1. #3 - AIM: British Imperialism in India? (27.4)

2. Why is India Important?
Vasco deGama sailed around Africa to Calicut, India.
Spices – needed for preservation of food – pepper and other spices
By mid-1500s – Portugal had established high tariffs and a monopoly on Indian Ocean trade
Great Britain & France want to cut out the middle man

3. Mughal Empire 1526-1707 India ruled by Muslim Emperors
Majority of population were Hindus
1556 – Akbar the Great
During this period region enjoyed economic success and religious harmony

4. Golden Age of Mughal Architecture
The reign of Shah Jahan, the 5th Emperor, between 1628–58 was the golden age of Mughal architecture.
He erected several large monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra,

5. Collapse of Empire The later Emperors were intolerant toward Hindus
Established Sharia Law
Involved in military conquest.

6. British Imperialism in India 27.4
[1600’s] British East India Company: set up trading posts in major cities for spices
– Seven Year’s War in America & Europe
Mughal Empire collapsing
Many small states broke away from Mughal control

7. East India Company?
East India Company governed with little or no interference from British government directly
Company had own army led by British officers
Staffed with Sepoys “Indian Soldiers”

8. Battle of Plassey 1757] Battle of Plassey:
EIC Army Led by Robert Clive of the East India Company defeated Indian forces who were allied with the French
The East India Company becomes leading power in India with control over most of India - until 1858

10. India becomes the “Jewel in the Crown” ?
India = most valuable of British colonies
Industrial Revolution turned India into the “world’s workshop”

11. India provides 300 million people to purchase British made goods
Supplier of raw Materials
tea, indigo, coffee, cotton and
Opium (Sold to China for tea)
No manufacturing in India

12. The Empire which the Sun never sets

13. Resentment was growing in the 1850’s!
Many believe British trying to convert them to Christianity
Ended sati: Hindu practice of widows throwing themselves on husbands pyre
Racism:
barred from top posts in Indian Civil Service
Paid less: Indian Railway British engineer makes 20x’s more than Indian engineer

14. Some Indians call for change.
Ram Mohun Roy
Calls for modernization and westernization
End traditions that hold Indians back.
Rigid Cast System
Arranged marriages
Rise of nationalism begins

15. Suttee or Sati – The Indian custom of a widow burning herself, either on the funeral pyre of her dead husband or in some other fashion, soon after his death. Although never widely practiced, suttee was the ideal of certain Brahman and royal castes. It is sometimes linked to the myth of the Hindu goddess Sati who burned herself to death in a fire that she created through her yogic powers after her father insulted her husband, the god Shiva.

16. Impact of Colonialism Negative British hold Political & economic power
Racists attitudes threaten social customs & traditions
Indian business development restricted
Cash crops cause famine late 1800’s

17. Positive Impact Positive
Modern technology – railroad, telephone, telegraph, dams, bridges, canals, & irrigation
Schools & Universities
End to warfare of local rulers
India today is the largest democracy in the world.

18. Result
Rise of Nationalism