EFFECTS OF IMPERIALISM ON INDIA



|EFFECTS OF IMPERIALISM ON INDIA |

|NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF BRITISH RULE |POSITIVE EFFECTS OF BRITISH RULE |

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BRITISH RULE IN INDIA

“In India, every European is automatically a member of the ruling race. Railway carriages, station waiting rooms, benches in parks are marked “For Europeans Only.” To have to put up with this in one’s own country is a humiliating reminder of our enslaved condition”

During the many years of British control, significant changes were brought about in Indian life, thought, and work. India, for the first time in its history, was completely unified. There was a greater degree of peace, law, and order, relief from famine, personal freedom and political unity than the Indian people had even known before.

The best and most expensive railroad system in all of Asia was constructed. Its 4000 miles of railroad track, in 1871, had been increased ten times by 1941. A national postal and telegraph network had been established. A canal system helped irrigate and reclaim millions of acres of land for agriculture.

Public health measures against cholera, smallpox, and other deadly diseases helped lower the death rate. The population of India increased from 100 million in the 17th century to 300 million at the beginning of the 20th century. A famine relief system aided millions of starving people when harvests were poor. It is estimated that 20 million people starved during drought years in the 19th century.

New schools were started by the British, by princely governments, by missionaries, and by private enterprise. These schools were at all level, including universities. The English language was used in all schools of higher education. Though only a minority of Indians attended these schools, those who did, received a fine English education. They studied ideas about democracy, and nationalism, and became the eventual leaders of the movement for Indian independence.

Law and order were established by a competent group of civil servants who conditioned the people to accept orderly processes of government. Equality before the law, regardless of religion, race, or social status, became the ideal of the Indian people. Certain religious and caste customs, regarded as barbaric by Westerners were ended. These included sati (suttee) and female infanticide.

Textile and jute factories, iron and steel plants were built marking the beginning of industrialism. Shipping and banking facilities were increased. Trade with the rest of the world was expanded.

Many Indians believed that India’s present poverty is due to the fact that the British drained great wealth from the country and used the Indian economy for the benefit of Britain rather than India.

Many of the improvements were paid for entirely by the Indian taxpayers. The maintenance of the Indian army was also paid out of Indian taxes.

One of the most serous complaints against the British during their period of control was the almost complete separation of ruler from ruled. Indians were barred from senior positions in the Civil Service. The British treated Indians as inferiors socially, morally, and culturally. Indians were barred from British clubs. The British developed a caste system of their own, summarized by signs saying “For European Only” that were posted in public places such as railway cars, park benches, and restaurants.

The small, home industries of spinning and weaving cotton cloth that had been important way of earning a living for many Indians were ruined by the competition of British machine-made textiles.

It is not easy to assess the good and bad results of British rule in India. There were many positive achievements. But there were also effects from which the Indian people have not yet recovered.

However the movement for Indian independence would not have been possible without the free press and the training in government that were allowed to exist in India. Journalists, teachers and lawyers were trained for government in the civil service, though their positions were in the lower levels. A group of fairly well-trained men could carry on government when the day of freedom came, and the new ideas of nationalism and democracy had united all Indians against British imperialism.

Why was India considered the jewel of the British Empire?

The Industrial Revolution had turned Britain into the world’s workshop, and India was a major supplier of raw materials for that workshop. Its 300 million people were also a potentially large market for British made goods. It is for these reasons that India was considered the brightest “jewel in the crown” – the most valuable of all Britain’s colonies.

The British set up restrictions that prevented the Indian economy from working on its own. British policies called for India to produce raw materials for British manufacturing and to buy Britain finished goods. In addition, India competition with British finished goods was prohibited. India’s own handloom textile industry was almost put out of businesses by imported British textiles.

1. Why was India considered the jewel of the British Empire?

2. What economic policy was practiced by the British in India?

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“THE SUN NEVER SETS ON THE BRITISH EMPIRE”

Based on the map, what does the phrase, “The Sun never sets on the British Empire” mean?

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