Eighteen century is a remarkable period in the history of India as well as England. It introduced such radical changes that affected the political and social life of both countries.

Mughal Empire, which once was very powerful, could not face emerging challenges of the provincial powers and began to decline in the 18th century. One of the major reasons for its decline was the struggle for the throne which internally weakened the empire. It involved the country in bloody conflicts in which thousands of people died.

When war becomes the only solution to all problems, interested parties spend their wealth and energy in warfare and try to plunge society into chaos and anarchy — the same happened with the Mughal Empire. It is evident from history that every war leaves nothing but destruction, pain and sufferings. The wars during 18th century too left the survivors in a state of insecurity, despair and disappointment.

When the centre became weak and the emperor lost his control, the provinces started to become independent. Some of them stopped paying taxes to the central government while some only paid small amount of taxes and that too, not on regular basis. As a result of this mismanagement, the Mughal Empire lost its grandeur and the emperor became dependent on the bounty of the Mahrattas or East India Company.

These wars also affected agriculture seriously. Peasants were not safe anymore! Army movements through agricultural fields spoilt crops and soldiers plundered the humble belongings of peasants. Trade was also affected by all this unrest as trading routes became unsafe because of the presence of bandits who took advantage of the uncertain and unstable conditions. As a result, markets of Delhi, Agra, Mathura and Lahore became desolate. The industries of these cities had to close their business due to lack of buyers.

When the Mughal Empire declined, the Marhattas, Jats, Rajputs and Ruhellas emerged as regional powers to challenge the centre. Awadh, Bengal, Deccan and Mysore became independent states. India suffered badly when in 1739, Nadir Shah invaded with a strong force. He took away much of India’s accumulated wealth. After him Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India in 1748 and remained there till 1761 and plundered what remained. These invasions further weakened the Mughal Empire.

While India was becoming more and more fragile, England was all set for Industrial Revolution. Merchants who accumulated profit as a result of Mercantile Capitalism, in which they bought goods cheaply from one market and sold them at a higher price to another market, invested it in the development of technology.

New technology and the establishment of factories changed the whole structure of English society. There was mass production of factory goods. New rules and regulations for trade were introduced.

This was the beginning of industrial capitalism whose basic need was to obtain raw material and to find markets to sell manufactured goods. Thus English merchants targeted Indian market and other Asian countries to obtain raw material as well as to sell their manufactured products. In order to obtain raw material from India, East India Company interfered in the internal affairs of the Indian states and gradually acquired political power, and hence from a trading company it became a political power!