The British Take Over India Bellwork # 4 Them motors will run a long time there lubricated with a special silicone stressed ms hancock

Ranjit Singh  He ruled the large Sikh empire in northwestern India. He had ordeal dealings with the British but saw only too well where their ambitions were headed. One day, he was looking at a map of India on which British held lands were shaded red. “All will one day become red!” he predicted.

The East India Company  British East India Company obtained trading rights on the fringe of the Mughal empire. 1800s the British East India Company controlled three fifth of India.  A divided land- How were the British able to conquer such a vast territory? The answer lies in the land’s diversity. British took advantage of this ferment by playing off rival princes against each other. Superior weapons overpowered local rulers.

UNPOPULAR MOVES  1850s the East India Company took several unpopular steps.  First, it required sepoys Indian troops to serve anywhere.  Second was a new law that allowed Hindu widow to remarry.  The final insult came in 1857, when the British issued new rifles to the sepoys. Troops were told to bite off the tips of Cartridges before loading them into the rifles. However, they were greased with animal fat either form cows, which Hindus considered sacred, or form pigs. When the troops refused the order to “load rifles,” they were dismissed without pay and sent home in disgrace.

On to Delhi  The Sepoy Rebellion swept across northern and central India. Several sepoy regiments marched off to Delhi, There, they hailed the last Mughal ruler as their leader.  The sepoys brutally massacred British men, women, and children in some places. But the British rallied and crushed the revolt. Then took terrible revenge for their earlier losses, torching villages and slaughtering thousands of unarmed Indians.

The Aftermath  The Sepoy Rebellion left a bitter legacy of fear, hatred, and mistrust on both sides. 1858, Parliament ended the rule of the East India Company and put India directly under the British crown.  British made India the “brightest jewel” in the crown of their empire.

An Unequal Partnership  Britain saw India both as a market and as a source of raw materials.  Britain also transformed Indian agriculture. It encouraged nomadic herders to settle into farming and pushed farmers to grow Cash Crops, such as cotton and jute, that could be sold on the world market.

Ram Mohun Roy  He combined both views. A great scholar, he knew Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic classics, as well as English, Greek, and Latin works. Roy felt that India could learn form the West. At the same time, he wanted to revitalize and reform traditional Indian culture.  He is often hailed today as the founder of Indian nationalism.

Indian National Congress  Its members were mostly professionals and business leaders who believed in peaceful protest to gain their ends.  It looked forward to eventual self-rule but supported western style modernization.  Muslim League- Muslim formed the Muslim League to pursue their own goals. Soon they were talking of a separate Muslim state.