Background Notes
British Imperialism
In India
The British East India
Company set up trading posts
at Bombay, Madras, and
Calcutta.
At first, India's ruling Mughal
Dynasty kept European traders
under control. By 1707,
however, the Mughal Empire
was collapsing.
Dozens of small states, each
headed by a ruler or
maharajah, broke away from
Mughal control.
Robert Clive
Background Notes
Robert Clive was a British soldier who
established the military and political supremacy
of the East India Company in Southern India and
Bengal. He is credited with securing India, and
the wealth that followed, for the British crown.
Clive had led an army from Madras and in
1758 defeated Sirajudaula at the "Battle of
Plassey" and became the governor of Bengal
under the banner of the East India Company.
From there he was able to launch successful
military campaigns against the French and stop
the expansion of the Dutch.
British East India Company
• During the 1700’s and 1800’s the East India Company slowly took
control of India
• As the Mughal Empire grew weak, the East India Company grew in
economic and political strength and began to build its own military force
• The military force mainly consisted of sepoys, Indian soldiers, led by
British commanders
Background Notes
The British
• The British wanted many of the raw
materials India produced - cotton,
indigo, jute (burlap), spices, sugar, and
tea
• These material were shipped to Britain
for use in British factories – finished
products were then shipped around the
world to British colonies
• There were some advantages of the
British invasion – railroads, education,
hospitals, common language,
• There were disadvantages too – low
wages, few rights, no say in government
Background Notes
The Sepoys
Background Notes
• Ninety-six percent of the company's of
army of 300,000 men in India were
native to India.
• British believed they were superior
and looked down upon their darkskinned compatriots.
• In the military, Sepoys could not be
promoted to high ranks and the pay was
miserable.
• British did not respect Indian cultural
or religious traditions and beliefs.
• The controversy over the use of the
Enfield rifle
The Sepoy Mutiny
of 1857
In 1857, new cartridges were issued to Indian troops of the British East Indian
Army.
The cartridges were rumored to have been greased with cow or pig grease; as
such, they were forbidden to the Indian troops because of their religious beliefs.
Moslems believe that pigs are unholy, and Hindus believe that it is unholy to kill
a cow.
The cartridges of this time required a soldier to tear open the cartridge with his
teeth, and pour the powder and bullet down the barrel of the gun. This process
would have caused the Sepoys to get soul polluting grease directly into their
bodies.
After refusing to use the new cartrdiges, a whole regiment of Sepoy troops were
imprisoned by the British.
Other Sepoys attempted to free these prisoners and it snowballed into a revolt
across all of northern India.
There were many massacres where hundreds of Europeans were killed by
Sepoys who were bent on revenge and on kicking the British out of India.
Background Notes
Sepoy Rebellion
• The British suppressed the rebellion
and abolished the British East
India Company
• India became a British colony
• In 1877 Queen Victoria took the
title Empress of India
• India would now be controlled
directly by the Crown of England,
and not a trading company
supported by England
Background Notes
The Results of the Sepoy
Rebellion
The mutiny marked a turning point in Indian history.
As a result of the mutiny, in 1858 the British government took
direct command of India.
The part of India that was under direct British rule was
called the Raj. The term Raj referred to British rule over
India from 1757 until 1914.
Treatment Of Indian Soldiers
After The Sepoy Mutiny
Tie them to a cannon, and fire the cannon.
Social changes in India during
the British presence.
Some good, some not so good
Document #1
British East
India
Company
The Britsh East India Company ruled India with little interference from
the British government. The company even had its own army, led by
British officers and staffed by sepoys, or Indian soldiers.
Most of the company's troops were Hindus or Muslims. About one in six
was British. Yet, only the British could be commissioned officers; no
Indian could reach a higher rank than that of petty officer.
Economic Restrictions
The British held much of the political and economic power. British
policies called for India to produce raw materials for British
manufacturing and to buy British manufactured goods.
In addition, Indian competition with British goods was prohibited.
For example, India's own handloom textile industry was almost put
out of business by British textiles. Cheap cloth and ready-made
clothes from England flooded the Indian market and drove out local
producers.
To pay for British imports, Indians had to raise cash crops such as
tea, pepper, coffee, and cotton. As Indian farmers grew less food,
famines became frequent and widespread.
Economic Restrictions
Also, under the imperial control of the East India Company, an
increasing number of small Indian states were forced to pay dues to
the Company for military protection.
The lessening of Company profits and a need to recoup debts
generated by military efforts, produced a need for higher revenues.
Peasant landowners, required to pay their taxes in cash, increasingly
had to turn to moneylenders who seized much of this land for
nonpayment of loans.
Advancements In Transportation
Under the rule of the British, the laying of the world's third largest
railroad network was accomplished.
The railroads allowed the British to transport raw materials from the
interior to the ports and manufactured goods back again.
The majority of the raw materials were agricultural products
produced on plantations. Plantation crops included tea, indigo,
coffee, cotton, and jute. Another crop was opium. The British
shipped opium to China and exchanged it for tea, which they then
sold in England.
The railroads also allowed India to develop a modern economy
and brought unity to connected regions.
Along with the railroads, a modern road network, telephone,
and telegraph lines, dams, bridges, and irrigation canals
enabled India to modernize.
Social Changes
Britain introduced changes that affected Indian society.
Improved health care and sanitary conditions led to
population growth.
The British set up schools and colleges to educate higher-caste
Indians. The course of study stressed English language and
culture.
Ritual of Sati
Sati (Su-thi , a.k.a. suttee) is the traditional Hindu practice of a
widow throwing herself on her husband's funeral pyre.
Sati was prevalent among certain sects of the society in ancient
India, who either took the vow or deemed it a great honor to die
on the funeral pyres of their husbands.
Child Marriages
In India during the 1860s,
marriage meant girls getting
married below 8 or 9 years
old. It wasn’t until 1880 that
child marriage as a problem
became a public issue in India
and examples of young wives
being killed and or raped by
their “husbands” brought the
tradition to an end.