India, Egypt And Sudan Up To 1914 (1/2)

Question 1

Overview of India’s administration and defence?

Answer 1

-The expansion of British influence in India had originally been overseen by the British east India company. Under it’s control, millions of subjects had been added to the British Empire by conquest or annexation, adding vastly to Britain’s expenditure on administration and defence
-When the first census of the Indian population was taken in 1871, it indicated that at least 236 million lived either directly under British rule, or in states protected by treaties with Britain
-The cost of government in India (shouldered by Indian taxpayers) was not far short of that of Britain itself and the army stationed there was considerably larger

Question 2

What happened with India’s administration?

Answer 2

-Long-standing grievances among the Indian population sparked a rebellion of Indian sepoys serving in the British East India company in 1857. The rebellion lasted a year and caused thousands of deaths. The dispatch of British troops to support the East India company army demonstrated the British resolve to retain India at all costs
-After the rebellion had been violently quashed and ruthlessly punished, the British government determined that a change of rule was necessary, in part to prevent any recurrence
-Thus, in 1858, the British government took control of India from the East India company, which was entirely dissolved. Queen Victoria addressed the Indian people in a proclamation: ‘We desire to show our mercy, by pardoning the offences of those who have been thus misled’

Question 3

What was the government of India act, 1858?

Answer 3

By the terms of this act, in which Indians had little say:
-The East India company’s territories in India were passed to the Queen and the company ceased to exist
-The position of Secretary of State for India (a cabinet post) was created. This Secretary of State received the powers and duties formerly exercised by the East India company directors
-A council of 15 members (the India council), with experience of Indian affairs, was appointed to assist the Secretary of State for India and act as an advisory body in India affairs
-The crown appointed a Viceroy to replace the company’s Governor General
-The Indian civil service was placed under the control of the Secretary of State

Question 4

What was the priority during the years of the Raj?

Answer 4

-During the years of the Raj, which lasted from 1858 to 1948, the priority for the British government was to maintain it’s control.
-It’s 1st January 1877, Queen Victoria was made empress of India as a symbol- to both Britain and India- of British domination
-Although the Queen was not present at the ceremony in Delhi and never visited India, her title acted as a reminder and showcase of Britain’s imperial power

Question 5

How did the governance of India change in 1858?

Answer 5

• Expansion in India had originally been overseen by the British East India Company
• Under its control, millions of subjects had been added to the Empire through conquest and annexation
• The company had been granted a monopoly over English trade with Asia. After Robert Clive defeated France at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the company ruled India until 1858. It became increasingly expansionist, provoking the mutiny of 1857
• The mutiny of Indian Sepoys serving in the British East India Company’s army in 1857 lasted a year and brought 1000s of deaths. British troops were disputed to support the EIC
• After the mutiny had been quelled, a change of rule was necessary to prevent recurrence
• In 1858, the EIC handed the control of India over to the British government and the company was dissolved

Question 6

What were the terms of the government of India act (1958)?

Answer 6

• The EIC’s territories in India were passed to the Queen and the company ceased to exist
• The position of Secretary of State for India in the cabinet was created. They received powers and duties formerly exercised by the EIC’s directors
• An Indian Council of 15 members, with experience of Indian affairs, was appointed to assist the SoSfI and act as an advisory body for Indian affairs
• The Crown appointed a Viceroy to replace the Company’s Governor-General
• The Indian Civil Service was placed under control of the Sectary of State

Question 7

How was India administrated from 1858?

Answer 7

• The Viceroy of India ruled with a legislative council (5 people) who were responsible for finance, law, the army, economy and home affairs
• Provincial governors represented the Viceroy in the provinces and had their own legislative councils
• On a day to day basis, District Officers oversaw local councils and reported on practical issues
• Approx. 1000 British Civil Servants were employed as a member of the Indian Civil Service. Official posts were open to all but senior posts were virtually all white
• The basic administrative functions were the collection of taxes, maintenance of law and order and the running of courts (English law prevailed)
• After the mutiny, greater respect was shown for traditional Indian practices and customs. The Queen assured that there would be no further meddling with traditional Indian religious culture
• The Queen became Empress of India in January 1877
• From an India perspective, the change from company to crown rule brought little change

Question 8

In what ways did the British rely on the cooperation and collaboration of the native problem?

Answer 8

• The Viceroy relied on native rulers, in charge of the 565 nominally independent Princely States
• Until 1858 a ‘doctrine of laps’ had ensured that eh Princely States fell under British rule when their ruler’s line of descent ended
• The removal of this doctrine helped ensure the prince’ loyalty and although they all accepted the ultimate sovereignty of the British Crown; an elaborate hierarchy of status bolstered the Princes’ prestige
• The British community was forced to rely on increasing numbers of India bureaucracies, part of a growing middle class that demanded a greater say in the administration of the country. British refusal drove them towards nationalism and support for the India National Congress (set up in 1885) which became a vehicle for India’s eventual independence
• Within the civil service, bilingual Indians were recruited as low-level clerks to act as intermediaries between the British elite and the mass of the population

Question 9

How did Britain change how India was defended after 1858?

Answer 9

• The East India Company’s armies were brought under the control of the Crown and the proportion of British to Indian troops was raised to a ratio of roughly 1:2
• The regiments of native Indian troops were cut off from one another to prevent any sense of unity. They also deliberately mixed different casts and religions
• The army enlisted greater number of Gurkhas and Sikhs who had been loyal during the mutiny to replace the Bengali troops who had not
• All field artillery was placed in British hands
• Indians were denied officer rankings although the British were ordered to show greater respect for their beliefs and traditions
• Indian troops were sometimes sent abroad deliberately to lessen the risk of rebellion in India
• The growth of railways also helped India’s defense: 3000 miles of track was added in the decade following the mutiny, exaggerating British presence and enabling swifter deployment of troops in the event of trouble
• An armored gun train was introduced and Lucknow railway station was purpose-built for disembarking reinforcements
• In every major city, a garrison was built so soldiers could emerge at a moment notice to quell any challenge to British rule
• The first Viceroy also set up the Imperial Police Force as an extra layer of security and to avoid reliance on the army

Question 10

How was the Raj administered?

Answer 10

• British officials appointed in London enjoyed unrestrained power – until 1909 when an element of representative government was introduced at a provincial level
• In charge was the Viceroy, backed by the almost all white, Oxbridge, Indian Civil Service. It was their job to ensure the regime was secure, the natives were acquiescent and India was profitable
• There were strict limitations on the size of the Civil Service because of the costly pay and pensions, so there were often no more than 3 or 4 officers per district
• Therefore, rule required the collaboration of the native – even more so with the expansion of railways and the spread of education which had increase English literacy rates
• British intervened in economic and social development both physically as cities grew and in terms of raising more money through taxation
• The India Civil Service used the policy of ‘divide and rule’ by emphasising the divisions of race, language, religion, caste, occupation, and region and asserted Britain’s moral authority to bring enlightened reform
• They acknowledged some degree of educated Indian representatives of provincial councils in reform in 1892 and 1909 – this further exploited the division between the educated Indian and the illiterate rural masses to create an ‘Anglo-Indian’ administrative elite. Many educated Indians still saw British rule as the best route to the future despite some strings of nationalism emerging

Question 11

Explain how Viceroy Curzon (1899-1905) introduced reforms to respond to Indian demands?

Answer 11

• He was mindful of the growing criticisms of British rule which emanated from professional ‘middle-class’ Indians and their representative body, the Indian National Congress which had been established in 1885 to campaign for home rule
• The congress was cautious but it criticised trading agreements, restraints on Industry and the heavy taxation
• Pressure also came from social and humanitarian groups such as ‘The Servants of India’ society which was active amongst the ‘untouchable’ community at the bottom of the caste system who wanted to see reform of old restrictive laws/practices
• Curzon made reforms to make the administration of India cheaper and more efficient e.g. to the ICS
• He founded the Imperial Cadet Corps in 1901, to give native princes and elite figures military training and ‘special’ officer commissions
• He also reformed the universities and the police, lowered taxes and adopted the gold standard to ensure a stable currency
• He set up a Commerce and Industry Department to promote industry and an Agricultural Department to sponsor research and overseeing the establishment of agricultural banks

Question 12

What was the North west Frontier?

Answer 12

• In 1901, Curzon set up the North-West Frontier Province to protect the border from feared Russian incursions
• This merged the north-westerly areas of the Pashtun lands of the Afghan people with the Punjab and chief commissioners were put in place there. The policy worked
• Curzon counted a temporary invasion of Tibet (1903-4) to counter the perceived Russian ambition in the area
• Britain and Russia also clashed over Prussia
• The disputes were solved after Curzon left office with the Russian ‘entente’ in 1907

Question 13

What was the partition of Bengal?

Answer 13

• In July 1905, Curzon decided that Bengal should be divided into 2 separate provinces: a Muslim majority province in the east and Assam and Hindu majority province in the west
• This was carries out in October and it produced an uproar among the Hindu elite in West Bengal – many of whom owned land in East Bengal that they leased to Muslim peasants
• It led to Hindu strikes, protest and boycotts of British made goods
• The campaigns were led by Surendranath Banerjee (twice president of the IYC) and a new stand of nationalist began to develop
• The event split the congress between the extremist and the moderates
• The Muslim elite supported the partition and formed the All Indian Muslim League in 1906 to safeguard the rights of Indian Muslims
• The Hindu/Muslim division was used to justify British Control as a means to avoid religious conflict
• The two parts of Bengal were reunited in 1911 and in 1913 the AIML adopted self-government as its goal
• The event helped bring about Curzon resignation in 1905. He left a legacy of bitter discontent in India

Question 14

What did Viceroy minto do?

Answer 14

• With the encouragement from the new liberal government and the help of John Morley, the Sectary of State for India, he introduced a limited program of reforms in 1909 in an attempt to appease the Bengalis. He categorically refused to revoke the partition of Bengal
• The Indian Councils Act of 1909 enabled 27 Indians to be elected from provincial constituencies to the Viceroy and assisted the making of law
• The elections were held on a very narrow franchise and in some cases, representatives were chosen by the British but the reforms still provided for greater Indian participation in government
• Further democratic reform in 1910 meant that an election for enlarges provincial councils, 135 Indians were able to secure seats across the subcontinent and this play a greater part in governments at a provincial level
• None of these measures affected the responsibility of government which stayed firmly in British hands, but it did allow wider opportunities for the Indian opinions to be heard

Question 15

What did Viceroy Hardinge do?

Answer 15

• He used the visit of King George V to India in 1911 as an opportunity to reunite Bengal
• He moved the Indian capital from Calcutta to Delhi (a Muslim stronghold) as a means of undermining the
revolutionary Hindu groups
• George V was the first and only British monarch to visit the Raj – he was crowned Emperor of India and a
grand celebratory durbar was held in 1911, in a display of both power and pageants desire to show up the loyalty of India princely rulers

• Hardinge declared war on India’s behalf in 1914 (August) and it was to be a test on India’s commitment to British Rule, particularly as he did so without consulting India’s population or representatives. India’s service during the war raised hopes of a new deal for India once the war was over

Question 16

What was the Egyptian administration arrangement?

Answer 16

• It was not until the onset of the first world war in December 1914 that Britain assured direct rue
• Before then it was a ‘veiled protectorate’ with the British running Egyptian affairs and British advisors keeping watch over every aspect of government
• Despite this strong British presence, Egypt was not regarded as a colony – only under military occupation, which had originally been intended as temporary
• Egypt still belonged to Turkey, with the Sultan as the Khedive’s overlord

Question 17

What were the other restrictions on Britain’s control of Egypt?

Answer 17

• The Capitulations: all foreigners in Egypt came under regulations known as the Capitulations, privileges granted by the Sultan to protect Europeans from the Muslim laws against Christianity. A foreigner could claim the right to be tried in his own country’s law courts and any new Egyptians law effecting Europeans had to be approved by the government of all countries represented in Egypt, which slowed down law-making
• The Caisse de la Dette (which included Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Russia, Italy and Britain): This controlled Egypt’s finances. About half of the country’s revenue went to paying European bond-holders. The members of the Caisse could prevent the British Consul-General from spending Egypt’s money on matters they disapproved of (e.g. Cromer’s plan for the re-conquest of the Sudan was thwarted by Russia and France)
• The mixed courts: these had been set up to deal with cases involving both Egyptians and Europeans and were presided over by European and Egyptian judges who were not always supportive of the British

Question 18

Why did the French become more co-operative in Egypt?

Answer 18

• After the 1899 Fashoda Incident, Britain and France grew closer together and in 1904 signed an Entente Cordiale, by which the French agreed to respect Britain’s special rights in Egypt, in return for British recognition of the French takeover of Morocco
• With this agreement, the Caisse de la Dette ceased to control Egyptian finances and became only a debt- collection agency for foreign bondholders

Question 19

What did Evelyn Baeing (Lord Cromer)- British consul-general do in Egypt?

Answer 19

• Acted as an ‘advisor’ to the Khedive between 1883-1907. He did not give commands but advice
• He believed that British authority was essential for reform
• Administration: Egypt had a partially elected parliament, consisting of an Advisory Council of Laws and a General Assembly – but all Egyptian government officials had the ‘support’ of a British adviser. If the resisted British advise or interference they could be dismissed. In 1885, there were about 100 Britons in government, by 1905, there were over 1000. Baring believed that Egypt should be governed by Egyptians but for the difficulty of discovering who they were. There were also changes to the law-courts and police
• Finances: Khedive Isma’il had accumulated £70 m debt, mostly to European bondholders. Baring made cutbacks to Egypt’s military and bureaucracy. He also revitalised the economy by improving communications and investing in irrigation schemes. Within 10 years, exports of cotton and sugar had treble and the population had risen from 7 million to 10 million. There were lower taxation and new-found prosperity
• Projects: He improved conditions for Egyptian labourers, introduced better sanitation and health services in towns, stopped the use of the kurbash and abolished the corvée. The Aswan Dam was built under the direction of Sir John Aird. It was 18 miles high, a 1⁄4 mile long, it took 6 years to build and cost £2 m. It was to hold back the waters of the Nile. It opened in 1902 and enabled 1⁄2 million acres of former desert to be irrigated with water from its reservoir, thus enabling year-round circulation. The irrigation works nearly doubled the crop area but it also added to the workload of the people, saturated and exhausted the soil and spread waterborne plagues
• Military Changes: 6000 British troops were placed within it to ensure that British interests were not jeopardised by either the military or popular disturbances. It was placed under the control of Kitchener
• Education: He made a show of improving education by he was extremely wary because he had seen the efforts of raised expectations in India – leading to growth in nationalist protest. Therefore, Egyptians were rarely offered more than a few years of elementary schooling. In 1909 a new university was founded (to supplement the University of Cairo which only offered religious education) to teach modern subjects and train men for the professions
• Tourism: Baring oversaw the rapid expansion of modern tourism. Thomas Cook & Son became Egypt’s largest employer – providing jobs in hotels, houseboats, and excursions. The steamers were extremely luxurious. By 1900 it was very popular for wealthy Britons to ‘winter’ in Egypt. They were charmed by the Moorish arches, bazaars and markets, the abundant natural life, the relics and treasures of ancient Egypt and the kaleidoscope of colours. They were also horrified by the squalor, confusion, filth, and poverty in Egypt and the guidebooks discouraged Europeans from mixing with local people for venturing into the countryside

Question 20

Which Egyptian people gained from changing in the period? Which people gained less?

Answer 20

• The Egyptian upper classes generally benefitted
• Britain failed to promote the cloth-making industry, which would have provided jobs for the unemployed because they were only interested in the production of raw cotton to keep the spinners in Lancaster employed
• The nationalist complained of the lack of opportunity for educated Egyptians who seemed even less likely to run their own government than before
• ‘the Egyptians who had once summoned giants from solid rock were now a nation of slaves’

Question 21

What opposition began to emerge in the period?

Answer 21

• There was a growing middle-class nationalist movement, fuelled by newspapers, which attacked the government for doing little to help the Egyptian poor and for failing to deal with the corruption in government
• Nationalist feeling was stimulated by revolutionary example in neighbouring Turkey
• A nationalist party (al-Ḥizb al Waṭanῑ) was founded in 1881 but revived in 1893 as a secret society which attracted lawyers and professionals, many of which were educated in European establishments
• They sought the end of British occupation. While they believed that the British had done wonders for the material condition of Egypt, they had done nothing to further their political progress
• Cromer largely ignored their demands but did appoint a nationalist, Saad Zaghluls Pasha as minister for Education

Question 22

Explain what happened in the Denshawai incident or 1907 and why did this cause a problem for British rule?

Answer 22

• In June 1906, a clash between the British officer and Egyptian villagers as Denshawai was related with horror in Nationalist press
• A series of misunderstandings and high-handed British action led to the arrest of 52 villagers, four of whom were convicted of murder and sentenced to death, 1 was given a life sentence of penal servitude and 26 were given various terms of hard labour and ordered to be flogged
• An Egyptian policeman who testified on behalf of the villagers was given 2 years imprisonment and 50 lashes
• After this incident, Cromer took steps to win over the more moderate of the nationalist but it raised questions
about British rule in the area

Question 23

What did Sir Eldon Gorst do?

Answer 23

• In June 1906, a clash between the British officer and Egyptian villagers as Denshawai was related with horror in Nationalist press
• A series of misunderstandings and high-handed British action led to the arrest of 52 villagers, four of whom were convicted of murder and sentenced to death, 1 was given a life sentence of penal servitude and 26 were given various terms of hard labour and ordered to be flogged
• An Egyptian policeman who testified on behalf of the villagers was given 2 years imprisonment and 50 lashes
• After this incident, Cromer took steps to win over the more moderate of the nationalist but it raised questions
about British rule in the area

Question 24

What did Vidscoumt Herbert Kitchener do?

Answer 24

• Hero of the Boer was and former army commander in chief
• He also tried to curb nationalist sentiment
• British dominance increases in this period

• In 1913, a new legislative Assembly replaces the Advisory Council of Laws and General Assembly. It consisted of 66 elected members and 17 appointed nominees. This represented rich land-owners rather than ordinary Egyptian people
• Britain declared a protectorate over Egypt in November 1914 (after the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers). The ruling Khedive was deposed and his successor, Hussein Kamel, was compelled to declare himself as an independent Sultan of Egypt under British protection

Question 25

What was the situation in Sudan by 1895?

Answer 25

• The Mahdist revolt against the Egyptian government in the Sudan, which had broken out in 1881 and brought about the death of General Gordon at Khartoum in 1885 had left the area in a weakened state
• Khalifa Abdullah succeeded the Mahdi and tried to bring the peoples of the Sudan together under his leadership but the state was plagued by war from internal resistance fighters, disease and famine

Question 26

Why did Britain decide to invade the Sudan?

Answer 26

• Gladstone had always intended to withdraw British troops from Egypt as soon as it was safe. However, Sir Evelyn Baring said that a British evacuation policy for Egypt would be impossible because there was no one who was sufficiently strong or popular to hand the power to. With the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire Egypt became more vital to Britain year by year and by 1889 Salisbury (who became Conservative PM in 1885) accepted Egypt was a permanent responsibility and a first priority in British policy – so naturally that the territories to the south of Egypt were high priority too
• Britain was also concerned about French and German expansion inland in East Africa fearing that the flow of the Nile could be artificially stopped with the result that Egypt’s agriculture would be destroyed and the country ruined
• Between 1888 and 1898 the headwaters of the Nile were the prize in an extended game of chess played by the governments of Britain, Germany, Italy and France and King Leopold II of the Belgians
• Salisbury, therefore, signed a treaty with the Germans in 1890 where they agreed to take Tanganyika while the British took Kenya and Uganda. In 1894, King Leopold pledged not to push his estate’s boundaries to the Upper Nile. Italian expansion on the Red Sea coast at Massawa was regarded as beneficial by the British since it diverted the Khalifa’s attention from the Egyptian borders and Britain had encouraged Italian ambitions there since 1885, in gratitude they promised in 1891 to keep clear of the Nile Valley. However, the Italian forces were defeated as Adowa in 1896, whilst trying to seize Abyssinia so the divisionary help was lost
• Salisbury now had an excuse for a British campaign in the Sudan – it could be sold to the public as a campaign to aid Italy and uphold European civilisation against African barbarianism. It also welcomed the opportunity to avenge general Gordon and, as the French remained hostile the possibility of a French intrusion was one of the reasons why the government sanctioned the first stage of the conquest of the Sudan in March 1896

Question 27

How did Brian gain control of Sudan?

Answer 27

• General Sir Herbert Kitchener, head of the Egyptian army in 1896, was given orders to penetrate Sudanese territory as far as Dongola. Kitchener was determined to go further take Khartoum and conquer the whole region. Kitchener had little imagination and less education. He treated troops as mere cogs in a military machine – he was ‘never seen to address or even notice a private soldier’. Kitchener was a complex character. He was not without a sense of humour: cursed with poor eyesight all his life, he was such a poor shot he named his gundogs Bang, Miss, and Damn. But he had met Gordon as a young soldier and the thought of avenging Gordon brought out the hard man in Kitchener. He encouraged his troops ‘to regard their enemy as vermin – unfit to live’
• He won a resounding success at the Battle of Omdurman 2 September 1898 – at a cost of fewer than fifty British/Egyptian dead there were 11000 Dervish killed and many of the wounded were either shot or left for dead. Winston Churchill condemned this ‘inhumane slaughter’. After the battle, Kitchener proceeded to order the destruction of the Mahdi’s tomb and carried off the Mahdi’s head as a trophy. Omdurman was tantamount to a massacre, which, more than any other encounter between European and native armies, illustrated the gulf between the technology of the industrialised powers and that of their opponents in Africa and Asia
• The initial Egyptian expeditionary force of 10,000 was transported up the Nile by a fleet of pleasure steamers to Wadi Halfa. A railway was then constructed into the heart of the Dervish territory

Question 28

What was the Fashoda incident 1898?

Answer 28

• Salisbury ordered Kitchener to go to Fashoda on the headwaters of the Nile – where a French expedition under Major Marchand had arrived. The both pressed the nations’ claims to the area, Kitchener treated Marchand courteously and, tactfully, had the Egyptian flag rather than the British one hoisted over Fashoda. Kitchener won nothing but praise for his tactful handling of the Fashoda incident, however, Marchand was completely isolated but Kitchener could keep in touch with London via a telegraph cable on the bed of the Nile and the British had an overwhelming force
• The British press, however, published that Britain and France were on the brink of war
• Fortunately for Salisbury, faced with firmness and overwhelming force, Marchand withdrew, believing that he
had upheld his own and his country’s honour. He had the wisdom to realise that by turning Britain into an enemy, perhaps even an ally of Germany, France’s power in Europe would be fatally determined and the French government was already facing internal problems. By an agreement in 1899, the French promised to stay out of the Nile Valley in return for territory in the west

Question 29

How was the Sudan governed after the conquest?

Answer 29

• In 1899, there was an agreement between Britain and Egypt whereby Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was established
• This would be administrated in an arrangement known as a condominium – Sudan would be run by the British with Egyptian support
• Lord Kitchener was appointed as the first Governor-General (who officially ruled in the name of the Khedive of Egypt). He was succeeded by General Reginald Wingate from 1902
• Kitchener was rewarded £30000 for his work in Sudan. He contributed some of it to the setting up of the Gordon Memorial College at Khartoum which trained young Sudanese to run their own country
• Despite Egyptian expectations, Britain frustrated ambitions for the unification of the two countries

Question 30

What were the challenges to British rule in India 1890-1914?

Answer 30

• In the 1890s, political opposition to British rule grew amongst the educated Indian professional classes
• An outlet for protest was founded in the emergence of the growth of nationalist newspapers
• Both Bal Tilak, editor of Kesari, and Shivram Paranjee, founder of Kaal (in 1898) were imprisoned for stirring up hostilities
• Tilak was the first leader of the Indian independence movement, and was known as ‘the father of the Indian unrest’. He formed a close alliance with many Indian National Congress leaders and Tilak was accused of inciting the murder of a medical officer
• The popularity of Kaal led to Pranjee’s arrest for sedition in 1908. He served 19 months imprisonment and hard labour – released in 1910. The British authorities banned the paper and confiscated his writings
• The Abhinar Bharat (Young Indian) organisation, founded by brothers Vinayak and Ganesh Damodar Savarkar in 1903, became the home for several hundred revolutionaries and political activists. Vinayak wrote regular newsletters to his counterparts in India as well as carrying out revolutionary propaganda in London. It established branches in several parts of India and carried out assassinations of British officials, including the district magistrate, Arthur Jackson, and a London based military advisor, Lieutenant-Colonel Curzon-Wyllie in 1909. Vinayak was charged with the Jackson murder and imprisoned in 1910. The society was formally disbanded in1952.
• The partition of Bengal prompted the most vociferous opposition
• Tilak was at the forefront of a swadeshi, or self-sufficiency, a campaign designed to undermine British rule
• Petitions, protests and public boycotts of British goods took place
• The 6-year campaign was successful in as much as Bengal was reunited in 1911. Its methods and principles greatly influenced the later campaigns of Gandhi

Question 31

What were the Challenges to British rule in Sudan?

Answer 31

o Kitchener conquered the Egyptian Sudan – culminating in the Battle of Omdurman and the fall of
Khartoum in 1898
o Many of the Sudanese did welcome the downfall of the Mahdist regime, which had severely damaged the Sudanese economy and see a population decline of 50% through famine, disease, persecution, and warfare. However, the arrival of the British meant little more than exchanging one oppressor for another
o It took Britain more than 30 years to subdue the tribes in South Sudan. Britain attempted to create a modern government, introduce new penal codes, establish land tenure rules and a system of taxation for the first time in Sudan which incensed the Sudanese people. Tribes refused to renounce their customs and pay taxation; inter-tribal feuds persisted, bringing down the heavy hand of British law
o A total of 33 punitive expeditions were mounted to force tribesmen to accept the new order and rebellious natives were often brutally treated
o There were further Mahdist uprisings in 1900, 1902-3, 1904 and 1908. A series of swift public hangings accompanies the last as the British sought to make an example of the rebels – not even affording them a trial
o The region did, however, experience considerable economic development in the hands of the British, particularly in the Nile valley. Telegraph and railway lines were extended to like key areas in northern Sudan and port Sudan opened in 1906, as the country’s principal outlet to the sea. In 1911, a joint government/private initiative set up the Gezira Scheme to provide high-quality cotton for British textile industry and there were also improvements in irrigation schemes

Question 32

How did the Indian rebellion start?

Answer 32

-The rebellion had begun among sepoys serving in the Bengal army. They were mainly peasant soldiers from North India and proud of their military status which set them above the ordinary labourers. However, in 1857, grievances about pay and changes to their condition of service exploded
-The traditional explanation for the outbreak of the rebellion was that the cartridges in the new Enfield rifles they had been issued with had been greased in animal fat, which offended their religious sensibilities: for both Muslims and Hindus, contact with impure cow or pork fat was religiously unacceptable
-However, the real triggers were the anger felt by landlords and nobles who had been deprived of their lands by Governor General Dalhousie, as well as long-standing social and cultural grievances relating to British rule

Question 33

What did the sepoys in bengal then do in Feb 1857?

Answer 33

-The sepoys in Bengal refused to obey orders in Feb. 1857. Other battalions followed suit. At meerut, outside Delhi, sepoys turned on their British officers and a mob set upon local Europeans. Sepoys seized control in most of the Northern cities and there was a short lived attempt to resurrect the old Mughal emperor as a figurehead
-British attempts as westernisation from the 1830s contributed to fears of cultural and religious attack, inflamed by the apparent imposition of caste breaking rules in the Indian army.
-The sepoys were joined not only by sections of the urban population but also by rural populations
-Some rebels were discontented landowners who had lost out under British rule, others were peasants who resented taxation or joined the rebellion to get back at feuding neighbours

Question 34

What happened to areas in Indian after the Indian rebellion?

Answer 34

-Although large areas of India were untouched by the rebellion, the cost in terms of human suffering was immense. The emperor’s sons were swiftly executed so that remaining rebels lost any hope of restoring the Mughal dynasty to rule over India
-Delhi and Lucknow were devastated; villages burnt; rebels tortured and British officers, their wives and children murdered.
-British rule was not entirely reasserted until June 1858 following a final battle at Gwalior, some 180 miles south of Delhi
-If the rebellion had been precipitated by the increasing British presence and control, if not interference, in India, the post rebellion period produced more of the same
-The post rebellion era saw Britain use India as a means to recoup the costs of suppressing the revolt- hence it’s rapid extension of the rail network and, for instance, of the tea trade

Question 35

What was the impact of the Indian rebellion on Government and society in India?

Answer 35

-If the relationship between ruler and ruled had been tense and antagonistic before the rebellion, this was of course further aggravated by the rebellion itself, British reprisals thereafter, and by reporting it received within Britain, which emphasised the violence of the Indian rebels, whilst ignoring much of the brutality of the British
-Belief that the East could be ‘westernised’ was questioned and this fuelled the arrogance of British people buoyed up by social Darwinist theories of superiority. Although the British tried to act in a more religiously sensitive way after the rebellion, they also grew more aloof
-Whereas the earlier years of the century had seen some degree of curiosity about and even admiration for the ‘exotic’ and unfamiliar Indian culture, after 1858 a greater degree of separation set in
-Although the British liked to believe they were administering India fairly, they imposed legal systems which favoured themselves. These were far too complex and expensive to help the poor, particularly in matters of land tenure
-Similarly the supposed equality of opportunity offered by British rule may have provided more educational opportunities for some of the wealthier Indians who formed the new professional classes, but it did little for the mass of peasants; and even those with education found it hard to obtain promotions beyond lower ranks of the colonial bureaucracy
-Some Indian princes and large landlords supported the Raj. However, for more of the population, British rule was regarded with indifference or resentment- despite the colonial pageantry and displays which tried to suggest otherwise

Question 36

What were the benefits and drawbacks of the British Raj?

Answer 36

-The British built railways- but these were gears to needs of control and trade; most villages lacked even mud roads
-The British offered markets for Indian agricultural produce- but this encouraged specialisation in the higher value cash crops (rice and wheat) at the cost of lower value grains (rye, barley etc) which were the main food staple for most of the population. India became dependent on food imports and consumption per head declined
-The British developed schemes for irrigation and land improvements- but these only took place where they supported British commercial interests and affected only 6% of the land
-The British provided Indians with cheap British manufacturers- but India was unable to develop viable industries of it’s own and its economy was skewed
-The British provided schools and universities- but only the privileged few could benefit; illiteracy remained widespread
-The British provided jobs for Indians- on the railways, in the army, police and civil service and as clerks. However, only a minority of Indians could obtain such employment, which was often physically demanding and/ or racially aggravated
-Poverty continued; death rates from famine were high

Question 37

What was the extension of education in India after the rebellion?

Answer 37

-Universities were established in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta in 1857 while elite schools such as Rajkumar college, Mayo college and Bombay’s cathedral school were set up in order to produce ‘Westernised oriental gentlemen’
-In the 30 years following 1857, some 60,000 Indians entered the universities, overwhelmingly in arts, but some 2000 in law
-Of the 1712 Calcutta students to graduate by 1882, over a third entered government service and slightly more went into the legal profession
-Graduates of the 3 universities by 1882 accounted for some 1100 appointments to government service
-Social reformer Mary carpenter visited India four times between 1866 and 1875: she helped establish a corps of British teachers for India, girls’ schools in Bombay and Ahmedbadad, and a college to train female Indian teachers

Question 38

What was the economic change in India after the rebellion?

Answer 38

-The greatest change to the Indian economy following the changes of 1858 was a growth investment- particularly in the railways, which were built more for strategic than economic purposes but which certainly helped stimulate trade and the development of previously inaccessible areas
-Some European style factories were built although, since the bulk of manufactured goods came from Britain, there was virtually no heavy industry
-Subsistence farming prevailed, although the number of tea plantations increased from just 1 in 1851 to 295 by 1871; and there was an increase in the domestic production of raw cotton for export to Britain in the 1880s and 1890s

Question 39

What were the overall attitudes for India by the British?

Answer 39

Many British believed their ‘benign rule’ in India was a genuinely liberating experience for Indians. The Whig reformist T.B Macauley believed that educating Indians to ensure they became ‘English in taste, in opinions, in morals’, was sufficient to justify the British domination of India