Battle of PlasseyThe Battle of Plassey was a battle fought between the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The decisive victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, who was Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah's commander in chief. The battle helped the British East India Company to take control of Bengal. Over the next hundred years, they seized control of most of the rest of the Indian subcontinent, including Burma.
ChennaiChennai (ˈtʃɛnaɪ, ˈt͡ɕenːaɪ̯), formerly known as Madras, is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. It is the state's primate city both in area and population and is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Chennai is the sixth-most populous city in India and forms the fourth-most populous urban agglomeration. Incorporated in 1866, the Greater Chennai Corporation is the oldest municipal corporation of India and the second oldest in the world after London.
SpiceA spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are sometimes used in medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, or perfume production. For example, vanilla is commonly used as an ingredient in fragrance manufacturing. A spice may be available in several forms: fresh, whole-dried, or pre-ground dried. Generally, spices are dried.
Mughal emperorsMughal emperors (, Shāhanshāhān-e-Hindustan) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled themselves as Badshah (great king) or Shahanshah, a title usually translated from Persian as "emperor". They began to rule parts of India from 1526, and by 1707 ruled most of the sub-continent. After that they declined rapidly, but nominally ruled territories until the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Bay of BengalThe Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically, it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region (based on which the bay was named during the British Raj). It is the largest water region called a bay in the world. Many South Asian and Southeast Asian countries are dependent on the Bay of Bengal. Geopolitically, the bay bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India.
Kingdom of EnglandThe Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, and England is now part of the United Kingdom. The Kingdom of England was among the most powerful states in Europe during the medieval and early modern colonial periods. On 12 July 927, the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united by Æthelstan (reigned in 927–939) to form the Kingdom of England.
Cape of Good HopeThe Cape of Good Hope (Kaap die Goeie Hoop ˌkɑːp di ˌχujə ˈɦuəp) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, based on the misbelief that the Cape was the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. In fact, the southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas about to the east-southeast. The currents of the two oceans meet at the point where the warm-water Agulhas current meets the cold-water Benguela current and turns back on itself.
ZamindarA zamindar (ज़मींदार, ; , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a native synonym for “estate”. The term means landowner in Persian. They were typically hereditary, and held the right to collect tax on behalf of imperial courts or for military purposes. During the period of British colonial rule in India many wealthy and influential zamindars were bestowed with princely and royal titles such as Maharaja, Raja/Rai, Malik, Chaudhary, Nawab and Sardar.
MuslinMuslin (ˈmʌzlᵻn) is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured. Muslin of uncommonly delicate handspun yarn was handwoven in the Bengal region of South Asia and imported into Europe for much of the 17th and early 18th centuries. In 2013, the traditional art of weaving Jamdani muslin in Bangladesh was included in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Factory (trading post)Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, often known as factors. First established in Europe, factories eventually spread to many other parts of the world. The origin of the word factory is (feitoria; factorij; factorerie, comptoir).
