With India under their control, colonial powers particularly the British merchants used its seaports to improve their trade and exports. It also became a strategic military base for the British Empire because of the geographical advantage India provided in gaining control of South and South East Asia.
How does the British influenced Indian culture?
The British colonialism in India lasted for about 190 years, beginning in 1757 and ended with India’s independence in 1947. With their regional control for over 200 years, it paved a way for modernization of the country thereby significantly influencing the art, culture and architecture.
What is the relationship between India and Britain?
The UK/India relationship is mutually beneficial and wide ranging; covering- development, regional stability, trade and investment, climate change, counter terrorism and reform of the global international systems. We share the core values of democracy, pluralism and tolerance. British society is enriched by its strong, dynamic human ties to India.
Why was Britain able to establish an empire in India?
- Empires are all about gaining access to the most limited resource: Power. ...
- Profitability was key to British expansion, and the age of exploration brought wonderous and addictive delights to the British Empire.
- They also understood how to utilize both their government and privatized industry for the greatest economic advancements.
How did the British come to rule in India?
The events of 1857 were to completely reconfigure British rule in India. In the years since, the British rapidly swelled their surveillance network all across the country. They steeled themselves against further uprisings by passing exclusionary laws such as the Vernacular Press Act of 1878, also known also as the Gagging Act.
How did India contribute to the British Empire?
Why did Britain become dependent on India?
What was the success of the British Empire based on?
Why did Herbert Edwardes justify the British presence in India?
Why was there contempt for Indian religious customs?
What were the two major events that led to the economic growth of India?
Why was the Indian army important to the British?
See more
Why Did Britain Take Over India? - Reference.com
The British took over India due to the vast commercial and financial interests and opportunities within the region. In 1757 the British East India Company defeated Newab of Bengal, effectively bringing to the region not only British commercial power, but British military power.
5 IMPACT OF BRITISH RULE ON INDIA: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL (1757 ...
SOCIAL SCIENCE MODULE - 1 Impact of British Rule on India: Economic, Social and Cultural (1757-1857) India and the World through the Ages 104 Notes 5 IMPACT OF BRITISH RULE ON INDIA: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL (1757-1857) Around the 18 th Century a number of significant events took place in the world. One
What were the major contributions of the British to India?
5. Social reforms. Perhaps the biggest contribution of British in India was removal of social practices like Sati, child marriage, untouchability. Not only they banned such cruel inhumane practices, they also promoted a widow’s remarriage. Just imagine what India would be if such practices still existed.
What was the main intention of the British?
The main intention of the Britishers was to rule India, get as much benefits as possible from the country and its people. Most people think that the British did only harm to the Indian culture, they drained the Indian economy, they looted the nation, This is very much true, however they also did some good things here, ...
Which civilization placed the foundation stone of development and improvement in different towns like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro?
The Indus Valley Civilization placed the foundation stone of development and improvement in different towns like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. A great and long-term effect was made by the Maurya Empire whose most famous king Chandragupta Maurya unified most of India. Chanakya was a favorite and well-known adviser of King Chandragupta Maurya who ...
What was the pride and honor of India?
The pride and honor of our nation, the Indian army, was formed in the British era. The culture, discipline, and a lot of the army practices that still persist belong to the pre-independence era. 4. Vaccination. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Smallpox spread as an epidemic in India, and due to lack of sanitary knowledge among ...
What was the first major motion against the British Raj?
With the coming of the British Eastern India Company and the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the Mughal Dynasty faded away marking the start of formal British rule in India. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 sometimes appears as the first main motion against British Raj.
How did the language help us?
The language helped in improving our knowledge and thought process, it’s all because of English that we could read and appreciate some of the most famous literary works of the world. 2. Indian Railways. The founding stone of one of the largest railway networks in the world was laid by the British.
Why did the Indians learn English?
English language. The reason they taught English to the Indians was to have an ease of administration. However this influenced the popularity of the regional languages. But whatever one says, English language opened the doors of the world for us.
Who was the arch-imperialist who supported Indian archaeology?
Thus, no mention that the arch-imperialist George Curzon was a crucial supporter of Indian archaeology. Viceroy Curzon appointed the young John Marshall as director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India.
When did India become a secular democracy?
By 1950 , as India became a secular democracy, its share had dropped to just over three per cent. In the intervening period the subcontinent had been ruled by outsiders, namely, the British East India Company until 1858, then by the British Raj until 1947.
Where did Marshall discover India?
Marshall went on to discover and publicise India’s earliest civilisation, at Mohenjodaro and Harappa in the Indus valley, which Tharoor ignores despite its direct relevance to his arguments for pre-British Indian innovation.
Who proposed the motion that Britain owes reparations to her former colonies?
Tharoor ’s book – arising from a contentious Oxford Union debate in 2015 where he proposed the motion ‘Britain owes reparations to her former colonies’ – should keep the home fires burning, so to speak, both in India and in Britain.
Who is the greatest English-language novelist in India?
So did R.K. Narayan, India’s greatest English-language novelist, again unmentioned. Narayan grew up during the Raj and published his early fiction in Britain. He was fortunate to have studied English literature at a college in Mysore under a Scotsman with a flair for teaching Shakespeare.
What were the advantages of the Raj in India?
Social Reforms: British raj in India had done various social activities for the country for instance abolition of The Sati Pratha and introduction Widow Remarriage Act of 1856, Child marriage restraint Act, Act against child labor and many other acts for improving the social tradition and custom for ...
What were the reforms made by the British government?
The structure of the constitution, policies, the introduction of the governorship, princely states, communication and education are some reforms act that British had made during their rule.
What were the education reforms during the British Raj?
Education reforms: During the British Raj only India existing education changed with the introduction of English as the mandatory subject and official language. During British Raj only University of Bombay, Kolkata and Madras were established during the year of 1857 just before the rebellion.
How long has Santosh been independent?
Santosh. It has been 69 years of independence when our freedom fighter had raised their voice against the cruel British Raj of 200 years. The British Raj or British East India Company came to India during the year of 1757 but came into force on 1858 after the First War of Independence which was fought during the year of 1857 and lasted till ...
What is the Imperial Civil Service?
The Imperial Civil Service at present is known as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) which is conducted by UPSC. Irrigation scheme: The government also structured various canals and dams for the improvement of irrigation condition in India. Infrastructure development: During the regime of British government the India communication ...
Which country was divided into two parts during the Indo-Pak war?
Not only this the biggest divide and rule policy that appeared at the time of independence when the country divided into two parts one is India and another one is Pakistan the burden of which still being seen during the conflict between Indo-Pak war.
When was the first railway built in India?
The government established the India’s first railways service in the year of 1853-54 in the region of Bombay and Calcutta by the two railways companies i.e. Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) and East Indian Railway (EIR). After 5 years in the year of 1859, the first passenger railway line opened in North India between Allahabad and Kanpur.
What was India's share of the world economy in the 18th century?
At the beginning of the 18th century, India's share of the world economy was 23 percent, as large as all of Europe put together, but by the time the British were kicked out of India in 1947, it had dropped to less than 4 percent, according to the BBC. 2. How the British Empire starved India. The last famine in India, in Bengal between 1943 ...
What percentage of British people think the British Empire is a good thing?
According to a YouGov poll in 2016, 43 percent of British citizens thought the existence of the British Empire was a "good thing," while only 19 percent disagreed. It's a myth that British imperialism benefited one of its richest colonies, India when on the contrary it drained all its wealth and resources just like colonizers do.
How many people died in the last famine in India?
How the British Empire starved India. The last famine in India, in Bengal between 1943 and 1944, claimed over four million lives. The Bengal famine — also referred to as the man-made famine — between 1943 and 1944 claimed over four million lives and is said to have been engineered as part of an unsympathetic and ruthless economic agenda, ...
What were the natural resources that the British colonizers were interested in?
The British shareholders claimed the investments guaranteed massive returns. The colonizers were only interested in exploiting India's natural resources as they transported items such as coal, iron ore, cotton and other natural resources to ports for the British to ship home to use in their factories.
What was the Imperialist policy of divide and conquer?
The Imperialist policy of Divide and Conquer. The British Empire adopted the age-old political strategy of divide and conquer throughout their colonization of India. The occupiers used the strategy to turn locals against each other to help them rule the region.
What was the East India Act of 1784?
The East India Act of 1784 was passed to dissolve the monopoly of the East India Company and put the British government in charge. After the Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the British government assumed full control, dissolving the trading company. Imperial rule destroyed India's local hand loom industry to fund its own industrialization.
Why did the East India Company decide to take the English language?
The strategic decision by the East India Company was made to create a class of Indians, the “Babus,” who could act as a bridge between the millions of Indians who didn't speak the language.
How did India contribute to the British Empire?
The contribution of India towards the British Empire in terms of providing essential raw materials, troops and a pool of native labour prepared to go any where in the world was unsurpassed. It is possible to argue that most of the remaining colonies, excepting the dominions, cost much more than they gave the Empire and Britain could well have done without them. However once Britain had decided earlier in the century to become a trading nation and to import food and raw materials in return for British manufactured goods, it was inevitable that Britain would establish an empire. By 1914 the British Empire extended over 24% of the world’s territory and included 23% of the world’s population. That the British Empire was able to expand to the extent it did would not have been possible without India.
Why did Britain become dependent on India?
Britain became dependent upon India. The British motive for being in India was not an exercise in altruism. Although the mission to improve and civilise had become an important justification for the expansion of empire in the late c19th, it was the economic benefits provided that were important for Britain. The British economy had become ...
What was the success of the British Empire based on?
The success of the British Empire was based on India. In his book ‘The Rise and Fall of the British Empire’ Lawrence James describes the India of the c18th and c19th centuries as a miracle for the way that less than 200,000 British soldiers and administrators ruled over a land of 250 million people. India was also described as the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ for it was certainly the most important territory in the Empire in the late c19th. It underpinned the British economy and the Indian army played a crucial part in defending the empire throughout the world. The soldiers and administrators who went there lived a life that was harsh in the sense that the climate, and culture were quite alien but going to India provided opportunities for economic and social advancement. Those who went often came back to a country that had little interest in what they had done with their lives, and often had difficulty settling down to quiet retirement. India conveyed though elements of mystery and glamour to people in England and images of India as brought to the English nation by painters and writers had a huge influence on English life. That Britain could dominate such a land gave Britain much prestige and as British pre-eminence declined in the last quarter of the c19th, there was always India to demonstrate that Britain was still a power to be reckoned with. By 1914, it was generally agreed in Britain that Britain needed India, and India benefitted from what Britain did to improve India.
Why did Herbert Edwardes justify the British presence in India?
To justify the British presence in India, the land and its people were increasingly portrayed as ignorant, barbaric and a land in chaos and the British were there to bring peace, stability and material progress.
Why was there contempt for Indian religious customs?
There was universal contempt for Indian religious customs as campaigns were undertaken against religious rituals which offended the sensibilities of the British like thugge and suttee. Company employees were asked to disassociate themselves from Hindu ceremonies and involvement with Hindu temples.
What were the two major events that led to the economic growth of India?
The first was the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the second the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
Why was the Indian army important to the British?
Under the East India Company, British officers were trained at a military College near Croydon who were then sent to India to command Indian sepoys. Altogether the Indian Army consisted in 1857 on the eve of the Rebellion of 45,000 European soldiers of the British regular army and 232,000 native soldiers. Of these 160,000 men were based in the Bengal presidency. Between 1838 and 1920 the Indian army was used outside India on nineteen occasions: in China in 1839, 1856 and 1859, in Persia in 1856, in Ethiopia in 1867, in Afghanistan in 1878, in Egypt in 1882, in Burma in 1885, in Nyasaland in 1893, in Sudan in 1896 and in Uganda in 1896. The Indian army was therefore important as providing a strategic reserve for Britain for its colonial wars. In addition, Sikh police were used in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tientsin and Nyasaland. Without this force of men Britain would not have been able to deal with the many colonial conflicts that had to be fought to deal with local resistance to British rule.
