india Flashcards
What factors contributed to the East India Company’s ability to maintain British control of India in the years 1829-58?
- 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
Continued British military and economic dominance over India
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.
Increased competition from other European powers
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
Challenges from Indian rulers and uprisings by Indian soldiers and civilians
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
Economic challenges faced by the Company
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
What did the Charter Act of 1833 do?
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
What led to the outbreak of the Indian rebellion?
- Religious and cultural issues
- Political grievances
- Economic grievances
Religious and cultural issues
- 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
What is thagi?
An Urdu word for those who practices highway robbery and ritual murder by strangling in the service of the Hindu mother goddess, Kali
William Sleeman’s campaign against thagi
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
The effect of William Sleeman’s campaign against Thagi on the Indian rebellion
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
What is sati?
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
The drive against sati
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
The effect of sati on the Indian rebellion
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
The drive against female infanticide
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
The effect of the drive against female infanticide on the Indian rebellion
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
The impact of missionaries
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
What was the Education Act of 1835?
- 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
What was the Bengal Renaissance?
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
The effect of missionaries on the Indian rebellion
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
The Rumour of 1856
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
The effect of the Rumour of 1856 on the Indian rebellion
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
General Service Enlistment Act of 1856
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)
The effect of the General Service Enlistment Act of 1856 on the Indian Rebellion
Immediate cause of rebellion with long term causes such as the cultural, territorial and religious interference
Political grievances
- Dalhousie’s Modernisation
- Doctrine of Lapse
- Annexation of Awadh
Dalhousie’s modernisation
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
Doctrine of Lapse
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
Annexation of Awadh in 1856
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
How did the Annexation of Awadh in 1856 impact the Indian Rebellion?
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
Who were the Talukdars?
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
What was the effect of the Annexation of Awadh in 1856 on the Talukdars?
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
Economic grievances
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
What was the nature of the British response to the Indian rebellion?
- 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
Underestimation of the scale and intensity of the rebellion
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
Slow and ineffective initial response to the outbreak of the rebellion
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
Unpreparedness of British troops and military reinforcements
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
Setbacks and defeats suffered by the British in the early stages of the rebellion
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
Effective use of military force, diplomacy, and propaganda to regain control of the affected regions
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
Political and administrative reforms introduced in response to the rebellion
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
‘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
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
Weakness of the Indian rebels - A lack of unity and organisation
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
Weakness of the Indian rebels - The poor quality and badly-structured military leadership
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
Arguments and evidence challenging the statement that it was the
weaknesses of the Indian rebels - The question of loyalty
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
Arguments and evidence challenging the statement that it was the
weaknesses of the Indian rebels - The British and their superior military resources
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
