History of South Asia

Introduction

India, the biggest country in South Asia, has a rich history in terms of politics, culture, and economics, which developed significantly during the 17th, 18th, and 18th centuries when European powers such as Britain, the Dutch, Portuguese, and Danish started to establish their colonial powers in India. These European powers came to India for adventure and trading activities. First, India was rich in resources such as agricultural resources. This attracted these countries to India to develop trading treaties as the resources were in demand across Europe. Coromandel Coast saw the establishment of various companies, with the Danish establishing the Danish East India Company in 1620 in Tharangambadi. Thanjavur Nayaka dynasty ruled the Tharangambadi municipality, and the king when the Danish came to the municipality was Raghunatha Nayak, who used the advantage of the trading activities created by the Danish people to bolster his political interests (Hauser & Selvakumar, 7). Danish people developed the Serampore College in 1818, becoming the second oldest institution for the Danes after the University of Copenhagen. In 1602, several Dutch regional partners formed the Dutch East India Company when Vijayanagara ruler Venkatapathi Devaraya II, the third emperor of the Aravidu dynasty, allowed the Dutch to establish the company in Pulicat. The Dutch company focused on cotton and spices on the Coromandel Coast, especially the Nagapattinam areas. British East India Company, on the other hand, established in 1600, controlled the Madras areas in East India, increasing its presence in the region for trading activities (Hauser & Selvakumar, 11). Therefore, this essay aims to discuss how Coromandel Coastal towns came under the control of Danish, Dutch, and English control from the 17^th to 19^th centuries, the cultures that emerged during this period, and how the Mughal society used symbols of flora and fauna to consolidate power and circulate their beliefs.

How parts of India were controlled by Danish and Dutch, and English

Tharangambadi came under Danish control after the establishment of the Danish East India Company in 1620 to trade in agricultural produce such as cotton, silk, cloves, ginger, rice, and metals such as lead, silver, and other minerals like salt. The other European powers, Britain and the Dutch established themselves in the Coromandel Coastal towns to venture into trading activities due to the availability of trading resources from agricultural activities such as cotton, spices, and rice. With time, commercial agriculture and rural industry favored European colonial efforts as they controlled these regions in all sectors. The Europeans became landholders in the Coromandel gardens and towns and, therefore, set up slave plantations and installed systems of forced labor provided by the Indians to enhance agriculture while pushing them away from trade. (Erikson, 71).

The establishment of the European powers in the Coromandel Coast led to the emergence of some cultures. Early trade in India led to the rise of the gift exchange culture between trade partners, generating meaning for the giver and receiver with ceremonial parades, which developed as a culture during gift exchange (Baark, 79). The ceremonial parades enhanced visual culture as the public display of gifts became a regular occurrence. Also, the cultural exchange led to the representation of European leisure and activities on Indian textiles, which led to a unique design called Tranquebar Palampore. This showed the use of European culture in Indian arts due to their interactions and cultural exchange (Baark, 82). The textile was intended for Danish consumption, and its figures and scenes were characteristic of textiles aimed at the European market, indicating the influence of European patronage and the adaptation of Indian artistic production to suit European tastes.

In addition, the diverse forms of landscape use suggested a multi-layered socio-cultural community between the Indians and Europeans. The landscape assemblage of gardens on the Coromandel Coast depicted similarities with the landscape assemblage of plantations. The similarities revealed new shared practices on land use as it showed the practices of the Indians and the European newcomers to the Indian parts. The change in settlement patterns and organization in the 18^th century through the inclusion of landscape surveys, an assemblage of plants, animals, and technologies, systematic pedestrian surveys, surface collection, and site mapping revealed a shared and multi-cultural land use. Thus, it means that there was an exchange between the Europeans and Indians in terms of culture and knowledge.

Mughal Society

Mughal society was an empire in South Asia founded in 1526. It was a complex empire with leadership following an order and had many people, each having specific roles within the household or court. The empire comprised the royals, elites, women, European visitors, and other staff, each with a distinct role for successful leadership. The royals formed the most significant group in the empire, consisting of emperors who led the empire through monarchy government. The Mughal emperors were the most powerful in the empire and negotiated with the Europeans on behalf of the empire on social relations, cultural, and economic issues (Baark, 85). For example, Emperor Jahangir ruled from 1605 to 1627, and in this period, he exchanged gifts with British leader Sir Thomas Roe to negotiate for economic values in the empire and region. The emperors also had the power to move the capital of the empire to fulfill the interests of the empire and commissioned Mughal architecture and landscape.

The Mughals, especially the emperors, used flora and fauna to centralize power and circulate their beliefs. The emperors used plants and animal symbols, to consolidate their power, emphasize their power, as a way of connecting with nature and their gods, and show religious identity. For example, the Tranquebar Palampore textile from the Coromandel Coast had representations such as the “Tree of Life, ” symbolizing creation and life. Animal motifs, such as the elephant and a person at the back, were also used in this textile, which depicted power and authority. These symbols also depicted the connections between nature and life, thus helping the emperors circulate their cultural beliefs.

In conclusion, the introduction of Danish, Dutch, and British in India, especially the Coromandel Coast towns, led to massive development of India due to the creation of trading companies that connected India to European countries. The interaction also led to cultural exchange and the creation of new ideas, such as new landscape use and assemblages. Also, with the presence of the Europeans in India, the Mughal Empire formed a place of cultural exchange with Mughal architecture, creating a connection with the Europeans through its artistic masterpiece. Therefore, future discussion can research further on the impacts of cultural exchange on the traditional values, beliefs, and customs of India in the 20^th century to the contemporary society.

Works Cited

Baark, Josefine. “The Tranquebar Palampore: Trade, Diplomacy, and” a Little Amusement” in an Early Modern Indo-Danish Textile.” Eighteenth-Century Studies 52.1 (2018): 69-92.

Erikson, Emily. Between monopoly and free trade: the English East India Company, 1600-1757. Princeton University Press, 2014.

Hauser, Mark W., and V. Selvakumar. “Gardens of the Coromandel Coast: Landscape Considerations of Commercial Agriculture in Tamil Nadu, South India.” International Journal of Historical Archaeology (2021): 1-29.