Map of the British Conquest in India c. 1857
This map illustrates the rapid and often chaotic expansion of British control in India between the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the eve of the Indian Rebellion in 1857. During this century, the East India Company transformed from a trading enterprise into the dominant power on the subcontinent, using private armies, political manipulation, and coercive treaties to extend its reach.
The Company capitalized on the fragmentation of the Mughal Empire, exploiting local rivalries and weakening native states such as Mysore, the Marathas, and the Sikhs. Driven by a mix of greed, personal ambition, security concerns, and the constant need for revenue, it absorbed vast territories through conquest, annexation, and subsidiary alliances. By the mid-1850s, two-thirds of the Indian subcontinent had come under Company control, setting the stage for both economic extraction and eventual resistance that would culminate in the uprising of 1857.
