1. Effects of Colonialism/Imperialism on India

2. Dadabhai Naoroji, former president of the Indian Congress, described the effects of British imperialism on India in 1887 as: “To sum up the whole, the British rule has been---- morally, a great blessing; politically, peace and order on one hand...on the other, materially, impoverishment....The natives call the British system...’the knife of sugar.’ That is to say there is no oppression, it is all smooth and sweet, but it is a knife, nevertheless.”

3. Negatives

4. Famines in India Negative

5. Madras Famine 1876-77

6. Major Famines in India 1860-1900 1860-61 - Western United Provinces. 1865-66 - Bengal, Bihar, Orissa. Orissa worst hit. 1876-77 - Maharashtra and South India. 1896-97 - Maharashtra and South India 1899-1900 - Gujarat and Rajasthan

7. Features of Famine in late Nineteenth Century India 1. Rain failure. 2. Hoarding by traders and urban moneylenders. Export of grain. 3. Attacks on grain shops and stores. Upsurge in robberies. 4. At normal harvest time, Government demands tax. Many peasants refuse to pay. Leads to coercion by tax-officials, forcing richer peasants to pay up. Poorer peasants have land confiscated, or mortgage or sell property - jewelry, farm implements, land - to moneylenders to pay taxes. Richest peasants and moneylenders enlarge their holdings. 5. Government establishes relief works, to which poorest peasants go. Middling peasants, and higher castes without resources starve. 6. Destitute start to wander in search of food. Some receive charitable relief in towns. 7. Suicides, parents sell or kill children, deaths (often of disease).

8. British Policy Towards Famine 1. Commitment to free trade, following economic theory of Adam Smith. 2. Belief that famine corrected over-population, following theory of Thomas Malthus. 3. Belief that free relief promotes idleness and saps initiative, following doctrines of the Utilitarians. People must labour for their subsistence. 4. ‘Famine-proofing’ through building of irrigation canals 5. Famine Codes – drawn up in 1880, but only implemented effectively after 1900.

9. Famine Victims 1899-1900

10. Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, 1898-1905 “There has never been anything so great in the world’s history as the British empire, so great an instrument for the good of humanity.” - Lord Curzon, British Viceroy of India, 1898-1905

11. How do the actions of the British during the Indian famines contradict Lord Curzon’s quote on the previous slide?

12. Loss of Political Control Negative

13. This was a complaint in Africa as well. Why did this set the stage for problems when granted independence? Gandhi offered this complaint about British imperialism: “You English committed one supreme crime against my people. For a hundred years you have done everything for us. You have given us no responsibility in our own government.”

14. Loss of Political Control The British government could take control of a state whose Indian ruler was deemed unfit or who had died without a male heir. Under this policy in 1856, Governor-General Dalhousie annexed Awadh, the largest, richest, and most loyal of the Indian states. Dalhousie also changed the old Mughal ruler’s title from emperor to king and ordered that the king’s son would inherit only the tile of prince.

15. Treated as Second-Class Citizens Negative

16. Interpreting a Cartoon Who is/are the figure(s) in the cartoon (name, title, position)? When was it drawn (date or events associated with it)? What symbols are used? Which cartoonists’ devices are used (ie. Exaggerated physical features, props, clothing, positioning of figures)? What is the overall message of the cartoon? Why is the cartoon effective?

17. Interpret this political cartoon.

18. Dadabhai Naoroji said about the social effects of British imperialism in 1887: “The British occupy almost all the higher places in every department of government...Natives, no matter how fit, are deliberately kept out of the social institutions started by Europeans....All the Europeans do is live off India while they are here. When they go, they carry all they have gained.”

19. Treated as Second-Class Citizens There was little interaction between the British and Indians. The British believed themselves to be superior because they were descended from Greek and Roman civilization, practiced Christianity, and according to a British textbook demonstrated: “a reckless devotion to great causes, an unflinching pursuit of untrodden paths.”

20. Treated as Second-Class Citizens The British believed themselves to be more intelligent than the Indians. Discrimination was common. In department stores, Indians would wait while Englishmen who had come in after them were served. Wealthy Indian families would be denied entrance into first-class compartments on the railways. Socialization between the two was frowned upon.

21. Treated as Second-Class Citizens For an Englishman to court or marry an Indian woman, it was considered a betrayal of his race. It was considered even worse for an Englishwoman to engage in such activity. In tea rooms, English and Indians would usually be seated separately.

22. Second-Class Citizen Second-class citizens in their own country. Even Indians with a European education faced discrimination. Barred from top posts in the Indian Civil Service. Paid less than Europeans.

23. Think About This: How does this relate to what we learned about Apartheid? Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian nationalist and first Prime Minister “In India every European, be he German, or Pole or Rumanian, is automatically a member of the ruling race. Railway carriages, station retiring rooms, benches in parks, etc. are marked 'For Europeans Only.‘ This is bad enough in South Africa or elsewhere, but to have to put up with it in one's own country is a humiliating and exasperating reminder of one's enslaved condition.”

24. … “Because India has become impoverished by the Government. They take away our money from year to year. The most important posts are reserved for themselves. We are kept in a state of slavery. They behave insolently (insultingly) towards us and disregard our feelings…” Source: Mohandas Gandhi, Indian Home Rule, Navajivan Publishing, 1938, reprinted in 1946

25. Cultural Changes Negative

26. What is Sahib saying about the British imperialism in India? What historical events is he referring to?

27. Moulavy Syad Kutb Shah Sahib, Indian Muslim leader in 1870 said the following about the negatives of British imperialism: “ The English are people who overthrow all religions. You should understand well the object of destroying the religions of Hindustan; they have for a long time been causing books to be written and circulated throughout the country by the hands of their priests, and exercising their authority, have brought out numbers of preachers to spread their own tenets: this has been learned from one of their own trusted agents...The British ordered the Brahmans and others of their army to bite cartridges, in the making of which fat has been used. The Muslim soldiers perceived that by this expedient the religion of the Brahmans and Hindus was only in danger, but nevertheless, they also refused to bite them. On this the English now resolved on ruining the faith of both...”

28. It is now my firm conviction that if these English continue in Hindustan they will kill every one in the country, and will utterly overthrow our religions...Under these circumstances, I would ask, what course have you decided on to protect your lives and faith? Were your views and mine the same, we might destroy them entirely with very little trouble; and if we do so, we shall protect our religions and save the country...All you Hindus are hereby solemnly adjured, by your faith in Ganges, Tulsi, and Saligram; and all you Muslims, by your faith in God and Koran, as these English are the common enemy of both, to unite in considering their slaughter extremely expedient, for by this alone will the lives and faith of both be saved. It is expedient, then, that you should coalesce and slay them...”

29. Cultural Changes In 1813, Christian missionaries were given free access to India. English became the official language for education instead of Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit. This angered the religious leaders in India. To the British, as English scholar T.B. Macaulay wrote: “a single shelf of a good European library is worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia.”

30. Cultural Changes The sepoys, or native soldiers in the Indian army, were ordered not to display religious marks on their faces and to wear leather stockings and hats. Hindus are forbidden from wearing leather as they consider the cow sacred. Some Hindu sepoys were forced to travel overseas even though the Hindus believed this could endanger their caste. This led to revolts in 1806 and 1824.

31. Social and Cultural The few educated Indians were expected to be loyal to the British. They were taught to appreciate the culture and opinion of the British. They would spread the English culture to the masses. Education became the monopoly of the rich and urban Indians.

32. Social and Cultural Schools were taught only in English. Only a few English schools and colleges were opened in 1857 instead of multiple elementary schools. The British ignored the education of the masses.

33. Economic Problems Negative

34. How did British Imperialism hurt India economically? “This process continued throughout the nineteenth century. Other old Indian industries –shipbuilding, metalwork, glass, paper – and many crafts were broken up. Thus the economic development of India was stopped and the growth of new industry prevented… A typical colonial economy was build up. India became an agricultural colony of industrial England. It supplied raw material and provided markets for England’s industrial goods. The destruction of industry led to unemployment on a vast scale… The poverty of the country grew. The standard of living fell to terribly low levels. Source: Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, The John Day Company, 1946 (adapted)

35. Economic Problems The main aim of the British was to transform India into a consumer of British products. Because of this policy, Indian textile, metal work, glass, and paper industries were soon out of business in India. By 1813, the Indian handicrafts lost both their domestic and foreign markets.

36. Economic Problems Economic ruin of lower and middle class Indians. – Thousands of Indians had just left peasant farm work to work in small factories—put out of work (large number of Bengali women). – Forced to return to the land or emigrate as indentured labor – 1861-1865, growing cotton, not food White supremacy—Indians made second-class citizens in their own country—prohibited from certain all-white facilities and sections of cities (cantonments).

37. Economic Problems There was a massive import of machine made clothes from the British factories in England to India. The Indian weavers who made textiles by hand could not compete against the cheaper prices of the machine made British textiles. The British did not have to pay any duties or taxes and were given free entry into India. But the Indian weavers had their textiles taxed heavily when they were sent out of the country. Because of this India went from being a exporter of clothes to become an exporter of raw cotton and an importer of British clothes.

38. Economic Problems Many profits drained from India go to benefit Britain The improvements mentioned above were paid for by Indian taxes, (one of reasons for American Revolution) Famines caused by British production of commercial crops instead of food British manufactured goods sold cheaper than Indian hand- made goods Taxes collected in cash, bad for poor, increases debt and poverty Separation of ruler from ruled – Indians treated as inferiors socially, morally and culturally – British segregated society further, “Europeans Only” signs for public facilities

39. Economic Problems The Indians were heavily taxed for anything that was built within India. Direct and indirect taxes affected the lives of the Indian people who could not meet their daily needs, because they had to provide the landowners and collectors their share in the produce.

40. Economic Problems Cash Crops: Tea, coffee, indigo, opium, cotton, jute, sugarcane, and oilseed Indians were forced to grow these crops but could only sell to the British. These crops were not a food source for them. Food grain production went down. Some of these crops turned the land infertile.

41. Positives

42. Positives: Social and Cultural

43. Dadabhai Naaoroji, former president of the Indian Congress said about the benefits of British imperialism: “Let us speak out like men and proclaim that we are loyal to the backbone; that we understand the benefits British rule has conferred upon us; that we thoroughly appreciate the education that has been given to us, the new light which has been poured upon us, turning us from darkness into light and teaching us the new lesson that kings are made for the people, not people for the kings; and this new lesson we have learned amidst the darkness of Asiatic despotism only by the light of the free English civilization.”

44. Social and Cultural The British brought the ideas of liberty, equality, freedom, and human rights to India. These ideas led to the reform movements of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Pandita Ramabai. These movements looked for social unity. Many legal measures were passed to improve the status of women. For example the practice of sati was banned in 1829.

45. Social and Cultural The spread of the English language and western education helped Indians adopt modern, rational democratic, liberal, and patriotic outlooks. New fields of knowledge in science, humanities, and literature were now open to the Indians. English became the language of educated Indians and helped to unite them politically. It gave Indians the opportunity to study in England and learn about the workings of democratic institutions there.

46. Social and Cultural The Indians were taught the Enlightenment ideas of John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau---liberty, equality, fraternity, human rights, self-government Western thinkers like Max Mueller and Annie Besant encouraged vernacular languages and literary works to instill a sense of pride in Indian heritage and culture.

47. Theosophical Library – Madras, 1913

48. Social and Cultural Important institutions were created that became the epicenter of the study of Indian culture, languages, and literature. Translated ancient writers so the world could read their works Calcutta Madarsas founded in 1781 by William Hastings The Asiatic Society of Bengal founded by William Jones in 1784 The Sanskrit College founded by Jonathan Duncan in 1794 Fort William College founded by the Wellesley Family in 1800

49. Social and Cultural The role of the press became important in the arousing of political awakening and exchange of ideas. The newspapers and journals gave opportunities to share ideas and problems. Novels, drama, short story, poetry, song, dance, theatre, art, and cinema were used to spread views and express resistance to imperial rule. They promoted the feelings of self-confidence, self-respect, awareness, and Indian patriotism.

50. Social and Cultural In 1856, widow remarriage was legally permitted. In 1872, a law made it okay for Indians of different castes to marry. In 1929, the Sharda Law was passed to prevent child marriage. The law made it illegal to marry a girl below 14 and a boy below 18.

51. How do you think the British rationalized making all of these positive reforms, but still discriminating against the Indians? Sir Reginald Coupland in 1945 wrote about the benefits of British imperialism: “British rule brought with it from the West certain standards of humanity that Indian society had not reached. Early action was taken to stop infanticide (the killing of female babies)...The slave trade was ended and the owning of slaves forbidden...One result of the new order was a steady rise in the value of India’s export trade.”

52. Social and Cultural Women were getting better education opportunities. Women took up professions and employment outside their homes.

53. Social and Cultural Rise of a new middle class in India New opportunities for a small group of Indian Acted as the agents and intermediaries of the British traders and made huge fortunes Received English education and became new elite

54. Positives: Political Changes

55. Do you think the positives outweigh the negatives? Why or why not? Romesh Dutt in 1902 wrote about the benefits of British imperialism: “Englishmen...have given the people of India the greatest human blessing---peace. They introduced Western education. This has brought an ancient and civilized nation in touch with modern thought, modern sciences, and modern life. They have built an administration that is strong and efficient. They have framed wise laws and have established courts of justice.”

56. Political Changes Introduction of new law courts New government officials manned by the educated middle class Indians

57. Dadabhai Naaoroji, former president of the Indian Congress said about the benefits of British imperialism: “Let us speak out like men and proclaim that we are loyal to the backbone; that we understand the benefits British rule has conferred upon us; that we thoroughly appreciate the education that has been given to us, the new light which has been poured upon us, turning us from darkness into light and teaching us the new lesson that kings are made for the people, not people for the kings; and this new lesson we have learned amidst the darkness of Asiatic despotism only by the light of the free English civilization.”

58. Positives: Infrastructure

59. How is he defending British Imperialism in India? “British brains, British enterprise, and British capital have changed the face of India. Means of communication have been developed. There are great numbers of bridges, more than 40,000 miles of railway, and 70,000 miles of paved roads. These testify to the skill and industry of British engineers. Irrigation works on a very large scale have brought 30 million acres under cultivation. This has greatly added to the agricultural wealth of the country. Industrialization has also begun. India now has improved sanitation and a higher standard of living. It has a fine transport system and carefully thought-out schemes for relief work. Because of these things famines have now almost disappeared.” Source: J.A.R. Marriott, The English in India, Clarendon Press, 1932 (adapted)

60. Infrastructure The world’s third largest railroad network was a major British achievement. Railroads enabled India to develop a modern economy and brought unity to the connected regions. A modern road network, telephone and telegraph lines, dams, bridges, and irrigation canals Sanitation and public health improved. Schools and colleges were founded, and literacy increased. British troops cleared central India of bandits End to local warfare among competing local rulers.

61. Bengal Medical Service, 1860

62. Infrastructure 1837: First Railway known as the Red Hill Railroad Line 1853: First Passenger Railway 1853: First Telegraphic Line from Calcutta to Agra 1853: Introduced the Postal Service

63. Benefits of British Rule Pax Britanica – law and order creates political unity previously unknown in India Best railroad system in Asia, 4,000-40,000 miles National Postal and telegraph system Canal system irrigates millions of acres Public health measures against cholera, smallpox, etc. lower death rate Famine relief system aided millions when harvests were poor New schools at all levels – English is used in higher levels of ed. – study ideas of democracy and nationalism Equality before law regardless of status Industrialization, shipping and banking facilities expanded

64. Chartered Bank of Calcutta, 1915

65. How does this primary source defend British Imperialism in India? Transforming the Face of India... Failure to answer, nay, refusal to tackle that question has rendered wholly academic the discussion of abandonment. Even were it otherwise we could still look back proudly. British brains, British enterprise, and British capital have, in a material sense, transformed the face of India. Means of communication have been developed: innumerable bridges, over 40,000 miles of railway, 70,000 miles of metalled roads, testify to the skill and industry of British engineers. Irrigation works on a stupendous [huge] scale have brought 30,000,000 acres under cultivation, and thus greatly added to the agricultural wealth of a country which still lives mainly by agriculture. But, on the other hand, the process of industrialization has already begun. “---continues on next slide

66. “The mills of Bombay have become dangerous competitors to Lancashire, and the Indian jute [rope] industry is threatening the prosperity of Dundee. Thanks to improved sanitation (much resented by the more ignorant beneficiaries), to a higher standard of living, to irrigation, to canalization, to the development of transport, and to carefully thought-out schemes for relief work, famines, which by their regular recurrence formerly presented a perennial [continuing] problem to humane administrators, have now virtually disappeared. To have conquered the menace of famine in the face of greater longevity, of diminished death-rate, and the suppression of war, is a remarkable achievement for which India is wholly indebted to British administration....” Source: Sir John A. R. Marriott, The English in India, Oxford University Press, 1932