Imperialism in India: The British Raj

India in the Late Middle Ages

The Mughal Empire

Established by Emperor Babul in the early 1500s

Expanded its control over India over the next 2 centuries; But its heartland was in

Northern India The Mughal rulers were

Muslim (descendants of Tamerlane);

But most Indians were Hindu

Decline of the Mughals

By the 1700s, the Mughal Empire was clearly in decline:

1) Government was in severe debt 2) Power struggles within the ruling

family 3) Dissatisfaction among religious

minorities

Timeline: The British Assert Control

1500s – 1600s: Europeans establish trading forts on the Indian coast First the Portuguese Later the British and French

1756 – 1763: The Seven Years War (Britain vs. France) includes battles for control over Indian forts

1757: Using Indian support for the French as an excuse, the British take control of the province of Bengal At the Battle of Plassey, 3000 British soldiers defeated an

Indian force of 30,000 1757 – 1857: Over the course of a century, the British

East India Company gained control of nearly the entire Indian Subcontinent

Imperialism in India

The Sepoy Rebellion (1857-8)

Sepoys: Indian soldiers employed by the British East India Company

In 1857 a rumor spread among the Sepoys that the new British ammunition cartridges were coated with cow and pig fat

This rumor sparked a rebellion among the Sepoys near Delhi, which spread across the country

During the Rebellion atrocities were committed by both sides

Although the Sepoy rebels outnumbered British troops and their Indian loyalists, the rebels were unorganized and out-gunned

After the rebellion had been crushed the British government took control of the colony from the B.E.I.C.

Spread of British Control and the Sepoy Rebellion

The British Raj (1858 – 1947)

Some “Benefits” of British Rule

Established a public school system, which provided an education for Upper Class Indians

Greatly improved India’s infrastructure (roads, canals, railroads)

Established hospitals and introduced medical techniques that improved public health

Negative Effects of British Rule

British manufactured goods destroyed local industries, forcing millions into poverty

The British forced many farmers to grow cotton instead of food—when India’s population exploded, millions starved

British rule was culturally degrading

Indian Nationalism & Resistance

Most early Indian Nationalists were from the upper class and English-educated For many of them, learning about the ideals of the

Enlightenment caused them to question British rule in their home country

1885—Nationalists form the Indian National Congress (INC)

The INC did not initially call for independence; instead it pushed for more Indian participation in the colony’s government

By the early 1900s, more and more Indian newspapers were calling for independence—and spreading the movement beyond the upper class

In 1915, Mohandas Gandhi returned to India from South Africa, and became active in the independence movement