27.4
British Imperialism in
India
British Expansion and Control over India
• Began 1600s
• 1757: East Indian Company (EIC) troops defeat
Indian forces (Battle of Plassey)
– EIC controls India until 1858
• Governs directly and indirectly between
Bangladesh, southern India, nearly all territory
along Ganges River in north
• EIC has own army led by Sepoys, Indian
soldiers
• British gov. does not interfere with company
– Regulates from London and India
• India major supplier of natural resources
– Population a major market for goods
– Considered “Jewel in the crown”
• British prevented Indian economy from
operating on its own
– India produced raw materials
– Indians prohibited from competing with
British goods
– British cloth flooded India
Transportation
• Railroad network in
India
– Transports raw goods
from interior to ports
– Tea, indigo, coffee,
cotton, jute
• Trade of resources
linked to international
events
– Crimean and U.S. civil
wars increase jute and
cotton production
Colonialism’s Impact
• Benefits result in modernization :
– Laying of world’s 3rd largest railway
– Modern road network
– Telephone and telegraph lines
– Dams, bridges, irrigation canals
• Negative Effects:
– British held political and economic
control
– British restrict Indian-owned
industry
– Cash crops restrict land usage (food)
cause famine
– Hands off-policy (religions and social
customs)
• Missionaries threaten traditional
way of life
Sepoy Mutiny
• Threat of Christianity
leads to rebellion
– Constant British racism
• Resentment and
nationalism increases
– Guns, pork, and meat
• Sepoys refuse to accept
cartridges
– Jailed
– Soldiers rebel and
capture Delhi
• Hindu vs. Muslim
– Hindus prefer British rule
over Muslim
– Sikhs remain loyal to
British
Impact of Mutiny
• British take direct control of India (1858)
– Area of India under direct control called Raj
– Raj refers to the British rule b/t 1757-1947
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Independent Indian states (center) remained free
Fueled racist attitudes of British
Increased distrust between British and Indians
1919 Amritsar Massacre: "The incident in Jallian
Wala Bagh was 'an extraordinary event, a
monstrous event, an event which stands in
singular and sinister isolation"...Winston Churchill
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE9_zB8k_lk
Nationalism Surfaces
• Indians demand more control and
modernization
• Ram Mohum Roy “father of modern
India”
– Modern-thinking
– Wants to move away from tradition
– Caste system and arranged marriages need
changing
– Calls for the adoption of western “ways” of
life
• Nationalism
– Second class citizens in own country
• Groups form:
– Indian National Congress (1885)
– Muslim League (1906)
• Division of Bengal
– British divide area into Muslim/Hindu
areas
– Acts of terrorism by both sides break out