when these very irregular you know it takes a year to get there so these very irregular ships turn up it can all be loaded and then they

sail back and we should say of course this isn't the English state is it this is a private company so the East India Company do they dabble in local politics are they sort of trying to I guess they're trying to protect their interests right and they might make sure the local ruler is paid off and friendly and all that kind of thing. Absolutely. So basically, it was when these merchants in London, they meet way back in 1599. And they see the Portuguese and the Dutch making this wealth in India. They know the spices can be a lucrative market. So they meet in this office in Leadenhall Street in the city of London,

and they set up the East India Company, which then in 1600 gets the Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I. I know we're going back a little bit here in history, but when she signs, this aging queen, she signs this, she has no idea that this is going to set up the British Empire. And it's, you know, it's just a charter to a company to trade. British Empire. And it's, you know, it's just a charter to a company to trade. So it's quite significant that, you know, turn of the century, then the British get in. It's only the spices that draw them to India. But soon, they need troops to keep these factories going to win over the local leaders. And I guess what begins as a kind of security force for the factory, exactly, turns into a little mini army and maybe get involved in a little local squabbles just on a regional and then slowly a bigger and bigger scale.

But the Mughal at the moment still absolutely dominant force and Jahangir followed by Shah Jahan. Exactly. So Shah Jahan, who we all know with Taj Mahal, he allows the British further inroads. So now they start moving north. So this far they've been in Surat, which is West India, in Gujarat. They're now moving north. They are allowed to trade in Calcutta. And so Bengal, which is fabulously wealthy.

They set up Fort William there. So troops and a little bit of presence is there in Fort William Calcutta and also at this time they've also got this dowry very handy Bombay has been given to them as a dowry for Catherine of Braganza's marriage to Charles II. So the Portuguese so Charles II looking for a wife the Portuguese have a spare princess and they send her along and her dowry is Bombay. Bombay. Who would have thought? Bombay at this time was nothing.

It was just a swampy island, but that is going to become the financial capital later. So very important. You have Calcutta, one important dock. You have Bombay, you have Madras, you have Surat on the west. So the British are getting very important posts in India. Very well placed. Calcutta and Bombay, East and West respectively. Are they proving useful to the Mughals? I mean, is it quite nice for them to have this sort of pipeline to the West and get a bit of, you know, useful Western products and stuff? Yeah. I mean, at this stage, they're not really too fussed about

them. It's, you know, the Mughal Empire is so big. It's at the height of its power with Akbar, You know, the Mughal Empire is so big. It's at the height of its power with Akbar Jahangir Shah Jahan. By now, it's at its pinnacle. And so these small traders are of no consequence at all. I mean, they don't know what's coming. And the East India Company is paying. They're paying for their goods.

I mean, it's trade. It's trade. It's trade. In fact, by 1647, the company has 23 factories and settlements in India. So they are increasing their hold. Aurangzeb follows Shah Jahan. He kills his brothers and topples his dad, you know, as is common. Locks him up, really.

Locks him up, poor thing. Locks him up in the Agra Fort from where he can see the Taj Mahal. It's really tragic, but there we are. Speaking of which, I love the huge mosque in Delhi that Shah Jahan built. I was there a couple of years ago. Jama Masjid, yeah.

Extraordinary, yeah. And the Red Fort. And the Red Fort itself. The Red Fort, Jama Masjid. These are all monuments, you know, that people just love in India. So, yeah. So Aurangzeb comes to power 1658. Possibly, well, I said the pinnacle earlier, but this is, by geographical extent,

this might be the high point of Mughal power. It is, it is. Because after Aurangzeb, the Mughals go into decline. They do last all the way till, literally, till 1857, when we have the last Mughal. But they are there as a minor power. And lots of their descendants are in power scattered around India as well. You listen to Dan Snow's history. We're talking about the British in India. More coming up.

I'm Matt Lewis. And I'm Dr. Alan Orjanaga. And in Gone Medieval, we get into the greatest mysteries. The gobsmacking details Medieval, we get into the greatest mysteries. The gobsmacking details and latest groundbreaking research. From the greatest millennium in human history. We're talking Vikings. Normans. Kings and popes. Who were rarely the best of friends.

Murder. Rebellions. And crusades. Find out who we really were. By subscribing to Gone Medieval from History Hit. Wherever you get your podcasts. So yeah, under Oring's ebb, is this when it feels like both sides start to realize what could be at stake here? And I mean, he does fall out with East India.

There are Mughal East India Company battles and things in this period, and they sort of have to beg forgiveness. But there's a sense of the power dynamic changing a bit, isn't there? So Aurangzeb himself, his character is also important. He's a very strict Islamic ruler. And all the sort of the music and the literature of that court, he sort of frowns on that. He bans music and dance. So he's a very strict Islamic ruler. And of course, they're not doing him any favors. He fears they may be trying to convert, whatever. All these things are happening.

And they clash with the East India Company. So basically, in 1686, we have the first Anglo-Mughal war and the East India Company, they want more decrees, but they are being opposed by the Mughal forces. The Mughals even blockade Bombay, but the East India Company is defeated and they have to submit to Aurangzeb. And then we have this really interesting story, because in 1695, we have this English pirate, Henry Avery, and he attacks a Mughal treasure fleet, which is on its way back from Mecca. And he pillages thousands of pounds worth of treasure, but the East India Company has to apologize again. And they beg, they offer to pay reparations to the Mughals. So they have to eat humble pie with Aurangzeb for a bit. The relations are getting quite

strained at this stage. So in that first half of the 18th century, Aurangzeb's gone, you've got these, you've called the minor Mughals, poor things, I feel sorry for them now. But they have a series of challenges, not only these Europeans nibbling at the edges, but there's a Persian invasion, isn't there? There is, under Nadir Shah. And it's famous because it's the sacking of Delhi. The civilian population is decimated and the loot from the Mughal court is taken, including, of course, the famous Koh-i-Noor.

So Nadir Shah takes this and now the Koh-i-Noor... This huge diamond. This huge diamond, famous, the most famous diamond in the world, which is now in the Tower of London, part of the crown jewels. And he takes this. This used to be on Shah Jahan's throne. Shah Jahan had this beautiful peacock throne, and the Kohinoor was embedded in it.

And then, of course, the minor Mughals, it went around. But finally, Nadi Shah takes it. He takes it by deceit. There's a big story about it. And then, of course, the minor Mughals, it went around. But finally, Nadesh Shah takes it. He takes it by deceit. There's a big story about it. But one of the things he's got is the Koh-i-Noor. And now the Koh-i-Noor travels to Persia. And so it's a perfect storm for the Mughals. It's slightly less than impressive individuals on the throne. It's Europeans with increasingly kind of interesting technological advantages as a result of the industrial revolution nibbling away at the edges and then it's also a catastrophic invasion from the northeast from persia so exactly it's all going wrong it's going wrong and it's ripe

for the picking because you know enter these men in red coats and then let's whiz forward a couple of decades to the middle of the 18th century, where we really see the emergence of, amazingly, the East India Company, but also other Europeans conquering chunks of land in the Indian subcontinent. And before we get to some of these extraordinary personalities, is this a sign that after Aurangzeb, the Mughal hold on the subcontinent, is it weakening? It is weakening. So Aurangzeb is the last big Mughal hold on the subcontinent, is it weakening? It is weakening. So Aurangzeb is the last big Mughal emperor. After him, they're all minor Mughals. They don't have the land because they're losing the land. Many of the descendants have small principalities, smaller kingdoms,

they're scattered around India. So yes, I mean, the Mughal power is on the decline, definitely, after Aurangzeb. And so now the English and the French are sort of dealing more with what sort of devolve regional powers, and I guess, therefore, less potent. So they think, well, we can manipulate these and perhaps eventually even conquer them. Exactly. So they see a toehold and they see opportunity. And yeah, the East India Company is in. They're in Bengal at this stage.

So they're just going to take it further. They want to keep going north, you know, get as much territory as possible. So we now come to Clive. Yeah, and Clive, so he goes out with the East India Company. His job is to turn a profit, right? His job wasn't to become a warlord

and conquer lost territory. So how does that all happen? Well, Clive, Robert Clive, he's born in Shropshire, educated in merchant tailor school, and he joins the East India Company at the age of 19, as many people did. Just to make a profit, he goes as a scribe. He's just a clerk in a company. But everybody who joins the East India Company, they take this ship, they go there, it's all for profit. They know they will come back with money. And so does Clive. So he's very ambitious.

He's sent to Madras, but soon Madras falls to the French. So he escapes and he joins the army. He joins the East India Company army. And he's noticed because he actually is a pretty good soldier. He has some victories in the south. He takes Madras and then he is sent up north. He has some victories in the south, he takes Madras, and then he is sent up north. He is sent to Bengal. The India you're describing feels like the sort of central control is weakening and it's allowing these people, whether it's local Indian princes or the British and French, to sort of fight each

other for the spoils, if you like. Exactly. And there are local leaders who are important as well, local rulers. So in the south, you have the Marathas. Down south, you have Mysore Kingdom. In Bengal, you have the Navajo Sirajuddola. And he basically tries to reconquer Calcutta. There's a siege of Calcutta. So he tries to throw the East India Company out. Basically, yes.

And he takes over Fort William. And then we have this incident, which is known in history as the Black Hole of Calcutta, because the prisoners are locked up. It's extreme summer heat. They're locked up in this room. And 46 or so die out of suffocation and heat. And it's well known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. But of course, we don't know whether the Nawab personally ordered it or what happened. I mean, of course, these reports are exaggerated. It reaches Britain. There is this, you know, revenge has to be taken. And Clive is sent to Bengal. He takes back Fort William. So that's conquered. And then he goes upstream. He goes further up north to Sirajudola's palace in Mushidabad. And here there is this very significant decisive battle fought it's the 1757 it's called

battle of Plassey and here Clive defeats the forces of Siraj-e-Dola. Who's the local Indian? He's the Nawab he's the local ruler descendant from part of the Mughal family and he was powerful this Mushidabad palace is big, full of treasures. Bengal is rich. But Clive, it isn't actually a military victory because Clive does deals. So he basically does a deal with his commander-in-chief, who's called Mir Jafar, and a rich banker.

Bankers always. So the banker called Jagat Seth. And they say that they will take away some of the army. Basically, they're just going to... They'll sit on their hands. Yeah. Mir Jaffar actually leads away a significant number of the troops from the battlefield. So it's easy. 3,000 of the company troops easily defeat Sirajudha Dola's 50,000 or more. Through treachery and bribery. Yeah. And in fact, you know, in the Indian lexicon, it's like doing a Mirjafar

is known as somebody who's a traitor. So it's something that still comes down. So Mirjafar is then instated. I mean, that was the deal. He was going to be instated as the new Nawab. So Sirajudola is captured. Mirar, on a small pension, of course, controlled by the English, is made the Nawab of Bengal. And huge, huge reparations are paid to Clive. He's taken it to the palace and said, take what you want. And he does. So it's so interesting how the East India Company, it's a slow process from wanting to protect their factories.