Arrival of Portuguese 1498: The arrival of Vasco Da Gama at Calicut started a new chapter in the Indian history. They were great naval power but could not invade deep in the Indian Territory.
Vasco Da Gama travelled with the swing of Monsoon wind and carried Pepper with him. The trade was quite profitable.
The East India Company (English) was established in the year 1600. The company sent Hawkins to the court of Mughal emperor Jahangir and secured a permission to set up the first factory at Surat.
The East India Company acquired a charter from the ruler of England, Queen Elizabeth I, This meant that no other trading group in England could compete with the East India Company.
Arrival of Danish in India: In 1616 AD, the Danish East India Company was formed and they established their settlements at Tranquebar in Tamil Nadu (1620) and Serampur in Bengal.
The first English factory was set up on the banks of the river Hugli in 1651.
It also persuaded the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to issue a Farman granting the Company the right to trade duty free. No such facility was available to other Indian companies.
Jahangir granted the Farman to British to establish factory in India.
A Farman by Farrunksiyar granted East India Company the permission to have duty free trade in India.