The 15th century marked a turning point in the history of Europe and the world at large. During this century, the Renaissance was in full swing, and Europe began to surge ahead of the rest of the world in the fields of science, technology, and exploration. While Italy led in art and culture, Portugal and Spain pioneered the discovery of distant lands. In 1492, America was discovered by Columbus, and on 20 May 1498, Vasco da Gama reached the Indian port of Calicut. He was the first European to sail directly from Europe to India, thereby opening an alternate sea route and bypassing the highly contested Mediterranean and the more perilous overland routes through the Middle East. This discovery dramatically altered the course of history and the global balance of trade—and, consequently, political power. Soon, other Europeans followed the Portuguese to benefit from the lucrative trade with the Orient, now with the added advantage of bypassing Muslim lands.
At that time, India, like much of its history, was divided among dozens of rulers and, without exaggeration, hundreds of their vassals. The Mughal Empire was still decades away from emerging as the dominant (though not exclusive) power across most of India. By then, Europeans had already gained a significant edge in naval power, an area traditionally neglected by Indian states. This made India’s long coastline vulnerable to any ambitious foreign sea power. The Portuguese seized this opportunity and soon established themselves as the main naval power along the Indian coast, bringing the Arabian Sea routes under their control. Their first stronghold was in Cochin, but from 1510 onwards, they made Goa the headquarters of their possessions in the region. Along with Goa, they brought several small yet strategic and economically important places—such as Daman, Diu, Cannanore, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli—under their control, fortifying these locations as well.
Other European powers were slower to follow. The Dutch, French, and English began their activities nearly a century later. As the focus of this post is the British conquest of India, I shall omit the activities of other European powers unless necessary.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, European involvement in India was mostly limited to trade and commerce. The Mughal Empire was the dominant power during the 17th century. However, by the 1740s, its authority had almost completely collapsed. Punjab, though nominally under Mughal-appointed governors, was increasingly slipping from their control, as Sikh power rapidly rose. Over the next century, Punjab would become a battleground between the Sikhs and Afghans, ultimately resulting in Sikh dominance. Sindh was independent under the Kalhora and later Talpur dynasties. The vast Ganges plain was largely under the control of the independent state of Oudh, initially centered at Faizabad and later at Lucknow. Meanwhile, Bengal—then including Bihar and Odisha—was also effectively independent. In the south, the powerful Muslim state of Hyderabad, ruled by the Nizam, controlled large parts of the Deccan and southeastern India. The Marathas, by this time, had emerged as arguably the most powerful military force in India, ruling much of central and western India. Rajput rulers were either independent or vassals of the Marathas. Across the subcontinent, there were thousands of big and small rajas, nawabs, chiefs, and zamindars, each enjoying varying degrees of autonomy and authority.
In this fragmented political landscape, the stage was set for the British East India Company to expand its influence. In fact, the process had already begun, almost imperceptibly, over a long period. The Company’s commercial outposts in Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai), and Calcutta (Kolkata) had evolved into fortified centers of power, garrisoned with considerable military strength. From these bases, the British not only conducted trade but also projected political influence into the surrounding regions. These posts, and others like them, were supplied and protected by a formidable British navy that patrolled India’s coastal waters and shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. The British Navy was, without doubt, the most powerful weapon of the East India Company, one to which no Indian power could offer a credible response.
It is pertinent to mention that the French were not far behind the British. In fact, they had nearly equal strength on land and sea, and enjoyed significant influence in the state of Hyderabad. French possessions in India included Pondicherry, Mahé, Karikal, Chandernagore, and Yanam. Given the rivalry between Britain and France in Europe, it was only a matter of time before this competition extended to India.
The conflict began in the region of Carnatic, located along the southeastern Coromandel Coast, in what are now the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In 1740, the ruler of Carnatic, Nawab Dost Ali Khan, died, triggering a war of succession between his son Muhammad Ali and his son-in-law Chanda Sahib. The French supported Chanda Sahib, while the British backed Muhammad Ali. Until then, relations between the two European powers had been relatively cordial, but this event marked a turning point.
The War of the Austrian Succession, which broke out in Europe, saw Britain and France on opposing sides. The conflict soon spilled over to India, beginning the First Carnatic War in 1746. This war, which lasted until 1748, included several land and naval engagements, but ultimately ended in a stalemate. However, the proxy conflict between the French and British continued, culminating in the Second Carnatic War (1749–1754). In 1751, Muhammad Ali Walajah finally captured Arcot, the capital of Carnatic, with British support.
It was during the Siege of Arcot that Robert Clive rose to prominence—a man often credited with laying the foundation of British rule in India. His success also highlighted how profitable war could be for Company officials. When Clive returned to England in 1753, he carried with him a personal fortune of £40,000, a sum that propelled him into the ranks of the English gentry.
A few years later, the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756 renewed hostilities between Britain and France, including in India. After several engagements, the British decisively defeated the French in 1760 at Wandiwash, and captured Pondicherry—the capital of French India—in 1761. This marked a turning point, firmly tilting the balance of power in Britain’s favor.
To summarize, this series of wars made the British the dominant foreign power in India. The Nawab of Carnatic became little more than a puppet of the East India Company. The British also supplanted the French as the principal foreign influence at the court of Hyderabad. From this point forward, the French would never again seriously challenge British ambitions in India. Instead, they remained confined to a handful of small coastal enclaves for nearly two centuries.
Above all, these wars gave prestige to the East India Company and opened new horizons for the ambitions of its officers. They had seen firsthand how small but well-trained and well-armed forces could achieve decisive victories. Even more significantly, they realized they did not need to rely solely on European manpower; local Indians could also be recruited into their armies. In fact, right up to 1947, Indians always formed the majority of British forces in India.
Needless to say, these conflicts also exposed the fragility and disunity of the local Indian states, making them vulnerable to further British expansion.
Like many other Indian rulers, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah was anxiously observing the developments in South India. He had succeeded his maternal grandfather, Ali Vardi Khan, in 1756 at the age of 23. Even as a young and inexperienced ruler, he recognized that the English posed a significant threat to the political stability of his state. The activities of British authorities in Calcutta and Company merchants throughout Bengal were already undermining the authority of the provincial government.
In this atmosphere of suspicion, the Company, anticipating a renewed war in Europe with France, began reinforcing the garrison at Fort William and improving its fortifications, despite clear objections from the Nawab. This act proved to be the final straw, prompting Siraj ud-Daulah to strike. He moved swiftly and captured Calcutta on 20 June 1756, facing little resistance from a small and demoralized British garrison.
The fall of Calcutta was a major blow to British prestige and influence in India. Determined to avenge this humiliation, the British dispatched a force of 600 Europeans and 900 Indian sepoys from Madras, under the command of Robert Clive, who reached Calcutta in February 1757. After a brief but bloody engagement near Calcutta on 4 February, the Nawab was forced to retreat and subsequently agreed to a peace settlement, which included the restoration of Calcutta and all previous trading privileges to the Company. However, Siraj had clearly misjudged both his own strength and that of the Company.
Though a formal peace was restored, tensions remained high, and few believed it would last. Clive and his associates within the Company began actively plotting to replace Siraj with a more compliant ruler. They quickly found allies in Murshidabad, most notably Mir Jafar, Siraj’s father-in-law and a senior military commander. He was supported by influential financiers—the wealthy Seths of Bengal—and a faction of discontented military officers. Over the next few months, secret negotiations culminated in a detailed agreement between Clive and the conspirators.
Meanwhile, Clive did not remain idle. He launched an attack on the French settlement of Chandernagore, about 20 miles north of Calcutta, and captured it on 24 March 1757, further demonstrating his aggressive intentions. This act infuriated the Nawab and further strained relations between the two sides.
Clive soon made his next move. He marched towards Murshidabad, the Nawab’s capital, and along the way formally declared war, accusing Siraj of violating the terms of the March agreement. In response, the Nawab advanced south toward Calcutta, and the two forces met near Plassey on 23 June 1757.
The Battle of Plassey began at 8:00 a.m., with an exchange of cannon fire. After about three hours, a segment of the Nawab’s forces launched an attack on the British positions but were repulsed. The young and inexperienced Siraj lost his nerve and, on the advice of his commanders, abandoned the battlefield, retreating to Murshidabad. By the afternoon, the entire Bengal army had begun to withdraw, and by evening, the British had captured their positions and camp.
The next day, Mir Jafar entered Murshidabad, and Clive arrived on 29 June, placing him on the throne of Bengal. Siraj ud-Daulah was soon captured while attempting to flee westward, near Rajmahal, and was murdered by Miran, the son of Mir Jafar.
These events placed Bengal firmly under the control of the East India Company. That is why the Battle of Plassey is often regarded as the beginning of British rule in India. With this victory, the Company emerged as one of the major powers in the Indian subcontinent.
With the installation of Mir Jafar as Nawab, Bengal fell firmly into the grip of the East India Company. The new Nawab was little more than a puppet, showering vast sums of money upon Clive and other Company officials. As compensation for the attack on Calcutta, he paid the Company a staggering 18 million rupees. In addition, British merchants were granted the freedom to trade throughout Bengal on their own terms. Mir Jafar also awarded them the zamindari of the 24 Parganas, a large and fertile district south of Calcutta.
However, the Nawab soon realized that satisfying British greed was beyond his means, even with the immense resources of Bengal, the richest province in India. In desperation, he sought help from the Dutch East India Company, which maintained a small presence in Bengal. But this alliance failed disastrously when British forces defeated the Dutch at Chinsurah on 24 November 1759.
Following this defeat, Mir Jafar lost whatever influence and prestige he still held. In 1760, the British deposed him and installed his son-in-law, Mir Qasim, as the new Nawab. The Company was once again rewarded handsomely: apart from customary cash gifts worth millions of rupees, the British now took direct control of the districts of Chittagong, Burdwan, Midnapore, and Howrah, including the right to collect revenues.
Mir Qasim, unlike his predecessor, was a capable and popular ruler. He initially tried to cooperate with the British, but soon realized that their unrestrained demands and the exploitative behavior of Company officials and traders were intolerable. When he tried to regain control over administration and limit British privileges, tensions escalated. In response, Mir Qasim formed an alliance with Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh.
The allied forces met the East India Company army at the Battle of Buxar on 22 October 1764—a decisive confrontation. The combined armies were defeated comprehensively by the Company's forces. As a result, Shah Alam II, the nominal suzerain of Bengal, was forced to grant the Company the Diwani—the right to collect revenue directly in Bengal.
This marked the end of Bengal’s nominal independence. The future Nawabs were reduced to mere figureheads, with no real authority. The Battle of Buxar, even more than Plassey, firmly and absolutely established British control over Bengal, Bihar, and parts of Orissa, laying the foundation of British political dominance in India.
The 1760s proved to be an auspicious decade for the East India Company in South India. During this period, the state of Arcot virtually lost its independence, and the district of Chingleput was formally annexed by the Company. A major strategic gain came with the acquisition of the Northern Circars—a vast stretch of the eastern coastal belt.
Nizam Ali of Hyderabad ceded these territories to the Company in exchange for military protection and security, formalizing the alliance between the British and the Hyderabad state. This agreement not only gave the British control over a crucial coastal region, but also eliminated French influence in the court of Hyderabad.
By the end of the decade, the East India Company was effectively in control of nearly the entire eastern coast of India, with only minor territorial gaps. Even these areas were under British influence or indirect control. The final missing piece, the district of Guntur, was eventually handed over to the Company in 1778, completing their domination of the eastern seaboard.
Complete dominance of Arcot and favourable alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad made the position of EIC strong in the South, but still it was threatened by a rapidly rising force in the shape of Mysore. Mysore was an ancient Hindu state, but its control was assumed by Hyder Ali, a commander of the state’s forces. Mysore, under his administration, became a powerful state, which naturally roused the jealousies of the Nizam and Marathas in the north and Arcot and its British allies in the east. Friction over the border and territorial disputes led to a series of wars between Mysore and its neighbours, which lasted for more than three decades. The main contenders proved to be Mysore and the EIC, aided by its local allies.
The first war started in January 1767, when the Marathas invaded Mysore and were followed by the Nizam in March, aided by two battalions of Company troops. The Marathas had been bought off earlier for 3 million rupees, and now the Nizam too, after some political manoeuvring, ended up as an ally of Hyder Ali. Both joined their forces against the British. Hyder Ali made considerable advances in the British-protected Arcot, but no side could win any decisive battle during the last few months of 1767.
To relieve the pressure of Hyder Ali in Arcot, the British opened a new front on the western coast of the peninsula, and an army sent from Bombay attacked Mangalore, the main port of Mysore, which they occupied in February 1768, without much resistance, through a stratagem. The trick worked, and Hyder Ali sent his son Tipu Sultan to march towards the Malabar Coast and himself followed him. He retook Mangalore and other occupied areas in Malabar. Benefiting from the absence of the main forces of Mysore, the Company recovered the lost territories in Arcot.
In the meanwhile, the British were in touch with the Marathas and convinced them to join the war on their side in August 1768. These combined forces marched towards Bangalore. Hyder Ali tried to prevent the advance of this army but failed and retreated. He offered peace to the British and Marathas, but due to the harsh conditions put forward by them, the negotiations failed to reach an agreement. This move proved costly to the British side, as in the coming months Hyder Ali turned the tide against them. After several scattered actions, the British forces retreated out of Mysore. In November, he launched a big offensive into British territory and overran much of Arcot, and during this campaign reached the gates of Madras. During this campaign, for the first and the last time, an Indian ruler took British officers and troops as prisoners. Thus humbled, the British accepted the peace terms offered by Hyder Ali. One of the terms was a mutual defence pact. Thus, the First Anglo-Mysore War ended on a positive note for Mysore, in which this state successfully fought on three fronts against the British, the Nizam, and the Marathas.
Hostilities stopped for the time being, but it was an uneasy calm. Troubles with the Marathas continued till 1772, and despite having a defence treaty, the British did not help Hyder Ali. Surrounded by enemies, Hyder Ali acquired the support of the French, who still had considerable presence and power in India and controlled many posts on the Indian coast. As happened many times before, when France declared war on England in Europe in 1778, hostilities started between the two powers all across the globe, including Europe, North America, and India. British authorities in Madras launched a campaign against the French ports, including Mahe, a French port strategically important to Mysore as well, and under the declared protection of Mysore. This resulted in starting open hostilities between Hyder Ali and the British, and he invaded Carnatic in 1780, with an army of 80,000 troops. Thus started the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The British failed to repulse this invasion, and in one major battle near Pollilur, Tipu Sultan inflicted a crushing defeat upon a British army under the command of Colonel William Baillie on 10 September 1780. This army of 3,820 soldiers was completely destroyed, with 386 killed and Baillie, along with hundreds of others, taken prisoner. The main British force under Colonel Hector Munro hastily retreated towards Madras. Following this success, Hyder Ali captured Arcot city, the capital of Carnatic.
However, the war dragged on; in many other battles, the British performed well and defeated the forces of Hyder Ali in three consecutive battles in the coming months. The British had full command over the sea and were constantly receiving reinforcements in men and material from Europe. Despite that, Tipu defeated a detachment of the British army near Tanjore on 18 February 1782 and took almost all of its 1,800 soldiers prisoners. Most of the fighting was taking place in the Eastern Ghats, so to relieve the pressure of Mysore in this region, the British authorities opened a new front in Malabar in the summer of 1782. This invasion ended in disaster after initial success, and the commander, General Mathew had to surrender. Tipu also took back the important port city of Mangalore. Meanwhile, Hyder Ali died in December 1782, and Tipu succeeded him. At last, the war ended in March 1784 with the signing of the Treaty of Mangalore, and the British agreed to return all the captured areas of Mysore and status quo was restored. This treaty was important in the sense that Mysore, an Indian power, concluded this peace with the Company on equal footing and with favourable terms, which was never to happen again in India.
The peace lasted for many years, but tensions remained simmering between the two powers over the issues involving their allies and proxies in the southwestern corner of India, in the states of Travancore and Cochin. Hostilities began when Tipu Sultan invaded Travancore, and the British, who were looking and preparing for such an opportunity, declared war on Mysore. British commander Medows started his operation in the district of Coimbatore in 1790, and the strong points of Dindigul and Palghat fell to him. Tipu counterattacked in September and penetrated deep into enemy territory. However, no side could gain a decisive victory. In the meanwhile, a large British force from Bombay, along with a Maratha force of 30,000, invaded Mysore from the north, and after a siege of more than six months, the important garrison city of Dharwar fell to these forces in April 1791. In the meanwhile, another Maratha force under Hari Pant also invaded Mysore. The Nizam of Hyderabad, a close ally of the British, also joined the foray to show his loyalty to the British and reap the spoils of war. His large armies were poorly trained and equipped and were mostly ineffective. Now, Mysore was under attack from all directions by the British, Marathas, Nizam, and the state of Travancore.
Tipu Sultan had no resources to withstand the onslaught of the combined forces of the three biggest powers of India, with almost unlimited resources in men and money. Within a few months, Mysore lost Bangalore and the Malabar Coast to the British and large territories to the Marathas. Bangalore was a strong point, which fell in early 1791, and now the road to Seringapatam, the capital city, was open. The British forces were acting under the command of Cornwallis, and after securing his position in Bangalore, he marched on Seringapatam. The first assault on the capital in May failed, and he had to retreat. But many other territories fell to the coalition. Next year, in January 1792, Cornwallis made his second attempt at capturing Seringapatam, this time with better preparations and greater force. Another army from Bombay also joined his force, and the city was brought under a complete siege. After a campaign of two months, Tipu Sultan sued for peace in late February 1792. Under the agreement, Mysore state lost almost half of its territory to the British, Marathas, and Nizam, including most of the coast. In addition, it had to pay a large war indemnity. Tipu’s two young sons were also taken as hostages.
This war severely weakened the state of Mysore, and it was clear from the first day that the British were waiting only for a proper opportunity to strike a final blow. The excuse was provided by the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon. Tipu was in contact with France to gain any possible help against the British. This raised the tension in India also, and three British armies invaded Mysore in 1799 and, after some actions, laid the capital under siege. This time, the British not only depended on military force; they used stratagem as well. Many high-ranking Mysorean officials were secretly in touch with the British, whose treachery made their task easier to accomplish.
The final assault was launched on the 4th of May, 1799, at 1300. The wall of the city had already been breached by siege guns. The breach was poorly defended by officials in liege with the British, so columns of British entered the breach without much resistance. Soon Tipu Sultan reached the scene, and fierce fighting started, which lasted until dusk. Soon a search for the body of Tipu started, which was found among the bodies of his soldiers, who, like their Sultan, instead of fleeing, chose to die fighting to the last.
Tipu Sultan, the Lion of Mysore, is the only ruler among hundreds of others who, instead of bowing to the British, died fighting to maintain his freedom. With his defeat, the field was open to the complete subjugation of India. Now it was clear that the rising tide of the British conquest was irreversible, and it was just a matter of time before the British became the masters of the whole of India.
The Marathas failed to repulse this onslaught, and after several battles, Assaye, Adgaon, Laswari being a few of them, lost many big chunks of their empire. The most important gains for the British were the regions of Doab, Rohelkhand, Delhi, and many areas in Orissa, Gujarat, and Bundelkhand. Most importantly, it broke the back of the military power of the Maratha chiefs. Thus concluded the Second Maratha War, with the British emerging as victorious.
This peace did not last for long; the British were fully involved in the internal rivalries of the Maratha chiefs. Now, in support of their own interests and also that of their ally, the Maharaja of Baroda, they imposed a new treaty on Peshwa Baji Rao II, further encroaching upon his territories and sovereignty. The Peshwa decided not to go down without a fight and approached other Maratha states and the Pindaris also.
Pindaris were mostly Muslims of different tribes, previously serving the Mughals, but now their chief occupation was loot and plunder. They were protected and sheltered by Maratha rulers in their territories, but they frequently raided into British territories and neighboring states. In current terminology, we can say they were "non-state actors." They were concentrated in the Malwa region and the valley of the river Chambal. Pindaris were mostly horsemen, and their movements were swift and their tactics those of guerrillas. In 1817, the EIC made their first moves against the Pindaris and marched to encircle them from all directions. Irregular Pindari bands were no match for the forces of the EIC. They were soon dispersed and hunted all over central India.
Movements of the British forces caused clashes with the armies of the Peshwa as well. But he could make no firm stand against this attack, and after a few months of running, reached an agreement with the British, who allowed him a pension of Rs. 800,000/- per year and exiled him to Bithur, near Kanpur. Other Maratha states too could not withstand the British attack. The Nagpur state was defeated in a single battle—Sitabuldi. In another battle, the Holkar of Indore put up a stout resistance in the Battle of Mahidpur but was defeated and could not continue resistance any further. Hence, in a short and swift campaign, the British subjugated the Marathas completely and, in the process, annexed large territories in central and western India. Numerous other states, including Rajput states, also came under the protection of the EIC and accepted it as the paramount power. The campaign of 1817–18 proved to be the turning point in the modern history of India. Now almost the whole of present-day India was in the firm grip of the EIC. The only two big provinces out of its control were Punjab and Sindh.
The British, on some flimsy pretexts—like accusing the Amirs of a hostile attitude towards the British—invaded Sindh in 1843, and in two battles, Miani on 17 February 1843 and Hyderabad (or Dubbo) on 24 March 1843, crushed the power of the Talpur Amirs. Sindhis fought most valiantly for their country but could not withstand the finest army in the world. Sindh was annexed by Charles Napier, the commander of the EIC army in Sindh, and was made part of the Bombay Presidency till 1936.
Sikhs were already a big power in Punjab since they occupied Lahore in 1763. But the foundations of a stable government were laid down by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Gujranwala when he occupied Lahore in 1799 and made it its capital. After the conquest of Delhi in 1803, the British had already reached the borders of Punjab. In 1809 a treaty was signed between the EIC and the Lahore Darbar. According to this treaty, the River Sutlej was agreed upon as the border of the two powers, and all the states and territories south of Sutlej came under the protection of the EIC. However, it also gave a free hand to Ranjit Singh on the other side of the Sutlej. So within two decades, Ranjit Singh occupied Kashmir, Multan, and Peshawar. For the first time since the time of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi, these cities were lost by the Muslims. Ranjit Singh achieved all this success through extraordinary talent and hard work. In the process, he created the finest army, well equipped and well trained, in Asia. During the life of Ranjit Singh, relations between Calcutta and Lahore were cordial.
After the conquest of Sindh and considering the internal conditions of the Sikh state at the time, it was obvious that the days of independent Punjab were numbered. The British were closely observing the fast-deteriorating political conditions in Punjab and were ready to meet any challenge. They did not have to wait long or invent a pretext, as in the case of Sindh. By 1845 the Khalsa Army was in a state of poor discipline and not in the firm control of Maharaja Duleep Singh, a minor. Suspicions were growing on both sides, especially after the annexation of Sindh.
In this hostile atmosphere, the British started reinforcing the cantonment of Ferozepore on the border. An army under the command of Sir Hugh Gough started its march towards Ferozepore. The Khalsa Army also crossed the border, and in a series of battles at Mudki on 18 December 1845, Ferozeshah, 21 December 1845, Aliwal, 28 January 1846, and finally Sobraon on 10 February 1846, were defeated repeatedly. These were some of the hardest-fought battles in the history of the British conquest of India, and at times, the British army barely averted defeat and disaster, thanks to the treachery of the Dogras of Jammu and their faction. They were constantly in touch with the British authorities and not only provided them all the plans, but at some of the most crucial moments, kept their forces out of the battle or simply made bad decisions and planning.
After this defeat, the borders of the Punjab state were shrunk considerably. They lost Bist Doab to the British and were forced to allow some British forces in Punjab and also to accept their officials in the Lahore Darbar and other major cities to supervise and control the affairs of the state.
But the matters were far from settled, and war broke out again in late 1848. The immediate cause of the outbreak of hostilities was a dispute between the governor of Multan, Mulraj, and the British political agent who tried to remove him as governor. In this trouble, the agent Patrick Vans Agnew and another British officer, Lieutenant William Anderson, were killed on 19 April 1848. This was a signal for open rebellion for discontented Sikh soldiers, and soon troubles spread all over Punjab. The main leader of this rebellion was Sher Singh Attariwala. The first major battle was fought near Ramnagar (now Rasulnagar), where Sikhs repulsed an attack of the British army but subsequently retreated across the river towards Chillianwala. Here again, the two forces fought a bloody battle on 13 January 1849, with heavy losses on both sides. But again, it proved to be indecisive. Now the Sikh army retreated towards Gujrat, where a final battle was fought on 21 February and they were utterly defeated. However, the final surrender came on 12 March at Mankiala near Rawat. In the meanwhile, Multan had fallen on 22 January 1849. Punjab was formally annexed on 2 April 1849. With the fall of Punjab, most of the KP also became part of British India.
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The British took almost a century to conquer this vast subcontinent, fighting hundreds of battles and using all kinds of factors—from their superiority in weapons, tactics, discipline, better planning and administration to dissension among Indians—to their own advantage. This resulted in the making of British India, which was considered the Jewel in the Crown of the British Empire.
I have tried to briefly describe the phases in which the East India Company conquered India, starting from its coastal posts and eventually reaching the most distant corners of India.
Tariq Amir
Doha - Qatar.
October, 17, 2016.
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