CHY 4U1 – Image Analysis
Age of Imperialism – English Colonial Rule in India
Discussing the Illustration:
1. Europe’s colonial rule could be kind as well as harsh. These cartoons show both
tendencies at work in one very large colony. How can you tell from this cartoon that the
colony is India and its colonial master is Great Britain?
2. In the picture on the right, the man pictured is John Bull (Great Britain) is bringing food to
relieve a famine in Bengal, a part of India. A figure labeled “Political Economy” tells him
not to interfere in this way with the “laws of supply and demand.” What do yo think this
warning means? What point do you think John Bull is trying to make by saying, “She
Demands and I Supply”? How does this show Great Britain as a more kindly colonial
power?
3. In the other cartoon, a fierce British lion attacks India in response to atrocities committed
during the famous Sepoy Mutiny. What was the Sepoy Mutiny?
4. In what ways do these cartoons show two opposite sides of British colonial rule? What
ideas or attitudes about Indian society, if any, do both cartoons share?