The British Viceroyalty of India

The British Viceroyalty of India is the central government ruling in British colonial India. The colonies of British India serve as the primary trade headquarters of the British East India Company, who have a major influence over the colonies. The leading governing figure of the Anglo-Indo colonies is titled the Governor-General of the Viceroyalty, though this is sometimes shortened to simply Viceroy.

The current Governor-General of the Viceroyalty, as assigned by His Majesty George II, is Viceroy Jeremiah Nathaniel Garland.

Early Traders
Records indicate the first Europeans to arrive in India were Portuguese traders, who arrived around 1597 during the height of the Mughal Empire. It was during this time that trade between eastern oriental sovereigns and the kingdoms of Western Europe first began, and these Portuguese traders were pioneers in the European monopoly. Upon arrival in India, the Portuguese set up a sole colony, Goa, that was constructed in a relatively uninhabitated region of Mughal rule. Because of this, Goa did not fall to internal resistance, thus letting it flourish and with that, allow Portuguese trade to flourish.

Always strong trade competitors with Portugal, England soon discovered the earlier's major success in the colonization of this new land and wished to colonize it for their own. In 1604, a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I allowed a fleet of early British trade ships to sail to these newly discovered lands. Seldom had any British traders ever ventured around the Cape of Good Hope, out of fear what lie in the unknown. Despite this, the trade fleet, led by a Sir James Lancaster, arrived in India in early 1605. Upon arrival on India's western shore, Lancaster ordered the construction of two trade colonies: Bombay, about 350 miles north of Portuguese Goa, and Surat, which lie a little further north of Bombay.

Because of their location, however, both Surat and Bombay suffered attacks from Mughals, who possessed a strong dislike towards invaders. Raids on both colonial towns nearly wiped out the British colonists, who were small in numbers. Those who survived the attacks (including Lancaster) sailed at once back to England, abandoning Bombay and Surat for many years.

Establishing a Foothold
More to come...