At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the once glorious
empire of the Mughals had been debased and humiliated
and was now reduced by British military power
to a shadow of its former greatness. During the next few
decades, the British sought to consolidate their control
over the subcontinent, expanding from their base areas
along the coast into the interior. Some territories were
taken over directly, first by the East India Company and
later by the British crown, while others were ruled indirectly
through their local maharajas and rajas (see
Map 2.3).
British governance over the subcontinent brought order
and stability to a society that had been rent by civi
war before the Western intrusion. By the early nineteenth
century, British control had been consolidated
and led to a relatively honest and efficient government
that in many respects operated to the benefit of the average
Indian. For example, heightened attention was given
to education. Through the efforts of the British administrator
and historian Lord Macaulay, a new school system
was established to train the children of Indian elites, and
the British civil service examination was introduced (see
the box above).
British rule also brought an end to some of the more
inhumane aspects of Indian tradition. The practice of sati
(cremation of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre) was
outlawed, and widows were legally permitted to remarry.
The British also attempted to put an end to the brigandage
(known as thuggee, which gave rise to the English
word thug) that had plagued travelers in India since time
immemorial. Railroads, the telegraph, and the postal service
were introduced to India shortly after they appeared
in Great Britain. A new penal code based on the British
model was adopted, and health and sanitation conditions
were improved.
But the Indian people paid dearly for the peace and
stability brought by the British raj (from the Indian raja,
or prince). Perhaps the most flagrant cost was economic.
In rural areas, the British introduced the zamindar system,
according to which local landlords were authorized to
collect taxes from peasants and turn the taxes over to the
government in the misguided expectation that it would
not only facilitate the collection of agricultural taxes but
also create a new landed gentry that could, as in Britain
itself, become the conservative foundation of imperial
rule. But the local gentry took advantage of their new authority
to increase taxes and force the less fortunate peasants
to become tenants or lose their land entirely. When
rural unrest threatened, the government passed legislation
protecting farmers against eviction and unreasonable
rent increases, but this measure had little effect outside
the southern provinces, where it had originally been
enacted.
British colonialism was also remiss in bringing modern
science and technology to India. Some limited forms of
industrialization took place, notably in the manufacturing
of textiles and rope. The first textile mill opened in
1856; seventy years later, there were eighty mills in the
city of Bombay alone. Nevertheless, the lack of local capital
and the advantages given to British imports prevented
the emergence of other vital new commercial and
manufacturing operations, and the introduction of British
textiles put thousands of Bengali women out of work
and severely damaged the village textile industry.
Foreign rule also had an effect on the psyche of the Indian
people. Although many British colonial officials sincerely
tried to improve the lot of the people under their
charge, the government made few efforts to introduce
democratic institutions and values to the Indian people.
Moreover, British arrogance and contempt for native traditions
cut deeply into the pride of many Indians, especially
those of high caste who were accustomed to a position
of superior status in India. Educated Indians trained
in the Anglo-Indian school system for a career in the civil
service, as well as Eurasians born to mixed marriages,
rightfully wondered where their true cultural loyalties lay.
This cultural collision is poignantly described in the
novel A Passage to India by the British writer E. M. Forster,
which relates the story of a visiting Englishwoman
who becomes interested in the Indian way of life, much
to the dismay of the local European community.
World History
