The British in India - Topic 6.2 Flashcards
The impact of social and religious change
Why did William Sleeman campaign against thagi?
Governor Bentinck: 1828-35
1829-35
Thagi was highway robbery and ritual murder, mainly affecting central and northern India; the campaign was used to further modernise India. Sleeman captured a thagi and proceeded to write a novel based on his experiences. His captor confessed and described the practices of the secret network; Sleeman devoted himself to its eradication.
What impact did the abolition of thagi have and how was it received?
1835-46
Sleeman was seen as a true imperial hero in Britain as the thagi only targeted other Indians, so he was seen as being altruistic.
The suppression of thagi doesn’t seem to have been regarded as bad by Indians at the time, unlike other reforms.
What was sati and who drove its abolition?
Governor Bentinck: 1828-35
1813-29
Sati was 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 remarriage was not an option for widows. This practice was most common among higher castes, suggesting that the motivation was primarily religious rather than economic necessity.
The campaign was primarily driven by evangelical Christians, such as Wilberforce, and Governor Bentinck.
How was the abolition of sati received in India?
1813-29
Hindu religious philosopher and polymath Ram Mohan Roy also advocated for its abolition and supported the campaign. His sister was forced to commit sati in 1818. However, when Roy counselled Bentinck, he said the ban went to far, and persuasion was the right solution. When the law was passed, Roy was back to supporting its abolition and campaigned for the law to stay in front of the Privy Council in London.
The law only applied in Company territory, however, the British encouraged many princely states to follw suit. For higher caste Indians, it was seen as a deliberate attack on caste purity and the presumption of cultural superiority inherent in the new law was evident.
What was the practice of female infanticide?
The practice of killing baby girls at birth; it stemmed from difficulty of providing dowries for female children and the shame attached to having unmarried daughters.
How was the ban of female infanticide received in India?
Governor Bentinck: 1828-35
The ban materially improved a lot of women in India and such was worthy of celebration. However, they did represent a new departure in terms of government intervention in India society, and with sati, contributed to the rumbling discontent towards British rule.
What was the impact of missionaries in India?
Late 18th century-1947
The baptist mission, at the beginning, was concentrated on education and translation of tge Bible into Bengali. In 1818, a college was set up for the training of indigenous ministers for the growing local church.
Once the Charter Act of 1813 lifted the ban on missionaries, Anglicans and other protestants started to preach in India too.
The evangelical voice was strongly in favour for higher education for Indians, hoping to “educate” a new class of Indians, teach them English and weaken the dominance of the Brahmin caste.
Evangelicalism can be credited in stimulating the Bengal Renaissance. It was a time when complex Western philosophy was translated and fused with local philosophies and create mixed thinking.
As missionaries often lived side-by-side with Indians, poor and living like them to carry out God’s work, the proximity was often the cause of specific local tensions.
