1. The Mughal Empire From the 15th century, the Islamic Mughals ruled India. The population in India was two-thirds Hindu. They were wealthy and politically powerful, renowned for building great palaces. This wealth and power did not last for ever. The Mughal empire began to lose control of its people and wars stretched them. European traders contributed to the decline of the Mughal empire. European merchants began establishing forts and factories along the coast of India. in 1600 the British entered the Asian trade, establishing a settlement at Surat in 1619. Relations between the British and Indians The British Raj ruled India, this could not function without the cooperation of millions of Indians. Many fought for the British in the Indian army in senior ranks and as foot soldiers. Others served in the navy or the undermanned police force. In the countryside, where most Indians lived and worked on the land, local village headmen kept the machinery of government working. In spite of political and economic differences, there was a considerable amount of mixed marriages between British men and Indian women. Wills made in the 1780s show that more than a third of British men in India left their possessions to one or more Indian wives and their children. From 1830, however, in Victorian times, mixed relationships became less common.

2. Religion under British Rule Beginning in the eighteenth century, Protestant missionaries began to work throughout India, leading to the growth of different Christian communities. In 1793 William Carey, an English Baptist Minister came to India as a Missionary. He worked in Serampore, Calcutta, and other places as a missionary. He started the Serampore College. He translated the Bible into Bengali. He worked until his death in 1834. Anthony Norris Groves, Plymouth Brethren missionary came to India in 1833. He worked in the Godavari delta area. He worked in India until his death in 1852. The Amritsar Massacre – 13 April 1919 In Amritsar, British and Gurkha troops massacred at least 379 unarmed demonstrators meeting at the Jallianwala Bagh, a city park. A few days earlier, in reaction to a recent escalation in protests all meetings and gatherings in the city had been banned. On April 13, the day of the Sikh Baisakhi festival, thousands of people came to Amritsar to attend the city's traditional fairs. Thousands of these people, many unaware of Dyer's recent ban on public assemblies, met at the park where a demonstration was being held. Troops surrounded the park and without warning opened fire on the crowd, killing several hundred and wounding more than a thousand. Most of those killed were Indian nationalists meeting to protest the British government's forced conscription of Indian soldiers and the heavy war tax imposed against the Indian people. Many nationalist leaders including Ghandi began to support total independence for India.

3. The Indian Rebellion 1857-58 The largest rebellion against British rule took place in 1857-58. It was known in Britain as the Indian Mutiny. This was because it began with a rebellion by Indian troops (sepoys) serving in the army of the British East India Company. British rule in India was handled by the East India Company. Indian historians dislike the term 'mutiny' because it suggests that only Indian troops were involved. In fact, once some of the Indian troops did revolt, the rebellion against British rule spread rapidly and involved many local Indian leaders who had a wide range of problems with British rule. The British preferred to think of the rebellion as a mutiny because this word disguised the huge scale of the rebellion. The word mutiny also covered up the involvement of ordinary Indians. The British preferred to keep this quiet as it suggested that British rule was not widely accepted in India. Education in India under the British British records show that education was widespread in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque or village in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion. The schools were attended by students representative of all classes of society The British established many colleges like St. Xavier's College, Sydenham College, Wilson College and Elphinstone College in India Economy The British colonial rule created a more organised environment that did stabilise the law and order situation to a large extent. The British foreign policies however stopped India trading with rest of the world. They created a well developed system of railways, Under the British Empire India was one of the largest economies in the world.