The legacy of British Empire and the Politics of Colonialism:

British raj, period of direct British rule over the Indian subcontinent from 1858 until the independence
of India and Pakistan in 1947. The raj succeeded management of the subcontinent by the British East India Company,
after general distrust and dissatisfaction with company leadership resulted in a widespread mutiny of sepoy troops in
1857, causing the British to reconsider the structure of governance in India. The British government took possession of
the company’s assets and imposed direct rule. The raj was intended to increase Indian participation in governance, but
the powerlessness of Indians to determine their own future without the consent of the British led to an
increasingly adamant national independence movement.
Arrival of the British East India Company: The British East India Company came to India as traders in spices, a very
important commodity in Europe back then as it was used to preserve meat. Apart from that, they primarily traded in silk,
cotton, indigo dye, tea and opium.
Politics of Mercantilism and Capitalism: Mercantilism is an economic policy designed to increase a nation's wealth
through exports, which thrived in Great Britain between the 16th and 18th centuries. The country enjoyed the greatest
benefits of mercantilism between 1640 and 1660 when the prevailing economic wisdom suggested that the empire's
colonies could supply raw materials and resources to the mother country and subsequently be used as export markets
for the finished products. The resulting favorable balance of trade was thought to increase national wealth and Great
Britain was not alone in this line of thinking. The French, Spanish, and Portuguese competed with the British for colonies
under the belief that no great nation could exist and be self-sufficient without colonial resources. Because of this heavy
reliance on its colonies, Great Britain imposed restrictions on how its colonies could spend their money or distribute
assets.
Politics of Industrial Revolution: By 1830, the Industrial Revolution had created a new source of social and economic
power: ownership of factories. So it was not surprising that wealthy business owners wanted to share in political power
as well. The major landmark of political change brought about by the Industrial Revolution was the Reform Bill of 1832.
In November 1830, the leader of the Whig party, an aristocrat named Charles, Earl Grey (1764–1845), organized a
campaign to make Parliament more representative of the population. Such a campaign arose from fears that the
growing population of cities could lead to a violent revolution by desperate workers who had no voice in government,
much like the French Revolution of 1789. During that conflict, mobs of workers, facing starvation, overthrew the king,
executed aristocrats, and declared a republic (a system of government in which there is no monarch and officials are
elected by the people). The reform movement was opposed by the Conservative Party (also called the Tories), whose
parliamentary majority rested partly on Conservative representatives from rotten boroughs.
Politics of Resource Exploration: British Empire exploited all over the world resourced where they set up their colonies
and they did same in Indian sub continent. They consumed a huge amount of tax from all over India and export all back
to Britain. They also exploited other resources as well. All of those resources were shipped back to their own country.
Their history all depends upon long years of theft, oppression, exploitation, suppression to their colonies. Indian sub
continent was not different.
Politics of Hegemony: British rule was made up of hegemony over its colonies. They established hegemony in social
dress up, education system, secularism, sexual liberalization, Indian Civil Service, political popular sovereignty,
parliamentary democracy. They broke all laws of human rights to establish their political hegemony.