levo

Y311: The Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558–1783

Depth study: Clive and the East India Company: India c.1730–1773 — the Carnatic Wars and Plassey

  • 2 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on the Company’s position around 1730, Mughal decline, the Carnatic Wars and Dupleix, Clive’s early reputation, the Bengal crisis of 1756, and Plassey and its immediate gains.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What provoked the crisis in Bengal in 1756?

Who and when

What did Clive and the Company gain immediately after Plassey?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was the East India Company's position in India around 1730?

    Model answer

    It was a trading company operating from three fortified presidencies at Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, buying textiles, saltpetre and raw silk under privileges granted by the Mughal emperor.

  2. 2

    Why was the decline of Mughal authority so important to the Company?

    Model answer

    After Aurangzeb's death in 1707 and the sacking of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739, power passed to regional rulers and the Marathas, so the Company could bargain, ally and eventually fight its way into Indian politics.

  3. 3

    What did the Carnatic Wars show about European methods in India?

    Model answer

    They showed that small numbers of European-trained sepoys with disciplined infantry and artillery could decide succession disputes, and that both companies would install their own candidates as nawabs.

  4. 4

    Identify Dupleix and explain his significance.

    Model answer

    He was the French governor at Pondicherry who pioneered using trained Indian troops and puppet rulers to build French influence, and his recall in 1754 removed France's most effective strategist in India.

  5. 5

    How did Clive first make his reputation?

    Model answer

    He arrived at Madras as a clerk in 1744, took a commission after the French captured the town, and won fame by seizing and holding Arcot against a much larger force in 1751.

  6. 6

    What provoked the crisis in Bengal in 1756?

    Model answer

    Siraj-ud-Daula objected to the Company's unauthorised fortification of Calcutta and its abuse of trading privileges, and captured the settlement, an episode remembered in Britain through the Black Hole.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

See a huge jump in your memorisation

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107
Y103: England 1199–1272
Y104: England 1377–1455

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Franz Ferdinand was shot at in June.
SarajevoBelgradeVienna

Blank Blitz consolidates the facts

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AA republic replaced the sultanate.
BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
CThe Latin alphabet was adopted.

Build It trains answer structure

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Simony means the buying and selling of Church office.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Y311: The Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558–1783, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.