From Traders For Traitors : The Colonization Of India

India is a great example about how they were too weak. India is probably in the best position for trade, due to its central location between Africa and Asia. India was a great area for trade.Before the West’s power overtook India, it was small not unified. In document 5 a person can be seen weaving on their own. This is before they were introduced to industrial textile production. The British wanted to take control of India and combine with them to become bigger and stronger. Britain saw India as a market and is a source of raw materials they built roads and impressive railroads to transport factory made goods across the subcontinent. These roads and railroads are used to carry materials such as coal and cotton to coastal ports to transfer the factories in England. This description of India can relate to Document 6, in this document a railroad is seen being built under British control. Railroads are an example of modernization taking over this country.

According to Dr. Lalvani, “Both Nations benefited from the trade links” (Paragraph #10). While this is true, Document 6 states that there was barely any woven cotton exported to Britain. The evidence shows that there was not a fair trading system between the countries, the British gaining an unfair amount the tradable resources, leading to more money. In addition to Dr. Lalvani, “British worked to preserve the environment and animals in India” (Paragraph #17). On the other hand, Document 7 illustrates that “Cash crops like indigo, cotton, and tobacco as they were very profitable crops for them but it totally degraded the farmland and made it unfit for growing other crops”( Doc # 7). With this evidence, it proves that the British used India’s land to gain revenue, while destroying the farmland in the process, making the Indian’s barely able to grow crops for themselves, leaving them starving and to

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

Lalvani states that “... both nations benefited from the trade links that were firmly established in the 17th century and continued under the East India Company” (paragraph #10). However, because of the trade links established, cheap English fabric flooded the market, decreasing exports of Indian cloth and leading to loss of work, poverty, starvation, and even death as a result (document #5 & #6). The trade links led to the destabilization of the Indian economy and rendered Indians dependent on the British, losing the self-sufficiency they had before imperialism. In paragraph 17, Lalvani claims “the British also worked to preserve the environment and animals of India”. In reality, the growth of cash crops ruined Indian soil, only allowing them to grow the crops the British wanted.

A question often contemplated, but never concluded: Is the effective rule of an alien power bette that the mismanaged one of your own? This was the case for the people of India during British colonial rule. India was the largest and most significant colony that was controlled at the height of the British Empire. Because of its vast quantities of cotton, tea and indigo, the British East India Company began to take over Indian cities in 1757, essentially establishing a monopoly over trade. When British sepoys rebelled against the East India Company in 1857, both the East India Company and the British military took over the entire country of India. Despite many Indians remaining illiterate, British rule in India was efficient, affluent and contributive.

The Indian Mutiny, also known as the Indian Revolt, was a war between the Indians and the British. Basically the war was due to the prolonged British occupation over the land of the Indians. The war was the first war that the Indians fought over their independence and the Sepoy Mutiny. The British launched their presence in India during the 17th century. This was at the part time of the Mogul empire. At this period of time, the territory of Bombay had just been acquired by the East India Company which had over the years expanded its territory. The company had a strong army which eventually took-out the French after the Battle of Plassey, 1757, hundred years earlier. The army of the Indian soldiers was compromised of British soldiers who acted as the commanders. They were called sepoys. This war was propelled by several causes and eventually resulted to several consequences. We shall start by looking into the causes. These causes were mainly as a result of the policy of westernization.

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

Britain took over India after a brief struggle with France; initially to aid in its economy; mainly its textiles. The plan was to have Indians harvest raw materials to ship back to Britain. Britain would therefore have cheap raw materials sent back to them; because India was mercantilist (could only trade with the mother country) they did not have much of a choice but to sell to Britain cheaply. Britain therefore always had a steady source of raw materials Britain would turn raw materials into finished products that it would ship back to India and sell to Indians. Prices for goods were low and Indians liked that, but also Britain had a steady source of income. The most useful Indian industry for Britain was its cotton industry; Britain often used Indian cotton for clothing. India made for a cheap way to assemble (cheap labor) and an easy way to get business.

(doc 6) when the British took out forests (clear cutting) it caused a whole domino effect temperature rose water table dropped and soil became too salty to grow with. In addition British created almost 10,000 miles of railroad within 100 years for quicker transportation (P15), although British actually used railroads to extract goods which then left India(doc3) between a rock and a  hard place… they were no longer making enough money some even began to

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 colonization of India, through the use of British Imperial tactics, was justified by the perceived superiority of the English Empire. The British hold of India was achieved through the training of the Sepoys as a method of controlling the land and the resources held in it. During the initial rebellion 40,000 British troops were stationed to rule over the 200 million population of India, the Sepoy force, which was well trained and armed, is estimated to have been 270,000 (textbook reading, 13). The training of the indigenous population was the only viable method for the Empire to maintain its claim of the land. The British force maintained higher rank over the Sepoys, and would often go to drastic measures to maintain the Sepoy ranks in order. “... the 19th regiment... refused to receive the cartridges... and were prevented from open violence only by the presence of a superior English force. After great delay... the

This showed that Indians did not want to be ruled by the British, but instead wanted to be ruled by their own

However, all of the credit cannot be given to the British Empire as the British East India Company was the true cultivator of Britain’s relationship with India. This relationship was started with the Mughals in Bengal and was crafted through the existing Mughal trade laws. This relationship continued to be maintained through Mughal laws and customs until the Mughal Empire began to decline. The British East India Company formally took control over the remnants of the Mughal Empire after the Mughals imprisoned forty or so British soldiers(CITE). The British quickly mobilized over this injustice and quickly took formal control over the rest of India in a series of quick, painless military victories.

The East India Company was a British joint-stock company establish on the 31st of December, 1600 under the original name ‘The Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies.’ Over the next hundreds of years the Company set a sail attempting to find riches in trade on their journeys to these new lands. They found value in crops such as indigo, salt, cotton, silk, opium and other cash crops that the barren land of Europe lacked. This would be the company that would set sail to the land of India and dominate its soil from the middle of 1700’s to the middle of the 1800’s.

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.