When and why did the British first choose to invade India? - India Today

The British first landed in India in Surat for the purpose of trade. Here's how and why a simple trading company, the British East India Company, became one of the biggest challenges the subcontinent had ever dealt with.

The British landed in India in Surat on August 24, 1608. While India has a rich and recorded history going back 4000 years to the Indus Valley Civilisation in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, Britain had no indigenous written language until the 9th century almost 3000 years after India. Then how was it possible for the British to start capturing this huge country and control it from 1757 to 1947?