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3Q2 General History of Europe II. THE CONTEST BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND FOR COLONIAL EMPIRE 673. Extent of India. The rivalry of England and France was not confined to the wildernesses of North America, occupied by half a million of savage red men. At the opening of the eighteenth century both countries had gained a firm foothold on the borders of the vast Indian empire, inhabited by two hundred millions of people and the seat of an ancient and highly developed civiliza- tion. One may gain some idea of the extent of India by laying the map of Hindustan upon that of the United States. If the southernmost point, Cape Comorin, be placed over New Orleans, Calcutta will lie nearly over New York City, and Bombay in the neighborhood of Des Moines, Iowa. 674. The Mongolian Emperors of Hindustan. A generation after Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape, a Mongolian conqueror, Baber, had established his empire in India. The dynasty of Mon- golian rulers which he founded was able to keep the whole country under its control for nearly two centuries ; then after the death of the Great Mogul Aurungzeb, in 1707, their empire began to fall apart in much the same way as that of Charlemagne had done. Like the counts and dukes of the Carolingian period, the emperor's officials, the subahdars and nawabs (nabobs), and the rajahs (Hindu princes who had been subjugated by the Mongols) had gradually got the power in their respective districts into their own hands. Although the emperor, or Great Mogul, as the Eng- lish called him, continued to maintain himself in his capital of Delhi, he could no longer be said to rule the country at the open- ing of the eighteenth century, when the French and English were beginning to turn their attention seriously to his coasts. 675. English and French Settlements in India. In the time of Charles I (1639) a village had been purchased by the English East India Company on the southeastern coast of Hindustan, which grew into the important English station of Madras. About the same time posts were established in the district of Bengal, and later Calcutta was fortified. Bombay was already an English