🌍 Background

• Europeans were searching for new sea routes to India for trade.
• Main aim: Spices, silk, cotton, and precious goods.
• Land routes were controlled by Ottoman Turks, making trade costly.

🇵🇹 Portuguese (First Europeans in India)

📅 Arrival

• 1498: Vasco da Gama reached Calicut (Kozhikode).
• Supported by King of Portugal.

🏢 Important Centers

• Goa (capital)
• Cochin
• Daman & Diu

👑 Key Features

• First to establish trade and political power in India.
• Introduced:
  • Cartaz system (trade license)
  • Naval dominance

📉 Decline Reasons

• Corruption & weak administration
• Defeat by Dutch & British
• Limited resources

🇳🇱 Dutch (VOC – Dutch East India Company)

📅 Arrival

• 1602: Formation of Dutch East India Company.

🏢 Important Centers

• Masulipatnam
• Pulicat
• Nagapattinam

🎯 Objective

• Focus on spice trade, especially in Indonesia.

📉 Decline Reasons

• Defeat by British
• Less interest in Indian mainland
• Focus shifted to East Indies

🇬🇧 British (East India Company)

📅 Arrival

• 1600: Formation of East India Company.
• 1615: Sir Thomas Roe got permission from Jahangir to trade.

🏢 Important Centers

• Surat (first factory)
• Madras (Fort St. George)
• Bombay
• Calcutta (Fort William)

⚔️ Expansion of Power

• Used diplomacy + wars:
  • Battle of Plassey → Defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah
  • Battle of Buxar → Gained control over Bengal

👑 Key Features

• Gradually established political control
• Introduced modern administration, railways, education

🔍 Comparison Table

📝 Important Points for Exams

• Portuguese were the first Europeans in India.
• British became the most powerful.
• Key turning point: Battle of Plassey (1757).
• Europeans came mainly for trade but later ruled India.

🎯 One-Line Revision

👉 “Portuguese came first, Dutch followed for trade, but British stayed to rule India.”