• It was alleged that 146 European prisoners were kept in a room measuring 18 by 15 feet and it is said that all except 23 prisoners died of suffocation.
• The veracity of this incident, known as the "Black Hole Tragedy of Calcutta" in British accounts, has been debated among historians

• In 1580 Philip II, King of Spain, defeated Portugal and annexed it.
• In India the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in Ceylon and later seized the Portuguese fort on Malabar Coast.
• Thereafter rather than protecting their settlements in India, Portuguese began to evince greater interest in Brazil.

• Weaving was the second most important economic activity in the country, supported by subsidiary activities like spinning and dyeing.
• Manufacturing - that is, handicraft production - was carried on both in urban and rural areas. Luxury crafts, like metalwork, were urban based.
• Weaving was mostly done in rural areas. India had a great advantage in that cotton was grown in the country.

• The Dutch, followed by the English, arrived in Surat in the early years of the 1600s to begin their trading activities.
• The Mughal governor permitted them to trade, and to set up their "factories".

• The Europeans were quite aware of the wealth and power of the Mughals, and English poets even wrote about the fabulous "wealth of India".
• Travellers from all parts of Europe visited India regularly during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
• The journals of their travels present a detailed contemporary account of the empire and society in India.