The accounts of colonial states present an interesting view of the colonial paradigm of various nations, and none paint a more vivid picture than the colonial era of India. The colonial era of India, which spanned for nearly a century, manifests in great detail the ten tenets on which the very idea of colonialism is based on. Colonialism, as an endeavour, cannot sustain on its own, and as such it is very important to systematically study the cornerstones on which the very idea of colonialism is built on.
The colonizers came in India with the purpose of making profits by engaging in trade and commercial practices. An English East India Company- to trade with the East-was established in 1600. Even Queen Elizabeth (1588-1603) was one of the shareholders on the company. Competing with
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This is so because the rulers of the princely states had been living and ruling the provinces in India. With the advent of British rule in India, Princes’ sovereignty, their power and supremacy was challenged. It was because of vigorous application of Doctrine of Lapse that made Jhansi, Gwalior and Kanpur to revolt against the British. How they addressed diplomacy in order to maintain cordial relations with the princes is a significant issue. The Queen’s proclamation of 1858 promised not to extend the British Territories in India and to respect the rights, honour and sovereignty of the Indian princes. The revolt of 1857 led British Government in India found in the princes their allies Many Jagirdars were raised to the status of princely states. There were 562 states ruled by Indian princes. Even though Indian states were not annexed, they were subordinates to the British Government. The British were acknowledged as the paramount power. By the act of 1876, Queen Victoria assumed the title of Empress of India. This implied that Britain would protect the Indian states from internal as well as external
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.
The original motive of the East India company was almost certainly a desire for personal monetary profit, but there were certainly other reasons for the further expansion into India. As the Industrial revolution began in Britain the
British East India Company played a significant yet strange part in the Indian. It was, at its inception, a commercial venture in the history of The British Empire, which was established in the year 1600 in the subcontinent. The main reason for entering the subcontinent was trade, making money and importing spices from South Asia. It was the Portuguese who used all their skills and their navigational technology to enter this great area first, and start trade in the most profitable manner they could. East India Company entered as an early and old-fashioned venture, and conducted a separate business with their private stockholders. Their approach and their trade lasted for many years until year 1657 (Farrington 5), when they made their base
In the 1700s Britain established the British East India Company to create more profitable trade around the world. It became one of the most powerful mercantile organizations by creating and maintaining a monopoly on many exotic goods including cotton, silk, tea, and spices transferred to Britain. As it grew in power the company began to develop its own standing military, which established further control of the region and its peoples. Once Britain had fully taken control they began to implement changes, these changes had both positive and negative
These expeditions prepared England for an age of colonisation and trade expansion, which Elizabeth herself recognised by establishing the East India Company in 1600.
“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.
It is a matter of argument that the economic development in India has been brought about
Dutch wanted pure profits from Asia. They used military (bloody methods) to ruin the Native people and their trade system instead of economic competitions. British also used private trading companies and they focused on India. Because British settlers were private companies, they mainly focused on Indian cottons, which were considered as “diamond” in Europe. To sell cottons back to Europe would give them huge wealth.
By around the year 1920, The British have taken control of more than 25 percent of the human population. India was one of those colonies. Originally used by the British East India Company for a source of Cotton, Indigo, and Tea, The British took complete Economic, Social, and Political control of India before the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857. With many natural resources and a huge population of potential consumers, India had become the ¨Jewel in the Crown¨ of the British Empire. The administration of India that Britain created was superbly efficient, leading to the construction of massive infrastructure throughout all of India, and the education of some elite class Indians. On the other hand, British rule of India served the needs of the British
For approximately two hundred years Britain ruled over India, allowing them almost no control of their own country. This is what imperialism was like for many countries. Initially India was colonized for its natural resources by the East India company but the companies hold on India became compromised after the sepoy rebellion in 1857 so the English government took control in a time of crisis. After decades of British Imperialism India finally gained independence in 1947. Brittain helped develop India by creating a government, education, and millions of jobs, however they negatively affected India by using the government and its powerful army to control and suppress the Indians along with Britain's unfair policies which
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.
The British colonialism in India started in the 19th century and ended in 1947, after the Mughal Empire and the Aurangzeb (that controlled India at that time) collapsed. One of the reasons for colonizing India was trade, due to India’s great amount of raw materials. This colonization caused many negative and positive consequences. The British treatment to the Indians was derogatory, consequently, the Sepoy rebellion started.
The study of British colonialism is a rather new field with much to discuss and a lot more to debate. The recent recognition of new nation-states that were once under the control of Britain was a growing phenomenon and one that continues to play a large role in today’s global politics. Since the rather recent period of these new nations, new study’s have been done into the history of a) the peoples that inhabited the land before Britain, b) the way Britain occupied and control and land, and now c) post-Britain. This is a growing topic in the historical field because seventy-five years ago there was no thought that Britain would relieve control of India or Nigeria. That is why post-British colonialism is important to today, because it is a
This period was one of major change in Indian life and culture. While the East
Colonialism has been viewed and interpreted from multiple perspectives. Both the coloniser and the colonised are said to have benefitted therefrom. While on the one hand it is considered abject exploitation by the coloniser to fill his coffers, on the other, the routine by-products of colonisation were of absolute benefit to the colonised. The four century long period of colonisation that gripped the world is one of the most oft debated and scrutinized periods of human history. In the period beginning sixteenth century AD, trade and commerce through the sea route became a means of expanding markets in many countries. Great Britain, France, Belgium and Portugal were amongst the pioneers in taking their wares to countries far away, like Africa and Asia. One early form of colonialism that was thrust upon the colonised country was economic exploitation.