1. Imperialism in India: The British Raj

2. India in the Late Middle Ages

3. The Mughal Empire Established by Emperor Babul in the early 1500s
Expanded its control over India over the next 2 centuries;
But its heartland was in Northern India
The Mughal rulers were Muslim (descendants of Tamerlane);
But most Indians were Hindu

4. Decline of the Mughals
By the 1700s, the Mughal Empire was clearly in decline:
1) Government was in severe debt
2) Power struggles within the ruling family
3) Dissatisfaction among religious minorities

5. Timeline: The British Assert Control
1500s – 1600s: Europeans establish trading forts on the Indian coast
First the Portuguese
Later the British and French
1756 – 1763: The Seven Years War (Britain vs. France) includes battles for control over Indian forts
1757: Using Indian support for the French as an excuse, the British take control of the province of Bengal
At the Battle of Plassey, 3000 British soldiers defeated an Indian force of 30,000
1757 – 1857: Over the course of a century, the British East India Company gained control of nearly the entire Indian Subcontinent

6. Imperialism in India

7. The Sepoy Rebellion (1857-8)
Sepoys: Indian soldiers employed by the British East India Company
In 1857 a rumor spread among the Sepoys that the new British ammunition cartridges were coated with cow and pig fat
This rumor sparked a rebellion among the Sepoys near Delhi, which spread across the country
During the Rebellion atrocities were committed by both sides
Although the Sepoy rebels outnumbered British troops and their Indian loyalists, the rebels were unorganized and out-gunned
After the rebellion had been crushed the British government took control of the colony from the B.E.I.C.

8. Spread of British Control and the Sepoy Rebellion

9. The British Raj (1858 – 1947) Some “Benefits” of British Rule
Established a public school system, which provided an education for Upper Class Indians
Greatly improved India’s infrastructure (roads, canals, railroads)
Established hospitals and introduced medical techniques that improved public health
Negative Effects of British Rule
British manufactured goods destroyed local industries, forcing millions into poverty
The British forced many farmers to grow cotton instead of food—when India’s population exploded, millions starved
British rule was culturally degrading

10. Indian Nationalism & Resistance
Most early Indian Nationalists were from the upper class and English-educated
For many of them, learning about the ideals of the Enlightenment caused them to question British rule in their home country
1885—Nationalists form the Indian National Congress (INC)
The INC did not initially call for independence; instead it pushed for more Indian participation in the colony’s government
By the early 1900s, more and more Indian newspapers were calling for independence—and spreading the movement beyond the upper class
In 1915, Mohandas Gandhi returned to India from South Africa, and became active in the independence movement