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had got it from the Portuguese as part of the by the policy of mercantilism. Mercantilism is the
dowry of his wife, Catherine of Braganza, sister economic theory holding that the prosperity of a
of the king of Portugal. nation depends upon its supply of capital and
Further in 1698, the Company developed three that the global volume of trade is unchangeable.
villages into a city in Bengal and built the Fort The amount of capital represented by bullion
William around the factory. That city came to be (amount of precious metal) held by the state is
known as Calcutta (Kolkata). By this time, the best increased through a positive balance of
Company became successful in eliminating the trade with other nations, with large exports and
influence of its rival powers in India and started low imports. Mercantilism suggests that the ruling
to interfere in the political affairs of the provinces government (Mother country) should advance
as the political situation had weakened. these goals by playing a pritectionlish role in the
economy, by encouraging exports and discourag-
THE FRENCH
ing imports. The economic policy based upon
Six decades after the establishment of foreign
these ideas is often called the mercantile system.
trading companies like the ‘British East India’
ANGLO-FRENCH RIVALRY AND TRADE
and the ‘Dutch East India,’ France too entered
WARS
India with a business proposal and later founded
As studied earlier, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the
the ‘French East India Company’ in 1664.
English and the Frech came to India as traders to
According to some sources, the first French
make huge profits out of trade with India.
expedition to India might have taken place
Naturally, it led to a sense of competition and as
during the reign of King Francis I, in the mid-16th
a result they became rivals. The English were
century. In 1667, an expedition was sent under
successful in ousting the Portuguese and the
the command of Commissioner François Caron,
Dutch from most of the ports of India, but the
which upon reaching Surat came up with the first
French were still there up to the end of the 18th
French factory unit in India, in 1668. In 1669, a
century. Both France and England were eager to
Persian named Marcara, who was part of the
establish their supremacy in India. In a bid for
expedition in 1667, established another factory
supremacy, wars often broke out between these
at Machilipatnam, which later came to be known
two countries. These wars were known as the
as ‘Masulipatam.’ The French acquired
carnatic wars. The causes of these wars were as
Pondicherry (Puducherry) in 1673 from the
follows :
Sultan of Bijapur. However, by 1720, the British
company had acquired Surat, Bantam and g Both the English and the French wanted to
Masulipatam from the French, which was the monopolise trade. A monopoly over trade
beginning of the end for the ‘French East India with India spelt huge profit as it was a vast
Company.’ Over the next many years, the French market for their products. As a result of
possessions in India were taken over by the industrial revolution in Europe, there was
British with the exception of a few territories like mass production of goods for which markets
Pondicherry (Puducherry). were required.
g They could procure huge raw material at
MERCANTILISM
cheaper rates for their industries from India.
The 18th century trading companies establishing
Thus, rivalry between them increased.
trade centres in different countries were guided
g Politically, India had become weak, so they
Social Science-8 16
