1. The British East India Company

2. Colonization
Colonizing India supplied Europe with Raw Materials Sugar, Tea, Poppies, cotton, silk Markets for Exports This exchange linked the economies, cultures and people of India and Britain

3. Vasco da Gama Arrived in India in 1498
Established a sea route from Europe to India
Opened the door for the
Dutch
British
Portuguese
French

4. Mughal Empire Founded in 1526 CE Peaked in early 1700’s
Prospered because of European trade
Steady decline in 1800’s due to internal power struggles opened door for European colonization

5. British East India Company
1600
Queen Elizabeth grants charter
Exclusive right to trade between England and the East Indies
Took advantage of the decline of the Mughal Empire
Established settlements in India
Textile centers

6. Great Rebellion of 1857
British East India Company loses control of India after the Sepoy rebellion brought on by the British East India Company’s mismanagement of the territiry

7. British Raj Raj is Hindi for Rule
Britain takes control of India from the B.E.I.C. and turns it over to the British Crown
Britain Controls India through civil servants located throughout the country

8. Railroad Chennai Central Railroad Station commissioned in 1873
By 1910 India had the 4th largest railway system in the world

9. Question? Why did the British want a railroad connecting all of India?
Practical Reasons?
Symbolic Reasons?