British Imperialism in India

Before Colonization:
The Mughal Empire

In the Mughal Empire (15261757), Muslims were favored

over the majority Hindus.
Decline of the Mughals
began with religious conflict
between Muslims and
Hindus and resulted in
infighting and a divided
empire.

Muslims were the majority

in the Northwest (modern
Pakistan) and Northeast
(modern Bangladesh).
Many cities and some
villages were mixed.

End of Mughal Rule

1600s, the British East India Company (BEIC)

established trading posts at Bombay (Mumbai),

Madras (Chennai), and Calcutta.
At first, Indias ruling Mughal Empire kept European

traders under control, but already weakened by civil

war and misrule few, Indians wished to defend it.
By 1707, however, the Mughal Empire was

collapsing. Dozens of small states, each headed by a

ruler or maharajah, broke away from Mughal control.

British East India Company

This private profit-seeking corporation was

allowed by the British government to rule

India by itself through Company Rule in which
the British government allowed it to act as
representatives of the British and make laws
as it saw fit in the areas of India it controlled.
Gained control after a decisive victory at the

Battle of Plassey in 1757

Worked with compliant Indian leaders to get

rich trading Indias cotton, silk, indigo dye,

salt, tea and opium.

Company Rule
Indias resources were needed to meet the
worldwide demand for cheap, washable,
lightweight fabrics for clothing and furnishings.
This made Indias riches an irresistible target.
Seeking only profit and control, (but mostly
profit) the BEIC forced many Indians to grow
in-demand non-food crops including the opium
sent to China. Sharing none of the profits,
many parts of India under the BEICs control
faced intermittent starvation with too few
farms producing food.
The British Empire, however, grew incredibly
rich.

The Sepoys
The East India Company even had

its own army, led by British

officers and staffed by native
Indians called sepoys.

Made up of Hindu Kshatriyas,

Muslims and Sikhs (a north-central

Indian religious minority), enough
willing and loyal recruits were
found to allow the British to
control all the parts of India they
desired.

How could a few

boatloads?
Second-class
citizens in
their own
country and
impoverishe
d by the
profitseeking
BEIC, Indians
failed to
unite to kick
out the
British for
the following
reasons:

Political leaders were benefiting from British trade and

support, and saw benefits to modernization,

The British possessed far superior weaponry,
Enough Indians were willing to be hired as sepoy soldiers to

defend the British,

With Mughal decline preceding the arrival of the British, India

was divided into small, rival kingdoms,

Rivalries between Muslims and Hindus (with Hindus resenting

centuries of Mulsim rule) prevented uniting to face the

common enemy,
The Caste System made uniting for a common cause difficult,

Agent of Change: The Sepoy Mutiny

In the 1850s, the colonized Indians made

their first large-scale rebellion against
the colonizers, led by many sepoys who
turned against their British commanders.
The immediate spark to the violence was
resentment against being insensitively
forced to use grease from the sacred cow
for Hindus, and from unclean pigs for
Muslims.
The underlying cause, of course, was
anger at being treated as second-class
citizens in their own homeland and the
British taking Indias wealth.

Agent of Change:
The Sepoy Mutiny

Some areas stayed loyal to

Britain, but the fighting
Was fierce with revenge
killings and atrocities
against
civilians,
women and
children
by both sides.

Agent of Change: The Sepoy Mutiny

The British managed to keep order, but the

Sepoy Mutiny showed that Company Rule
could not protect British investments in India,
so the British government took over control
of its Indian colonies in 1858, beginning a
near century of Direct Rule.
For this to work, thousands of British people
flocked to India to increase their presence
and to build the railroads, telegraph lines and
other infrastructure needed for long-term rule
over hundreds of millions of Indians.

Instead of driving the British out, the

Sepoy Mutiny caused a massive increase
of the British presence in India.

(Some) Indians Brought on Board

Needing a compliant workforce
for such a large colony, the
British began to educate
wealthy and high-caste Indians
to get them to adopt both the
English language and British
customs.
The results were many Indians
aiding in colonial rule, and the
creation of favored Indian elites
who could act like gentlemen.

Beginnings of Indian Nationalism

The new Indian middle classes slowly grew tired of the

injustice of British rule,

The new nationalists wrote in both English and their

regional languages and turned to aspects of Indian

tradition, especially Hinduism, as a rallying ground for
national pride (although Muslims and the lower castes
were generally excluded).
1885 a large group of these new Indian nationalists

founded the Indian National Congress (INC) to pressure

colonial leaders for more rights and greater self-rule and
independence.

Positive Effects of Colonial Rule

Railroads (the third-largest network in the world at the time)

enabled India to develop a modern economy and connected

regions,

A modern road network, telephone and telegraph lines, dams,

bridges, and irrigation canals were created,

Sanitation and public health improved.

Schools and colleges were founded, and literacy increased.
British troops cleared central India of bandits
End to local warfare among competing local rulers.

Negative Impact for India

British held most of the political and economic power,
Profitable industries such as cotton, salt, construction, tea,

etc. were firmly controlled by the British.

conversion to cash crops reduced food production, causing

famines in the late 1800s,

Loss of cultural practices and language,

Divisions between Anglicized elites and traditional Indians,
Humiliation of being inferior in ones own home.

What did the British get?

Control over raw materials, especially cotton, to ports for shipment to

England,

To bring manufactured goods from England for sale in an expanding

Indian market,

Insanely rich,
Spread of British language, customs, and religion,
Theft of many artworks and cultural treasures sculpture, paintings

and other Indian artifacts - which can be seen in many British museums
today,

The chance for any Englishman with half a brain to come to India, make

a name for himself, get rich, and have a position of power and respect.

What was negative for the British?

Paid for infrastructure (roads, telephone, railroads, etc.)

and development,
Paid for education,
Money spent on military and government in India,
Needed a large military presence to maintain control,
Created the class of educated Indians (the INC) who

would force the British to leave India in 1947less than a

century after the beginning of Direct Rule.