When the British suffered a humiliating defeat against Mughal navy in 1690

W hen it comes to India, there are four European powers that are worth a mention and unfortunately, their invasions were marred by brutal genocides.

If not for the early invasions by the Portuguese and the Dutch, a market for Indian goods would not have been created and the English and French might have never known the richness of produce of the land of Hindustan. But why did it come down to a tug of war between the French and British only?

First came the Portuguese. They dominated all the sea routes between the Indian Ocean and Europe via the Cape of Good Hope for most of the sixteenth century, thanks to the establishment of this route by the successful journey of Vasco da Gama from Portugal. Blessed with superior fire power to intimidate rulers and traders in Asia, the Malabar coast w