law forced the associations, ostensibly formed for peaceful trade, to become the masters of armed fleets and military forces; how the necessary acquisition of sites for trading stations and warehouses on land led to war on shore as well as on sea, and to the gradual extension of the area of occupation; how the inevitable collision with the native powers followed, to be succeeded in turn by fresh acquisitions of territory with rights of sovereignty, is an interesting story, and has been admirably told by Sir Alfred Lyall in his fascinating essay on 'The Rise and Expansion of British Dominion in India,' and also less brilliantly, but well, by Marshman in his 'Short History of India.' To their hands I would confide the reader who seeks to inform himself on the subject.
It is only necessary for my present purpose to mention briefly the main conditions and movements in the tide of affairs which led to the establishment of our dominion in India as it stands to-day.
The first condition obviously necessary to the establishment of commerce between the countries of Western Europe and the regions which for convenience we may call the East Indies was maritime power. Hence, we find the Portuguese and Dutch the first in the field, after them the English, and later still the French. As soon as it became a question of armed rivalry between the Companies representing these countries, the issue resolved itself into a fight for command of the sea. The Portuguese fell out early in the struggle. Their ships were very roughly handled in 1611 by our vessels, and the reputation of the British Company as a sea power was established. Subsequently their people were cleared out of Ormuz and the Persian Gulf. In 1662 the island and dependencies of Bombay were received by Charles II. as part of the dower of the daughter of the King of Portugal. By him they were handed over to the Company, and thus a firm settlement was obtained on the West Coast.
The Dutch had been long established in the East
