Imperialism In India

The Beginning… Britain had many trade interests in India.  In order to protect their trade interests and resources, Britain set up a powerful company, The British East India Company, based in India.  This company began to take over the majority of trade and economic processes in India, despite the fact that Indian people were reliant on the same resources.  Britain hired Indian soldiers, called Sepoys, to protect their interests, but paid them less than British soldiers and did not allow them to move up in rank.

The Sepoy Mutiny Over the course of the 18 th century, British power in India grew.  In 1957, a growing Indian distrust let to a revolt.  The revolt was caused by rumors that the British were issuing Indian troops bullets greased with pig and cow fat. (Why would this bother them?)  A group of Sepoys refused to load their weapons with the new bullets, and the British went to arrest them.  When the British began the arrest, the Sepoys went on a rampage and killed 50 British citizens.  From this, the revolt quickly spread, but was crushed within a year.

Results… As a result of the rebellion, Britain transferred power over India from the BEIC directly to the British government  Queen Victoria became “The Empress of India” and India’s citizens were now her subjects.  India was called Britain’s “Jewel in the Crown” due to its vast resources

Colonial Rule Benefits:  British rule brought order and stability to India, which had been in turmoil due to religious feuds  Fairly honest and efficient government  New school system  Served only British people and elite, upper-class Indians  90% of the population remained illiterate  Railroads, telegraph, and postal service were introduced.  By 1900, miles of railroads crossed India

Colonial Rule Costs:  British Industries destroyed local economies  British textiles put thousands of women out of work and crippled the Indian textile industry  In rural area, the British used Zamindars to collect taxes  Zamindars abused their power. They raised taxes, forced less fortunate peasants to become tenants or lose their land.  Peasant unrest grew  Encouraged farmers to switch from growing food to growing cotton.  Food supplies couldn’t feed all the people and between , 30 million Indians died of starvation.  Best jobs and houses reserved for British  Indians were never considered equals, despite education and wealth  Disrespect for Indian culture and heritage

British Quotes “ It is the consciousness of the inherent superiority of the European which has won Indian for us. However well educated and clever a native may be, and however he may prove himself, I believe that no rank we can bestow upon him would cause him to be considered an equal of the British officer.” “What then shall the language of education be? Some maintain that it should be English, others recommend the Arabic and Sanskrit. It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all the historical information which has been collected from the books written in the Sanskrit language is less valuable than what may be found in short textbooks in preparatory schools in England.” - Stanley Wolpert “It is one of the social duties of Indian life that you must keep three servants to do the work of one.” -British woman in India

Indian Nationalist Movement The first Indian nationalists were upper-class and well educated  Many preferred reform to revolution but decided reform would take too long  Formed the Indian National Congress (INC)  Had difficulties because of religious differences, but goal was to seek independence for all Indians  The return to India of a young muslim, Mohandas Gandhi, changed the nationalist movement  Gandhi set up a movement based on non-violent resistance.  Aim was to force India to improve life of the poor and grant independence to India  Did eventually lead to Indian independence

Effects of Colonialism Independence was given on August 25,  Even today, English is a dominant language in India and many regional languages have died out  British culture is very present in certain parts of India and many colleges in India teach according to guidelines for British education  To some extent, India is still undergoing an Industrial Revolution in order to rebuild the crippled economy that was left when Britain left.  Britain is home to many Indian people