Transcript British India

British India
January 28, 2014
Review
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What sorts of Europeans can we see in Japan in the
16th century? What about in the 18th century?
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Where did the Portuguese establish outposts in Asia?
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Why were the Spanish so successful in the Philippines
both politically and in terms of promoting their religion?
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What were the most important kingdoms in Southeast
Asia in the 18th century?
RELIGIOUS GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH
ASIA
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Though northern India had been under Muslim rule for several
centuries by 1800, the majority religion continued to be
Hinduism.
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Islam was stronger in northern India but was the religion of the
majority of the population in only a few places.
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In the Punjab, Sikhism grew into the dominant religion.
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Ceylon had only a few Muslims. The Sinhalese in Ceylon
tended to be Theravada Buddhists. The Tamils in Ceylon
tended to be Hindus.
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Nepalese were mostly Hindus, though their Hinduism is
sometimes hard to distinguish from Buddhism.
India through the Mughal era
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:European_settl
ements_in_India_1501-1739.png
South Asia in 1805
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/1962/India-1797-1805
The Mughals as Predators
•Why did the Mughals weaken? (p. 160)
•Conquest of the Deccan led to Mughal power being
stretched too thin.
Succession disputes weakened the ruling elite
predatory rule (excessive taxation) alienated the population
India was divided along religious, linguistic, and caste lines
increasing commercialization decentralized power.
local leaders had their own armies
The result: The Mughals lost their monopoly over the
legitimate use of force.
The Gradual Increase In British Power
The British East India Company
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1616: First British “factory” established --What is a
factory? (p. 170)
• 1639: The British acquire Madras
• 1661: The British acquire Bombay (Mumbai)
• 1690 The British acquire Calcutta (Kolkata)
• 1757: The Black Hole of Calcutta incident leads to
the British takeover of Bengal (p. 170)
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1760: The British defeat their French rivals in India
(though the French keep Pondicherry)
How did the British gain control?
• There was no longer a single effective government for all of India
• Increasing commercialization made Indians vulnerable to British
economic power.
• British gained a footing as tax-collectors for local Indian rulers.
• They advanced with superior military tactics and technology, plus
a lot of help from Indians. Much of the British Army of India was
composed of Indian soldiers (p. 172)
• They didn’t rule all of India directly.Instead, much of India (40%
of the territory, and 33% of the people) was left under the control
of “princely states.” The British dispatched “residents” to help
those princes govern. (What is a princely state? pp. 172-73)
India Before Nationalism
“One of the enduring features of the Indian political
scene until the later nineteenth century was the
absence of any national feeling….The caste system
doubtless made it more difficult to develop an abstract
loyalty to a state over and above that to the vertically
and horizontally arranged caste and subcaste groups
in the country.”
Deepak Lal, professor of international development at
UCLA.
More on gaining control
• How did the British gain control of the economy? First, they
assumed responsibility for tax-collection. (They used local people,
zamindars in the north and local tax collectors in the South— p.
178)
• Then, after 1800, they used tariffs and new technology to
undermine India’s textile manufacturing lead.
• What role did the influx of silver play in the European penetration
of Asian economies? It led to increased production because now
there was a more convenient way to engage in trade.
• How did the British deal with the great variety of religions in India?
They didn’t interfere with them, though they hardened the
distinction between Hinduism and Islam (pp. 177-80)
Non-Indian South Asia
•Nepal
The British attacked in the 19th century and won
battles but were unable to establish lasting control
over Nepal.
Nepalese Gurkas served in the British military.
•Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
The British conquer all of it and make it a separate
crown colony, rather than making it a part of India.
(They were able to do what the Portuguese and the
Dutch couldn’t do. They defeated the mid-island
kingdom of Kandy.)
The Technological Edge
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When did the West catch up with and then surpass the Asian powers?
It caught up with India in the 18th century, and with China in the 19th.
(p. 182)
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Why did the Industrial Revolution take place in Europe? Small
populations stimulated a search for labour-saving machinery.
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In addition, Europe has more capital to invest (because of its colonies),
more efficient institutions for channeling that investment, and more
convenient access to sources of power for the new technology.
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The West did not have an intrinsic cultural advantage. Instead, it got
lucky. (The colonies provided capital and food, allowing the West to
feed urban workers and concentrate on building modern industry.)
Industrial Revolution
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the transformation of how non-food items are produced: through an
increasing reliance on inanimate forms of energy;
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with the use of machinery rather than artisans to produce goods
faster, cheaper, and in much greater quantity and in standardized
form,
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and through the increasing use of inanimate (such as plastics) rather
than animate material (such as leather) to make those goods.
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The industrial revolution is based on a radical new assumption: that
it is possible to dramatically increase production at a rate much
faster than an accompanying increase in human labour input.
The impact of the British presence
• Caste and jati divisions (defined by hereditary occupations
ranked according to ritual purity) harden.
• Religious divisions harden as well --different family laws for
Muslims and Hindus (p. 180)
In the 19th century:
The British favoured Sikhs and Hindus over Muslims.
• Western Orientalism led to a Hindu Renaissance, and a
new definition of Hinduism
• Proto-nationalism appears as the British begin to make
India one nation (thanks to railroads, the penny post, and
the telegraph). (p. 180)
British rule and modernization
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British promoted commercial agriculture, and as a result some
peasants became farmers. (Opium production grew under British
rule!)
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Some, however, worked on plantations. notion of private property
was solidified
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The British built railroad lines, created a postal service, and
erected telegraph lines.
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public health measures led to a growing population, which
strained agriculture.
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But Indians also began their own industrialization. (p.182)
Pre-Nationalist Resistance
• Mysore
• The Maratha Confederacy
• Sikhs
• Why is this resistance not nationalistic?
None of it is fuelled by calls for India to be
ruled by Indians.
India in 1857
• Direct
and Indirect rule
http://projects.ecfs.org/eastwest/Images/1857_india.gif
Sepoy Mutiny-1857
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What is a “sepoy”? (p. 174)
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British angered many in 1856 by annexing Oudh,
ordering soldiers to accept overseas assignments, and
allowing widows to remarry.
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But the ultimate insult was the new rifle, which required
soldiers to bit off the casing for cartridges, and those
cartridges were believed to have animal fat (pig or cow)
on them. This offended both Muslims (who couldn’t eat
pork) and Hindus (who couldn’t eat beef).
A limited rebellion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_revolt_of_1857_states_map.svg
A partial rebellion
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The Sepoy mutiny was not a nation-wide rebellion. Many, including
the Sikhs, helped the British suppress it.
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It is now called the “India’s First War of Independence” but that is
anachronistic, since no one was fighting for a united India under
Indian control.
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It lead to the Crown assuming control of India from the British East
India Company. And it led to more racial tension between Brits and
South Asians.
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1857 marks a break between a century of control by the British East
India company and a century of control by the British Crown. (p.
171)