This paper will talk about the impact of British colonial conquest on India’s economy while lightly touch on the pre-colonial economic conditions as well. Colonialism refers to a process of control and domination where one country dominates the other. It is the control on the social, economic, and political policies of the colony countries (Emerson, 1969). Many European countries starting colonising other nations in order to gain raw materials, wealth, power and to spread their mission of civilization. The British controlled parts of India first through company rule 1757-1858 and later through the British raj from 1858-1947.
The British did not enter India as colonisers but as traders. They had a legal trading charter from the British
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Davis also mentions that the Mughal rulers thought it was essential obligation to protect their peasants. The Mughal rulers also facilitated their subjects during famines. An example can be taken from Aurangzeb’s relief camp in 1661, where free food was distributed, people were given tax reliefs and the king opened up his own wealth and distributed money to the people. This shows the nature of the precolonial state where there was a well-managed system and the kings would treat their subjects with consideration (2000).
The British rule in India can be summarised in two facts which are “India’s per capita income went stagnant from 1757 to 1947” and “the life expectancy of Indians fell by 20 percent” (Davis, 2000). This shows that the British rule in India was not one in which India flourished but it deteriorated. The British brought about changes in all spheres of life. There brought about many social, cultural and economic changes however, this paper will only focus on the economic aspect of colonialism. The British tried to commercialise Indian agriculture and therefore, promoted cash crop farming. They forced farmers to move away from traditional and subsistence based farming and practice cash crop farming. This shift caused many farmers to suffer as they did not get much share in the profit even though the demand for cash crops like cotton and wheat was very high. The farmers fell into poverty and lived in terrible conditions whereas, the middle
The British East India Company took over India because of all the resources that they had. when the company made the Indians join a military they rebelled and started firing back at the British and then the company “called” the British government and they came with big guns to take control and regain India for themselves. British imperialism has a negative impact on the politics of india because of the British courts and the government wasn't far toward the indians. British imperialism had a negative impact on the economy of India because the British did not help the environment and they made railroads to take away from the land. British imperialism had a positive impact on the economy of India because the British eliminated highway robberies,
After America had attained independence, the focus on imperial colonisation turned to India for the first time.
“Englishmen.. have given the people of India the greatest human blessing - peace.” (Dutt). Merely coming to India in the 1600s to trade, the British East India Company established trading outposts. After ridding of French influence in India during the Seven Years’ War and having Indians mutiny against British rule, Britain gained full control of India. India has been under the imperialist control of the British until their independence in 1947. British imperialism caused some negative effects on India through poverty and persecution, but retained more of a positive impact due to its massive improvements in the modernization of India and the overall improvement of Indian civilization.
British imperialism had a negative impact on the politics and economics of india because the British were running the country for their own good and not for the good of the indians. In contrast the British had customs that ultimately ended up benefiting the Indians.
British imperialism had a negative impact on the politics of India because of the establishment of the framework for India that leads to their downfall and the Indian Army which they used to control their own kind. According to Dr.Lalvani, the British established the framework for India’s justice system, civil services, loyal army, and the efficient loyal police. (Paragraph #6). While this is true, the framework didn’t include the Indians, because “Of 960 civil offices, 900 are occupied by English men and 60 by natives”(Doc. #2). British laws often benefited the British and were designed to limit the freedom of speech of the Indians, for example, the Rowlatt Act in 1919. (Gandhi). This evidence shows that the British, when creating the framework for the new and improved India wanted to benefit from it while trying to lower the Indian’s and limit the
While the British set up the framework for India and claimed to peacefully transition India to independence. The British however did not include Indians and caused a lot of death. The British ultimately did more harm than good. British did set up India’s framework for things like the army, police, justice system and civil services (Lalvani). On the other hand the British did not include Indians in the framework. “Of 960 civil officers… 900 had been occupied by englishmen” (Doc 2). That is only about 7 percent that were actually Indian. This means the British did not let the Indians have a say in anything in their country because they had no representation and also they did not include Indians in the framework of their own country so when they gained independence they had to learn to govern themselves because the British had done it for them. Dr. Lalvani also claimed that the British made India's transition to Independence peaceful. That is a blatant lie. According
According to Dr. Lalvani, direct British rule led to more investments in building more roads, bridges, and railways. He also claims that both nations benefited by the trade routes and that the British help the Indians benefit from being imperialized because their railway system employs 1.6 million people. Although Dr. Lalvani makes the claim that the trains and railways are good and employs over a millions people even though the trains and railways were built in India to export all of India’s natural resources and beauty (doc 6). According to document 7, the food exports that were leaving for the British raised as India was dying of starvation. The British benefited more than the Indians because they had multiple increases in exports from India well the Indians were not allowed to sell any of the products plummeting their economy.
British imperialism lasted for hundreds of years and has had staggering effects in India that we can still see today. Britain initially became interested in India in the 1600’s; the government set up trading posts around the country because it was interested in the raw materials and resources available. At first Britain used indirect rule through Sepoys -- Indian soldiers -- but after the Sepoy Rebellion Britain had to step in to rule directly. Although British imperialism had positive effects such as eradicating immoral customs and paving the way for modern India, it also had numerous negative effects, such as by creating laws to better control Indians which left their government negatively impacted, taking from India with no concern for the
Britain had taken an economic interest of India long ago in the 1600’s. India had quickly become the “Jewel of the Crown.” However as time went on, the British’s interest had developed India into a target for imperialism. In 1757, the British empire had won their battle and took control. The Englishmen had taken India’s power, caused them poverty, killed their environment, drove them into starvation, increased death rates, and wasted their time with ineffective education.
Politically speaking the Indians have no say in anything because of what the British had in mind for what they were wanting to do. The indians had went with having no power, and not having control over their own taxation.. In document 1 (Mohandas Gandhi on Imperialism) it says how the Indians how no power which was true. Stating “ you have given us no responsibility for our own government.” And that is saying that the British had took full control over the Indians. The british had tried and taking control and they knew that the ways that they were going to do it and continue doing what they were doing and they wanted to make sure that they were going to win. As for document 2( The government under the British rule) the Indians don’t have any control whatsoever for their taxation, and also
For Britain, there was barely a negative side to imperializing in India. British citizen did not change the way they went about their day at all. Prices of goods dropped which, of course made life easy, but nobody lost sleep over the colonization. Britain’s
From: Romesh Dutt, The Economic History of India Under Early British Rule Englishmen…have given the people of India the greatest human blessing – peace. They have introduced Western education. This has brought an ancient and civilized nation in touch with modern thought, modern sciences and modern life. They have built an administration that is strong and efficient. They have framed wise laws and have established courts of justice.
The British possessed most of the economic and political power and established restrictions, which the Indians were not allowed to go against. However, India received several benefits from Britain’s rule, mainly in economy and education. The British rule in India assisted India in developing its capital for the future, as an independent country. Britain discovered several raw materials, which could easily be produced in India, which meant more wealth.
The structures of colonial social formations took a different shape, Using India as a classic example. The resulting structure was neither the unchanged pre-colonial system nor was it identical with that of conventional capitalism. It is properly designated as, I have suggested, a colonial mode of production.
Colonization is a controversial matter. This is especially true when it comes to the British, who have colonized nearly every country (only 22 countries have not been settled by Britain). The British presence in India was one of the most controversial of all of their colonizations. Many believe it was positive for the country, others believe it was not. However, the positives far outweigh the negatives: Better infrastructure, Western education, and the British bringing political peace and order.