There are many details in Indian history which are pointing to the fact that there was a solid European presence in India. The history reveals that the British were not the only one European power in the country. The first European nation which visited India was the Portuguese.
Vasco da Gama was the first ever European who was able to visit India (1498). Using the route which passes near the Cape of Good Hope the Portuguese started to monopolise the Indian trade with the continent of Europe. The control of this marine transport continued to the year of 1961 when the Portuguese were no longer able to maintain this worldwide empire and as a result they were quickly overshadowed by the French and the British.
The British assumed control over India back in 1600 when Queen Elisabeth the first granted the trading route with India to a London trading company. Surprisingly British India was ruled for 250 years not by a government but by a commercial trading company.
In 1672 the French arrived in India and immediately started the dispute between them and the British for the control of the Indian trade. In 1746 the French were able to take the lead in the century long rivalry by taking Madras. The French were the masters of India for only a four year period because in 1750 the French East India Company decided that trading is more important than the politics and all the representatives were called back. Even though the French company was able to raise its profits this decision was the final charter for the France's dominance over the Indian subcontinent.
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