Chapter 6 - Relations With Indigenous Peoples Flashcards
Who did the Indian mutiny involve?
Sepoys in the Bengal Army
Why were they different to ordinary labourers?
They were mainly peasant soldiers and proud of their military status
What were the factors that caused the Mutiny?
Grievances about pay
Changes to their condition of service
Cartridges in the new Enfield riffles
Landlords + Nobles deprived of their lands by Governor-General Dalhousie
Why were the cartridges a problem?
They were greased in animal fat
Offended both Hindus and Muslims
When did the Sepoys start refusing to obey orders?
Feb 1857
What did they do at Meerut?
Turned on their British officers and set up a mob on local Europeans
What did they attempt to do when they seized control of most northern cities?
Resurrect the old Mughal Emperor as a figurehead
What were some of the rebels?
Discontented land owners who lost out on British rule
Peasants who resented taxation
Who were executed to stop the restoration of the Mughal dynasty?
The Emperor’s sons
What were the effects in Delhi and Lucknow?
Villages burnt
Mutineers tortured
British officers, wives + children murdered
When was British rule reasserted?
Jun 1858
What happened just before that?
Battle at Gwalior
What did Britain use India as a means of after the mutiny?
Providing compensation
What were examples of this?
Extension of rail network
Growth of tea trade
What changed in the ruling of India after the mutiny?
It was passed onto the British govt
Internal wars ended
Had a single centralised govt
How was the mutiny reported?
Emphasised ‘savagery’ of Indians but not brutality of the British
What difference did the mutiny make in their attitudes?
Before people were curious and admired the Indian culture but after there was more ignorance
Who did the legal systems favour?
The white man
Wealthier Indians
What did the ‘equality of opportunity’ provide?
More educational opportunities for some wealthier Indians
But even people with education found it hard to obtain promotions above the lower ranks of colonial bureaucracy
Why were railways more beneficial for the British?
They helped the needs of trade and control
Most villages lacked even mud roads
What were the problems with Britains new markets for produce?
It encouraged specialisation
Lower costing grain production decreased
This was most people’s food staple
Became dependent on imports
Consumption per head decreased
How much land did the irrigation projects cover?
6%
Where did the land improvements happen?
Where they supported British commercial interests
Why in the long term did Britains cheap manufacturers not benefit India?
They were unable to develop viable industries of their own like before
Who did Britain provide schools and universities to?
The privileged
Illiteracy was widespread
What did Britain provide jobs in for the Indians?
Railways, army, police, civil service
Only a minority could have this employment
What did the famine cause?
High death rates
Who made a tour of India between 1859 and 1861?
Viceroy Canning
What was the aim of the tour?
To win back support if people were dispossessed or felt alienated by B rule
What did he change?
- Lands + titles returned to some native Indians
- Star of India medals introduced
- Positions in Imperial Assembly or Statutory Civil Service Shared with Ind Nobility
Where were universities opened?
Bombay, Madras, Calcutta
What were some other schools set up to do?
Make ‘Westernised Oriental Gentlemen’ (wogs)
How many Indians entered universities 30 years later?
60,000
What were the most popular subjects to study?
Arts + law
Where did a lot of these graduates of law work after?
In the govt service
Who helped establish girls schools and teaching colleges?
Mary Carpenter
What were the major economic changes after 1858?
Railways
Factories
Raw cotton production increase
How did the British feel they justified their actions?
Believed in their ‘benign rule’
T.B Macaulay thought educating them would make them ‘English in taste, in opinions, in morals’
Who are the Boers?
Descendants of the original Dutch settlers in the Cape area
Who are the Bantu tribes?
A general label for the 300-600 ethnic groups in Africa who speak Bantu languages
What was the relationship between the British and the Boers?
Peaceful until <1850 the British came into conflict with Boers + Bantu
What discovery started the friction?
Diamonds
Who did the ‘diamond rush’ attract?
White settlers + Bantu speaking people
In 1868 where did the British annex?
Basutoland
Why did they annex it?
They claimed that the Indigenous African wanted British protection from the Boers
Where did the British also take in 1871?
West Griqualand
Where did the 2000 Griqua go to establish?
East Griqualand
Britain annexed it the following year
What did Britain propose to the Boers in 1875?
A federation of the British and Boer territories, they rejected it
Why was the area suffering from great instability?
Both British and Boers wanted to assert power
What had the area become?
Great value for traders
What happened in the Xhosa War 1877-78?
British disarmed and annexed the neighbouring tribesmen’s communities to the Cape
Who were the Boers less successful against?
The Pedi tribe
They successfully kept their independence in the eastern Transvaal
What did the British decide from this in 1877?
Annex the Transvaal
Claimed they needed to protect the white European settlers against Pedi + Zulu tribe (most powerful)
What did the Boers reluctantly accept?
British aid
Where did the British invade in Jan 1879?
Zululand
What happened in the invasion?
Defeated Zulus
Zululand incorporated into Natal
Attack on Pedi
What did the Boers declare after the Zulus were defeated?
Total independence from Britain
What did the Boers do to the British from 1880?
Attacked B army garrisons across Transvaal
Won a series of military victories - Majuba Hill 1881 (150 Britons killed)
What were the British forced to sign?
The Convention of Pretoria
What did the Convention of Pretoria establish?
That the B govt recognised Boer self-govt in the Transvaal, but B still claimed a right to control over external affairs
Who’s presence came in 1884?
Germans
What were the British fears from this?
That the Boers + Germans would make an alliance
What did the British do to prevent this?
Annexed Bechuanaland
Area between German South-West Africa and the Transvaal
What did Bechuanaland become?
North = Protectorate
South = Crown Colony
What’s a Crown Colony?
A colony ruled directly by an appointee of the British crown and accountable to the colonial Office
What produced further instability?
Gold discovery near Transvaal in 1886
Who did the gold bring?
Non-Boer Europeans (Uitlanders)
What famous trader established his British South Africa Company in Oct 1889?
Cecil Rhodes
What was his ultimate aim?
To create a continuous land route from Cape town to Egypt
Who was given little thought in the increasingly eroded land?
The local Bantu tribes
Who did the discovery of gold and diamonds increase the wealth of the most?
The settlers
What did the new laws mean?
Mining companies who limited the rights of black Africans could have claims over the mines and trade of products
What did this mean for their jobs?
Black Africans were stuck to manual labour but white people got skilled jobs and reaped the profits
What were black workers forbidden by law to do?
Living wherever they wanted
Forced to stay in segregated neighbourhoods or mining compounds
