[Illustration: _Street Scene in Calcutta_]
9. For a hundred and fifty years these factories remained mere trading
stations, taking no part in the general political affairs of the
country. While trade was active, and the profits great, the East India
Companies who controlled the factories were content; and, while the
annual tribute or rent was paid with regularity, the native princes
had a strong motive for protecting the trading companies in their
operations. But the display of barbaric splendor excited the cupidity
of many of the agents of the companies, and the atrocities of barbaric
tyranny aroused the indignation of others, and there came a time when
interference in native affairs seemed both natural and proper.
10. The time of the new departure in policy was about the middle of
the eighteenth century; the place, the southeast coast; and the
occasion, the civil wars which grew out of disputed succession. The
student of history finds it difficult to understand fully the
political situation at the time. One of the most powerful of all the
provinces of the Mogul Empire was "The Deccan," which extended its
sway over all of Southern India. The ruler, known as the "Nizam,"
administered the government in the name of the Mogul, but in reality
he was independent, and a true Eastern despot. The chief province of
the Deccan was "The Carnatic," which embraced all the territory along
the eastern coast.
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