India is one of the oldest and richest civilizations in the world, the treasure chest of the Far East and the desire of all the great powers of Europe. After years of battle it came under the control of Great Britain, thus becoming "the most precious jewel in the crown of the Empire". However, for India, British rule did not bring the promise of rebuilding a nation. Rather, it brought new dilemmas to face the people of India. The British constantly exploited the nation for its prime resources, yet India took no advantage of it. As the British Empire expanded, India's wealth, resources and power diminished. Slowly the suffering of the Indian people grew. Meanwhile, Britain was focused on increasing profits for its shareholders and officials, neglecting the suffering people of India and not to mention draining wealth from a great nation. Furthermore, the new British laws destroyed the Indian industries that the British had actually helped create. The new British laws were also responsible for a huge unemployment rate. Finally, India was ruled by a country that knew nothing about them and could not sympathize with them or govern them properly. India, at the time, had previously supported the Roman Empire under its rule with jewels, spices and even clothing. It was also one of the oldest and at the same time richest places in the world. A large number of people lived in India, making it one of the largest colonies in the world. After being dominated by the Roman Empire, India was ruled by the Portuguese. However, the Portuguese were only interested in Indian trade, so they monopolized it. Europeans began to see the true value of India. The Dutch then attacked the Portuguese in India and took control of the country. Soon the Dutch were defeated by the French and finally in 1757 the English finally defeated the French and then conquered India using the divide and conquer method. Before the British victory over France in the 16th century, India was conquered by northern Muslims. In India the majority of the population supported the Hindu religion and Muslims were supporters of the Prophet Muhammad. This caused great tension between the Hindu people and Muslim leaders which contributed to the fall of the Muslim Empire. Shortly after the collapse of the empire, local rulers began fighting each other for land and power.