Native policy in India Flashcards
Why were the 1876-78 famines, where 58m faced chronic food shortages, poorly handled? [3]
1) There was under-funding
2) The laissez-faire dogma forbade government intervention
3) There was insufficient railway lines
What administrative errors were there in the 1876-1878 famines? what were the results?[1] [2]
1) Temple calculated that every man could survive off 1 pound of grain a day.
1) This led to 3.5-4m deaths in Madras and 1/4m in Mysore
2) Disease followed; 41,000 in 1876 increased to 189,000 in 1877
British responses after 1876-78 famines [2]
1) Increased railway building- by 1900, railway netowrk doubled to 25,000 miles.
2) Increased irrigation schemes- By 1891, new canal systems made over 10m acres available for cultivation and 1/8 of population reliant upon them.
British response to 1895 and 1896 sparse monsoons which led to 53m Indians facing starvation in the first stage [4]
1) By April 1897; 33m were sustained at gov. labour camps, in which epidemics spread rapidly
2) 68m rupees available to finance relief programme, tax collection continued
3) Elgin refused to interfere with the free market, despite Queen Victoria’s pressure.
4) Elgin did not forbid hoarding, leading to many granaries refusing to open until prices had been driven up
Second phase of British response to 1895/96 sparse monsoons [1]
1) Shift from centralised work camps to relief through villages cut spread of infections
1899-1900 drought death-rate was blamed on what? [1]
The chief commissioner for Gujarat blamed the ‘soft’ habits of its people
Response to 1899-1900 drought and was it successful? [2]
1) Curzon injected plenty into the relief programme
2) No, 800,000 died anywa
What was the British response to the failure of 1907 monsoon? [1]
1) Local officials adopted more flexible, and locally tailored measures
Was there a second motivation for technical improvements? [1] What example of this is there? [2]
1) Yes, they were partly contrived to enrich the British
1) 1887 Chenab canal scheme,
2) It received £3m to make fertile an arid region. Members chosen for their quietism and loyalty
What was the British excuse for the failure of famine-relief operations? [1]
1) There was a tendency to blame the laziness of Indian staff
How many universities were founded in 1857 and which was the largest? [2]
1) 5 universities were founded in 1857
2) Calcutta became the largest in the world by 1900 with 8,000 students
What was the problem with the syllabus in Indian unis?
The syllabus responded to student’s aspirations rather than national needs, this led to a lack of doctors
Who benefitted the most from Indian unis?
What was the problem with this?
Upper/ middle class Bengalis, but there was concern that their advancement to positions of authority would exacerbate caste and religous divisions due to prejudice
What acts of junior soldiers were tolerated?
The rape and murder of natives by junior soldiers was tolerated
How were indian subordinates treated in the army?
Indian insubordinates were beaten commonly
How did Curzon try to respond to offences in the army? [2]
1) Curzon tried to discipline offenders where possible.
2) However European support was always overwhelmingly on the side of the white offender
What was the 1905 partition of Bengal a clear example of? [1]
Divide and rule
What religious policy was adopted in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny? [1]
Religious laissez-faire
Cuts were made to missionary programmes as well as ‘reformist’ plans that had potential to trigger another mutiny
After the religious laissez-faire, what did the British shift their focus to? [2]
1) They shifted policy towards an economic focus
2) Improving the material situation of Indians
Name one key method for improving Indian economics [1] what other benefit did this have?
1) Building railroads
2) This also increased the security of the Raj
By how much did railroads expand 1857-1900?
under 300 miles in 1857 to almost 25,000 miles by 1900
What proportion of cultivated land was supplied with an integrated irrigation system by 1900?
1/6 approximately
What public works were undertaken in India? [5]
Lighting, postal and telegraph/communications systems as well as roads and irrigation systems
What were the motives for the economic improvement of India? [2]
1) To reduce Indian famine, which was endemic
2) To facilitate economic development, which was also in British interests
What was Britain reluctant to directly fund?
What were the results of this?
Britain was reluctant to directly fund industrial development to maintain reduced state intervention and to protect British interests (such as Lancashire cotton industry)
This accelerated the demise of indigenous industries like crafts as they got outcompeted
Despite initiating modernising programmes, what was India’s economic focus? [3]
To provide goods such as; 1) cotton
2) opium
3) rice to the empire
Most trade and development was left to private enterprise
Give an example of India’s provision of goods [2]
Raw cotton industry brought £13 million compared to manufactured cotton industry, valued at £2 million
What did the British do at Lucknow after the Mutiny? [6]
1) British expelled population
2) turned the principal mosque into temporary barracks
3) demolished 2/5 of the town
4) This was all payed for by the inhabitants, who were banned from returning until they had settled their tax bills
5) New Lucknow railway station was structured like a fortress and its platforms were built for disembarking reinforcements
6) Lucknow demonstrated that the foundation of the British Raj in India was military force
Why was Simla used by Europeans?
Indian summer was too hot, Simla was a mountain town that was cooler in summers
what was established in Simla and when?
They Viceroy’s official summer residence
in 1864
What was the trend shown as Britons came to know Africans and Indians? [1] why? [1]
The more they knew them, the less respect they had for them
They had a tendency to confuse strangeness for inferiority
Why did explorers get along with natives? [2]
1) The explorers were vulnerable and so in order to stay safe, they were tactical and adaptable to get along with the natives
2) They were after knowledge, not concerned with customs or religion therefore respected them
What was the difference in attitudes between explorers and missionaries? [1]
Missionaries were committed to changing the practices of the natives and did not approve of the customs
What were missionaries worried about when their families were with them?
They were worried that they would get contaminated by African talk and practices, therefore they were more critical of them
How did Britons in groups act towards Africans? [2]
1) They felt more superior and more protected
2) They therefore respected the Africans less
What was the early belief about Africans? [2]
1) That they were ‘noble savages’
2) They were simple and happy, a very patronising attitude
Comparatively who was regarded more highly, Indians or Africans? [2]
1) The Indians were regarded more highly; due to their loyalty, courage and strenght
2) Africans were seen by the British middle class as dirty, immoral, untruthful, devious, idle, and like excitable children
How did Milner advise his successor in April 1905 to reconstruct SA’s economy? [1]
To instigate a policy in Africa that would use the gold mines to reconstruct the economy and ensure it remained loyal
What were ‘forward imperialists’ such as Milner reluctant to do? [1]
They were reluctant to trust anyone outside the ‘race’making them tougher and less charitable
How did the Britons view the Boers? [1] how did they want to counter this? [3]
1) They saw the Boers as a threat to the empire
1) They wanted to dispose of the Afrikaans language
2) To make history taught in Boer schools ‘impartial’ and imperial
3) To introduce ‘loyal’ Britons to SA to outnumber the Boers
How did Britons view Africans and Asians? [1]
Why? [2]
1) They viewed Africans and Asians as untrustworthy
2) They thought they were racially incompetent
3) self-governance was out of the question
How was African society viewed? [4]
1) Primitive
2) Backward
3) lacking in artistic culture
4) It did not comply to the standards for a good society that European countries had set themselves.
As the Africans could not rule themselves, what was the policy adopted by the British? [2]
1) ‘respect based on fear’
2) Some believed that the Empire would last forever, as a ‘permanent guidance’ to the colonies
What was the assumption about the African attitudes, made by the British? [2]
1) They thought of nationalists as unrepresentative
2) They assumed that the population wanted a good government guarenteed by the British to self-governance, which would allow those in power to exploit the poorer classes of the population
What was the assumption about suppressing nationalism? [1]
1) They assumed that, by keeping the masses happy through low taxation and relaxed laws, nationalist agitation could be avoided without giving them power
What did Milner think would appease the masses? [3]
1) Governing justly
2) Treating them well
3) encouraging work in gold mines to teach them skilled labour
What did Cromer believe would appease the masses? [3]
1) Stable finances
2) low taxes
3) honest administration
Why, according to Cromer could his subjects never rule themselves? [1]
Because they had the ‘oriental mind’
What was the common stereotype for an oriental? [2]
1) Incompetent
2) untrustworthy
What prevented nationalism, according to Cromer?
Being well-fed. Cromer therefore focused on material interests
Once it became apparent that nationalism was growing, what tactic was adopted?
The British made concessions so as to isolate the extremists, as was the case with India and Tilak
Why did concessions to moderates fail in Egypt? [4]
1) Revolution in turkey stimulated nationalist feelings
2) Insensitivities of the British at Denshawai
3) 1909 proposal to delay the Suez Canal’s reversion to Egypt for a further 40 years after 1968
4) British favoured Coptic Christians in favour of Muslims
What were Cromer’s 1907 concessions in Egypt? [2]
1) Appointed a nationalist as head of Education Ministry
2) Encouraged them to form a political party
all to isolate the extremists
What were Gorst’s concessions to Egyptians after Cromer’s departure? [2]
1) Increased Egyptian participation in local government
2) Strenghtened the powers of the Khedive, traditional authority
What were the more repressive measures enacted by Gorst? [2]
1) A ‘Relegation law’ to imprison criminals without trial
2) Press censorship act
What, in 1911 did Kitchener do?
He gave the Egyptians more power and representation which led to greater nationalist complaints
What was Cromer’s attitude to the Egyptians? [4]
1) He disliked Islan
2) Patronising of current education there
3) Prohibited reading of the Qu’ran
4) Increased education by opening more schools and increased quality of education
What did Goldie hire Lugard to do in July 1894?
1) He hired Lugard to form treaties with natives, to favour the British over the French
What did Britain do in West African peoples who refused to part with the slave-trade?
1) Goldie launched a war against Bida and Ilorin
This was a fearsome demonstration of the RNC’s military force
How was the Bida and Ilorin war ended? what were the results? [1] [3]
1) Through diplomatic camel trading
1) Britain secured Borgu and Lagos
2) Britain secured the Oil Rivers Protectorate
3) Lagos and the Oil Rivers Protectorate were combined in 1900 as Southern Nigeria
Where did amalgamation happen in Nigeria, second?
What problems did they face there?
Amalgamation occurred with Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast.
Native troops thought that they could plunder and rape
What did Goldie and Lugard use the Fulani princes for generally? [2]
1) They appreciated their running of their law courts and admin.
2) They therefore cooperated, rather than dominated, them.
What did Britain need the Fulani to put down? [2]
1) The 1902-4 Sokoto and Kano uprisings
2) The large Mahdist milennialism rebellion in February 1905
What was the name of the tactic Lugard employed with the Fulani?
Lugard used the Fulani for indirect rule
Benefits of indirect rule? [2]
1) It’s cheap
2) It requires little manpower
What metaphor did Chamberlain use to describe the colonies? [1]
He described them as outlying ‘estates’ which could be made profitable for the owner and the inhabitants
What happened in Kenya 1903? [2]
1) A huge upland area was set aside for white settlement; it had a temperate climate and fertile soil
2) A stip a mile wide either side of the Mombassa to the Indian Ocean railway was reserved for Europeans
How did the British force Kenyans into the wage earning economy? [3]
1) There was an annual hut tax of 3 rupees per hut
2) There was a tax of 3 rupees per wife for polygamous hur owners
3) Poll tax of 3 rupees for every adlt non-homeowner
What was the British belief about why Africans initially struggled in wage-earning economy? 1
They believed that the Africans had ingrained laziness
How were black miners treated?
Brutally: a sjambok, rhino-hide whip, was used on them
What did the Crown Ordinance Act 1915 introduce? [1]
It stated that Europeans could not appoint non-Europeans to be a manager or otherwise to occupy or be in control of the land leased
To maintain control what did the British do after WW1?
1) The Governor appropriated 12,810 km squared of Afriacn land and 1500 European veterans were settled there.
What triggered the British appropriation of African land
The Land Acquisition Act of India 1894
What was the intention of the white highlands scheme?
It was intended to exploit the natives’ free labour for the capitalist economy