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How long was India under British Colonial Rule?

The first European country to establish a stronghold in India was Portugal, whose colonies were outside the territory of the Mughal Empire.

After that, the Dutch also actively intervened and defeated the Portuguese. Aurangzeb ignored the dangers of European colonizers at the height of the empire, and his descendants, when forced to face the Europeans, were already weakened by the decline of the empire.

By the 18th century, the major European powers pursuing interests in India were Britain and France. After some struggle, the British gained the upper hand, reducing the French presence to only a few small colonial points.

The main entity operating British affairs in India was the British East India Company, a commercial and trading enterprise that, due to the division of the Mughal Empire, was able to gradually erode the territories of the independent Indian princes, and finally became the actual ruler of India. The early East India Company was not yet able to confront the imperial government directly, but succeeded in using personal friendship to gain trading privileges from Emperor Muhammad Farooh Sir.

After Cial’s death in a court conspiracy, a succession of short-lived emperors came to power, the empire fell into chaos, and remote provinces gained independence. The Marathas were so powerful that they took Rajasthan, Gujarat, etc. from the empire; but internal struggles also damaged them, turning them from a united kingdom to a loose alliance (the Maratha Nations League). ).

In 1739, the Persian king Nadir Shah made a terrible invasion of India, burning Delhi and cutting off all Indian territory west of the Indus. Since then, the ruler of Afghanistan, Ahmed Shah, has invaded India many times, especially in the third battle of Panipat in 1761, the only Maratha in India that has the hope of replacing the Mughals and establishing a powerful regime. People were also devastated by him.

These events objectively facilitated the establishment of colonial rule by the East India Company. As various forces in India have been severely damaged, the British may use force to achieve their goals.

In 1757, the British officer Clough defeated the French-backed Bengal prince Siraj Oud Daura at the Battle of Plassey, making Bengal a puppet of the East India Company and paving the way for the conquest of the whole of North India. In the Battle of Buksar in 1764, the British smashed the coalition of the Bengal prince Mir Qasim and the Mughal emperor who were trying to get rid of the control.

After the Mysore War and the three Maratha Wars, the relatively powerful forces resisting British rule in India were basically eliminated. After the final demise of the Maratha forces in 1818, most Indian princes recognized the suzerainty of the East India Company.

The latest Indian territories to be annexed by the British were Sindh (1843), Sikh-controlled Punjab (1849), Berard (1853) and Oder (1856).

Due to the unfavorable policies of the colonists, the famous Indian national uprising broke out in 1857.

The immediate trigger for the uprising was the rumors circulating among Indian soldiers about the distribution of bullets coated with animal fat, which seriously violated the religious beliefs of Indians. The uprising was mainly led by feudal princes and elected the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II as the nominal leader. Both Muslims and Hindus participated actively, and the insurrection quickly spread to two-thirds of India’s territory.

The British concentrated all their strength and used the manpower of Sikh and Gurkha mercenaries to sternly suppress the uprising.

The Indian uprising of 1857 had major political consequences. The British government, recognizing the serious shortcomings of its India policy, began to make major adjustments. The “Improvement of Indian Management Act” passed in 1858 abolished the East India Company, and the Minister of Indian Affairs took over its full powers; and established the Indian government headed by the Governor of India.

The British also officially ended the nonexistent Mughal dynasty and exiled Bahadur Shah II to Burma. Since then, India has entered the era of direct rule by the British government.

India under direct British rule (called British India) was divided into 13 provinces, including Burma. About 700 other states, ruled by Indian maharajas, existed under close British supervision, occupying two-fifths of the total area of ​​India (and some provinces also had states).

With India as a base, the idea of ​​containing Russian expansion in Asia led some British officials to focus on expanding British India’s territory northwest, resulting in the Second Afghan War of 1878-80. Socially and economically, the British have made achievements in creating a modern education system, building railways, and developing local industries in India.

Since the mid-19th century, a large amount of British capital has been imported into India, and Indian capitalism has been able to develop rapidly; on this basis, the Indian bourgeoisie has emerged, and its elite will affect the future of India.

Intellectuals represented by Rom Mohan Roy set off the enlightenment movement in India, the significance of which is to transform the ancient Indian society into modern civilization through the reform of Hinduism; Brahma, Aryan, Ramakri The active activities of religious reform societies such as the Shina Missionary Society finally played a huge role in promoting social progress and awakening national consciousness.

At the same time as the Hindu reform, the more radical Indian intellectuals launched a political reform movement, demanding the British government to give the Indian people higher rights. Nationalist organizations have emerged in the three jurisdictions of Bangladesh, Mumbai and Madras.

In 1885, the Indian National Congress party was established, and the party’s early political propositions mainly required the implementation of a representative system. Later, in view of the political influence of the Congress Party, the Islamic leaders of India believed that the Muslim world was too far behind Hindus in adapting to modern society, so they formed the All India Muslim League in 1906. The British consciously exploited the conflict between Hindus and Muslims.

After 1885, there were nationalist rallies in India almost every year, but the Victorian British bureaucracy apparently ignored Indian demands. The goal of British rule in India was simply to avoid famine; before 1906, despite the slow Indianization of the public service, the British government never considered giving India self-government.

The hasty division of Bengal into two provinces by then-Governor Lord Curzon in 1905 sparked widespread anger among politically conscious Indians, and anti-British movements developed rapidly inside and outside Bengal. The movement, led by the Congress Party, was finally quelled by the strong intervention of the British government, and radical changes took place within the Congress Party (extremists were expelled from the party).

The Muslim League’s support for the British government in this incident shows that Muslims and Hindus have parted ways over the future of the country. In 1909, the United Kingdom passed the Morley-Minto Reform Act, which stipulated that Muslims and Hindus should be elected separately in the legislative re-election. Since then, sectarian politics has become a system, and the Indian national movement has been divided.