How The British Took India
End of the Mughals
• 1750 was the last decades of the Mughal
empire
• During the early 1700s, Dutch and Portuguese
merchants had settlements along India’s
coasts.
• France and England, however, had the
biggest intent in gaining control in India
• Great Britain’s interest was represented by the
British East India Company, under the
command of Sir Robert Clive.
End of the Mughals - 2
• When Indians attacked the British population of
Bengal and placed officers and civilians alike in
a ghastly underground prison the British
dubbed the Black Hole of Calcutta, the British
used this event as a pretext for military action.
• The 1757 Battle of Plassey was a big victory
for the British and Clive - he defeated a Mughal
force 10 times the size of his own force(by
putting many of the princes on the Mughal side
on his payroll).
Sir Robert Clive
A gradual takeover
• Initially, Great Britain only had parts of India: Bombay,
Madras(a cotton region), Ft. William near Calcutta
• Britain wanted to use India as a source of cotton for
their burgeoning(quickly growing) textile industry; they
quickly put the Indian textile workers out of business
• Britain set-up a tax system and let locals, called
zamindars, to collect the taxes. The zamindars
overtaxed people and used British laws to seize land
from those who could not pay taxes - this caused a
famine in the 1770s that killed approximately 1/3 of
the Indians(mostly peasants) living under British rule
in India
• By 1810, the British East India Company controlled
25% of India and almost all of Ceylon(Sri Lanka)
A gradual takeover - 2
• The first half of the 1800s, Great Britain
moved into the interior of India and outlying
areas such as the Punjab and parts of
Afghanistan.
• The Brits used skilled warriors like the Sikhs
and Panthans; this was much cheaper than
recruiting and training a British army
• The British colonial authority was called the
Raj
• In some parts of India, the British allowed selfrule for obedient rajas and maharajas
British India Map
White Man’s Burden
• The British believed themselves to be the superior race
and it was their job to civilize the Indians
• Although the Raj did not try to convert Indians to
Christianity, they outlawed practices they felt were
inhumane such as Sati, Thugee (ritual assassination of
travelers in the name of the goddess Kali), and the
caste system’s harsh treatment of Untouchables.
• They built roads, telegraphs, railroads, and a postal
system
• They introduced the British educational system in
hopes of creating a class of educated people that were
pro-British and would help in governing Great Britain.
• British poet Rudyard Kipling’s poem White Man’s
Burden reflects the British sense of need to civilize the
their colonial subjects.
Thugee
• The practice of killing travelers as a sacrifice to the
goddess Kali was apparently practiced by both
Muslims and Hindus
• The term Thugee is the origin of the English slang
“Thug” - meaning someone who is violent and lawless
Sepoy Rebellion
• The Indian Mutiny(1857-1858), AKA The
Sepoy Rebellion was a result of mounting
tensions and rumors that the British were
intentionally trying to undermine their Indian
soldiers’ religions.
• When rumors spread that the grease used to
pack the cartridges for the Sepoy’s rifles were
pig and cow fat, Muslim and Hindu soldiers
would be incensed and they mutinied.
• Hundreds of thousands died: British, Hindus,
and Muslims. The British were lucky that the
Muslims and Hindus did not trust each other,
and thus also fought each other during the
rebellion.
Method to suppress the Sepoy
Rebellion
Rise of Indian Nationalism
• By the turn of the 20th century, the Indian
National Congress(1885) was formed.
• English speaking, educated members of the
native upper-class organized themselves and
made it a mission to drive the British out.
Why? They saw that society in Great Britain
had rights and laws to protect those rights something that was not happening in India.
British policy was hypocritical.
• Mohandas K. Gandhi, an Indian lawyer
educated in England, returned to India to lead
the movement to get Britain out.
Gandhi
Queen Victoria - The Empress of
India