SIT DOWN AND GET OUT

YOUR NOTES!!!!Then get ready to take notes.

British Imperialism in IndiaCh. 11, Section 4

The British Empire

British East India Company• 1800’s: company operated in India with no regulation by

British government

• company had its own army• Company army led by

British army officers

Jewel in the Crown• IR turned Britian into the world workshop• India had 300 million people & lots of resources• Britain restricted India from competing– Closed factories– Mid-1800s, India primarily exported raw materials,

not manufactured goods• During Raj, British built railroads, roads, canals

in India– India had 4th largest railroad network in world

“Jewel in the Crown” Britain set up a railroad network to take raw materials from

inside India to its ports

Raw Materials Taken from India Tea Indigo (dye for clothing)

Raw Materials Taken from India Coffee Cotton

Raw Materials Taken from India Jute (fiber for making rope)

Opium (plant that heroin is

made from)

Positives for India Great Britain laid the

world’s 4th largest railroad network in India

Railroads brought unity to disconnected regions in India

Modern road network

■ Telephone and telegraph lines

Dams, bridges, canals

Sanitation and public health improved

Schools/colleges founded Truces betweenlocal warring rulers in India

Negatives for India British held all political and

economic power

British restricted Indian-owned industries

Cash crops made it impossible for small farmers to produce enough food for themselves

Racist attitudes of most British officials and missionaries threatened Indian traditional life

Sepoys• Indians who joined British armies in India – Resented by other Indians

Sepoy Mutiny 1857 gossip spread amongst Sepoys (Indian soldiers for

the British)

the seals of their ammunition had to be bitten off they believed the British dipped the seals of their

ammunition in beef and pork (Hindus can not eat beef/ Muslims can not eat pork)

Sepoy Rebellion• In 1850: 300,000 men in

army.– Only 50,000 were British

• 100,000 British men ruling over 200 million Indians

• by 1850 economic problems increased feelings of resentment and nationalism

• Sepoy Mutiny breaks out on May 10, 1857

The sepoy army was “a delicate and dangerous machine, which a little mismanagement may easily turn against us.”

- Governor of Bombay

Picture of Sepoy rebellion

Turning Point

1858 British government took direct control over India (because of the Mutiny)

Raj (time period when India was under Great Britain’s control: 1757-1947)

Questions for Reflection:

• Why did the British conquer and colonize India?

• Who were sepoys and why did they rebel against the British?

• How did the Sepoy Rebellion change the political situation in India?

• What were the effects of British Imperialism on India?