British Imperialism in India
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Transcript British Imperialism in India
British Imperialism in
India
Ch.11 Sec. 4
India
Great Britain in India
1600’s Great Britain set up trading posts through out India
British East India Company
●
controlled British trade in India
eventually the company gained political control over
Bangladesh, Southern India, and Northern India (along Ganges
River)
British East India Company
1800’s: company operated in India with no regulation by
British government
company had its own army
Company army led by
British army officers
Sepoys
Indians who joined British armies in India
Resented by other Indians
“Jewel in the Crown”
Great Britain considered India its most precious
jewel (colony) in its Imperial crown
“Jewel in the Crown”
Industrial Revolution turned India into a major supplier of
raw materials to Great Britain
300 million Indians were
a large market for
British products
“Jewel in the Crown”
British forbade India from
trading on its own with
other countries
India was forced to produce raw
materials for only Britain and to
buy finished products from only
Britain
Indian competition with British
finished products was forbidden
“Jewel in the Crown”
Britain set up a railroad network to take raw materials from
inside India to its ports
Raw Materials Taken from India
Tea
Indigo (dye for clothing)
Raw Materials Taken from India
Coffee
Cotton
Raw Materials Taken from India
Jute (fiber for making rope)
Opium (plant that heroin is
made from)
Raw Materials Taken from India
Britain relied more on raw materials from India as wars
around the world cut off British supplies from other places
example: American Civil War (1861-1865)
made Indian cotton more important to
Great Britain because cotton supply from
America was cut off
Positives for India
Great Britain laid the
world’s third largest railroad
network in India
Railroads brought unity to
disconnected regions in
India
Modern road
network
■ Telephone and telegraph lines
Dams, bridges, canals
Sanitation and public health
improved
Schools/
colleges founded
Truces between
local warring rulers
in India
Negatives for India
British held all political and
economic power
British restricted Indianowned industries
Cash crops made it impossible
for small farmers to produce
enough food for themselves
Racist attitudes of most British
officials and missionaries
threatened Indian traditional life
Indians Rebel
By 1850 most Indians resented
that Great Britain owned their
country
Indians were angry Britain
controlled all useful land in
their country
Indians were angry at attempts
to forcefully convert them to
Christianity
■
Indians were angry at the constant
racism expressed towards them by
the British
Sepoy Mutiny
1857 gossip spread amongst Sepoys (Indian soldiers for
the British)
the seals of their ammunition had to be bitten off
they believed the British dipped the seals of their
ammunition in beef and pork
(Hindus can not eat beef/ Muslims can not eat pork)
Sepoy Mutiny
British commander was
outraged when 85 Sepoys
refused to accept the
ammunition
May 10, 1857 Sepoys rebelled;
marched on Delhi (Indian capital)
The Sepoys were jailed for
disobeying orders
rebellion spread into northern
and central India
Sepoy Mutiny
Fierce fighting between British
and Sepoys (aided by other
Indians)
British government sent troops
to help them
East India Company took more
than a year to regain control of
the country
Indians Did Not Fully Unite During Sepoy
Mutiny
serious splits between Hindus and
Muslims
Many Indian princes did not take
part in the rebellion (made
alliances with
British)
unclear inconsistent leadership
Sikhs (Indian religious group)
remained loyal to the British
Sikhs
Sikhs
Minority Indian religious group
Sikhs feared Muslims would regain
control of the country during
Sepoy Mutiny
■
Muslim Mughals ruled
India before Britain
Sikhs
Sikhs replaced Sepoys in
Britain’s Indian army
after the Sepoy Mutiny
Mughals did not allow
religious freedom
Great Britain allowed some
religious freedom in India
Turning Point
1858 British government took direct control over India
(because of the Mutiny)
Raj (time period when
India was under Great
Britain’s control:
1757-1947)
Raj
India was divided into 11 Provinces and 250 districts
sometimes a handful of
officials would be the only
British amongst millions of
Indians in a district
Mutiny increased distrust between British and Indians: it fueled more
British racism towards Indians
Ram Mohun Roy (1772-1833)
well-educated Indian who
began a campaign to
modernize India
he was opposed to India’s
caste system (social class
system that ties a person to the
social class they are into for
life: based on Hindu beliefs)
opposed to child marriages
and widow suicides
believed these practices
needed to be changed if India
wanted to be free from rule by
outsiders
Ram Mohun Roy (1772-1833)
other Indian writers picked up
on Roy’s ideas and called for
changes
Indian resented being secondclass citizens in their own country
Indians were paid 20 times less
than British
Indians could not hold top jobs
in government
Indian National Congress 1885
Made up of Hindus; called for
self-government
INC led acts of violence
against British in Bengal
upset that Britain segregated
Bengal (Indian city) into Muslim
section and Hindu section in 1905
1911 Britain changed the order
of segregation
Muslim League 1906
Made up of Muslims
also upset about segregation of
Bengal in1905
also called for self-government
also participated in acts of
violence against British in India
Indian Nationalism Grows
Indian National Congress (Hindus)/Muslim League
(Muslims) Found Common Ground
Both worked together towards Indian Independence
World War I
Great Britain got 1 Million
Indians to enlist in the
British army to fight in
World War I
Britain promised Indians selfgovernment in exchange for
them enlisting in the British
army
1918 Indian troops returned
home: expected Britain
to fulfill its promise
Rowlatt Act (1919)
instead Indian troops were treated as second class citizens
again by Great Britain
many Indians committed acts of
violence against British in India
in response
Great Britain passes Rowlatt Act (1919) in response
Rowlatt Act (1919)
allowed British gov’t to jail protestors for 2 years with no
trial
violent protests by Indians in Punjab (province with most Indian
World War I veterans)
Amritsar Massacre (Spring 1919)
10,000 Hindus and Muslims
went to Amritsar (capital of
Punjab Province): festival to
pray and hear political
speeches
alliance of Hindus and
Muslims scared the
British
Amritsar Massacre (Spring 1919)
Britain had earlier banned public
protests: Britain issued the ban
without informing most Indians!
British General Reginald Dyer
ordered his troops to fire on the
unarmed crowd without warning
Shooting lasted 10 minutes: 400
Indians Killed; 1200 wounded
news of the massacre spread
rapidly across India: Indians
demanded independence
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
Amritsar Massacre set the
stage for Mohandas
Gandhi to become leader of
the Indian Independence
Movement
his teachings blended ideas
from all major world
religions (especially
Hinduism, Christianity,
Islam)
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
Gandhi preached/practiced
Civil Disobedience
deliberate and public refusal to
obey any unjust law
rebellion without violence
1920 Indian National
Congress officially adopts
Gandhi’s policy as a means to
push for independence
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
Gandhi’s Plan for Civil Disobedience:
Refuse to buy British goods
Refuse to attend British schools
Refuse to pay British taxes
Refuse to vote in elections
Indians weave their own
cloth (to put British cloth
out of business)
Civil Disobedience
1922 Indian rioters
attacked a police station
and set officers on fire!
Many British businesses went
out of business in India
British arrested Indians who
protested and boycotted
Salt Acts 1930
These laws required that Indians buy salt only from the
British government (without refrigeration, salt was crucial
to keeping food from spoiling)
Required Indians to pay
a sales tax to British on salt as well
Salt March 1930
In protest Gandhi and his
followers walked 240 miles
to the coast to make their
own salt
demonstrators marched to a
British salt processing plant to
protest
made salt by evaporating sea
water
Salt March 1930
British police attacked
protestors with steel clubs
British arrested 60,000 peaceful
protestors (including Gandhi)
Protestors refused to defend
themselves: marching peacefully
International newspapers covered the
event: won worldwide support for
Gandhi’s movement
Great Britain Grants India Self-Rule
1935 Government of
India Act
This was the first step in full
independence for India
Gandhi and his campaign was
successful
■ British Parliament
allows India some selfrule
■ Allowed for local selfgovernment (mayors) and
limited elections (regional
representatives)
Internal Conflict
India does not get full
independence until after World
War II (after 1945)
Hindus far outnumbered
Muslims in India
Hindus and Muslims had
conflicting views for India’s
future
Leads to more internal conflict