Topic > The Impact of Colonization on India

IndexBasic InformationTopicRacial TheoriesWorks CitedThe article attempts to analyze the British rule in India, discrimination, violence and the various reforms implemented by them. The question whether India really benefited from the colonized rule or whether the British used the country for their selfish needs is debatable. The article tries to study all the facts, take all points of view into consideration and come to a conclusion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Thesis Statement: Despite all the points in favor of the same, India did not benefit from colonization due to the rampant exploitation by the British on the Indians, going to extreme extents to satisfy their selfish needs, forcing the inhumane exploitation and the enormous amount of violence conducted against the people of India, carrying out racial discrimination and various other aspects. In light of the above, below are some of the points which prove the fact that India has been nothing but exploited during the 200 years of its colonized rule:§ Divide and conquer policy: The erstwhile rule of divide and conquer it was the first adopted by the government to govern and rule all the major British supplier states and the Indian princely states. The rule was first instituted under Viceroy Lord Curzon, who divided the province of Bengal into three parts: East Bengal and Assam as Muslim-majority states and also the Hindu-majority province of West Bengal, which came as a severe blow for the country because it aroused and aroused considerable indignation among his fellow countrymen. Not only this is the biggest divide and rule policy that appeared at the time of independence, when the country was divided into two parts, one is India and the other is Pakistan, whose weight is still visible during the conflict between the Indo-Pakistani war. Tax Structure: The government imposed an illiberal tax structure and used high taxes and also higher profitability of profits. However, the burden of such levies falls on small farmers, farmers and petty traders.§ Loss of Lives: The British government regime suffered loss of many lives, such as in Jallianwala Bagh massacre, 1857 rebellion, etc . During the World War government recruited many Indian citizens to join the troops even if they were not interested, which results in casualties and loss of life. The government didn't care about the people; they only care about their reputation, prestige and leaving marks in world history. § Resource Exploitation: The government duly exploited the country's resources and traded them to another country to earn revenue and capture the trade market. In this paper, we would begin to look at the emergence of the East India Company in India, British rule and takeover of India. We will then begin to look at various issues and why the various aspects claimed in favor of the English are false and superficial, and underneath lies nothing but selfish reasons in the promulgation of their cause. Background Information In the year 1757, the East India Company began its operations in the Indian subcontinent. India was then a land composed of numerous princely states, ruled at the center by the Mughals. It was also a major exporter of silk, indigo, spices, etc. During its first century operation, the company's focus was trade, not empire building in India. The company's interests shifted from trade to territory during the 18th century as the Mughal Empire declined in power and the Company ofEast India fought with its French counterpart, the French East India Company during the Carnatic Wars of the 1740s and 1750s. The Battles of Plassey and Buxar, in which the British defeated the Indian powers, left the company in control of Bengal, an important part of the military and political power in India. In the following decades, he gradually increased the size of the territories under his control, ruling the entire Indian subcontinent directly or indirectly through local puppet rulers. British rule is cheered by a large number of countrymen, citing various reasons. Below are some of them: § Social Reforms: The British Raj in India had carried out various social activities for the country, for example, the abolition of Sati Pratha and the introduction of the Widow Remarriage Act, 1856, the on restriction of child marriage, law against child labor and many other acts to improve social tradition and customs for the betterment of humanity. § Education Reforms: During the British Raj only existing education in India changed with the introduction of English as a compulsory subject and official language. During the British Raj only the Universities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were established during the year 1857, just before the rebellion. The university is still present and is run by modern Independent India as a highly prestigious university. § Employment Scheme: The British Government also introduces the Indian Civil Service for the various prestigious posts under the Government. The Imperial Civil Service is currently known as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), run by the UPSC.§ Irrigation Scheme: The government has also structured various canals and dams to improve the irrigation conditions in India.§ Infrastructure Development: During the regime of the British government the communication and transportation structure of India was developed. The government established India's first railway service in the year 1853-54 in the Bombay and Calcutta region by the two railway companies namely Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) and East Indian Railway (EIR). After 5 years, in the year 1859, the first passenger railway line was opened in North India between Allahabad and Kanpur.§ Monuments, Legal Offerings, Heritage Site: At that time the government had also introduced legal tender as a means of official exchange. . Also they had built many historical sites and monuments including Victoria Memorial Hall in Calcutta, Victoria Terminus (now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus), The Gateway Of India, Viceroy's House (now called Rashtrapati Bhavan), Asiatic Society of India in order to preserve the monuments Indians, literary writing and much more. Argument Britain's racist and exploitative imperial project in India was impressive in its ferocity and vindictiveness, what Tharoor calls a "long and shameless record of capability". The recent books are a welcome antidote to the nauseating righteousness and condescension propagated by Niall Ferguson in his 2003 book Empire, in which he argues that British imperialism gave the world its admirable and distinctive characteristics (language, banking, representative assemblies, the idea of ​​freedom) and that India, “the world's largest democracy, owes more than is fashionable to British rule”. Tharoor forcefully, bluntly and quickly expounds the litany of exploitation and theft, and support is given to the East India Company. This was before the Government of India Act of 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control. By the early 19th century the company had a private army of 260,000 and the champions of the British Industrial Revolutionthey plundered India's thriving manufacturing industries. Under British rule, India's share in world manufacturing exports fell from 27% to 2% as East India. employees have amassed colossal fortunes. The Marquess of Salisbury, secretary of state for India in 1870, observed that “India is destined to be bled” and that, by the end of the 19th century, it had become Britain's main source of revenue. “Stopping is dangerous; retreat from ruin” was the logic, as enunciated early by Robert Clive, commander-in-chief of British India in the mid-18th century. The Indian shipping industry was destroyed and the Indian currency manipulated while tariffs and regulations were skewed in favor of the British industry. British boast Tharoor also demolishes the British boast that India was a functioning democracy in 1947. And while it may exaggerate the extent to which pre-colonial village self-government was ideal (“a society of small societies” in Jon Wilson's sweet expression), it highlights the hollowness of Queen Victoria's 1858 proclamation that “ in their prosperity will be our strength, in their contentment our security and in their gratitude our best reward." This fostered a courtly culture for Indian princes to follow, and there were many dissolute rajas, but only 4% of the coveted positions in the Indian civil service. they were held by Indians until 1930. Nationalist leader Jawaharlal Nehru was resigning from a civil service that was “neither Indian, nor civil, nor a service.” In 1890 some 6,000 British officials governed 250 million Indians, but there was also “cowardice, greed, opportunism and lack of organized resistance on the part of the vanquished.” Ultimately, it was the rise of Mahatma Gandhi and his promotion of moral values ​​derived from Satyagraha (non-violent resistance) that “demonstrated a repudiation of British liberalism and not of its vindication.” Racial Theories Even the native newspapers of India were devoured. By 1875, there were approximately 475 newspapers, most owned and edited by Indians, but severe restrictions were placed on their operations and their publishers. British racial theories were in full swing in relation to railway issues, with legislation making it impossible for Indian workshops to design and produce locomotives. Racism was also reflected in the penal code: “there was never a taboo against homosexuality in Indian culture and practice until the British Victorians introduced one. Crucially, Britain also “helped to entrench and perpetuate the inequities of the caste system,” which was presented as more uniform and pervasive than it had ever been. Religion became a useful means of dividing and ruling, with the promotion of a two-nation theory that ultimately divided the country and made partition inevitable; one million people were killed and 17 million displaced. Tharoor's claim that "stories abound" of Hindu and Muslim communities "habitually working together in pre-colonial times" is a bit vague and ambiguous, but Lord Oliver, the secretary of state in the 1920s, admitted a Predominant bias in the British bureaucracy in favor of the Muslim community to compensate for Hindu nationalism. The British also sponsored a Shia-Sunni split in Lucnow and generally turned religious differences into public, political, and legal issues. There are also reminders of Winston Churchill's vile racism: “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. . . Let the viceroy sit on the back of a giant elephant and trample Gandhi into the dirt.” Tharoor demolishes the myth of "enlightened despotism".