British Imperialism In India

Rise of the British Raj

 The Mughal Dynasty

Trading Posts
The British East India Company set up trading posts at Bombay,
Madras, and Calcutta. At first, India's ruling Mughal Dynasty kept
European traders under control. By 1707, however, the Mughal
Empire was collapsing. Dozens of small states, each headed by a
ruler or maharajah, broke away from Mughal control.
The Seven Years War
1756-1763
Background Notes

Robert Clive
Robert
RobertClive
Clivewaswasaa
British
Britishsoldier
soldierwhowho
established
establishedthe the
military
militaryandand
political
politicalsupremacy
supremacy
of
ofthe
theEast
EastIndia
India
Company
Companyin in
Southern
SouthernIndia
Indiaandand
Bengal.
Bengal.He Heisis
credited
creditedwith
with
securing
securingIndia,
India,andand
the
thewealth
wealththatthat
followed,
followed,forforthe
the
British
Britishcrown.
crown.
Background Notes
Battle of Plassey

Clive
Clivehad
hadled
ledan
anarmy
armyfrom
fromMadras
Madrasandandinin1758
1758defeated
defeatedSirajudaula
Sirajudaulaatatthe
the"Battle
"Battleofof
Plassey"
Plassey"and
andbecame
becamethethegovernor
governorofofBengal
Bengalunder
underthethebanner
bannerofofthe
theEast
EastIndia
India
Company.
Company.From
Fromthere
therehe
hewas
wasable
abletotolaunch
launchsuccessful
successfulmilitary
militarycampaigns
campaignsagainst
againstthe
the
French
Frenchandandstop
stopthetheexpansion
expansionofofthe
theDutch.
Dutch.
 British East India Company

• During the 1700’s and 1800’s the East India

Company slowly took control of India
 British East India Company
• As the Mughal Empire grew weak, the East India Company grew in
economic and political strength and began to build its own military force
• The military force mainly consisted of sepoys, Indian soldiers, led by
British commanders
Background Notes
The British
• The British wanted many of
the raw materials India
produced - cotton, indigo,
jute (burlap), spices, sugar,
and tea
• These material were shipped
to Britain for use in British
factories – finished products
were then shipped around
the world to British colonies
• There were some
advantages of the British
invasion – railroads,
education, hospitals,
common language,
• There were disadvantages
too – low wages, few rights,
no say in government
 The Sepoys
Background Notes

• 96% of the company's army of 300,000 men in India

were native to India.
• British believed they were superior and looked down
upon their dark-skinned compatriots.
• In the military, Sepoys could not be promoted to high
ranks and the pay was miserable.
• British did not respect Indian cultural or religious
traditions and beliefs.
• The use of the Enfield rifle
Background Notes
Sepoy Rebellion
Sepoy Rebellion
Sepoy Rebellion
 Sepoy Rebellion
• The strength of British control
angered many of the Indians –
in 1857 the sepoy troops
rebelled – this is sometimes
known as the Sepoy Rebellion
• The British suppressed the
rebellion and abolished the
British East India Company
• India became a British colony
• In 1877 Queen Victoria took
the title Empress of India

Background Notes
Eventually, India's Mughal rulers became puppets of the British.
In 1857, British troops exiled the last of the Mughal emperors
after an uprising by the Indian people. Nineteen years later, the
British proclaimed Queen Victoria Empress of India.

Background Notes
Ritual of Sati
 Ritual of Sati

DOCUMENT 5

Sati (Su-thi , a.k.a. suttee) is the traditional Hindu practice of a

widow throwing herself on her husband's funeral pyre. Sati was
prevalent among certain sects of the society in ancient India,
who either took the vow or deemed it a great honor to die on the
funeral pyres of their husbands. Maha-sati stones (hero-stones)
were erected in memory of brave women who committed sati
and are periodically worshipped.
 DOCUMENT 5 cont’d

There are not many instances of remarriage of widows in Indian

history and it is believed that women preferred death to the cursed
life of a widow. The ritual of sati was banned by the British
Government in 1829. However, it took large scale social reforms by
Dayananda Saraswati(of Arya Samaj), Mahatma Gandhi and the
like to actually stop the practice. In the modern times, there was one
instance of a Sati reported in Rajasthan (late 1980s), that caused a
lot of controversy and social turmoil.
 Battle at Plassey
DOCUMENT 1
The British rise as a major land power in India was truly established after their
victories over the Indian princes in Bengal. On June 23rd, 1757 at Plassey, a small
village and mango grove between Calcutta and Murshidabad, the forces of the East
India Company under Robert Clive met the army of Siraj-ud-Doula, the Nawab of
Bengal. Clive had 800 Europeans and 2200 Indians whereas Siraj-ud-doula, in his
entrenched camp at Plassey, was said to have about 50,000 men with a train of
heavy artillery. The reason for the battle was the Nawab's attack and capture of
Calcutta (which he renamed to Alinagar), following the British policy of favoring
Hindu Marwari merchants over local ones.

The battle lasted no more than a few hours, and indeed the outcome of the battle
had been decided long before the soldiers came to the battlefield. The aspirant to
the Nawab's throne, Mir Jafar, was induced to throw in his lot with Clive, and by
far the greater number of the Nawab's soldiers were bribed to throw away their
weapons, surrender prematurely, and even turn their arms against their own army.
 Battle at Plassey
DOCUMENT 1 cont’d

Siraj fled, leaving a still nervous Mir Jafar to occupy the palace and treasury,
and to await Clive's coming before ascending the masnad or throne. The act
ended with the capture of Siraj-ud-doula when nearing Bihar, and he was
brutally murdered by Mir Jafar's son Miran. After the battle, all the soldiers
who had betrayed their Nawab were killed by the British on the maxim : "If
you could betray your Lord and Master, you will betray us tomorrow."

Plassey was decisive for the British in India, and for Clive. Jawaharlal
Nehru, in The Discovery of India (1946), justly describes Clive as having
won the battle "by promoting treason and forgery," and pointedly notes that
British rule in India had "an unsavory beginning and something of that bitter
taste has clung to it ever since." The Battle of Plassey is considered to be the
start of British rule in India.
 DOCUMENT 1

British East
India
Document #1 Company

The Britsh East India Company ruled India with little interference from
the British government. The company even had its own army, led by
British officers and staffed by sepoys, or Indian soldiers. Most of the
company's troops were Hindus or Muslims. About one in six was British.
Yet, only the British could be commissioned officers; no Indian could
reach a higher rank than that of petty officer.
 Economic Restrictions
DOCUMENT 2

The British held much of the political and economic power. British
policies called for India to produce raw materials for British
manufacturing and to buy British manufactured goods. In addition,
Indian competition with British goods was prohibited. For example,
India's own handloom textile industry was almost put out of business
by British textiles. Cheap cloth and ready-made clothes from
England flooded the Indian market and drove out local producers.
To pay for British imports, Indians had to raise cash crops such as
tea, pepper, coffee, and cotton. As Indian farmers grew less food,
famines became frequent and widespread.
 Economic Restrictions DOCUMENT 2
cont’d

Also, under the imperial control of the East India Company, an

increasing number of small Indian states were forced to pay dues to
the Company for military protection. The lessening of Company
profits and a need to recoup debts generated by military efforts,
produced a need for higher revenues. Peasant landowners, required
to pay their taxes in cash, increasingly had to turn to moneylenders
who seized much of this land for nonpayment of loans.
 Advancements In Transportation
DOCUMENT 3

Under the rule of the British, the laying of the world's third largest
railroad network was accomplished. The railroads allowed the
British to transport raw materials from the interior to the ports and
maufactured goods back again. The majority of the raw materials
were agricultural products produced on plantations. Plantation crops
included tea, indigo, coffee, cotton, and jute. Another crop was
opium. The British shipped opium to China and exchanged it for tea,
which they then sold in England.
 DOCUMENT 3
cont’d

The railroads also allowed India to develop a modern economy

and brought unity to connected regions. Along with the
railroads, a modern road network, telephone, and telegraph
lines, dams, bridges, and irrigation canals enabled India to
modernize.
 Social Changes
DOCUMENT 4

Britain introduced changes that affected Indian society.

Improved health care and sanitary conditions led to
population growth. The British set up schools and colleges to
educate higher-caste Indians. The course of study stressed
English language and culture.
Child Marriages
DOCUMENT 6

In India during the 1860s,

marriage meant girls getting
married below 8 or 9 years
old. It wasn’t until 1880 that
child marriage as a problem
became a public issue in India
during the debate on the Age
of Consent Bill. Towards the
end of the debate a child wife
of eleven years old, Named
Phulmani, died when her
husband raped her.
 DOCUMENT 6 cont’d

The resulting bill compromised at 12 years old. The Honorable J. Gibbs

added his comments to Malabari’s notes saying that, "Young mothers
become stunted in growth, and often become invalids for life, while children
were too often pony and weak." Kadhavdas added to the list of evils, "Early
marriage is a great obstacle in the progress of female education." The
English, who were ignorant of the long tradition of Indian spiritual literature,
declared that there was no religious basis for child marriage and found
support for their beliefs from their supporters within the Brahmin caste.
Nearly all British educated Indians of the era supported the English position
that child marriage was evil and destroying the fabric of Indian society.
 DOCUMENT 7

The Sepoy Mutiny

of 1857

In 1857, new cartridges were issued to Indian troops of the British East
Indian Army. These native Indian troops were called Sepoys. The
cartridges were rumored to have been greased with cow or pig grease; as
such, they were forbidden to the Indian troops because of their religious
beliefs. Moslems believe that pigs are unholy, and Hindus believe that it is
unholy to kill a cow. The cartridges of this time required a soldier to tear
open the cartridge with his teeth, and pour the powder and bullet down the
barrel of the gun. This process would have caused the Sepoys to get soul
polluting grease directly into their bodies.
After refusing to use the new cartrdiges, a whole regiment of Sepoy troops were
imprisoned by the British. Other Sepoys attempted to free these prisoners and
it snowballed into a revolt across all of northern India. There were many
massacres where hundreds of Europeans were killed by Sepoys who were bent
on revenge and on kicking the British out of India.

DOCUMENT
7 cont’d
Treatment Of Indian Soldiers
After The Sepoy Mutiny
DOCUMENT 8
 The Results of the Sepoy
Rebellion
DOCUMENT 9

The mutiny marked a turning point in Indian history. As a

result of the mutiny, in 1858 the British government took
direct command of India. The part of India that was under
direct British rule was called the Raj. The term Raj referred
to British rule over India from 1757 until 1914. India was
divided into 11 provinces and some 250 districts. Sometimes a
handful of British officials were the only British among a
million or so people in the district. A viceroy, or a British-
general, carried out the government's orders.