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Modern India
 British Conquest of India
After some initial French successes, the British decisively defeated the
French in Bengal in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and in the southeast in 1761
in the Battle of Wandiwash, after which the British East India Company was
the supreme military and political power in southern India as well as in
Bengal.

In the following decades, it gradually increased the size of the territories

under its control. The enclaves of Pondichéry, Karaikal, Yanam, Mahé, and
Chandernagore were returned to France in 1816 and were integrated with the
Republic of India in 1954
Anglo-Indian Wars
The Anglo-Indian Wars were the several wars fought in
the Indian Subcontinent, over a period of time, between
the British East India Company and different Indian
states, mainly the Mughal Empire, Kingdom of Mysore,
Nawabs of Bengal, Maratha Empire, the Sikh Empire
and the like. These wars led to the establishment of
British colonial rule in India.
List of wars
● Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)
● First Anglo-Mysore War (1766–1769)
● First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782)
● Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1784)
● Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789–1792)
● Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–1799)
● Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805)
● Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816)
● Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818)
● First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846)
● Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-1849)
● First war of Independence (1857–1858)
In 1772, Warren Hastings was appointed as the governor of Bengal. By

this time the system of dual government in Bengal was well in place and

Hastings was to give Bengal a workable administration. He also had

concluded subsidiary alliance with Oudh. Bombay Presidency felt belittled

before Madras and Bengal having no political or territorial achievements.

They began to eye western coastal areas and found themselves on

battlefields against Marathas.

East India company's success in Bengal

emboldened them to intervene in local conflicts

between Indian rulers, a result of which was the

first Anglo-Mysore war. Anglo-Mysore Wars and

the Anglo-Maratha Wars together led to control

of the vast regions of India. There were four

battles (1767-69, 1780-84, 1790-92, and 1799)

between the English East India Company and

Mysore which were known as Anglo Mysore

Wars. Erstwhile Mysore consisted of Modern

day Karnataka, some parts of Tamil Nadu and

Kerala.
First Anglo-Mysore War (1767 - 69)

● In the first Anglo-Mysore War, the Marathas, Nizam of Hyderabad and British together fought
against Haidar Ali.
● British sided with the Nizam (Asaf Jah) as per terms of the 1766 treaty signed between them
whereby Nizam surrendered Northern Circars for British support.
● Haider Ali won the war against the British and at the end of the War, a defensive treaty was
concluded in April 1769, which is known as Treaty of Madras.

Treaty of Madras

● According to it both the Parties returned the areas won by each other.
● British & Hyder Ali made an agreement that they would support each other if there is any
foreign invasion.
● The District of Arcot was given to Nawab of Arcot.
Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84)
The treaty of 1769, served more as a truce and Haider Ali accused the British of not observing
the terms of this treaty. By this time, the British apprehended deepening alliance between
Mysore and France and therefore made an attempt to capture the port of Mahe (French port
on Malabar coast).

(Haider Ali had set up an arsenal in Dindigul with French help).

● The Marathas, Nizam together with Haidar Ali fought against the British.
● Colonel Baillie was defeated by Haider Ali, and Haider captured Arcot in 1780.
● British now managed to secure Marathas support.
● Haider Ali died in 1782 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War and his son Tipu
succeeded him.
● 2nd Anglo- Mysore War ended by signing a treaty of Mangalore in 1784 by Tipu Sultan.

Treaty of Mangalore
● The prisoners on both sides were liberated and all the conquests were mutually restored.
Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790-92)
● The Marathas, Nizam and British (Triple Alliance) together fought against
Tipu Sultan.
● Tipu tried to expand his territories at the cost of his neighbours,
particularly the Raja of Travancore, who was an ally of the British. This
was one of the causes of Third Anglo- Mysore war.
● Dindigul, Baramahal and Malabar were annexed by the East India
Company at the end of the war.
● Treaty of Sringapattinam was signed by Tipu in 1792. The terms of the
Treaty were dictated by the British.
Treaty of Sringapattinam
● Tipu had to give up half of his dominions.
● Around Rs. 3 Crore was to be paid by Tipu as war indemnity.
● Both the sons of Tipu were kept as Hostages.
● A large territory on the Malabar Coast was secured by British.
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799)
Imperialist Lord Wellesley's appointment as governor general in 1798 and the threat of
Napolean's advance to India directed the British designs on Mysore. Charging Tipu Sultan
with planning intrigues in its neighbouring states with French assistance, British now
attacked Mysore

● The war was short and decisive.

● In 1799, Tipu died defending Srirangapatnam, the capital of Mysore.
● With the end of Fourth Anglo-Mysore War French threat to the British supremacy was
completely eliminated in India.

Later Mysore was brought under the 'Subsidiary Alliance' system of Lord Wellesley and once
again placed under the former Wodeyar dynasty. Therefore, Mysore lost its independence.
Part of Mysore territory was given to the nizam who had already accepted a 'Subsidiary
Alliance'; and parts of it, such as Wynad, Coimbatore, Canara and Sunda, were directly
annexed by the Company.

After the defeat of Tipu, there were also no more naval challenges from the indigenous
Powers to the Britishers.
Anglo Maratha Wars
The Anglo Maratha Wars were three round of wars which were fought in between
Marathas and the British East India Company.

First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82)

● The Struggle for power between Sawai Madhav Rao and Raghunath Rao was
the main cause for the First Anglo-Maratha War.
● Madhav Rao got the support of Nanaphadnavis.
● Raghunath Rao, sought for British help to be installed as Peshwa against
Madhav Rao.
● The British (Bombay Presidency) entered into an agreement with Raghunath
Rao at Surat in 1775, which is known as the treaty of Surat. According to the
conditions of this treaty, in order to get British help to restore him to Poona,
Raghunath Rao ceded the territories of Salsette and Bassein to the British. But
the treaty was annulled by the supreme council at Calcutta which questioned
the wisdom of Bombay government.
● Nana Fadnavis made a treaty with British on March, 1776, which is known as the treaty of
Purandhar. As per this treaty, Bassein and Salsette were given to British. Raghunath Rao was
pensioned off and sent to Gujarat.
● At Wadgaon in 1779, the combined Maratha forces fought with the forces of the British and
Raghunath Rao. In the battle of Wadgaon, the Marathas defeated British, therefore, Treaty of
Wadgaon was signed by British as dictated by Marathas. As per this treaty, the British
renounced all the territories acquired by the British East India Company in Western India
since 1773. Later Warren Hastings annulled Treaty of Wadgaon.
● Mahadji Sindia was compelled to sign the treaty of Salbai in May 17, 1782. Status quo was
maintained as per the treaty. British acknowledged Madhavrao as the Peshwa of the Maratha
Empire.
● This treaty helped the British to recover their territories from Hyder Ali by putting pressure on
Mysore with the help of Marathas.
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05)
● The desire of Wellesley to impose subsidiary Alliance on Marathas led to the
Second Anglo- Maratha War.
● Sindia, Holkar and Bhonsle fought against British in the second Anglo-Maratha
War.
● Treaty of Bassein (1802) was signed after the Battle of Poona. According to this
pact around 6000 troops of the Company's native infantry was to be permanently
stationed with the Peshwa. And the Peshwa could not enter into any treaty without
the permission of the British, agreed to seek Company's arbitration in all
differences between him and Nizam. Peshwa also surrendered Surat. This treaty
was of great political advantage to the British and was an important milestone
in establishing their supremacy across the Indian subcontinent
● The armies of Sindia and Bhonsle were defeated by Wellesley at Assaye in
September 1803 and at Argaon in November 1803 respectively.
● On December 17, 1803 the treaty of Deogaon was concluded between Raghuji
Bhonsle and the company. According to the terms of this treaty Bhonsle accepted
the subsidiary alliance with British and further agreed to cede the East India
Company the province of Cuttack, Balasore and territory west of the river Warda.
● ater Sindia army was defeated by the British at Aligarh and finally at Laswar.
● On December 30, 1803, Sindia concluded the treaty of Surji Arjunagaon
with British and Sindia consented to enter into subsidiary alliance with
British.
● Holkar remained at war with the British East India Company.
● The second Anglo-Maratha ended with the treaty of Rajpurghat.
Third Anglo-Maratha war (1817-18)
● By this time Lord Hastings was the Governor General (appointed in 1813)
and he was determined to proclaim British Paramountcy in India.
● The peshwa s forces, rose against the British (November 1817), this was
further followed by the forces of the Bhonsle and Holkar, but the Sindhia
remained neutral.
● At the end of the third Anglo-Maratha War Peshwa Bajirao II, was dethroned
and pensioned He was sent to Bithur, a place near Kanpur. All his territory
was annexed by the British.
1857 FIrst war of Independence
Social Reforms During Britishers
Abolition of Sati
● Influenced by the frontal attack launched by the enlightened Indian reformers led by Raja
Rammohan Roy, the Government declared the practice of sad or the burning alive of widows
illegal and punishable by criminal courts as culpable homicide.
● The regulation of 1829 was applicable in the first instance to Bengal Presidency alone, but was
extended in slightly modified forms to Madras and Bombay Presidencies in 1830.

Female Infanticide
● The practice of murdering female infants immediately after birth was common among upper
class Bengalis and Rajputs who considered females to be an economic burden.
● But it was mainly due to the efforts of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-91), the principal
of Sanskrit College, Calcutta, that the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, which legalised
marriage of widows and declared issues from such marriages as legitimate, was passed by the
Government.
● Vidyasagar cited Vedic texts to prove that the Hindu religion sanctioned widow remarriage.
● Jagannath Shankar Seth and Bhau Daji were among the active promoters of girls' schools in
Maharashtra. Vishnu Shastri Pandit founded the Widow Remarriage Association in the 1850s.
Another prominent worker in this field was Karsondas Mulji who started the Satya Prakash in
Gujarati in 1852 to advocate widow remarriage.
Child Marriage
● The Native Marriage Act (or Civil Marriage Act) signified the coming of legislative action in prohibiting
child marriage in 1872. It had a limited impact as the Act was not applicable to Hindus, Muslims and
other recognised faiths.
● The relentless efforts of a Parsi reformer, B.M. Malabari, were rewarded, by the enactment of the Age
of Consent Act (1891) which forbade the marriage of girls below the age of 12.
● The Sarda Act (1930) further pushed up the marriage age to 18 and 14 for boys and girls respectively.
In free India, the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978 raised the age of marriage for girls
from 15 to 18 years and for boys from 18 to 21.
 Summary on the History of Modern Education during British India

● Warren Hastings set up the Calcutta Madrasa in 1781 for the study and
learning of Persian and Arabic.
● In 1791, the efforts of Jonathan Duncan opened Sanskrit College at Banaras
for understanding of the laws, literature and religion of the Hindus.
● The Fort William College was set up by Lord Wellesley in 1800 for the training
of the civil servants of the company in vernacular languages and customs of
India. The College published an English-Hindustani dictionary, a Hindustani
grammar and some other books. However to impart training to civil servants a
East India College at Hailebury, England was established in 1807.
● Charter Act, (1813): It provided for an annual expenditure of one lakh of
rupees "for the revival and promotion of literature and the encouragement of
then learned natives of India and for the introduction and promotion of
knowledge of the science among the inhabitants of the British territories."
Sir Charles Wood's Despatch on Education, 1854: It is considered as the Magna Carta of
English Education in India. It declared that the aim of the Government's educational policy
was the teaching of Western Education. The three universities of Calcutta, Madras and
Bombay came into existence in 1857. It proposed the setting up of primary schools
(vernacular languages) at the lowest level, high school in Anglo vernacular and colleges
(English Medium) at district level.
5. The Hunter Education Commission, 1882-83: The principal object of the enquiry of the
commission was to present the state of elementary education throughout the Indian
Empire and the means by which this can be extended and improved.
6. The Indian Universities Act, 1904: The act increased university control over private
colleges by laying down stringent conditions of affiliation and periodical inspection by the
Syndicate. The private colleges were required to keep a proper standard of efficiency. The
Government approval was necessary for grant of affiliation or disaffiliation of colleges.
7. The Sadler University Commission, 1917-19: It recommended a twelve-year school
course after passing the intermediate examination, rather than the Matriculation, the
students were to enter a university.
Indian Nationalism
By the 1870's, it was evident that Indian nationalism had gathered enough
strength and momentum to appear as a major force on the Indian political scene.
However, it required the reactionary regime of Lord Lytton to give it visible form
and the controversy around the Ilbert Bill gave it an organized form. •

During Lytton's viceroyalty from 1876-80, most of the import duties on British
textile imports were removed to please the textile manufacturers of Britain. This
action was interpreted by Indians as proof of the British desire to ruin the small but
growing textile industry of India. It created a wave of anger in the country and led
to widespread nationalist agitation.
The Second War against Afghanistan aroused vehement agitation against the
heavy cost of this imperialist war, which the Indian Treasury was made to bear. •
The Arms Act of 1878, which disarmed the people, appeared to them as an effort
to emasculate the entire nation.

The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was condemned by the politically conscious
Indians as an attempt to suppress the growing nationalist criticism of the alien
government.

The holding of the imperial Durbar at Delhi in 1877 at a time when the country was
suffering from a terrible famine led people to believe that their rulers cared very
little even for their lives.

In 1878, the government announced new regulations reducing the maximum age
limit for sitting in the Indian Civil Service Examination from 21 years to 19.
● Already Indian students had found it difficult to compete with English boys
since the examination was conducted in England and through English
medium. The new regulations further reduced their chances of entering the
Civil Service.
● The Indians now realized that the British had no intention of relaxing their
near-total monopoly of the higher grades of services in the administration.
● Lytton's viceroyalty helped to intensify discontent against foreign rule.
● In 1883, Ripon who succeeded Lytton as the Viceroy, tried to pass a law to
enable Indian district magistrates and session judges to trial Europeans in
criminal cases.
● Under the existing law, even Indian members of the Indian Civil Service were
not authorized to try Europeans in their courts.
● The Europeans in India organized a vehement agitation against this Bill,
which came to be known as Ilbert Bill (after Ilbert, the Law Member). The
Ilbert Bill poured abuse on Indians and their culture and character. They
declared that even the most highly educated among the Indians were unfit to
trial a European.
Congress (1885- 1915)

This phase was dominated by moderates. This phase was initially called as the ‘Early
Nationalist’ phase, however, with the rise of extremism in the closing stages of the 19th Century,
this phase was described as the ‘age of moderates’.
Establishment of Indian National Congress (INC): a) The INC was established in 1885, by A.O.
Hume, a retired civil servant who was staying in Shimla post- retirement.
He invited many Indian leaders regarding the Indian cause, and he laid the foundation of the
‘Indian National Union’.
But, after the suggestion of Dadabhai Naoroji, its name was changed to ‘Indian National
Congress’. The word ‘Congress’ was taken from the American Constitution.
Bengal Partition
Divide and rule