<P> The Dutch East India Company established trading posts on different parts along the Indian coast . For some while, they controlled the Malabar southwest coast (Pallipuram, Cochin, Cochin de Baixo / Santa Cruz, Quilon (Coylan), Cannanore, Kundapura, Kayamkulam, Ponnani) and the Coromandel southeastern coast (Golkonda, Bhimunipatnam, Kakinada, Palikol, Pulicat, Parangippettai, Negapatnam) and Surat (1616--1795). They conquered Ceylon from the Portuguese . The Dutch also established trading stations in Travancore and coastal Tamil Nadu as well as at Rajshahi in present - day Bangladesh, Pipely, Hugli - Chinsura, and Murshidabad in present - day West Bengal, Balasore (Baleshwar or Bellasoor) in Odisha, and Ava, Arakan, and Syriam in present - day Myanmar (Burma). Ceylon was lost at the Congress of Vienna in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, where the Dutch having fallen subject to France, saw their colonies raided by Britain . The Dutch later became less involved in India, as they had the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) as their prized possession . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> At the end of the 16th century, England and the United Netherlands began to challenge Portugal's monopoly of trade with Asia, forming private joint - stock companies to finance the voyages: the English (later British) East India Company, and the Dutch East India Company, which were chartered in 1600 and 1602 respectively . These companies were intended to carry on the lucrative spice trade, and they focused their efforts on the areas of production, the Indonesian archipelago and especially the "Spice Islands", and on India as an important market for the trade . The close proximity of London and Amsterdam across the North Sea, and the intense rivalry between England and the Netherlands, inevitably led to conflict between the two companies, with the Dutch gaining the upper hand in the Moluccas (previously a Portuguese stronghold) after the withdrawal of the English in 1622, but with the English enjoying more success in India, at Surat, after the establishment of a factory in 1613 . </P>

When was india colonised by the british empire