The British Empire in India

1
The British Empire in India

• AP World History
• Unit 4

2
India in the 18th and early 19th Century
3
East India Company

• East India Company activity limited to coastal
  trading cities when the Mughal Empire was strong.
• In the mid-1700s, the Mughal Empire broke apart.
• East India Company leaders saw chance to take
  over Indian lands.

4
Keeping India in Chaos

• Manipulated rulers of Indian states.
• Suggested each needed British support to keep
  throne.
• Played rulers against each other.
• Chaos, chaos, chaos.
• Companys army took over much of India.
• Claiming it had to restore order.

5
Changes in India

• East India Company made changes to Indian society
• Introduced new education system.
• English language.
• British also invited Christian missionaries to
  spread beliefs.
• Some began to believe the British were trying to
  destroy their society.

6
Changes in India

• Banning customs.
• Introduced British laws banning certain customs,
  such as sati.
• Practice of Hindu widows throwing selves on
  husbands funeral fires.
• Straining relations.
• Thought British wanted to eliminate Indian
  customs, especially Hinduism completely
• This created an increasing strain on relations
  between Indians and British.

7
The Sepoy Mutiny

• In 1857, strained relations exploded into
  rebellion.
• Sepoys were Indian soldiers who fought in the
  British army.

8
The Sepoy Mutiny

• Introduction of new type British rifle set off
  rebellion
• To load the rifle, soldier had to bite off the
  end of an ammunition cartridge greased with pork
  and beef fat.
• This offended Muslim and Hindu sepoys
• Muslims did not eat pork.
• Hindus did not eat beef.

9
Protest and Punishment during the Sepoy Mutiny

• Sepoys in Meerut refused to use cartridges.
• Thought that it was a plot to make them abandon
  Hinduism and Islam.
• Sepoys punished for protesting.
• In response, northern Indian sepoys rose up
  against British.
• Eventually gained control of Delhi.

10
Violence of the Sepoy Mutiny

• Violence of rebellion horrific.
• Both sides committed atrocities.
• Sepoys killed British officers, as well as women
  and children.
• Captured mutineers were strapped to cannons and
  shot.
• Villages were burned.
• Fighting continued two years.

11
Results of the Sepoy Mutiny

• British ended the rule of East India Company in
  1858.
• British government ruled India directly.
• British moved away from some social regulations
  that angered many Indians.
• Distrust still continued between British and
  Indians.

12
India as a British Colony

• Considered the jewel in the crown of the
  British Empire.
• Created political and financial rewards, as well
  as British national pride.
• For Indians, British rule was a source of
  frustration and humiliation.
• Frustration gave rise to powerful feelings of
  nationalism.
• Westernization.
• Many British thought they were superior.
• Segregated neighborhoods and exclusive clubs.
• Westernized Indians.
• Prejudiced.
• Thought Indians incapable of governing themselves.

13
The Raj and the ICS

• Era of British rule in India often called British
  Raj.
• Hindi word meaning rule.
• Administration carried out by government agency.
• Indian Civil Service (ICS).
• Though ruling India, most ICS officials were
  British.
• ICS employed very few Indians.
• Many educated Indians frustrated at having no say
  in its own government.

14
Life under the British Raj

• Building Projects
• Built railroads, roads, and canals.
• By 1910, India had the fourth largest railroad
  network in the world.
• British invested in transportation to move
  troops.
• Helped sell British products.

15
Life under the British Raj

• Commerce
• India was a very important market for British
  manufactured goods.
• India was a source of raw materials.
• Especially cotton, tea, indigo, and jute.
• Taxes from Indian landowners paid for
  administration of India and the Indian army.

16
Life under the British Raj

• Impact of British Commerce
• British manufactured goods devastated Indias
  pre-existing textile industry.
• Had been major exporter.
• British closed factories to prevent competition.
• By the mid-1800s, India primary exported raw
  materials, not manufactured goods.

17
The Rise of Indian Nationalism

• Groups in India found British rule deeply
  disturbing.
• Indian elites and middle classes lacked
  opportunities.
• Indians had little power to influence decisions
  at higher levels of government.

18
Indias Nationalist Movement

• Nationalist movement did not take off until
  Indians saw themselves as having same rights as
  Europeans
• Idea first expressed by reformer Ram Mohun Roy in
  the 1820s
• Felt British violating Indians rights.
• Including free speech and religion

19
Indias Nationalist Movement

• Roy wrote texts and opened schools to spread
  nationalist ideas.
• Despite his efforts it took several decades for
  movement to activate.
• In 1885, the Indian National Congress was formed.
• This was the first nationalist group.
• Founded by English-speaking Indians.
• Initial requests from the Congress to the British
  were modest.
• Example was a request for more positions for
  Indians in the ICS and better representation on
  government councils.

20
India as a British Colony

• Bengal
• Nationalism turned radical when British announced
  plans to partition Bengal.
• Officials claimed breaking it into two provinces
  would make it easier to govern.
• Nationalists thought partition attempt was being
  done in order to break up Bengals Hindu
  population.

21
India as a British Colony

• Radicals in Congress
• Called for boycotting British goods.
• Lasted three years.
• Participants vowed to wear only Indian made
  clothing.
• Burned British clothing.
• Some militants attacked British officials.
• Were severely punished.

22
India as a British Colony

• Consequences
• British convinced to make concessions to Indian
  people.
• In the 1906, the Muslim League was formed to
  protect the interests of Indian Muslims.
• Indian National Congress and Muslim League begin
  to led the fight for independence.