So with the bayonet. At first it was merely a dagger which was thrust, not screwed, into the muzzle of the smooth-bore gun. Then it became socketed and lengthened. When the length of the gun barrel was diminished, it was also lengthened, as either the “sword bayonet,” or the very long bayonet that was, for a while, introduced with the Martini-Henry rifle. Finally, it has reverted more or less to its original form and length, and the Lee-Mitford has ceased to be a serious pike. CHAPTER XIV THE ARMY IN INDIA: (_a_) THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, ITS RISE--1600-1825 It was not until the year 1600 that the attention of English merchants was seriously turned to India. Long before that, Portugal first, then its conqueror, Spain, next the Dutch, and finally the French, had gained a footing in Hindustan, and with factories had established trade. The beginnings were small enough. Surat near Bombay and Bantam in Java were first occupied by us, and in 1640 a footing was obtained on the mainland, and Madras came into being. This replaced Bantam, as the cession of Bombay did Surat. Similarly, a factory, higher up the Hooghley, was transferred to Fort-William, around which grew up Calcutta. By 1708 the various rival companies which had been formed were united under one head; and while the privileges of the Company were continually renewed and extended, the foreign opposition of our rivals in India, save France established at Chandernagore and Pondicherry on the Madras side, gradually died away and disappeared. In 1744 the two opposing forces came into active antagonism. On the French side, Dupleix, already at the head of the French “Raj,” a man of considerable ability, had gained enormous influence over the factions that made up the Mogul empire. He, with Labourdonnais, from Mauritius, had even captured, and held to ransom, Madras; while, by fighting and diplomacy, the French completely controlled the policy of the Carnatic and Deccan. But rising into note on the opposing side was Robert Clive; who, after defeating the French and their allies at Arcot and Conjeveram, raised the siege of Trichinopoly. Both French leaders had failed, and both died in France in suffering and comparative poverty; but Clive, after a journey home, returned to India, to find that Surajah Dowlah, Nabob of Bengal, had captured Calcutta and caused the death of the majority of the survivors by their imprisonment in the “Black Hole.” The intricate, and not very creditable, diplomacy that ensued culminated in the battle of Plassy, notorious as being won against extraordinary odds, and as leading directly to the destruction of the French power in India.