How the Conquest of India Started

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Kings and Generals historical animated documentary series on the history of the early modern world, India and colonialism continues with a video on how the British India Company started the conquest of India. Previously we have covered the Rise of the British East India Company (). In the early 1700s, the East India Companyonce a globetrotting merchant venture known as “John Company”began its transformation into a conquest machine. As the Mughal Empire weakened after Aurangzeb’s death and regional powers like the Marathas surged, India became a fragmented battleground ripe for intervention. The Company exploited this chaos by building a professional, corporate armya small European core reinforced by vast numbers of sepoys, trained and equipped in European style. Next, the story shifts to the Carnatic Wars, where British and French trading companies fought proxy conflicts tied to wider European wars, and where Robert Clive emerged as a decisive figure. From the audacious seizure of Arcot to the crisis in Bengal, the Company’s path to dominance accelerates. The episode culminates in Plasseydepicted less as a battle and more as a politicalfinancial transactionfollowed by victories that secured revenue rights and real control over Bengal. Finally, the video examines the grim consequences of Company rulecorruption, extraction, scandal at home, and catastrophe in Bengal, setting the stage for the next conquests across India.

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