Britain's Colonization - A Short History

 Causes of Colonial Expansion

            In the end of 16^th century, the English people were dissatisfied with the religious problems in their country, they were in need of land and they were in need of adventure.  Therefore, they went around the world.  As a result, many colonies were established all around the world.  Thus by the early 18^th century there were 13 colonies on the east coast of America.

American Colonies

            The American colonies were of three groups, namely, New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies.  The first colony to be founded was Virginia.  Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to establish colonies during the Elizabethan period.  So the new colony in America was named as Virginia, after the virgin queen.  Later Sir Walter Raleigh sold his rights to two companies – the Plymouth Company and the London Company.  The London Company established a first permanent settlement in Jamestown, a place named after King James.  The colonists had to work hard, which was new to them so they purchased slaves from Africa.  In 1620 a group of puritans called as ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ landed in a place near Cape Cod; they named the place as New Plymouth.  A few years later, a group of puritans set a colony in Massachusetts.  Later colonies like Connecticut and New Hampshire were found.  In 1632 Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic, was given a land near Potomac River, which was named as Maryland, after the name of Queen Mary.  The Dutch occupied a few places near Hudson River, for which the English fought and the land was controlled by the Duke of York.  The place was named as New York.  Later on places like Pennsylvania and New Jersey were established.

Canadian and West Indian Colonies

            In 1670, Prince Rupert founded the Hudson Bay company which ruled a large province in Canada.  Apart from Canada, the English also occupied West Indian Islands, Jamaica and Barbados in 1605. 

African Colonies

            The British started to colonize Africa in the name of trade.  The slaves and gold in Africa attracted them.  In 1562, Sir John Hawkins managed to get 300 slaves from Guinea Coast of Africa.  Many centers and settlements were established all over Africa.  The Royal African Company was founded and it was there for a long time.

Indian Colonies

The East India Company was started in India in 1600 and it lasted until 1858.  It was in India for two hundred and eight years.  Thomas Stevens first visited India.  He became the head of Jesuit College in Goa in the year 1579.  He wrote letters to his father about India.  This made two English merchants, Ralph Fitch and William Leeds, to come to India.  They came to Fatehpur Sikri, the then capital of Akbar.

            The East India Company started with a humble beginning of 125 shareholders with 70,000 pounds.  At the beginning, the company earned a lot of profit but later it did not have more profit.  The average profit of the company for a year was about 6%.

            The company rented some land near San Thome, a Portuguese settlement, from the Raja of Chandragiri.  Here Francis Day built many buildings including Fort St. George.  Later the place was name the Presidency of Madras after the Portuguese name “Madre de Dios”, meaning “Mother of God”.  Later a center was established in marshy Bombay, which was given as a dowry to Charles II of England when he married Catherine of Braganza.  The king parted this place to the East India Company for 10 pounds a year.  Governor Gerald Augnier beautified Bombay and made use of its natural harbor.  In 1690, Fort William was built at Kalikata (Calcutta).

            Many complaints were lodged against East India Company.  In order to regularize this a Regulating Act was  passed in the British Parliament in 1773.  According to this act, the Governor of Bengal was made the Governor General.  A Supreme Court with three judges was appointed.  Even then the problems did not end so Pitt’s India Act was passed in the year 1784.

            The East India Company captured many places in India.  They had to fight against countries like Nepal, Burma and Afghanistan.  They also had tough time with kings like Hyder Ali, Tippu Sultan and other Maratha kings.  A few kings accepted the British power without fight.  They were asked to pay some amount to the British rulers.

            A few British rulers did good things to India and the Indians.  William Bentinck abolished ‘sati’ with the support of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.  He was also responsible for framing the Indian Penal Code. He along with Macaulay laid the foundations for English education in India.  After it was accepted University of Madras, University of Bombay and University of Calcutta were established.

            Lord Dalhousie introduced the first railway system in India.  The first train was run from Bombay to Thane in the year 1853.  He also introduced the Public Works Department in India.  He built and engineering college at Roorkee.  He laid water canals.  He introduced post and electric telegram.

            In the middle of the 19^th century there arose nationalist movement among people.  So Queen Victoria took charge of the country’s ruling and East India Company came to an end on 1^st May 1858.

            The East India Company popularized Indian goods like cotton cloth, silk, spices, pepper and tea in the English market.  Many poor men came from England to India returned with great wealth.  Robert Clive joined the company as a clerk but rose to the power of Governor General.  Many English scholars took interest in studying Indian religion and literature.  Charles Wilkins translated Bhagavat Gita into English.  Bible was also popularized in India.  Many Indian words like banian, jungle, bungalow, etc. were included into the English vocabulary.