india

Question 1

What factors contributed to the East India Company’s ability to maintain British control of India in the years 1829-58?

Answer 1

• Continued British military and economic dominance over India
• Increased competition from other European powers
• Challenges from Indian rulers and uprisings by Indian soldiers and civilians
• Economic challenges faced by the Company

Question 2

Continued British military and economic dominance over India

Answer 2

The East India Company had a large and powerful army in India, which it used to maintain control over the region

The Company also controlled important economic resources, such as tea and opium, that were in high demand in Europe and Asia.

Question 3

Increased competition from other European powers

Answer 3

The French and Portuguese established trading posts in India in the 17th and 18th centuries, and continued to compete with the East India Company for control over Indian territory and resources

The French briefly gained control of parts of southern India in the 18th century, but were eventually defeated by the British

Question 4

Challenges from Indian rulers and uprisings by Indian soldiers and civilians

Answer 4

The Indian Rebellion of 1857:

The rebellion exposed the weaknesses of the East India Company’s rule in India, including its reliance on Indian soldiers and administrators, and its failure to address the economic and social grievances of Indian people

The rebellion led to the British government taking direct control of India in 1858, through the Government of India Act, which abolished the East India Company and established the British Raj

Question 5

Economic challenges faced by the Company

Answer 5

The East India Company faced a debt crisis in the mid-19th century, caused in part by the high costs of its military campaigns and the declining profitability of its trade in India

Pressure from British politicians and business interests to reform the Company’s practices led to the passage of the Charter Act of 1833

Question 6

What did the Charter Act of 1833 do?

Answer 6

Ended the company’s commercial activities completely and reorganised the administrative system of British territories - changed the function of the East India Company to ruling territories rather than protecting commercial interests

Abolished the Company’s monopoly on Indian trade and reduced its political power in India

Question 7

What led to the outbreak of the Indian rebellion?

Answer 7

• Religious and cultural issues
• Political grievances
• Economic grievances

Question 8

Religious and cultural issues

Answer 8

• William Sleeman’s campaign against thagi
• The drive against sati
• The drive against female infanticide
• The impact of missionaries
• The Rumour of 1856
• General Service Enlistment Act of 1856

Question 9

What is thagi?

Answer 9

An Urdu word for those who practices highway robbery and ritual murder by strangling in the service of the Hindu mother goddess, Kali

Question 10

William Sleeman’s campaign against thagi

Answer 10

It was based on capturing thagi and then using their confessions to track down and capture others

The action against thagi led to significant amounts of self-congratulation on the part of the British as the thagi only attacked other Indians, so the suppression of the cult was depicted as a wholly altruistic act

Question 11

The effect of William Sleeman’s campaign against Thagi on the Indian rebellion

Answer 11

There has been some revisionism regarding Sleeman’s presentation of the thagi campaign by historians, its suppression does not seem to have been widely resented by Indians at the time (unlike other campaigns)

Of far greater significance was its impact on the British in India and the lessons they drew from the campaign for other social reforms

Question 12

What is sati?

Answer 12

The tradition of self-immolation by Hindu widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands

The tradition reflected the Hindu belief in the sanctity of the marriage bond which meant that marriage was not an option for widows

The custom was most common among higher castes and the caste of those involved suggests that the motivation was primarily religious rather than economic necessity

Question 13

The drive against sati

Answer 13

The movement was led by British officials, Indian social reformers, and religious leaders who saw sati as a barbaric practice that needed to be eliminated

The British estimated that around 600 deaths a year in their territories were taking place as a result of the custom and, in 1829, driven by a campaign by evangelical Christians such as William Wilberforce and Governor Bentinck’s own strongly held personal views, sati was abolished

Anyone assisting with a sati was deemed to be guilty of culpable homicide and prosecuted accordingly

Question 14

The effect of sati on the Indian rebellion

Answer 14

While the abolition of sati was not the sole cause of the rebellion, it did contribute to a growing sense of discontent and disillusionment with British rule among certain sections of Indian society

The drive against sati was seen as part of a larger effort by the British to impose their values and way of life on the Indian people, and this generated resentment and anger that eventually boiled over into rebellion

Question 15

The drive against female infanticide

Answer 15

Female infanticide stemmed from the difficulty of providing dowries for female children and the shame attached to having unmarried daughter

Bentinck enforced the laws that had been assed in 1795 and 182 against female infanticide

Question 16

The effect of the drive against female infanticide on the Indian rebellion

Answer 16

The British government’s efforts to stop female infanticide were part of a larger campaign of social reform that aimed to challenge the prevailing social norms and customs in India

However, these efforts were often met with resistance, and some conservative elements in Indian society saw them as an attempt to undermine their cultural identity

The resentment and anger generated by these cultural clashes between the British administration and Indian society eventually boiled over into the Indian Rebellion of 1857

While the drive against female infanticide was not the primary cause of the rebellion, it was one of the several factors that contributed to the underlying tension between the British administration and Indian society

Question 17

The impact of missionaries

Answer 17

On the one hand, missionaries were instrumental in promoting education, social reform, and women’s rights in India. They set up schools, hospitals, and other social institutions that helped to raise the standard of living for many Indians. They also challenged some of the prevailing social and cultural norms in India, such as caste discrimination, sati, and female infanticide

On the other hand, some missionaries were perceived as cultural and religious intruders by certain sections of Indian society. Their efforts to convert Indians to Christianity were viewed with suspicion and resistance, and some Hindus and Muslims saw them as a threat to their religious and cultural identity

Question 18

What was the Education Act of 1835?

Answer 18

• To make English a medium of instruction in higher educational institutions
• To no longer promote oriental institutions such as the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College
• To introduce English text books in schools. Funds could only be sent to English speaking schools that taught literature in English

Question 19

What was the Bengal Renaissance?

Answer 19

Pioneered by Ram Mohan Roy

Western Philosophy integrated with Hindu teachings

A wide scale movement that Indians gathered behind rather than submitting to the Christianity preached by missionaries

Question 20

The effect of missionaries on the Indian rebellion

Answer 20

While the impact of missionaries in bringing about the Indian Rebellion was complex and varied, their activities played a role in the social and cultural changes that were taking place in India during the 19th century, and their actions often generated both support and resistance from different sections of Indian society

Question 21

The Rumour of 1856

Answer 21

The immediate cause of the Indian Rebellion were rumours amongst the sepoys that new cartridges were about to be issued, lubricated with animal fat, placing both Hindus and Muslims at risk of defilement, as beef fat was repugnant to Hindus and pork to Muslims

Question 22

The effect of the Rumour of 1856 on the Indian rebellion

Answer 22

To many sepoys, it seemed to prove Britain’s dark plan for the Christianisation of India and the rumour proved to be the spark that ignited all the simmering resentments held against missionaries, for interference in religious practices and the choice of English as the official language and finally for the upheaval and disturbance to the pattern of rural landownership in Awadh

Question 23

General Service Enlistment Act of 1856

Answer 23

It required every Indian soldier to go overseas for deployment if required rather than just serving to where they could march as they had before

This was controversial as Hindus believed travelling over water polluted their caste status (religious ignorance)

Question 24

The effect of the General Service Enlistment Act of 1856 on the Indian Rebellion

Answer 24

Immediate cause of rebellion with long term causes such as the cultural, territorial and religious interference

Question 25

Political grievances

Answer 25

• Dalhousie’s Modernisation
• Doctrine of Lapse
• Annexation of Awadh

Question 26

Dalhousie’s modernisation

Answer 26

Dalhousie saw no reason to continue with alliances with the princely states which had been agreed upon when the Company was a less powerful entity in the subcontinent, especially as he viewed the princes as conservative forces getting in the way of his vital modernisations

Question 27

Doctrine of Lapse

Answer 27

An annexation policy by Dalhousie which states that any princely state under direct influence on the British should be annexed if the ruler was incompetent or died without an heir

Legal justification for territorial expansion/annexation

Question 28

Annexation of Awadh in 1856

Answer 28

On 7th February 1856, Lord Dalhousie ordered to depose Wajid Ali Shah on the account of alleged internal misrule

This was in line with the Doctrine of Lapse

The seventh to occur under this policy

Awadh was a profitable region which would benefit the company

Was the worst blunder of Dalhousie and truly showed the motive of British ignorance and disregard for India

Question 29

How did the Annexation of Awadh in 1856 impact the Indian Rebellion?

Answer 29

A primary cause for the rebellion the following year

The annexation was widely resented in Awadh, the traditional recruiting ground of the sepoys of the Company’s Bengali army

Awadh was one of the areas which saw widespread participation in the uprising against the British

Question 30

Who were the Talukdars?

Answer 30

Taluqdars or Talukdar were aristocrats who formed the ruling class - An Indian landholder in the Mughal Empire and British Raj, responsible for collecting taxes from a district

Question 31

What was the effect of the Annexation of Awadh in 1856 on the Talukdars?

Answer 31

Talukdars had their vast estates seized

Talukdars were the primary employers, thus, their estates being seized destabilised the social order of the region causing unemployment etc

Question 32

Economic grievances

Answer 32

Indian farmers and workers were facing increasing poverty and hardship due to the Company’s policies, including high taxes and the destruction of traditional industries such as weaving and handicrafts

Question 33

What was the nature of the British response to the Indian rebellion?

Answer 33

• Underestimation of the scale and intensity of the rebellion
• Slow and ineffective initial response to the outbreak of the rebellion
• Unpreparedness of British troops and military reinforcements
• Setbacks and defeats suffered by the British in the early stages of the rebellion
• Effective use of military force, diplomacy, and propaganda to regain control of the affected regions
• Political and administrative reforms introduced in response to the rebellion

Question 34

Underestimation of the scale and intensity of the rebellion

Answer 34

The British initially thought the rebellion was just a small-scale mutiny in a few areas, but it quickly spread across many parts of India. British officials were caught off guard by the suddenness and intensity of the uprising

Question 35

Slow and ineffective initial response to the outbreak of the rebellion

Answer 35

The British response to the initial outbreaks of the rebellion was slow and ineffective

They lacked the troops and military resources needed to deal with the scale of the uprising

British officials also failed to communicate effectively with each other, which slowed down their response

Question 36

Unpreparedness of British troops and military reinforcements

Answer 36

The British troops and reinforcements sent to quell the rebellion were initially unprepared for the scale and intensity of the uprising. They lacked the necessary training, weapons, and equipment needed to fight a guerrilla war in unfamiliar terrain

Question 37

Setbacks and defeats suffered by the British in the early stages of the rebellion

Answer 37

The British suffered a number of defeats and setbacks in the early stages of the rebellion

Many of their military leaders were inexperienced and unprepared for the challenges of fighting a guerrilla war

The rebels were also able to take advantage of the disorganized and unprepared British forces to launch surprise attacks and inflict significant losses

Question 38

Effective use of military force, diplomacy, and propaganda to regain control of the affected regions

Answer 38

Over time, the British were able to regroup and launch a more effective counteroffensive

They used a combination of military force, diplomacy, and propaganda to regain control of the affected regions and suppress the rebellion

Question 39

Political and administrative reforms introduced in response to the rebellion

Answer 39

The British made a number of political and administrative reforms in response to the rebellion

They abolished the East India Company and transferred power to the British Crown, which brought about greater accountability and oversight of colonial rule

They also introduced new policies aimed at appeasing Indian grievances, such as the expansion of educational opportunities, the establishment of representative institutions, and the recognition of Indian culture and traditions

Question 40

‘It was the weaknesses of the Indian rebels that explains the defeat of the Indian Rebellion of 1857’ How far do you agree with this judgement? INTRO

Answer 40

The statement “It was the weaknesses of the Indian rebels that explains the defeat of the Indian Rebellion of 1857” is a simplistic and one-sided view of the complex events of the rebellion

While it is true that the Indian rebels had some weaknesses that contributed to their defeat, there were also many other factors at play

Question 41

Weakness of the Indian rebels - A lack of unity and organisation

Answer 41

One weakness of the Indian rebels was their lack of unity and organisation

The rebels were not a homogenous group, and there were divisions among them based on religion, caste, and regional identity -Muslims and Hindus + Brahmin Caste and the lower Caste

This lack of unity made it difficult for them to coordinate their actions and mount a sustained challenge to British rule

Question 42

Weakness of the Indian rebels - The poor quality and badly-structured military leadership

Answer 42

The poor quality and badly-structured military leadership led to a
lack of coherent planning

This meant a failure to exploit the
numerical superiority and element of surprise in the early stages of
the campaign

Question 43

Arguments and evidence challenging the statement that it was the
weaknesses of the Indian rebels - The question of loyalty

Answer 43

Many native members of the British Army remained loyal, e.g. the rulers in the Punjab and their peoples

The British made it clear that they were aware of the inadequacies of the Company’s rule and that reform would come

Question 44

Arguments and evidence challenging the statement that it was the
weaknesses of the Indian rebels - The British and their superior military resources

Answer 44

The British had superior military resources, including trained troops, modern weapons, and a well-organized command structure

They were also able to mobilize significant reinforcements from other parts of the British Empire

The rebels, on the other hand, were poorly equipped, lacked training, and were often disorganised in their tactics