Historical Context: British Rule in India

Read through the text below and answer the questions that follow.

Contextualize Historical Context: British Rule in India ➡ Directions: Read through the text below and answer the questions that follow.

The British East India Company British involvement in India started in the 1600s with the British East India Company, a trading company that was supported by the British government. The British hoped to establish direct trade with India because the Ottoman Empire controlled trade overland. The British East India Company made an agreement with the Mughal Empire that ruled most of India and set up trading forts on the coast. Between the early 1600s and 1857, the British East India Company gained influence, power, and territory in India. They took power through force and agreements with Indian rulers. In 1857 Indian soldiers employed by the British East India Company rebelled in what is known as the Sepoy Rebellion. The uprising lasted over a year. In the end, the British defeated the sepoys and took control over India once again.

British Rule As a result of the British East India Company’s inability to control India, the Company was replaced by the British government, sometimes called the British Raj. India became an official British colony and was known as the “jewel in the crown” of the British Empire because it was the largest and most profitable colony in the empire. The British government continued to administer India as the Company had, with strict control and they brought more British troops to the colony and limited which weapons Indian soldiers could handle.

Under the British Raj, after the Sepoy Rebellion, the British in India separated themselves from most Indians. They lived in well-guarded military camps and spent time in private clubs that did not allow Indian members, only Indian servants. As a result of living separately, British understanding of the Indian way of life and culture was laced with suspicion, indifference, and fear.

An English baby girl being carried on a palanquin by Indian bearers, on the road of Nainital. Photograph dated 1904. Image is courtesy of wikimedia commons and is in the public domain

The British united India as one colony and set about modernizing and westernizing the region and its people. They built railway, transport, and communication systems that brought the previously independent regions of India together. This helped the British stay informed about activities in the colony, keep control of it, and transport raw materials from which they profited.

While the British Raj united the colony with railroads, it divided it along religious lines. The Raj used a policy called "divide and rule." This partly refers to the way in which much territory was acquired, by playing one Indian ruler against another, but also because of how they treated India’s Muslim and Hindu populations. There is a long history of animosity between the Muslim and Hindu populations in South Asia that is often traced back to the founding of the Mughal Empire and specifically the practices of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The British argued that it was necessary for them to control the Indians because without their presence, the Muslims and Hindus would kill each other. For example, in 1905, the British divided the province of Bengal into East Bengal for Muslims, and West Bengal for Hindus. Both sides resented British involvement and accused them of favoring the other religion. The action led to more religious riots in Bengal. The British gave up on dividing Bengal and the area continued to experience religious violence. The situation in Bengal was repeated with greater and more disastrous effects when India gained its independence from Great Britain in 1947.

The British desire to make money from agriculture in India transformed the lives of Indians. The British forced Indian farmers to grow crops like jute and cotton that could be turned into textiles and indigo that was used to create a blue dye, so they could be exported to Great Britain where they were turned into cloth by British mills. That cloth and other goods that were previously made by Indians could not compete with cheaper British-made goods that flooded the country. As a result, Indian artisans gave up their crafts to work in agriculture. In addition to crops for textiles, the British created large tea and coffee plantations to meet increased demand in Europe and the United States.

The change from farming for food to cash crops turned deadly in the face of famines which struck India in the later half of the 1800s, killing 30–40 million Indians. Some modern scholars attribute the famines both to uneven rainfall and British economic and administrative policies. Instead allowing Indians to grow food when they needed it most, the British continued to produce cash crops for export.

The British also instituted an education system in India that was based on their own. Upper class Indians learned to read and write in English, studied medicine, British government and law, and sometimes traveled to England for higher education. While some benefited from this new education, there were also those who saw it as an attempt to westernize Indians and replace their culture with the British. Source: Adapted from Encyclopedia Britannica. “British Raj.” https://www.britannica.com/event/British-raj

Describe the role of the British East India Company in the establishment of British control over India.

Explain the consequences of the Sepoy Rebellion on British policy and administration in India.

Discuss the social and cultural impact of British rule on Indian society.

Analyze the British policy of 'divide and rule' and its effects on the religious communities in India.

Evaluate the economic changes and their effects on Indian society due to British colonial policies.

Assess the impact of British educational policies on Indian society and culture.