India 1890 - 1914

Question 1

(trade and commerce) As a result of the Suez Canal opening, the value of exports to India increased by how much from 1855 to 1914?

Answer 1

1855 - exports to India totalled £23 million
1914- exported to India totalled £150 million

Question 2

(trade and commerce) By 1914, what percentage of Britain’s exports went to India?

Answer 2

20%

Question 3

(trade and commerce) From 1855 to 1914, how did the value of British imports from India increase?

Answer 3

From £13 million in 1855
To £86 million in 1914

Question 4

(trade and commerce) When and how much was the decline of imports going from Britain to India and what did this suggest?

Answer 4

1870 - 85%
1913 - 66%

Indicative of India becoming more self-sufficient in the realm of trade and commerce, importing more goods from other nations besides Britain.

Question 5

(trade and commerce) What was an early 20th-century event that posed an economic threat to Britain in India?

Answer 5

From 1905, British textiles and goods were boycotted and burned in the street as an attempt to undermine the Raj.

Question 6

(trade and commerce) On a positive note, by 1900 what amount of tea imports in Britain came from India?

Answer 6

Nearly all, from 1869 only 10 million pounds (in weight) came from India, whereas in 1900 137 million pounds came.

Question 7

(administrative and political policies) What did the India Local Council Act 1892 provide for Indians?

Answer 7

The Indian Councils Act of 1892 expanded the size of various Indian legislative councils thus enhancing Indian participation in British India’s government.

Question 8

(administrative and political policies) What did the India Local Council Act 1909 (Morley Minto Reforms) provide for Indians, both positives and negatives?

Answer 8

• Enabled 27 Indians to be elected from provincial constituencies to the Viceroy’s Council, which assisted the Viceroy in law-making which gave greater Indian participation in government. However, they were elected by a very narrow franchise and sometimes by the British themselves.
• 135 Indians given seats across the subcontinent once more having a greater goal in government.

Question 9

(administrative and political policies) When was Curzon made Viceroy and what were his attitudes towards Indian people?

Answer 9

1899.

He was wary to give Indians too much responsibility due to his low opinion of their abilities to self-govern.
He believed that the religious divides (Hindu & Muslim), language barriers, and the caste system meant that India could not successfully self govern.

Question 10

What type of people was the Indian Civil Service mainly comprised of?

Answer 10

White Britons prodominantly educated at Oxford and Cambridge.

Question 11

What was the job of the workers in the Indian Civil Service?

Answer 11

To ensure that the regime in India was secure, the indigenous people accepting of British rule and India was profitable.

Question 12

By 1900 what amount of the Indian Civil Service officials were Indian? Why was the number this way?

Answer 12

33 out of 1000
The numbers were small because the examinations to enter the Civil Service had to be take in London and this was inaccessible for most Indians.

Question 13

What policy did the Indian Civil Service use to maintain the Raj’s control?

Answer 13

‘Divide and Rule’, whereby they emphasised the divisions within India by race, caste, religion and language to maintain the Raj’s control.

Question 14

What group did the Muslim Elite form by the turn of the century and what did it support?

Answer 14

In 1906 they formed the All India Muslim League which was aimed at safeguarding the rights of Indian Muslims. (they supported the partition of Bengal).

Question 15

Why did the Muslim elite support the partition of Bengal?

Answer 15

The Muslim elite favoured the partition as it would give them a Muslim majority in the eastern half, they expected that a new province with a majority would directly benefit those aspiring to political power.

Question 16

How did the Muslim League react to the reunification of Bengal?

Answer 16

As they believed that a divided Bengal would benefit the Muslims, the Muslim League adopted self-government for India as their goal in 1913 - challenging British rule.

Question 17

How did the Hindu Majority perceive the division of Bengal?

Answer 17

They saw it as payback for their hostilities towards British rule and there were strikes, protests, and boycotts of British-made goods.

Question 18

Why did the division of Bengal infuriate the elite Hindus?

Answer 18

Many owned land in East Bengal which they leased to Muslim peasants.

Question 19

When was the division of Bengal and how was it split?

Answer 19

July 1905, Curzon decided that it would be split into a Hindu-majority province of West Bengal, and a Muslim-majority province of East Bengal.

Question 20

What were Curzon’s reasons behind the decision to bring the partition of Bengal in 1905?

Answer 20

-He argued that it would produce greater efficiency as Bengal was too big a province to effectively govern.

• To reduce the power of the ‘Bengali Babus’ - the educated Hindu elite who were demanding greater political power, their power base lay in Calcutta, capital of Bengal.
• Calcutta was also the power base of the Indian National Congress (est 1885) which Curzon aimed to weaken through division.

Question 21

What did Curzon introduce and change which improved the problems surrounding agriculture?

Answer 21

1) introduced the Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900 which protected farmers from eviction due to debts
2) Set up a committee to plan and initiate a long term programme of irrigation.
3) He set up agricultural banks and an Agricultural Department.
4) He established new famine codes which helped to reduce the incidence of famine after 1900.

Question 22

What were other positives and achievements of Curzon’s rule?

Answer 22

1) Reformed the Police Service in 1902, enabling appointment of Indians at officer level in the police.

2) Adopted gold standard to ensure a stable currency

3) Expanded railway by 6000 miles, as well as irrigation projects

4) Created the Commerce and Industry department promoting growth of industry in India

5)Founded Imperial Cadet Corps in 1901 which gave officer training to the princes and gentlemen of British India.

Question 23

What were the downsides and mistakes of Curzon’s rule?

Answer 23

• Curzon’s reform of education was not effective, his reform of primary education and although large grants were provided it failed to produce large numbers of education children and its focus was on secular education which had little appeal to the poorest whose lives were dominated by religion. (religious insensitivity)
• 1905 Bengal Partition, greatest problem

Question 24

(defence policies) How did the Indian Army enable the British to function as a great military power?

Answer 24

The army was a readily available source of manpower, it did not cost the British taxpayer a penny. They could use the Indian Army to fight their own battles.

Question 25

When and where was the Indian Army used to secure British interests?

Answer 25

1892 Nyasaland, 1896 - 98 Sudan.
800,000 fought for Britain in WW1.

Question 26

What did Curzon do to protect the Indian border from Russian threat?

Answer 26

In 1901 Curzon created the North West Frontier Province which merged the Pashtun lands of the Afghan peoples with the Punjab.

He appointed a new Chief Commissioner to administer it.

Question 27

How was the tension surrounding the sphere of influence in Persia between Russia and Britain ended?

Answer 27

An Entente was signed in 1907 whereby both countries agreed to respect independence of Tibet.