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 Indias

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!