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Empires have usually been founded by charismatic, egoistic warriors or power-hungry states and peoples, sometimes spurred on by a sense of religious mission. So how was it that the nineteenth-century British Indian Raj was so different? Arising, initially, from the militant policies and actions of a bunch of London merchants chartered as the English East India Company by Queen Elizabeth in 1600, for one hundred and fifty years they had generally pursued a peaceful and thereby profitable trade in the India, recognized by local Indian princes as mutually beneficial. Yet from the 1740s, Company men began to leave the counting house for the parade ground, fighting against the French and the Indian princes over the next forty years until they stood upon the threshold of succeeding the declining Mughul Empire as the next hegamon of India. This book roots its explanation of this phenomenon in the evidence of the words and thoughts of the major, and not-so major, players, as revealed in the rich archives of the early Raj. Public dispatches from the Company's servants in India to their masters in London contain elaborate justifications and records of debates in its councils for the policies (grand strategies) adopted to deal with the challenges created by the unstable political developments of the time. Thousands of surviving private letters between Britons in India and the homeland reveal powerful underlying currents of ambition, cupidity and jealousy and how they impacted on political manoeuvring and the development of policy at both ends. This book shows why the Company became involved in the military and political penetration of India and provides a political and military narrative of the Company's involvement in the wars with France and with several Indian powers. G. J. Bryant, who has a Ph.D. from King's College London, has written extensively on the British military experience in eighteenth-century India.

Great Britain --- India --- Colonies --- Politics and government --- British --- History --- East India Company --- History. --- British people --- Britishers --- Britons (British) --- Brits --- Ethnology --- Governor and Company of Merchants of London, Trading into the East Indies --- United Company of Merchants of England, Trading to the East Indies --- English East India Company --- East India Company (English) --- East India Tea Company --- East-India Companie --- United East India Company --- Compagnie des Indes orientales d'Angleterre --- Compagnie unie de marchands d'Angleterre commerçans aux Indes orientales --- Tung Yin-tu kung ssu --- Honourable East-India Company --- Sharikat al-Hind al-Sharqīyah al-Barīṭānīyah --- Engelse Oost-Indische Maatschappy --- Kumpanī-i Hind-i Sharqī --- کمپنى هند شرقى --- English Company Trading to the East-Indies --- Īsṭa Iṇḍiyā Kampanī

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When war broke out with France in 1793, there immediately arose the threat of a renewed French challenge to British supremacy in India. This security problem was compounded in 1795 when the French overran the Netherlands and the extremely valuable Dutch trade routes and Dutch colonies, including the Cape of Good Hope and what is now Indonesia, fell under French control. The task of securing British interests in the East was a formidable one: the distances were huge, communication with London could take years, there were problems marshalling resources, and fine diplomatic skills were needed to keep independent rulers on the British side and to ensure full co-operation from the East India Company. The person charged with overseeing this formidable task was Admiral Peter Rainier (1741-1808), commander of the Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean and the East from 1794 to 1805. This book discusses the enormous difficulties Rainier faced. It outlines his career, explaining how he carried out his role with exceptional skill; how he succeeded in securing British interests in the East - whilst avoiding the need to fight a major battle; how he enhanced Britain's commanding position at sea; and how, additionally, in co-operation with the Governor-General, Richard Wellesley, he further advanced Britain's position in India itself. Peter Ward completed a PhD in naval history at the University of Exeter after a career in international personnel management, working for Californian high technology companies in the United States, Hong Kong and Europe.

Rainier, Peter. --- Great Britain --- India --- History, Naval --- History --- Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 --- Diplomatic history. --- Great Britain. --- East India Company. --- History. --- History, Naval. --- Foreign relations --- Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1814 --- Governor and Company of Merchants of London, Trading into the East Indies --- United Company of Merchants of England, Trading to the East Indies --- English East India Company --- East India Company (English) --- East India Tea Company --- East-India Companie --- United East India Company --- Compagnie des Indes orientales d'Angleterre --- Compagnie unie de marchands d'Angleterre commerçans aux Indes orientales --- Tung Yin-tu kung ssu --- Honourable East-India Company --- Sharikat al-Hind al-Sharqīyah al-Barīṭānīyah --- Engelse Oost-Indische Maatschappy --- Kumpanī-i Hind-i Sharqī --- کمپنى هند شرقى --- English Company Trading to the East-Indies --- צי הבריטי --- England and Wales. --- Bharat --- Bhārata --- Government of India --- Ḣindiston Respublikasi --- Inde --- Indië --- Indien --- Indii︠a︡ --- Indland --- Indo --- Republic of India --- Sāthāranarat ʻIndīa --- Yin-tu --- インド --- هند --- Индия --- Īsṭa Iṇḍiyā Kampanī --- Admiral Peter Rainier. --- British Naval Power. --- British Supremacy in India. --- Cape of Good Hope. --- Dutch Trade Routes. --- French Challenge. --- Indonesia. --- Keith Edward Beebe. --- Naval Power in the East. --- Securing British Interests. --- War with France.