British Imperialism in India Essay

After the Industrial revolution started in Europe the Europeans needed raw material from other countries and from that came the Idea of Imperialism when one country takes over another. Although what the British were doing seemed to be benefiting India was actually doing the opposite. Many things that the Europeans did to India weather it was political, economic, or social the Europeans found ways to have those things benefit the British and very little or not at all to the Indian.

However India did get some things out of its own conquest. The British were fairly gentlemanly in their actions in India. The terrible act of Siraj-ud-Dowla, imprisoning 146 Britons in the Black Hole of Calcutta, showed in some ways the psyche of some of the rulers of India and the British civilising influence must have had some effect on most Indians quality of life, for the better. I do not feel however, that the British went to India in order to civilise the culture, I do not believe that their motives were that selfless, the civilising influence seems to have simply been a by-product of the fact that the Britains came.

As India’s modernization developed, the entire civilization of India improved remarkably. The country’s improvement of civilization is exemplified through it’s establishment of schools and law. Western education was introduced by Britain and laws were well made with courts that enforce them. (Doc 3). One should take into account the speaker of this document because Romesh Dutt is an Indian like any other, yet he praises the British for what they have done to contribute to the development of India. In addition to these establishments is Britain bringing finer ideals of humanity to India. Infanticide, the killing of female babies, was brought to a halt as well as participation in the slave trade (Doc 5). Without the interference of Britain, these inhumane actions would be prevalent throughout India and the country would suffer from a bad reputation. These

Britain became the vast and mighty Empire upon which the sun never set through the development and use of what is, in modern terms, referred to as Imperialism. The British approach to the colonization of India came out of: the European, specifically British, superiority mindset; the practical approach of attaining resources in return for modernization and “guardianship”; and the solidification of Britain as the world’s dominating force. Britain’s use of Imperialism, as a necessity to maintain its Empire, acted as the catalyst of the Indian Rebellion.

In 1885, nationalist leaders organized the Indian National Congress who called for greater democracy which they felt would bring more power to themselves. Other Indian nationalists, took a more radical, anti-British stand. I believe this is positive because I feel that the first instance of British resistance was the first step towards independence. Negative effects of the imperialistic rule in India were that there was a rapid population growth , hence, there was a strain on the food supply, especially since farmland was turned into cash crops instead of food. They cleared new farmlands which led to massive deforestation and other environmental destruction. Also, in the late 1800s terrible famines swept India. The railroads could not carry food to the suffering areas, but overall, millions of Indian peasants sank deeply into poverty.

British Imperialism vastly improved India because the location was great. India had great trading points India has a lot of goods, including cotton and other items. It has several points for trade, in which they trade with other countries. Great Britain had

Throughout the years many historians have compilated and examined why Indian people were so desperate to gain back their independence from the British Empire during their rule over India, from 1612 to 1947. The reasoning can most definitely be found as the British discriminated against Indian people as they believe that they were inferior; it is no surprise that Indian people fought so hard for their independence. Throughout the British Raj, they placed and put forward unbelievably racist acts and laws which discriminated against Indian people. Which of course led to Indians to rebel against the British rule and which the British reacted with causing massacres. Explaining the nationalistic many India’s felt during the British Raj.

The westernization of India was beneficial to India. The most influential thing was the introduction of Enlightenment ideas and a western-style democracies; which has proven to be one of the most successful models in history. This made them one of the most effective colonies and post colonial countries. One of the best examples of western political thought surfacing in India was the formation of the Indian National Congress. The Indian National Congress was made up of western-educated Indians, who had been taught the ways of the enlightenment. They initially advocated for self-rule within the British Empire. After the Amritsar Massacre in which the soldiers hired by the East India Trading Company fired on unarmed protesters, they began protesting for complete independence from Britain. The system they wanted to install to run India was a Western-Style democracy/republic. The Indian National Congress is still in existence today and played an instrumental role in setting up India’s current democratic government.

Indians were becoming politically active in the late 1800s. During this period, they founded institutions that would help end colonial rule. In 1885, Indian modernists formed the Indian National Congress to reform Hindu and Muslim practices that did not match up to their liberal ideals and to change British Indian policies that were opposed to democratic ideals. However, many internal issues within the Indian culture were obstacles to independence. Most notably are the differences in language groups. Despite these problems, a nationalist movement took root within the country that ultimately led to the creation of India and Pakistan in 1947. There were three principles to this movement that helped the movement succeed.

Felling abused, discontent, and suffering from rash syncretism, the well-established Sepoys of the powerful British East India Company had a lot of motive to rebel against the greedy “empire on which the sun never sets.” It was fitting timing in which, the character and policies of their colonial rule caught up to the storied regime in a sweep of unwavering rebellion. For years, the British conquered the country bit by bit implicating their values stemming from their new feelings of superiority. The Mughal Empire was sent through years of change in policy. British views towards world order created many economic and cultural frictions among these empires in Hindustan. The hostile Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a product of the unpredictable greed and feelings of superiority of the British and led to rash changes in the way empires were operated economically and religiously.

With the British having direct command of India the Indians started to demand more. In the 1800s Indians started to demand more modernization and wanted to to play a bigger role in governing them selves. A man named, Ram Mohun Roy, started a campaign to move India away from their traditional

The main cause of the rebellion is considered to be the East India Company’s exploitative and oppressive policies towards the Indian native soldiers – Sepoy. However, there were also many other causes that in sum resulted in the Rebellion of 1857. During the period between 1820 and 1856 East India Company acting on the behalf of the British government had been actively maintaining a number of reforms and policies in India. In addition, different fractions of people wanted to improve India in different ways. Evangelicals, for example, saw the improvement in India through Christianity and conversion of the Indian people to it. Liberal reformist thought that only Western education would bring the “barbarous” nation to the modern level. Utilitarian saw the improvement in India through the maintaining good policies. However, the Indian people had a negative attitude towards the active interference of the British people in their lives and saw the British actions as an assault on ancient traditions and customs. In addition, there were also two important Governor Generals of India whose policies accelerated the growing nationalism among the Indian people and resulted in the Great Uprising. The periods of government of Lord Bentinck and Lord Dalhousie had also contributed to the mutiny as their reforms were aimed to change the social, economic and political lives of the Indian people. This essay will analyse all these causes in a more detailed way (From lectures

The Revolt of 1857 and The Indian Councils Act 1861 were what paved the way for rule by the Crown in India. However, there is another side to this. Although this Act is what ultimately led to the British rule in India, it also laid the foundation for the later nationalist movement. The Revolt was a beacon for the later nationalist leaders. The exploits by the British during the Revolt and after, are what inspired the Indian leaders to stand and fight against the mighty British.

While the Indians initially revolted against the British through rebellions, the more significant response to maltreatment in their own country was with the rise of nationalist movements. In 1885, the Indian National Congress was formed primarily with a focus on equal political rights for Indians in a mainly British-run government. This became the “largest and most prominent Indian public organization, and central and defining influence of the Indian Independence Movement.” (Wiki) However, Indian politics was divided because of religious differences between the two largest religions in India -- Hindus and Muslims. The majority of members in the INC were Hindus, while Muslims were a minority. In 1905, Britain split Bengal between Hindus and Muslims for elections. Due to the Muslim minority in the INC, Muslim leaders felt they were underrepresented, and formed their own organization, the Muslim League,

The reform activities united people and the attack on institutions like caste which hampered social unity created a sense of oneness in the people. But most of these reform movements had certain limitations. The questions to which they gave primacy concerned only small sections of Indian society. Some of them failed to emphasize or even recognize that colonial rule was inimical to the interests of the Indian people. Most of them worked within the framework of their respective communities in a way tended to promote identities based on religion or caste. Many of these limitations were sought to be overcome during the course of the national movement with which many social and religious reformers were closely associated. Indian nationalism