<P> Colonial India is the part of the Indian subcontinent which was under the jurisdiction of European colonial powers , through trade and conquest . One of the main catalysts of the Age of Discovery was trade , especially in spices . The search for the wealth and prosperity of India led to the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492 . Only a few years later , near the end of the 15th century , Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama became the first European to re-establish direct trade links with India since Roman times by being the first to arrive by circumnavigating Africa ( c. 1497 -- 1499 ) . Having arrived in Calicut , which by then was one of the major trading ports of the eastern world , he obtained permission to trade in the city from Saamoothiri Rajah . </P>
<P> Colonial India is the part of the Indian subcontinent which was under the jurisdiction of European colonial powers , through trade and conquest . One of the main catalysts of the Age of Discovery was trade , especially in spices . The search for the wealth and prosperity of India led to the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492 . Only a few years later , near the end of the 15th century , Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama became the first European to re-establish direct trade links with India since Roman times by being the first to arrive by circumnavigating Africa ( c. 1497 -- 1499 ) . Having arrived in Calicut , which by then was one of the major trading ports of the eastern world , he obtained permission to trade in the city from Saamoothiri Rajah . </P>
who came to india first dutch or british
who came to india first dutch or british
Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama
Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama