Final answer:
The British East India Company gained control of the textile market in India through a combination of war, plunder, and competitive restrictions. With the decline of the Mughal empire, Britain imposed the Calico Acts and deindustrialized India's textile industry, later swamping it with mass-produced British textiles, preventing India from becoming an economic rival.
Step-by-step explanation:
The British East India Company gained control of the textile market in India through a combination of war, plunder, and competitive restrictions. Initially prioritizing the spice trade, the Company shifted focus to Indian textiles as spices declined in profitability. However, with the value of hand-woven fabrics waning in the early 19th century, they turned instead to opium trade for Chinese tea.
By the mid-18th century, with the Mughal empire weakening, the East India Company capitalized on political changes to assert its power using private armies, exploiting India's economic resources and imposing taxes, ultimately holding sway over most of India. Furthermore, British legislation like the Calico Acts restricted the importation of Indian textiles. This form of deindustrialization, along with later industrial advancements in Britain, undermined India's traditional textile industry, as cheaper, mass-produced British cloth outcompeted the local market.
The British government and the East India Company's actions were strategically designed to prevent India from rising as an economic competitor and to maintain Britain's colonial dominance. The exploitation of India's political disunity and the East India Company's economic dictates, including the doctrine of 'free trade' once Britain gained the advantage, were instrumental in establishing control over the Indian textile market.