8-4 India under British Rule What techniques did the British use to rule India? Objectives • By the end of the class students should be able to do the following: • Outline the steps to British domination of India. • Identify the contributions Robert Clive to Indian colonization. • Define the role of the British East India company on the colonization of India. • Summarize the Sepoy Rebellion. • Appraise intentions of the improvements Briton made to India. • Apply one key idea from the chapter effectively by creating a political cartoon. Mughal Emperors and European Traders • In 1600, England setup the East India Company. They won trading rights from the Mughal empire. • The English traded gold and silver for cotton, silk and tea. Textiles were particularly important. • At first Mughal rulers looked down on Europeans. In the 1700s the Mughal empire declined and Britain and France moved to take control of a divided India. • By the 1760s the British had overcome the French and now were ready to take charge of the region. East India Company Rule • Britain owed its success in India to Robert Clive, a administrator of the East India Company. HE led the British against the French, and won control of Bengal. • Many Indian rulers fought the British, but their disunity was their undoing. • The East India Company gained enormous wealth from India, especially after the Mughal emperor gave it the right to collect taxes. • The company ruled directly and indirectly, they set up rules and courts. British Rule • The British government took steps to check the growing power of East India Company. Parliament tried to regulate them. • The Indians were upset with the company and their policies. The sati, really had them fired up. • It was the Sepoy rebellion of 1857, that finally proved their undoing. A Sepoys were Indian troops who served Britain. It started over gun cartridges. • As a result India became a Royal colony. Britain ruled most of India directly. • The Sepoy rebellion left a lasting distrust between both sides. The British respond… Ouch!! Effects of British Rule • British rule brought economic and social changes to South Asia. • The British did make improvements, they built ports, roads, railways, and telegraph systems. • Other changes hurt the traditional Indian Economy making India dependant on Britain. To pay for imports India had to grow cash crops. • Improvements in sanitation and health care caused population growth. A British educated middle class emerged and later led to resentment against foreign rule and eventually a nationalist movement. IndIan natIonalIsm • Indian Nationalism was strongest among British educated elite. • At first there was disagreement about following the British example or returning to Hindu traditions. Eventually Nationalists demanded full independence. • In 1885 the Indian National Congress (INC) was set up. At first they called for gradual change, but after Mohandas Gandhi took over in 1920 they took a stronger stand, demanding full independence. • The INC, worried Muslims who founded the Muslim League under Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1906. Study for the test • Political cartoon assignment. • Pick a topic from the chapter and make a political cartoon. This is the same assignment as last time but you are working solo. .