India has a long history of freedom struggle. India was never an independent sovereign; rather it was composed of several independent princely states who exercised control over their conquered territories in the Indian sub-continent. It was not until the British traders who came to this land, conquered and consolidated these states to form the British-Indian colony, that the country got its distinct geographical identity.

Europeans on Indian Soil
The European presence in India dates back to the 15th century. Vasco da Gama's discovery of a new sea route to India in 1498 paved the way for direct Indo-European commerce. Soon the Portuguese set up trading-posts in Goa, Diu Daman and Bombay. The next to arrive were the Dutch, the British and then came the French.

Decline of the Mughals and the advent of the British
In the latter part of 17th century when the Mughal Empire began to collapse, it paved the way for the emergence of new regional states in India. In the contest for supremacy among all the European countries that came to India to establish colonies, the English emerged 'victors'. The British, who had initially come for trade, gradually took over the total administration of the country. Their rule was marked by the conquests at the battlefields of Plassey in 1757 where British East India Company, led by Robert Clive, defeated the last Nawab of Bengal, Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulha and then the Battle of Buxar in 1764. After this win the Company acquired the civil rights of administration in Bengal from the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. This marked the beginning of the Company’s formal rule, which engulfed eventually most of India and extinguished the Moghul rule and dynasty itself in a century.

East India Company and its ruling policy