administration of india before 1857 Flashcards
what does balance of power mean?
a relatively equal distribution of economic and military strength
among rival countries or groups of countries.
the objective of maintaining this balance was to prevent any single nation or group of nations from becoming powerful enough to dominate the continent
germany’s actions
overtook britain as the largest industrial power in europe by 1890’s
formed alliances with austria - hungary and russia
began to annex land to form their own empire
france’s actions
seen as a threat both militarily and politically
1880s - became a imperial rival to britain particularly in africa.
formed an alliance with russia in 1892-94 and then with britain in 1904
russia’s actions
became more active in europe after the crimean war
britain was concerned of the threat posed to india and china
wanted to exploit the situation created by the weakening of austria-hungary and the ottoman empire.
how was the colonial office organised from 1854 to 1870?
made separate from the war office in 1854
5 departments - africa, north america, west indies, australia and mediterranean
what did the colonial secretary do?
they were secretary of state for the colonies
what did the colonial office do?
dealt with settler colonies becoming more independent, new acquisitions, ran crown colonies
which colonies were controlled by the foreign office?
egypt and treaty ports in china
when was the india office created?
1858 after the mutiny
the crown appointed a viceroy to replace the company’s governor general
what was the result of the durham report in 1838?
representative assemblies set up in settler colonies - encouraged to be self governing
india
covered 1,766,597 square miles- larger than europe - excluding russia
at its height, the british raj covered 61.5 % of the territory:
population 294 million in 1901 (231,899,507 people under direct british rule)
1900 - the raj had divided india into 7 provinces - bombay, bengal, madras, the punjab; the central provinces the north western provinces and the north west frontier
shared rule with the 601 princely states (38.5%) - not fully independent and no indian prince was allowed to travel abroad without permission
how and why did the british get involved with india?
they were amazed with the wealth and advancement of civilisation
they traded british goods for indian opium
how did men like robert clive make money?
collected taxes in rich provinces
how did a trading company become a political force?
robert clive began to annex land such as bengal and calcutta and brought it under the company, negotiated important trade agreements with the numerous independent regional princes and persuaded the mughal emperor to grant monopoly trading rights to the east india company
what was the reaction of the east india company to the collapse of the mughal empire?
they took control of the provinces
the east india company
received royal charter in 1600
only company allowed to trade with india
had own army and navy set up first trading station at surat - these were followed by purchases of madras, bombay and calcutta
battle of plassey 1757 - robert clive and company troops defeated an indian army which enabled them to take control of bengal
combination of defeating princes in battle or paying them off meant by 1850s most of india was at least under partial british control
who had privilege in society?
muslims, under the mughals
1600
east india company granted a monopoly by elizabeth i
1707
last mughal emperor dies - collapsing empire
1757
7 years war, battle of plassey - robert clive annexes bengal
1773
tea act and regulation of india set up governor generals
1784
indian board of control set up to supervise the east india company
late 18th century
east india company had become a major political power
1813
governor ended east india company monopoly
missionaries introduced to spread british culture
1815
britain expand in india
1828 - 1835
bentick policy of westernisation
english now official language
1857
indian mutiny
