British Rule in India
British Claim IndiaWhile the Mughal empire declined, the East India Company (a british company) was setting up camp. In 1757, the East India Company won against the Mughal Empire. The company made its own army, made of sepoys, or soldiers from India. The sepoys could easily turn against the new government with one false move.
Until the 19th century, britain did not interfere with the company's growth. It loved the company, actually, supplying Britain with lots of materials for their industrial period. However, to make sure India didn't take over Britain's economy, they set barriers. The East India Company had to give Britain some supplies and they had to buy British goods. India traded with places all over the world such as China, the US and Scotland. As britain established railroads lines, they realized how important India was. Although this gave India improved railroad networks, infrastructure, sanitation and schooling, there were still many negative aspects to British rule. Britain only wanted cash crops, and therefore didn't let people make different businesses, and also didn't create any farming of food, making a famine. |
Sepoy MutinyIndians rebelled in 1857 because of economic, hate and nationalism. The Sepoys, the Indian soldiers, were the backbone to the revolution. When English people gave the sepoys cartridges they had to bite off, the soldiers made a mutiny. Hindus and Muslims aren't allowed to eat certain kinds of meat, and so this new kind of cartridge outraged them.
So they rebelled with the Sepoy mutiny (see above). And the British jailed any Indians that rebelled. This created an outrage. People fought for freedom. The East India Company and the Sikhs did not rebel. It took more than a year for Britain to take back India. They finally did because there was too big of a divide between the Hindis and the Muslims that they couldn't unite to fight. In 1885, the British government took full control over India. This was called Raj. Britain allowed free Indian states to stay free and any treaties between the Company and India to stay the same. However, there was one things that Britain could not fix: the problems between Indians and British. They did not trust each other, and for obvious reasons. |
Nationalism in IndiaIn the early 19th century, a lot of Indians started wanting more independence. The British got better jobs and much better pay. So Ram Mohun Roy didn't approve of the child marriages that were arranged and the caste system. He wrote his thoughts and soon people began to admire him and agree with him.
In 1885, the Indian national Congress (see below) formed. Then in 1905 the Muslim League (see below) followed suit. They were called nationalist parties, and they wanted independence from Britain. Then, the British government reacted by separating the Muslims and Hindus in the partition of Bengal. When terrorism started, the government took it back. Problems continued between the British and Indians. For more on Nationalism, see "Nationalism" to the left. |