Introduction

Question 1

What is indentured labor?

Answer 1

new system of exploitation after abolition of slavery; contract binding people to work on a specific plantation for a specific time period; a lot of Indians relocated as indentured laborers –> languages moved with them

Question 2

What are the Varnas in the caste system?

Answer 2

1. Brahmin: keepers of religious knowledge and ritual
2. Kshatriya: warriors, defenders of the social order
3. Vaisya: merchants and land owners; create material wealth
   –> those 3 said to be twice born –> allowed to perform certain rituals and recite religious texts
4. Sudra: laborers, farmers etc.; serving the upper 3 castes
5. Dalits (= the oppressed): handling dead animals etc. massive discrimination; caste based discrimination legally banned

Question 3

What are the origins of the caste system?

Answer 3

the Vedas; about 3000 year-old collection of texts; descriptions of basic social hierarchy of society

Question 4

What changed between 1750 and 1900?

Answer 4

1750: India and China were economically the most important and powerful (highly industrialized for the time); UK (wasn’t UK yet) was not important at all;
Economic importance of India declining drastically while UK climbs up
–> role of colonialism; “the making of the 3rd world”

Question 5

What are the two major periods of British rule in India?

Answer 5

• company Raj (1757-1857)
  (The Great Rebellion)
• Crown Raj (1858-1947)