Causes and Effects of British Imperialism in India

How did British Imperialism Start? How did it start? The British company called The British East India Company set up trading posts in India in the early 1600s. The Indian Government (The Mughal Empire) was able to keep trading under control When the Mughal Empire began to collapse, the British East India Company took advantage of the situation

What motivated Great Britain to imperialize India? ECONOMIC: India had cash crops that the British wanted – Tea, indigo, coffee, cotton, jute, opium, and WORKERS Britain wanted to force the Indians to buy their goods – 300 million people in India!

What motivated Great Britain to imperialize India? POLITICAL Great Britain was competing with other European nations to build a large and powerful empire.

What motivated Great Britain to imperialize India? POLITICAL

How did Great Britain take over India? In 1707, dozens of small Indian states were breaking away from the Mughal Empire. The British East India Company took advantage of India’s weakened government Battle of Plassey where the British East India Company takes Control

How did Great Britain take over India? GUNS: The East India Company had an army! They took control of India after the Battle of Plassey in West Bengal, India in The East India Company’s army was smaller, but had more training and stronger weapons.

How did Great Britain take over India? STEEL: The British East India Company built railroads all over India to transport goods and materials, people. Railroads helped the British East India Company maintain control

What did Great Britain do to India? The British set up restrictions that prevented India’s economy from operating on its own 1.Britain forced India to grow certain crops/raw materials and give to British factories 2.Britain forced India to buy British goods 3.India was prohibited from producing goods that would compete with British goods For example: India was not allowed to make and sell cloth because Britain wanted to make and sell cloth

Other Economic Effects of British Imperialism in India The British controlled the industries India could have – For example, it limited the amount of cotton textile factories India could have This meant that India was making money for Britain but not for the benefit of India Britain developed the third largest railroad systems in the world in India – This allowed for cash crops to be transferred easily in India

Map of Railroad System in India

British Imperialism leads to Famine in India Since India was forced to provide cash crops for Britain, India did not focus on producing food for itself As a result, India suffered a great famine in the late 1800s. famine: when a group of people have little or no food and many people die as a result

Social Effects of British Imperialism Missionaries (people who settle in a new country to spread Christianity) and other British in India rejected many aspects of Indian culture while promoting British culture. They demonstrated racism against the Indian people

Positive Effects of British Imperialism? Roads, telephone and telegraph lines, dams, bridges, and canals were built by the British in India Sanitation and public health improved Schools and colleges were started by the British in India Reading and writing increased in India

How was Britain affected by its Imperialism of India? Britain gained resources from India (cash crops and land) Britain gained more people – this helped with obtaining more labor and more people to join the British military Britain made A LOT of money by selling their products to India Britain also used India as a base to trade with other neighboring countries