India Colonial Records: Difference between revisions

== Portuguese Colonization (1505-1961) ==

The State of India, also referred to as the Portuguese State of India or simply Portuguese India, was a colonial state of the Portuguese Empire founded in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to the Indian Subcontinent by the Kingdom of Portugal. The Governor of Portuguese India signed the Instrument of Surrender on 19 December 1961, ending 450 years of Portuguese rule in India.

<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Portuguese India," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_India, accessed 23 November 2020.</ref>

== French Colonization (1673-1954) ==

French India was a French colony comprising geographically separate enclaves on the Indian subcontinent. The possessions were originally acquired by the French East India Company beginning in 1668 and founded in 1673 commencing the French Administration of Pondichéry.  On 1 November 1954, the four enclaves of Pondichéry, Yanam, Mahe, and Karikal were de facto transferred to the Indian Union and became the Union Territory of Puducherry. The de jure union of French India with India did not take place until 1962 when the French Parliament in Paris ratified the treaty with India.

<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "French India," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_India, accessed 23 November 2020.</ref>

== British Colonization (1612-1947) ==

The Provinces of India from (1858 to 1947), earlier Presidencies of British India from (1757 to 1858) and still earlier, Presidency towns from (1612 to 1757), were the administrative divisions of British governance in India. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another, they existed between 1612 and 1947.  

<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Presidencies and provinces of British India," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidencies_and_provinces_of_British_India, accessed 23 November 2020.</ref>

Dutch presence on the Indian subcontinent lasted from 1605 to 1825. Merchants of the Dutch East India Company first established themselves in Dutch Coromandel as they were looking for textiles to exchange with the spices they traded in the East Indies. Dutch Suratte and Dutch Bengal were established in 1616 and 1627 respectively. In the second half of the eighteenth century the Dutch lost their influence more and more. Although Dutch Coromandel and Dutch Bengal were restored to Dutch rule by virtue of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, they returned to British rule owing to the provisions of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Under the terms of the treaty, all transfers of property and establishments were to take place on 1 March 1825. By the middle of 1825, therefore, the Dutch had lost their last trading posts in India.

Denmark–Norway held colonial possessions in India for more than 200 years including Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu, Serampore, West Bengal, Calicut, Kerala, and Nicobar Islands. Through the Danish East India Company, a trade agreement was signed in 1620. Eventually, the Danish colonies went into decline and the Dutch sold them to the British. By 16 October 1868, all Danish rights in the area were gone.