General context/Establishing the Raj (1) Flashcards
Why did Britain become seriously involved in India?
Trade, India had many resources such as cotton, calico, pepper and spices.
What was granted to the East India Company in 1698?
A charter allowing a monopoly of trade with India. It also resulted in Company affairs being debated in Parliament - who could refuse to renew the charter.
Define monopoly of trade
When one company or organisation dominates trade in a certain area or with a specific country or countries, e.g. the EIC was the only British company allowed to trade in India.
Where were the EIC’s trading stations?
Bombay
Calcutta
Madras
How do you become a writer for the EIC?
Had to be 16 years old
Be sponsored by one of the directors of the EIC - he or his family had to be known to them
Why did the EIC increasingly exercise political power in India?
Decline of Mughal Empire created a power vacuum and Indian claimants warred at the regional levels of politics and government. Commerce and trade suffered due to the political instability, so EIC was drawn in to protect their trading interest.
How did the British become embroiled in the political struggles of India leading up to the collapse of the Mughal Empire?
Series of wars broke out between France and Britain, spilling into India - where the French were traders too. Both found allies in rival princes and their factions - so were drawn into India’s political struggles.
What happened when Robert Clive returned to India in 1765?
The Mughal Emporer made the EIC his diwan - chief financial advisor - and Clive became the first British Governor of Bengal. The British were established as a major political force in India.
What did the General Enlistment Order do in 1856?
Imposed the same conditions on sepoys serving in the Bengal, Bombay and Madras armies. All sepoys now expected to serve wherever the EIC deployed them - even abroad.
What privilege did this remove from sepoys in the Bengal army?
The payment of batta, an allowance that was paid if they served abroad.
What triggered the rebellion of 1857?
The cartridges used in new Enfield rifles were greased with tallow containing pork and beef fat - which offended Hindus and Muslims.
Why was this offensive to both Hindus and Muslims?
Beef fat was repugnant to Hindu’s
Pork fat offended Muslim beliefs
What happened after the sepoys refused to use them?
The cartridges were withdrawn, but all existing cartridges were suspect and so was everything that was government issued - including items such as flour and cooking oil.
What happened in Meerut (9th May 1857)?
The garrison commander court martialled 85 Indians for refusing to use suspect cartridges and publicly humiliated them.
What happened the next day (10th May 1857)?
The sepoys mutinied, began massacring Europeans and marched to Delhi - gathering support as they went.
What happened in Delhi when the sepoys arrived?
They pledged their support to an elderly Mughal emperor who had ‘ruled’ harmlessly for over 20 years with neither subjects nor troops.
How quickly did the mutiny spread through the Bengal army?
Extremely! Within weeks most of the garrisons in the north-west provinces and Oudh were in rebel hands - the British officers, their wives and children slaughtered.
How did civilian rebellion spread?
Civilian rebellion was a series of localised responses to separate and different fears of new influences and changing patterns of authority.
How did the British react to the rebellion?
As word of the murder of British people spread, the response was violent, entire villages were torched and unarmed Indians and domestic servants were attacked, mutilated and murdered.
How long did it take for order to be restored?
By December 1857, key strategic points along the Ganges valley were reoccupied.
Further five months before all resistance was stamped out.
£36 mil was spent on restoring order - a full year’s worth of Indian revenue.
What did the troubles of 1857 demonstrate?
Britain was the only power capable of maintaining law and order in India, its authority could be re-established by calling on British armed forces. But this authority could only be maintained by relying on a network of sympathetic Indians or those who were willing to cooperate until better times came.
What did the Government of India Act of 1858 do?
Queen Victoria became Queen of India and India’s Governor - General became her Viceroy as well as the government’s chief executive in India. A similar hierarchy of hereditary nobles and honours was established in India too.
What was the impact of the Indian Mutiny?
The British set up consultative councils consisting of western-educated Indians to serve as ‘ears to the ground’ to alert the Raj to potential problems and advise on strategies to solve them. They weren’t given any real power as they were only advisers and members were nominated by the Raj and later elected - but with a bias towards educated and wealthy Indians.
