Dec 15, · The British Company’s win over the Portuguese in a maritime battle off the coast of India () won them the much desired trading concessions from the Mughal Empire. In its first factories were established in India in Surat followed by acquisition of Madras (Chennai) in , Bombay in , and Calcutta in Since the 18th century, the United Kingdom has been one of the world's largest tea consumers, with an average annual per capita supply of kilograms ( lb). Originally an upper-class drink in Europe, tea gradually spread through all classes, eventually becoming a common blogger.com is still considered an important part of the British identity and is a prominent feature of British What countries were in the British Empire? The British Empire stretched into each part of the world. Territories were held across the continents. There remain 14 British Territories Overseas. Former colonies of the British Empire. The year of Independence is shown. Afghanistan Antigua and Barbuda Australia The Bahamas Bahrain Barbados
A Timeline of India in the s (British Raj)
The region was sometimes called the Indian Empirethough not officially. As "India", it was a founding member of the League of Nationsa participating nation in the Summer Olympics in, andand a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in This system of governance was instituted on 28 Junewhen, after the Indian Rebellion ofthe rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria [11] who, inwas proclaimed Empress of India.
It lasted untilwhen the British Raj was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states: the Dominion of India later the Republic of India and the Dominion of Pakistan later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Bangladesh, british empire essay. At the inception of the Raj inbritish empire essay, Lower Burma was already a part of British India; Upper Burma was added inbritish empire essay, and the resulting union, british empire essay, Burma was administered as an autonomous province untilwhen it became a separate British colony, gaining its own independence in and later Myanmar.
The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, british empire essay, except for small holdings by other European nations such as Goa and Pondicherry. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from until its independence in The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf and the states under the Persian Gulf Residency were theoretically princely states as well as presidencies and provinces of British India until and used the rupee as their unit of currency.
Among other countries in the region, Ceylonwhich british empire essay referred to coastal regions and northern part of the island at that time now Sri Lanka was ceded to Britain in british empire essay the Treaty of Amiens.
These coastal regions were temporarily administered under Madras Presidency between and[16] but for later periods the British governors reported to London, and it was not part of the Raj. The kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutanhaving fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. Although the rebellion had shaken the British enterprise in India, it had not derailed it.
After the war, the British became more circumspect. Much thought was devoted to the causes of the rebellion and three main lessons were drawn. First, at a practical level, british empire essay, it was felt that there needed to be more communication and camaraderie between the British and Indians—not just between British army officers and their Indian staff but in civilian life as well. New regiments, like the Sikhs and Baluchis, composed of Indians who, in British estimation, british empire essay, had demonstrated steadfastness, were formed.
From then on, the Indian army was to remain unchanged in its organisation until Of these only about 41, were civilians as compared with about 84, European officers and men of the Army. Second, it was also felt that both the princes and the large land-holders, by not british empire essay the rebellion, had proved to be, in Lord Canning's words, "breakwaters in a storm".
Consequently, no more land reforms were implemented for the next 90 years: Bengal and Bihar were to remain the realms of large land holdings unlike the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, british empire essay. Third, the British felt disenchanted with Indian reaction to social change, british empire essay.
Until the rebellion, they had enthusiastically pushed through social reform, like the ban on sati by Lord William Bentinck. The proclamation stated that 'We disclaim alike our Right and Desire to impose Our Convictions on british empire essay of Our Subjects'; [28] demonstrating official British commitment to abstaining from social intervention in India.
Lakshmibaithe Rani of Jhansi, one of the principal leaders of the Indian Rebellion ofwho earlier british empire essay lost her kingdom as a result of Lord Dalhousie 's Doctrine of Lapse.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khanfounder of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental Collegelater the Aligarh Muslim Universitywrote one of the early critiques, The Causes of the Indian Mutiny. An souvenir portrait of Queen Victoria as Empress of Indiabritish empire essay, 30 years after the war, british empire essay.
Viceroy, Lord Canningbritish empire essay, meets the ruler of the princely state of Jammu and KashmirRanbir Singhbritish empire essay March Kashmir, like Hyderabad, Mysore, and the states of the Rajputana, supported the British during the Rebellion of Bya new middle class had arisen in India and spread thinly across the country.
Moreover, there was a growing solidarity among its members, created by the "joint stimuli of encouragement and irritation". It came too from Queen Victoria's proclamation of in which she had declared, "We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same obligation of duty which bind us to all our other subjects.
Irritation, on the other hand, came not just from incidents of racial discrimination at the hands of the British in India, but british empire essay from governmental actions like the use of Indian troops in imperial campaigns e. in the Second Anglo-Afghan War and the attempts to control the vernacular press e. in the Vernacular Press Act of It was, however, Viceroy Lord Ripon 's partial reversal of the Ilbert Billa legislative measure that had proposed putting Indian judges in the Bengal Presidency on equal footing with British ones, that british empire essay the discontent into political action.
The seventy men founded the Indian National Congress ; Womesh Chunder Bonerjee was elected the first president. The membership comprised a westernised elite and no effort was made at this time to broaden the base.
During its first twenty years, the Congress primarily debated British policy toward India; however, its debates created a new Indian outlook that held Great Britain responsible for draining India of its wealth.
Britain did this, the nationalists claimed, by unfair trade, british empire essay, by the restraint on indigenous Indian industry, british empire essay, and by the use of Indian taxes to pay the high salaries of the British civil servants in India. Thomas Baring served as Viceroy of India — Baring's major accomplishments came as an energetic reformer who was dedicated to upgrading the quality of government in the British Raj. He began large scale famine relief, reduced taxes, and overcame bureaucratic obstacles in an effort to reduce both starvation and widespread social unrest.
Although appointed by a Liberal government, his policies were much the same as Viceroys appointed by Conservative governments. Social reform was in the air by the s. For example, Pandita Ramabaipoet, Sanskrit scholar, and a champion of the emancipation of Indian women, took up the cause of widow remarriage, especially of Brahmin widows, later converted to Christianity. Congress member Gopal Krishna Gokhale founded the Servants of India Societybritish empire essay, which lobbied for legislative reform for example, for a law to permit the remarriage of Hindu child widowsand whose members took vows of poverty, and worked among the untouchable community.
Bya deep gulf opened between the moderates, led by Gokhale, who downplayed public agitation, and the new "extremists" who not only advocated agitation, but also regarded the pursuit of social reform as a distraction from nationalism. Prominent among the extremists was Bal Gangadhar Tilakbritish empire essay, who attempted to mobilise Indians by appealing to an explicitly Hindu political identity, displayed, for example, in the annual public Ganapati festivals that he inaugurated in western India.
The viceroy, Lord Curzon —was unusually energetic in pursuit of efficiency and reform. Trouble emerged for Curzon when he divided the largest administrative subdivision in British India, the Bengal Provinceinto the Muslim-majority province of Eastern Bengal and Assam and the Hindu-majority province of West Bengal present-day Indian states of West BengalBiharand Odisha. Curzon's act, the Partition of Bengalbritish empire essay, had been contemplated by various colonial administrations since the time of Lord William Bentinck, british empire essay, but was never acted upon.
Though some considered it administratively felicitous, it was communally charged. It sowed the seeds of division among Indians in Bengal, transforming nationalist politics as nothing else before it. The Hindu elite of Bengal, british empire essay them many who owned land in East Bengal that was leased out to Muslim peasants, protested fervidly.
Following the Partition of Bengalwhich was a strategy set out by Lord Curzon to weaken the nationalist movement, Tilak encouraged the Swadeshi movement and the Boycott movement. The Swadeshi movement consisted of the usage of natively produced goods. Once foreign goods were boycotted, there was a gap which had to be filled by the production of those goods in India itself. Bal Gangadhar Tilak said that the Swadeshi and Boycott movements are two sides of the same coin.
The large Bengali Hindu middle-class the Bhadralokupset at the prospect of Bengalis being outnumbered in the new Bengal province by Biharis and Oriyas, felt that Curzon's act was punishment for their political assertiveness.
The pervasive protests against Curzon's decision took the form predominantly of the Swadeshi "buy Indian" campaign led by two-time Congress president, Surendranath Banerjeeand involved boycott of British goods. The rallying cry for both types of protest was the slogan Bande Mataram "Hail to the Mother"which invoked a mother goddess, who stood variously for Bengal, India, and the Hindu goddess Kali. Sri Aurobindo never went beyond the law when he edited the Bande Mataram magazine; it preached independence but within the bounds of peace as far as possible.
Its goal was Passive Resistance. Some joined local political youth clubs emerging in Bengal at the time, some engaged in robberies to fund arms, and even attempted to take the lives of Raj officials, british empire essay. However, the conspiracies generally failed in the face of intense police work. The swadeshi cloth, although more expensive and somewhat less comfortable than its Lancashire competitor, was worn as a mark of national pride by people all over India.
The Hindu protests against the partition of Bengal led the Muslim elite in India to organise in the All India Muslim League. The League favoured the partition of Bengal, since it gave them a Muslim majority in the eastern half.
Inwhen Tilak and Lajpat Rai attempted to rise to leadership positions in the Congress, and the Congress itself rallied around the symbolism of KaliMuslim fears increased. The Muslim elite, including Dacca Nawab and Khwaja Salimullahexpected that a new province with a Muslim majority would directly benefit Muslims aspiring to political power.
The first steps were taken toward self-government in British India in the late 19th century with the appointment of Indian counsellors to advise the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial councils with Indian members; the British subsequently widened participation in legislative councils with the Indian Councils Act of British empire essay Corporations and District Boards were created for local administration; they included elected Indian members.
The Indian Councils Actknown as the Morley-Minto Reforms John Morley was the secretary of state for India, and Minto was viceroy —gave Indians limited roles in the central and provincial legislatures. Upper class Indians, rich landowners and businessmen british empire essay favoured. The Muslim british empire essay was made a separate electorate and granted double representation.
The goals were quite conservative but they did advance the elective principle. The partition of Bengal was rescinded in and announced at the Delhi Durbar at which King George V came in person and was crowned Emperor of India. He announced the capital would be moved from Calcutta to Delhi.
This period saw an increase in the activities of revolutionary groupswhich included Bengal's Anushilan Samiti and the Punjab's Ghadar Party. The British authorities were, however, british empire essay, able to crush violent rebels swiftly, in part because the mainstream of educated Indian politicians opposed violent revolution.
Hakim Ajmal Khana founder of the Muslim League, british empire essay, became the president of the Indian National Congress in Lord Minto, the Conservative viceroy met with the Muslim delegation in June The Minto-Morley Reforms of called for separate Muslim electorates.
The First World War would prove to be a watershed in the imperial relationship between Britain british empire essay India. Shortly before the outbreak of war, british empire essay, the Government of India had indicated that they could furnish two divisions plus a cavalry brigade, with a further division in case of emergency.
Their participation had a wider cultural fallout as news spread of how bravely soldiers fought and died alongside British soldiers, as well as soldiers from dominions like Canada and Australia. At the onset of World War I, the reassignment of most of the British army in India to Europe and Mesopotamiahad led the previous viceroy, Lord Hardingto worry about the "risks involved in denuding India of troops".
However, since the Government of India wanted to ensure against any sabotage of the reform process by extremists, and since its reform plan was devised during a time when extremist violence had ebbed as a result of increased governmental control, it also began to consider how some of its wartime powers could be extended into peacetime.
After the split between british empire essay moderates and the extremists in the Indian National Congressorganised political activity by the Congress had remained fragmented untilwhen Bal Gangadhar Tilak was released from british empire essay and began to sound out other Congress leaders about possible reunification.
That, however, had to wait until the demise of Tilak's principal moderate opponents, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehtain british empire essay, whereupon an agreement was reached for Tilak's ousted group to re-enter the Congress. to confer self-government on India at an early date".
fifty years forward The reforms after the war will have to be such, as will satisfy the aspirations of her India's people to take their legitimate part in the administration of their own country. The Lucknow Session of the Congress was also the venue of an unanticipated mutual effort by the Congress and the Muslim League, the occasion for which was provided by the wartime partnership between Germany and Turkey. Since the Turkish Sultanor Khalifahhad also sporadically claimed guardianship of the Islamic holy sites of MeccaMedinaand Jerusalemand since the British and their allies were now in conflict with Turkey, doubts began to increase among some Indian Muslims about the "religious neutrality" of the British, doubts that had already surfaced as a result of the reunification of Bengal ina decision that was seen as ill-disposed to Muslims, british empire essay.
Inthe Muslim League had anywhere between and members and did not yet have british empire essay wider following among Indian Muslims that it enjoyed in later years; british empire essay the League itself, the pact did not have unanimous backing, having largely been negotiated by a group of "Young Party" Muslims from the United Provinces UPmost prominently, british empire essay, two brothers Mohammad and Shaukat Aliwho had embraced the Pan-Islamic cause; [53] however, it did have the support of a young lawyer from Bombay, Muhammad Ali Jinnahwho was later to rise to leadership roles in both the League and the Indian independence movement.
In later years, british empire essay, as the full ramifications of the pact unfolded, it was seen as benefiting the Muslim minority élites of provinces like UP and Bihar more than the Muslim majorities of Punjab and Bengal; nonetheless, at the time, british empire essay, the "Lucknow Pact" was an important milestone in nationalistic agitation and was seen as such by the British.
Duringtwo Home Rule Leagues were founded within the Indian National Congress by Tilak and Annie Besantrespectively, to promote Home Rule among Indians, and british empire essay to elevate the stature of the founders within the Congress itself.
Expansion of the British Empire in Africa - A level History
, time: 21:56The Colonization of Africa
What countries were in the British Empire? The British Empire stretched into each part of the world. Territories were held across the continents. There remain 14 British Territories Overseas. Former colonies of the British Empire. The year of Independence is shown. Afghanistan Antigua and Barbuda Australia The Bahamas Bahrain Barbados Jun 30, · And India was very much an outpost of the mighty British Empire. s: The British East India Company Arrived. After several attempts to open trade with a powerful ruler of India failed in the earliest years of the s, King James I of England sent a personal envoy, Sir Thomas Roe, to the court of the Mogul emperor Jahangir in Since the 18th century, the United Kingdom has been one of the world's largest tea consumers, with an average annual per capita supply of kilograms ( lb). Originally an upper-class drink in Europe, tea gradually spread through all classes, eventually becoming a common blogger.com is still considered an important part of the British identity and is a prominent feature of British
No comments:
Post a Comment