During the 1500’s to the late 1900’s, Great Britain became one of the biggest world powers, taking control of many different territories around the world. These territories that Great Britain controlled during this period of time are referred to as British Empire. The British Empire had a great impact pertaining to topics such as global culture, language, and politics. Furthermore, at its highest point, Great Britain managed to conquer over thirteen-million square miles of land, including more than four-hundred-fifty-million people. However, after the 1900’s, the territories that formed the British Empire began to become independent and a large quantity of those territories are now part of an association known as the Commonwealth of Nations. …show more content…
India, as well as Britain, has a very extensive history. During the years, India has been ruled by a series of dynasties. Out of all these dynasties, the most distinguished would be the Gupta Dynasty. This Dynasty ruled India from 320 A.D., to 500. Throughout this period of time, subjects like Indian art, literature, mathematics, philosophy, and science excelled. Nevertheless, during the 1600’s, Great Britain started to make an appearance in Indian history, and with this, came great unhappiness from the Indian side. Prior to Britain’s rule of India, India was governed by the Mughal Empire. This empire brought great political stability to India. However, during the seventeenth century, Great Britain began to present itself in India and, with this, came a great deal of changes political-wise, as well as economically and social-wise. In the year 1601, a man with the name of William Hawkins proposed the idea of establishing a British presence in India to the court of Jahangir. This proposal was denied by the court. Conversely, another man called Thomas Roe presented the same idea to the Mughal Emperor in the year 1617, …show more content…
The book History the Definitive Visual Guide (2010) states, “The desire for power and wealth has led nations to expand their influence far beyond their frontiers. India became the jewel in the British Empire’s crown, and the British Raj (Hindi for “rule)—which ran from 1858 to 1947—was the culmination of decades of British evolvement and domination in the Indian subcontinent.” This information explains how, as a result of Britain’s selfishness and lust for power and wealth, the Indian’s warred against the British in a rebellion called the Raj, which lasted eighty-nine years. To emphasize, when Britain first arrived in India, they created the East Indian Company, that was Britain’s trading industry in India. This trading industry became a world potency. They received great new advantages in India. On the other hand, the Indians did not feel this way. For this reason, they rebelled. Subordinate to the Company, many Indian soldiers began to present rebellious behavior because of the way the British treated them. Nevertheless, the British did not appreciate this behavior and, for this reason, were the first to be sent to different countries to fight in wars. Afterwards, many soldiers began to suppress these rebellious actions, in fear of what the British would do to them. Conversely, this fear-created silence only lasted for so long. In the year 1857, a rumor
Marshall, Peter. "The British Presence in India in the 18th Century." http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/east_india_01.shtml (accessed June 8, 2014).
There is a point of time in certain a country’s history where they become dominant and more powerful than ever before. During this elongated process a country becomes an empire. The British and the Ottomans were states that succeeded in this process, but becoming an empire such as theirs required vast amounts of political and social maneuvering to expand their boundaries, called imperialism. Imperialism is, “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force”. By becoming a modern nation enjoying economic prosperity and political stability, the British and the Ottomans created an imperialistic impact over the globe with distinctive motivations and approaches especially during the transition period of gaining ample amount power and influence globally.
India was where the riches of the world came from, the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. The British needed to dispel the threat of other Europeans in Africa to maintain control of India, and they did so efficiently. They quickly gained control of both the major sea routes to India and then turned their eyes to the rest of the continent. Whether the British were trying to foster public support or prevent another nation from becoming a threat, all British actions in Africa were directly or indirectly linked to India. The British were motivated by their desire to become powerful, and they skillfully combined enterprise and conquest to create a globe spanning empire centered around the wealth of India.
India was also being eyed by the British government not just for its profit but for its potential. Later, India was referred to as the “brightest jewel in the crown.” The British laid down the foundation of a modern country for India introducing police, employing many Indians and educating Indians in British schools. On the other hand the British took complete control of India, took most of the natural resources and left the majority of India uneducated.
The Effects of British Imperialism in India One could approach this topic from two points of view: the British and the Indian. One could choose either party and find very different opinions. When British colonizers first arrived in India, they slowly gained more and more control in India through many ways, the most prominent being trade and commerce. At first, they managed India’s government by pulling the string behind the curtain. However, soon they had acquired complete rule over India, converting it into a true British colony.
British imperialism promised many benefits to the subcontinent of India; however, the negative consequences that came with the colonizing of the Mughal Empire overarched the positives and thus drove Indians in both rural and urban areas to seek independence in the 20th century.
The British Empire is the largest empire ever seen on the face of this planet. The empire was divided into two. The first part of the empire revolved around the British colonies in America that were popularly known as the thirteen colonies. These gained independence from Britain in 1783. The second part of the empire, which developed from the first empire, came later. It started during the Napoleonic wars and survived throughout the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. In fact, the British withdrew from its last colony, Hong Kong, in 1997; indeed the empire lasted for a long time. It developed from India and spun to regions of Africa and Australia. The influence and the power of the empire spun around the world shaping it in different ways. This influence is still evident in many places that fell under its control (Ferguson, 2004). To many people the world is the way it is due to the effects of the British Empire. Certainly, this empire just like other numerous empires before it and after it had triumphs and humiliations; however, the fact that this empire had numerous good effects cannot be overemphasized. The empire impacted positively on Britain and the colonies.
The British colonization of India caused and still continues to cause great controversy among historians and can be considered as one of the most polarizing topics in history. Throughout the period of imperialism, Britain possessed the largest empire in the world and other countries viewed Britain as the most successful and powerful imperialist country. They colonized countries in order to improve their own political and economic situation as well as those of the colonies. This type of symbiotic relationship evidently occurred between the British and India, seen from their successful colonization. Before the British colonization, India mired in turmoil because of their unjust government and their unsuccessful political and economic systems.
There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. From positive affects to negative affects, British colonized India. It all started around the 1600’s when the British East India Company entered India. Only as traders, they entered what was known as the Mughal Empire. Around the 1757 Battle of Plassey the Mughal empire fell (Carrick) and it was only a matter of time until the British Raj took their once in a lifetime chance.
There were many reasons for this rebellion, and the Company’s rapid spread through the sub-continent during the 18th and early 19th century had not boosted matters. The rebels, many of whom were the Indian troops within the Company’s army (which at this time was over 200,000 men strong, with around 80% of the force made up of Indian recruits) arrested their employers off guard and succeeded in killing many British soldiers, civilians and Indians loyal to the Company. In revenge for this rebellion, the Company killed thousands of Indians, both rebel fighters as well as a large number of civilians realized to be sympathetic to the insurgence. This was the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. India, having previously been an group of independent and semi-independent princedoms and territories, underwent great change under British administration. Originally intended to consolidate their hold on India by establishing a population that spoke the same language as their rulers, the British decision in the 1830s to educate Indians in a Western fashion, with English as the language of instruction, was the beginning of a chain of events, including a rise in Indian nationalism, that led to Indian resentment of British imperialism and ultimately to the loss of British control over India.
The decision to grant independence to India was not the logical culmination of errors in policy, neither was it as a consequence of a mass revolution forcing the British out of India, but rather, the decision was undertaken voluntarily. Patrick French argues that: “The British left India because they lost control over crucial areas of the administration, and lacked the will and the financial or military ability to recover that control”.
The British administered India for a period of about two centuries and brought about revolutionary changes in
Despite numerous conflicts with the British and with the Muslims, India fought for its rights by doing what they felt was right. India under the British rule had some benefits as the new school system and outlawing sati but they did manage to trouble the Indians with taxation and other laws. Gandhi who was an outstanding, important figure in India’s way for independence who taught to fight with nonviolence.
India is a very ancient country, the country which has been known to the world since ages because of this the country has been known with many names i.e. Bharath, Aryavarta, Jambudvipa, Hindustan, Bharathvarsha etc. Many historians believe that oldest remains have been found of the era more than 55,000 years back! The Vedas (Oldest Indian Scripture) has been composed during the period of 2000-500 BCE. The Indian subcontinent was many distributed alone the lines of river Ganges. The northwestern plains were divided into many ruling states called "Mahajanpadas" The was flourished in culture, are and literature. There were many ancient scriptures were written as the country has spread its culture upto the distance south India. Gupta Empire has been known as the most important for the growth of classical Sanskrit literature, Indian Science, Medicine and mathematics. The Indian Mythology which has now been called as mythology is not actually a mythology, there is a greater significance of historical data and other evidences based on the ancient scenario of the understanding of the people, their values, culture, knowledge, strategic aptitudes and their society as whole.