Causes Of Failure Of Independence

The Indian Rebellion of 1857, which was also called the Indian Mutiny, or the War of Independence was a turning point in the history of Britain in India. However, whether this lead to the formation of the British Raj, will be explicitly explored in this essay.

The First World War as a Turning Point in Britain's Relations with India The First World War was a definite turning point in Britain’s relations with India. The worldwide conflict between 1914 and 1918 was widely regarded as a disaster for European civilisation, ten million men were killed and twice as many were wounded, it changed the political social and economic issues behind British politics in a way not seen since. To show that it was a turning point in Britain’s relation with India Britain’s relations with India before the war must first be explained. British occupation of India had seen the rise and fall of the East India Company, the Indian Mutiny revolting against the British Policy

The Sepoy Rebellion happened due to The British East India Company’s insensitivity to the Indian culture and Britain’s attempt to create a new government. Sita Ram was a sepoy who was loyal to the British but still had his doubts about questionable actions and explains this in one of his memoirs, which states, “Interested parties were quick to point out that the great aim of the English was to turn us all into Christians and they had therefore introduced the cartridge in order to bring this about, since both Muslims and Hindus would be defiled by using it.”(Document C) This piece of evidence clearly explains Sita’s point of view on how the British’s actions led to the sepoy’s distrusting the British. By bringing up the fact that there was no Indian representative in the government the British East India Company Sita conveys why the sepoy were beginning to lose faith in British rule. Their neglect to allow an Indian representative was a mistake in the long run. Another person who believes that Britain’s past actions caused suspicion with Indian citizens. Sayyid Ahmed Khan was Muslim noble and scholar who worked as a jurist for the British East India

The general cause of the Indian Independence Movement was India’s desire for independence from British, French and Portuguese Rule. The aim of the movement was “Swaraj, a self-governing India” (Sharma, 2005, p. 22). One, more specific, cause of the Indian Independence Movement took place in 1905 when the province of Bengal was divided into two provinces,

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

This lead to the British using the army in wrong ways and the government being mostly white foreigners. The British made the Indian army and military academies to train officers. (According to Dr.Lalvani) However the British ended up using the Indian army against the Indians for example the Amritsar massacre. (Gandhi). The British created a superbly efficient administration over 500 million diverse people. (According to Dr.Lalvani) On the other hand as good as this may be the British government over India consisted of 960 officers, 900 of which were Englishmen. (Document 2). Because of this the Indians felt as if they had no responsibility over their own

The war against the British forces the colonist to make decision to either fight for independent or

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

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 East India Company effectively ruled India from 1757 to 1857, where their rise to power came to an end after the start of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (Lawson, 35). The direct reason for the rebellion still remains unclear. It was either a planned war of independence against the British power, an uncoordinated uprising of soldiers who felt a threat to their religion and traditional practices, or simply a mutiny by soldiers who wanted increased pay and greater career opportunities (Iyer, 4). The British Crown signed the Government of India Act 1858, which liquidated the East India Company, relinquishing all of its assets to Britain, including the control of the territories seized in India. This was the beginning of the British rule over India, the British Raj, which established India as a British colony commonly referred to as British India.

Although it could be argued that Britain unified India 500 million diverse Indians, and built a strong Indian army, they had an extremely strict cruel government that eliminated Indians freedom and used their own army against them as punishment. According to Dr. Lalvani imperialism in India resulted in “the bringing together of several different states into one unified India” However before the British came to India Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace for centuries. And while Britain was present and after they left the two religious groups were extremely divided and violently fought. Including wars that resulted in “5,000 people dead and 12,000 people hurt” (Gandhi). Britain encouraged separation and division of Muslims and HIndus because of the attack strategy, “divide and conquer” upon the idea that it would be easier to take over and govern a country that was fighting among

Following the Mutiny of 1857, Indian nationalism gained much more momentum than had previously existed in the first part of the century. This movement consisted mostly of British-educated intellectuals, and ironically was made possible by the British encouragement of higher education, originally intended to create a middle management that could carry out simple administration jobs. Most of the Indian nationalists - most notably Ghandi - were educated in Western Europe and were well-read in Western notions of freedoms, civil liberties and autonomy. The Indian National Congress was the largest and most obvious nationalist group, formed so that "educated Indians...could express dissatisfaction with the British colonial administration and suggest reforms." (Cowie, 36, 1994) This Congress, however, had no power in terms of action and it can be seen as an attempt by the British to appease Indian nationalists who wanted progress. The seeming uselessness of the Indian National Congress in terms of enforcing changes and reforms can be seen as a great cause of Indian resentment of British nationalism. Even so, a nationalist

India, in the 18th century was ruled by the British for two centuries. The Indians wanted freedom from the British. British looted and caused fights in India and treated them with no respect. The Indian Independence was caused by British Imperialism. The British wanted to take over India, but India wanted freedom as well since it’s their country not the British. Although politics and nationalism were important causes of the Indian Independence Movement, the most important cause was Imperialism because of the British East India Company, economy, and religion.

One thing that the world does not always acknowledge, is that many countries have actually been demanding for independence ever since the 1800’s. The partition that created Pakistan was a long and tedious process before it got approved. Before World War II, Great Britain had full control over the country of India and its resources, even though the people were demanding for self-rule for several years. At the time, India consisted of both Muslim and Hindu cultures, and the tensions between the two

India fought relentlessly against the British for independence in the late 19th and early and mid 20th century using peaceful methods such as civil disobedience, a way of rebelling the government through protest and not fighting. India’s fight for independence using non violent strategies against the british colonial power through philosophical ideas, civil disobedience, and threatening the Brit’s economic situation in India.