British in India

East India Company Chartered in 1600 Purpose: make money (not control land) British and French fighting wars on three continents – competed for trade to make money for the wars

East India Company That is the same East India Trading Company in Pirates of the Caribbean

Where else did the French and British settle in order to make money to pay for these wars?

Arrived when Mughals in decline 1757 Based in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay

Why would the East India Company base themselves in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay (hint: think about where they are located)

British Problems in India Low pay for officials – allowed to trade Corruption in dealing w/ Indians Little centralized policy or rules

Lord Cornwallis (Governor General 1786-93) Born in British India in 1865, Rudyard Kipling was educated in England before returning to India in 1882, where his father was a museum director and authority on Indian arts and crafts. Thus Kipling was thoroughly immersed in Indian culture: by 1890 he had published in English about 80 stories and ballads previously unknown outside India. As a result of financial misfortune, from 1892-96 he and his wife, the daughter of an American publisher, lived in Vermont, where he wrote the two Jungle Books. After returning to England, he published "The White Man's Burden" in 1899, an appeal to the United States to assume the task of developing the Philippines, recently won in the Spanish-American War. As a writer, Kipling perhaps lived too long: by the time of his death in 1936, he had come to be reviled as the poet of British imperialism, though being regarded as a beloved children's book author. Today he might yet gain appreciation as a transmitter of Indian culture to the West. Born in British India in 1865, Rudyard Kipling was educated in England before returning to India in 1882, where his father was a museum director and authority on Indian arts and crafts. Thus Kipling was thoroughly immersed in Indian culture: by 1890 he had published in English about 80 stories and ballads previously unknown outside India. As a result of financial misfortune, from 1892-96 he and his wife, the daughter of an American publisher, lived in Vermont, where he wrote the two Jungle Books. After returning to England, he published "The White Man's Burden" in 1899, an appeal to the United States to assume the task of developing the Philippines, recently won in the Spanish-American War. As a writer, Kipling perhaps lived too long: by the time of his death in 1936, he had come to be reviled as the poet of British imperialism, though being regarded as a beloved children's book author. Today he might yet gain appreciation as a transmitter of Indian culture to the West. Lord Cornwallis (Governor General 1786-93) Cleaned up corruption Raised pay Ended black market & personal trade

Lord Cornwallis That is the same Gen. Cornwallis that fights and later surrenders to the Americans in the American Revolution

How do people react when outsiders try to change their way of life?

Sepoy Rebellion 1857 Sepoys - India troops serving in the British army

Rumors of pork & beef fat greased cartridges for rifles

Why would pork and beef grease be a problem for the Indian troops?

Indian troops demeaned Local Indian troops revolted against the British Influence

Result of Rebellion Britain took power away from East India Company Claimed India as a colony Queen Victoria

Sent Mughal rulers into exile Set up civil service, or body of officials, as a colonial government

Changes British Made in India Education stressed Western values Created Victorian gentlemen

Trained Indians as clerks and other low-level positions Little effort was made to train Indians for management positions

India villages before British were self-contained & self-sufficient; land was owned by the village, not individuals – British wanted a village system to provide cash to their empire

Taxes did not exist before British assigned ownership land to the people working it Taxed the land – zamindar system To pay taxes in a barter system, the villagers borrowed from moneylender & went into debt

Machines made products -- made village handicraft industry obsolete Railroad network was built throughout the country Jute & cotton were exported to Britain Britain sent cloth & manufactured goods back to India

Britain was more interested in bolstering its own economic system at home than in modernizing India economic systems

Britain failed to understand Indian thinking or concerns

British felt superior to Indians – “White Man’s Burden” “Take up the White Man's burden-- Send forth the best ye breed-- Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild-- Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.”