2nd April, 2020: Vedant Sharma
The Renaissance Period existed from the 14th to 17th century. It basically meant the period of ‘Rebirth’. It was a time of awakening in Europe which prevailed in Venice, Florence, Milan and mainly the Italian Mainland. These become the trading centres which gave rise to art and sciences of all kinds. Leonardo da Vinci applied his learnings to his day to day workings.
It was a time of religious awakening. The Church was responsible to bring the word of God to the new worlds. After the death of Christ, the Catholic Church was the only Christian Church and the priests started selling Fetishes , which were relics important to Christianity.
Piri Reis declared Europe, Asia, Africa, Russia and Chinese Wasteland to be the Old version and America and the Indies to be the new world.
Amerigo Vespucci discovered America although Lief Erikson was the first one to discover but did not have a claim on it. Vasco Da Gama traveled through the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, to reach India.
The East India Company in India basically referred to the British. After Vasco Da Gama, English was established. Fort William was the first place where the British established their foothold in India. However, eventually they spread out to the entire country.
They followed the policy of ‘Divide et impera’ which means to ‘Divide and Rule’. They used to conquer and establish their power. Through this policy, they could break people down into groups and bring in insecurities among them.
The interest of people who came to India to be greater than the interest of the people of India themselves. Mughals became one with the land when they came to India which was led to assimilation. Later on, Robert Clive, Lord Dalhousie and Arthur Wellesley came to India. Policies such as the Doctrine of Lapse and Subsidiary Alliance come into existence. Almost three- fourth of the country was controlled by the East India Company.
The British Soldiers wore red coats so that if they bled, their blood couldn’t be seen.
Nana Saheb Peshwa had an adopted son. His pension was taken away by then East India Company. He sent a delegation to England under Azimullah Khan who was the brains behind the Revolt of 1857. He was trusted the most by Nana Saheb. Azimullah Khan requested the Britishers to not cut Nana Saheb’s pension as he was a king. However, this delegation led to a failure.
Arthur Wellesley named the Indian Subcontinent. The East India Company assimilated warrior groups from India. After 1857, the East India Company seized to exist since the power shifted to the crown. This is when the period called British Raj started.
A discussion on this helped us in developing our understanding of how the East India Company came into existence and how all of this connected to the events that happened later. It also gave us a insight into how they treated the people while they still ruled and how many of their policies were actually helpful and how many were just a way of dividing people.
The Idealist 