British Imperialism in India.

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British Imperialism in India

INTRODUCTION

Throughout world history it is clearly visible that imperialism has been used in ancient times with the Roman Empire, to the most recent times with the United States. Imperialism by definition is the policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations (American Heritage, 251). Imperialism is done when the mother country, the imperialist which is mainly the more powerful country, seeks to expand its territories so it takes advantage of the weakness of an inferior country and takes control of it either peacefully or violently. Imperialism is meant to benefit both countries since the mother country will benefit by acquiring natural resources or other needs from the weaker country and in exchange it will help the weaker country by helping make a more stable government and economy so it can run by itself with no problem. Unfortunately in most cases the mother country is the beneficiary and the weaker country is left in the same or worst conditions. One of the most notable cases of imperialism in history is the British imperialism in India. In that era Britain was one of the most powerful countries in the world and imperialism was getting popular within the potent nations. Britain being the mother country needed resources so they took advantage of India’s anarchy and took control the majority of it with no problem. The British ruled India through the East India Company; but they made one big mistake when practicing imperialism in India. It was the establishment of English as a unifying language and by acquainting Indians with European political principles, which led to Indian resentment of British nationalism and ultimately to the British loss of control over India.

        

EARLY HISTORY

In the 1550’s India was know as the Mughal Empire and it was ruled by Akbar. Akbar was known as the greatest ruler of the empire and he extended India’s territory significantly. He was tolerant of religions so he, a Muslim, won the trust of many Hindus in India by giving them power in the empire. After Akbar died, came his grand son Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan ruled form 1628 to 1658. He labored a lot for the empire and some of his works are the building of Dehli and the construction of the Taj Mahal. In 1658 after Shah Jahan’s death, Aurangzeb, his son, became head of the Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb was a devote Muslim so he imposed harsh conditions to the Hindus. He imposed taxes on the Hindu population. He destroyed many Hindu temples and holy sites, so his policies caused retaliations on part of the Hindu. Many revolts occurred against the empire and many local leaders rebelled against Aurangzeb. This constant fighting between the people caused the deterioration of the empire and left it defenseless against imperialist countries (Lal, 130).

        

EUROPEANS ARRIVE

Europeans had arrived in India early in history at about the start of the 1500’s. The first European to arrive was Vasco da Gama from Portugal; he arrived in Calicut. At that time countries were looking for good trade routes to go from Europe to Asia to get silks, species and other highly valued goods. In the 1600’s Queen Elizabeth I of England gave a charter permitting the construction of a company in India to open the trade between East Asia and Britain, which would be later called the East India Company. Sir Thomas Roe was sent to the Emperor Jahangir to get permission to set the company in India. The emperor gave permission to the British and with this the first stage of imperialism started, the sphere of influence. The East India Company set up trading posts all throughout Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and other cities. The French and other countries were setting up trading posts as well in India but Britain was the most powerful in India. (Lal, 131)

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RISE OF EAST INDIA COMPANY

Little remained of the Mughal Empire en the 1700’s. The empire had weakened with the constant fighting of the Hindu’s against the empire. The empire was weak and the East India Company knew that so they expanded its trade and slowly increased its political power. India had passed to be from a sphere of influence to a protectorate. The company had gotten very big and it started collecting taxes in India. If some local regions refused to pay taxes the company would force them. The company had its own army consisting of mostly sepoys, ...

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