New
New
Year 8

The arrival of the East India Company

I can explain the activities of the East India Company during the 17th century and assess its relationship with the Mughal Empire.

New
New
Year 8

The arrival of the East India Company

I can explain the activities of the East India Company during the 17th century and assess its relationship with the Mughal Empire.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The East India Company (EIC) was created in 1601 for trade with the East.
  2. The EIC competed with other Europeans such as the Portuguese and Dutch.
  3. The EIC constructed factories to support its trade in India.
  4. The EIC required permission from the Mughal Emperors to conduct its activities in India.
  5. During Child's War, the Mughal Empire defeated the forces of the EIC.

Keywords

  • Merchants - merchants are people whose job is to buy and sell goods

  • Textiles - textiles are fabrics made by weaving materials like cotton

  • Factories - warehouses and trading posts set up by the East India Company were called factories

  • Mughal Empire - the Mughal Empire ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent during the 17th century

Common misconception

Europeans were more powerful than other states and social groups in the 17th century.

Although European groups like the EIC were powerful, the Mughal Emperors retained greater power in the 17th century. Aurangzeb comprehensively defeated the EIC's military challenged during Child's War.

Ask students 'how similar was the EIC to modern companies like Apple' in pairs. Push students to consider similarities like the importance of profits and differences such as the EIC's state-like features. You could also ask students to hypothesise why companies normally lack these extra powers now.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Mughal rule in India was at its strongest in the __________ centuries.
fourteenth and fifteenth
fifteenth and sixteenth
Correct answer: sixteenth and seventeenth
seventeenth and eighteenth
Q2.
The Mughal conquest of India began under which leader?
Jahangir
Akbar
Correct answer: Babur
Aurangzeb
Q3.
Which Mughal emperor demonstrated the greatest religious tolerance?
Jahangir
Correct answer: Akbar
Babur
Aurangzeb
Q4.
The Mughal emperors were followers of .
Correct Answer: Islam, islam
Q5.
Which of these best describes the manner in which the Mughals conquered India?
Through violence alone.
Through diplomacy alone.
Correct answer: Through both violence and diplomacy.
Q6.
Under Akbar the Mughals' taxation system __________.
Correct answer: improved
stayed the same
became inefficient

6 Questions

Q1.
Which goods did the first East India Company ships return to England with?
Correct answer: spices
gunpowder
gold
enslaved people
Correct answer: textiles
Q2.
In its early years, the main trading rivals to the East India Company were the __________.
French
Correct answer: Dutch
Spanish
Indians
Q3.
The East India Company's trading posts and warehouses were known as .
Correct Answer: factories, Factories
Q4.
Why did Emperor Jahangir agree to the East India Company setting up a factory in Surat?
The East India Company used military force to convince him.
Correct answer: The East India Company gave him gifts in return.
Correct answer: The East India Company were a useful tool to keep other Europeans under control.
The Mughal Empire was reliant on the importation of English textiles.
Q5.
When no trading agreements were reached in the area of , the East India Company resorted to war to take power for themselves.
Correct Answer: Bengal, bengal
Q6.
The East India Company's conflict against the emperor Aurangzeb in Bengal was known as ' War'.
Correct Answer: Child's, child's, Childs, childs

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