The Indian Mutiny And The Taiping Rebellion

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The Indian Mutiny and the Taiping Rebellion are both indigenous reactions to globalization; however, each rebellion differs in its’ method and purpose. During the 19th Century globalization was on the center stage. Western nations were expanding aggressively and industrial goods and ships were reaching every part of the world. Great Britain was at the helm of this conquest. It had taken control of India and was also becoming a heavy influence in Asia, especially China. While Britain’s main motivation was economic, their presence and integration in India was causing a major change in parts of Asia. “The response to Western impact depended on the internal array of forces in each country.” Japan and China are an example of these reactions. The Indian Mutiny was a rebellion against the cultural changes that were happening in India. In China, the Taiping Rebellion favored Western ideals and was rebelling against the Qing dynasty. In other words, the Taiping Rebellion fought for change, while the Indian Mutiny was against change.
The Indian Mutiny began as a revolt in 1857, it was also known as the Sepoy Mutiny. It was a series of anti-British uprisings that successfully demonstrated a unification of spirit. The indigenous people of India resented the burdens of domination by the British. The Indians tolerated the British in the beginning largely because the British did not infringe on the Indians’ traditional cultural practices. Some of the British even inter-married with the Indians. As time moved on the British began to impose itself on the Indians. The most significant incident that sparked the Indian Mutiny was the British not respecting the Indian religious and cultural practices. “A series of incidents bega...

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... was his right to overthrow the Qing emperor and bring equality to the people. He fought to change the current policies and laws in his country. The Taiping Rebellion, unlike the Indian Mutiny, did not want to remove outside influence, but internal ones. Both of these rebellions were a direct result of the Western world’s push for globalization and they both had impacts on their governing bodies. One cannot help to see that though there were similarities in these revolts they were strikingly different. The Taiping Rebellion wanted to eradicate and replace the Qing dynasty, whereas, the Indian Mutiny wanted to free of the British Crown. Britain had created great social change in both countries, and this was the cause of the indigenous masses to revolts. Both were the consequences of Western intrusion and both ultimately failed to achieve their ultimate goal.

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