TheBritishRuleofIndia

IanWoolford
DepartmentofAsianStudies
TheUniversityofTexasatAustin

TheBritishEmpire

TheDevilfishinEgyptianWaters

HowdidtheBritishruleIndia?
Itwasntasuddenprocess
Beganin1750s
Tookfullcontrolin1857

TheEastIndiaCompany
TookoverfromthedecliningMughal
Empire
Atradingrelationshipatfirst

KickingIndiaaround

HowdidtheBritishruleIndia?
Begantotakeovertaxationofpeople
UsedthesamesystemastheMughalempire

Promisedprotection
In1850:300,000meninarmy.
Only50,000wereBritish

100,000Britishmenrulingover200million
Indians

TwoViews
ofIndianLife
Twoviewsof
IndianLife

GandhiSpinningCloth

MacaulaysMinuteonEducation
Whatthenshallthatlanguagebe?OnehalfoftheCommittee
maintainthatitshouldbetheEnglish.Theotherhalfstrongly
recommendtheArabicandSanskrit.Thewholequestionseems
tometobe,whichlanguageisthebestworthknowing?
IhavenoknowledgeofeitherSanskritorArabic.ButIhave
donewhatIcouldtoformacorrectestimateoftheirvalue.I
havereadtranslationsofthemostcelebratedArabicand
Sanskritworks.Ihaveconversedbothhereandathomewith
mendistinguishedbytheirproficiencyintheEasterntongues.I
amquitereadytotaketheOrientallearningatthevaluationof
theOrientaliststhemselves.Ihaveneverfoundoneamongthem
whocoulddenythatasingleshelfofagoodEuropeanlibrary
wasworththewholenativeliteratureofIndiaandArabia.The
intrinsicsuperiorityoftheWesternliteratureis,indeed,fully
admittedbythosemembersoftheCommitteewhosupportthe
Orientalplanofeducation.

SirThomasMacaulay(18001859)

The1857Rebellion

CalledtheSepoyRebellion
Problemoverloadingbullets
Lastedforoverayear
IndiansralliedbehindtheagingMughal
emperor

PictureofSepoyrebellion

FromPunchMagazine:
BenjaminDisraeligives
Victoriahernewcrown

TheQueenWith
TwoHeads

No,Benjamin.Itwillnever
do!Youcantimproveon
theoldQueensHead!

Honoringtheempress

Justice!

Ihopetheyunderstand
thembetterthanwedid
backthen

Areasunder
Britishcontrol
1836

Areasunder
Britishcontrol
1857

Areasunder
Britishcontrol
19191947

Lagaan

Lagaan:Taxes,taxes,taxes
Landlordswereallowedtoownthe
land.Theyhadtopayfixedrevenues
totheBritish
Sosomelandlordswereloyaltothe
British
Champeneervillage

MahatmaGandhi(18691948)

Gandhis first satyagraha

1919,massacre
1920,Gandhisfirstsatyagraha.
DesignedtomaketheBritishrulein
Indianonfunctionalthrougha
completenonviolentboycott
ManywerejailedbytheBritish
Cancelledduetoviolence

No country has ever risen without being

purifiedthroughthefireofsuffering.Mother
suffers so her child may live. The condition
of wheatgrowing is that the grain shall
perish.Lifecomesoutofdeath.WillIndia
rise out of her slavery without fulfilling this
eternal law of purification?

MahatmaGandhi

InstructionstoSatyagrahis
Harbornoanger,butsuffertheangerofthe
opponent.Donotreturnassaults
Donotsubmittoanordergiveninanger
Refrainfrominsultsandswearing
Protecttheopponentsfrominsultorattack,
evenattheriskoflife
Iftakenprisoner,behaveinanexemplary
manner
Obeytheordersofthesatyagrahaleaders

StepsinaSatyagrahaCampaign

Negotiationandarbitration
Preparationofthegroupfordirectaction
Agitation
Issuinganultimatum
Economicboycottandformsofstrike
Noncooperation
CivilDisobedience
Usurpingthefunctionsofthegovernment
ParallelGovernment

The1930SaltMarch
Accordingtolaw,theBritishhada
monopolyonthemanufactureandsale
ofsalt.
Indianswerearrestediftheytriedto
makesalt.
GandhidirectlydefiedBritishlawand
marchedtotheoceantocollectsalt.

GandhislettertoLordIrwin
Beforeembarkingoncivildisobedienceand
takingtheriskIhavedreadedtotakeallthese
years,Iwouldfainapproachyouandfinda
wayout....Whilst,therefore,Iholdthe
Britishruletobeacurse,Idonotintend
harmtoasingleEnglishmanortoany
legitimateinteresthemayhaveinIndia....
AndwhydoIregardtheBritishruleasa
curse?

GandhislettertoLordIrwin,
Ithasimpoverishedthedumbmillionsbya
systemofprogressiveexploitationandbya
ruinouslyexpensivemilitaryandcivil
administrationwhichthecountrycannever
afford.
Ithasreduceduspoliticallytoserfdom.It
hassappedthefoundationofourculture.
And,bythepolicyofcrueldisarmament,it
hasdegradedusspiritually.

GandhislettertoLordIrwin
TheBritishsystemseemstobedesignedto
crushtheverylifeoutoftheIndianfarmer.
Eventhesalthemustusetoliveonissotaxed
astomaketheburdenfallheaviestonhim.The
drinkanddrugrevenue,too,isderivedfromthe
poor.Iftheweightoftaxationhascrushedthe
poorfromabove,thedestructionofthecentral
supplementaryindustry,i.e.,handspinning,has
underminedtheircapacityforproducing
wealth...

GandhislettertoLordIrwin
Ifyoucannotseeyourwaytodealwith
theseevilsandmylettermakesno
appealtoyourheart,Ishallproceed
withsuchcoworkersoftheAshramas
Icantake,todisregardtheprovisions
ofthesaltlaws.

SaltMarchMonument

Gandhipicksupagrainofsalt
indefianceofBritishlaw.

RudyardKipling

TheWhiteMansBurden
ByRudyardKipling
TakeuptheWhiteMan'sburden
Sendforththebestyebreed
Gobindyoursonstoexile
Toserveyourcaptives'need;
Towaitinheavyharness,
Onflutteredfolkandwild
Yournewcaught,sullenpeoples,
Halfdevilandhalfchild.

TakeuptheWhiteMan'sburden
Thesavagewarsofpeace
FillfullthemouthofFamine
Andbidthesicknesscease;
Andwhenyourgoalisnearest
Theendforotherssought,
WatchslothandheathenFolly
Bringallyourhopestonaught.

TakeuptheWhiteMan'sburden
Inpatiencetoabide,
Toveilthethreatofterror
Andchecktheshowofpride;
Byopenspeechandsimple,
Anhundredtimesmadeplain
Toseekanother'sprofit,
Andworkanother'sgain.

TakeuptheWhiteMan'sburden
Notawdryruleofkings,
Buttoilofserfandsweeper
Thetaleofcommonthings.
Theportsyeshallnotenter,
Theroadsyeshallnottread,
Gomarkthemwithyourliving,
Andmarkthemwithyourdead.

TakeuptheWhiteMan'sburden
TakeuptheWhiteMan'sburden
Andreaphisoldreward:
Havedonewithchildishdays
Theblameofthoseyebetter,
Thelightlyproferredlaurel,
Thehateofthoseyeguard
Theeasy,ungrudgedpraise.
Thecryofhostsyehumour
(Ah,slowly!)towardthelight: Comesnow,tosearchyourmanhood
"Whybroughtheusfrombondage, Throughallthethanklessyears
Cold,edgedwithdearboughtwisdom,
OurlovedEgyptiannight?"
Thejudgmentofyourpeers!
TakeuptheWhiteMan'sburden
Yedarenotstooptoless
NorcalltooloudonFreedom
Toclokeyourweariness;
Byallyecryorwhisper,
Byallyeleaveordo,
Thesilent,sullenpeoples
Shallweighyourgodsandyou.

KiplingsWhiteMansBurden
AccordingtoKipling,andinyourownwords,what
wasthe"WhiteMansBurden"?
WhatrewarddidKiplingsuggestthe"WhiteMan"
getsforcarryinghis"burden"?
WhodidKiplingthinkwouldreadhispoem?What
doyouthinkthatthisaudiencemighthavesaidin
responsetoit?
Howdoyoufeelaboutthepoem?Ifyouwerea
citizenofacolonizedterritory,howwouldyou
respondtoKipling?

 Mr. President . . . God has not prepared the English

speaking and Teutonic peoples for a thousand years for
nothing but vain and idle selfcontemplation and self
admiration.No!Hehasmadeusthemasterorganizersof
the world to establish system where chaos reigns . . . He
hasmadeusadeptsingovernmentthatwemayadminister
governmentamongsavageandsenilepeoples...Hehas
marked the American people as His chosen nation to
finally lead in the regeneration of the world. This is the
divine mission of America . . . The Philippines are ours
forever.Wewillnotrepudiateourdutyinthearchipelago.
We will not abandon our opportunity in the Orient. We
will not renounce our part in the mission of our race,
trustee,underGod,ofthecivilizationoftheworld.
UnitedStatedSenator
AlbertJ.Beveridge,1899

 Reporter: Mr. Gandhi, what

do you think of Western
civilization?
Gandhi: I think it would be a
very good idea.

Blank