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Preface
This
book the British Raj has a short history of British rule on India
which was once called the golden bird because of its immense wealth
and civilisation. This book is written by me as a dedication for
those who had sacrificed their lives for freedom of our nation India
and for every freedom fighter from a house hold lady and childern to
great leaders of India like Jawaharlal Nehru,Motilal Nehru,Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi,Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
Dr.Bhimrao Ambedkar, ,Bhagat Singh,Chandrashekhar Azad,etc.
This book is knowledgeable and is written in a way that every one can
enjoy reading it.
- Muhammad Abul Fazal
year
- 2014
Acknowledgement
I
would like to thanks my family first who had given me full support.
Iwould
also like to extend my thanks to my school principal of K.V,B.H.U
Dr,(Smt). Poonam Singgh and also to my class teacher and all my
subject teacher with whom guidence I am able to complete this book.
Contents
- Short description of British rule in other parts of World..................................... 4-5
and
East India Company
2.
Arriving of European and British East India
Company.....................................6-7
in
India
3.
Annexation of Bengal and other
territories........................................................8-11
4.
Education and other
reforms..............................................................................12-13
5.
Revolt of 1857 and takeover by
British.............................................................14-16
Government
6.
New policies and formation of
Indian...................................................................17-17
National
Congress
7.
Indian freedom struggle from start to
end..............................................................18-19
Short
Description of British Rule on other parts of the world and
East India
Company
Britain
had not only ruled India but it is said that had ruled half world.
Name of some
country
ruled by Britain are as follows- America, Australia, Canada, Algeria,
etc. Great
Britain
is an island therefore its navy was very well trained and
disciplined. The countries
which
were ruled by Britain were especially those which were either islands
or peninsulas
or
countries who had boundry of sea coast. The Britishers in every
country had gone with
aim
of establishing trade relationships but gradually their aim
transformed into becoming
an
administrative power their. But intersting thing is that the British
people who aimed to
rule
were not the member or officials of the then British Government but
they were officials
of
a British trading company 'The East India Company'.
The
East India Company was established during
reign
of Queen Elizabeth I and also got a right to trade overseas by the
queen. The company
started
overseas trade with Asia and Africa and got richer and richer the
officials of the
company
started to live a Luxurious life.
The Kingdoms of Asia and Africa were very rich
and
prosperous they have their own culture which Britishers saw as
inferior. They aimed to
conquer
these territories and to establish their administrative power their,
they thought that
this
would benefit their trade. At that time their were no rules for
Human Rights so the
slave
trade was a very common activity in Europe and America. The people of
African and
Asian
tribes were captured and were sold to plantation owner in America and
Europe. They
were
used as mere dogs. They were forced to work in fields day and night
and were not
given
any wage or break. They were also treated as most inferior and were
considered as
untouchable.
The annexed country was ruled either directly by British officials or
a native
ruler
who was a mere pupped under British Administration. The Company
formulated
policies
for that territory and people would follow it without any protest. If
they protested
they
were severely punished. The farmers were forced to grow crops which
were said by
British
traders and they purchased it from them at very low cost and British
traders sold
that
crop in their country at very high prices and got lot of profit out
of that. This helps the
company
in establishing even more powerful fortification and army.
The
main reason for this enormous power of East India
Company
were as follows -
a)
Well trained and disciplined army
b)
Well developed Arms and Ammunition like Guns, muskets, cannons and
pistols.
c)
Oneness of Britishers, etc.
Were
some reasons for this great power of Britain and East India Company.
Note:-
(Please
don't be confused as East India Company was two. One was British East
India
Company
and other was Dutch East India Company, and East India Company had
trade
not
only with India but with many other countries. Dutch East India
Company was soon
destroyed.)
Arriving
of European and British East India Company in India
Aurangzeb
was last great Mughal Emperor. The successors of his were very weak
rulers
they
did not had any experience and training of ruling a country.
The
arriving of European countries started when 1498 in Portuguese sailor
Vasco da Gama
first
arrived on sea coast of Cochin a city in Kerala, his dicovery of sea
route to India open-
ed
doors for other European powers to establish trade relationship with
India. Thse countries
included
France,Netherlands,Portugal,etc.
Portugal
captured Goa and Mumbai, Mumbai was later given
in
British hand as dowry for marriage Portuguese princess with British
Prince.
As
told earlier in 1600 the company issued a charter from
Queen
Elizabeth I to trade overseas. The East India Company then started
looking for lands
where
it can buy things at low prices and sell them at very high price in
England. Then they
saw
India as a golden opportunity to trade with it.
The
Britishers first came to India in reign of Mughal Emperor
Jahangir.
This could be seen in the painting of that time. Jahangir got
impressed by Brit-
ishers
and granted them trading rights in India. They Established their
first post at Surat in
Gujarat.
Britishers sent their ambassador in Jahangir's court his name was Sir
Thomas Roe.
The
Britsh traded Silk, spices, craft and other native products
of
India. They buy them at very low cost here and sold it at high prices
in Britain. French
also
saw India as golden opportunity and started trade with it. This
resulted in Battles
between
France and England in Europe as well as India later on.
Soon
in reign of Emperor Aurangzeb Britishers started to fortify Surat
with permission of
Aurangzeb
this angered him and he ordered to pull down the fortification but
Britishers
rejected
this order. One of the ship of Mughal India was looted by a British
Pirate. The
Aurangzeb
attacked fortification of Surat captured the British official
in-charge and ordered
him
to find that pirate, the ships of East India Company started search
for that Mughal ship
but
were not successful in search.
Annexation
of Bengal and other territories
The
Britishers came to Kalikata which later came to be known as Calcutta
and Kolkata.
The
Company established a factory at the bank of River Hugli in 1651. The
compnay was
also
given zamindari
rights and later the then Mughal Emperor Farruksiyar granted a
Farman
to
company to trade duty free in India in 1717.
The
Farman was very profitable for company but the offic-
ials
started to sell it to other Indian traders illegally. This angered
the Nawab of Bengal
Sirajuddaulah.
On other hand East India Compnay also started Fortifying Kolkata this
even
more angered Sirajuddaulah. He asked Britishers to pull down their
fortification but
once
again Britishers did not agree with this. As a result in June 1756 he
laid a siege to the
forts
of East India Company and Captured it. He imprisoned 146 men in a
small room for
a
whole night and locked its door when at morning it was opened 123
people were found
dead,
this was remembered as 'Black Hole Tragedy'. The British recaptured
it under
Robert
Clive who was an eminent General and was called by East India Company
to help
its
army in India in 1757. The Treaty
of Alinagar was
signed by Siraj-ud-daulah and Robert
Clive.
By the terms of the treaty Nawab had to restore rights and
possessions of East India
Company.
Britishers were allowed to fortify Calcutta.
Robert
Clive wanted the downfall of Siraj-ud-daulah.
He
tried every means to bring him down. He tried to win over his corrupt
court officials and
was
successful in doing this. He was able to win one of the most
important offical of
Nawab's
Court Mir Jafar who was
chief commander of Nawab's army. He was promised
that
if Britishers were successful in capturing Bengal he would be given
Nawabship and
in
return he would work under Britishers and give them certain rights
which would even
more
flourish their trade, a secret agreement was signed for this purpose.
For
making Siraj-ud-daulah to have battle with Britishers
Robert
Clive presented a set of unreasonable demands in front of Nawab which
angered him
and
he declared war against East India Company which Robert Clive wanted
to happen.
The
British Army and Nawab's army clashed in Battle of
Plassey
named after Palashi a place situated near Calcutta where the battle
occurred. Mir
Jafar
did not join the war as he had signed a treaty for that he became
only a mere onlooker.
He
had fearn that he would be betrayed, without him Siraj-ud-Adu;ah
cannot handle war
and
had to withdraw his army. He was captured by Britishers and was soon
put to death and
Mir
Jafar was made Nawab of Begal. He was puppet under Britishers, he had
given a large
sum
of money to Robert Clive as gift. He also had given undisputed rights
to trade over
Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa. This battle also proved weakness of Indian rulers
in front of
Britishers.
Soon
Mir Jafar was replaced with his son-in-law Mir Qasim he
had
given jagirs of Burdwan,Midnapur and Chittagong to Company as a mark
of affection.
Mir
Qasim was a capable ruler. He abolished the duty free trade of Indian
Merchents
who were trading on farman of East India Company. This was not liked
by Bri-
tishers.
Then a war was held in 1763 between Britishers and Mir Qasim. Mir
Qasim was
defeated
and was once again replaced by Mir Jafar.
Mir
Qasim formed alliance with Nawab of Awadh Shuja-ud-
daulah,
Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. Their combined forces appeard in front
of British
army
in 1764 in Battle of Buxar held at Buxar a city in Bihar.
The
British forces were in command of Hector Munro. The combined forces
of Nawab and
Mughal
Emperor was defeated by British Army.
As
a consequence Shuja-ud-Daulah and Shah Alam II were forced
to
sign treaty of Allahabad. In terms of which district of Kora and
Allahabad were taken
away
from Awadh and placed in British rule. Nawab had to pay war indemity
and Mughal
Emperor
had to give Diwani Rights or right to collect revenue to East India
Comapny.
A
Dual Government was formed of East India Company and Nawab of Bengal.
East
India
Company collected revenue and Nawab had administrative power.
But
soon Dual Government was finished and Britishers established direct
rule over
Bengal.
Warren Hastings was made Governer General of Bengal.
The
annexation of Bengal opened doors for Britishers to conquer more
territories of
India
soon they were able to Conquer Mysore by defeating Tipu Sultan in
Fourth Anglo-
Mysore
War in 1799. Marthas by defeating Peshwa Madhao Rao II in Second
Martha War in
1803-1805.
Lord Wellesly was in command of East India Company during these
conquests.
Punjab
was also soon annexed after death of Ranjit Singh the Britishers
finally captured
Punjab
after Second Anglo Sikh War in 1848-1849. Dalhousie the then Governer
General
departed
Rani Jindan who revolted against Britishers to England.
Some
policies formulated by Britishers like Subsidiary alliance and
Doctrine of Lapse
helped
in further annexation of more territories and to convert indirect
rule into direct rule.
Subsidiary
Alliance has a term that Indian rulers were alienated from
keeping large forces
and
also had to handle their forces to Britishers when asked to do so, it
also stated that rulers
had
to keep a British resident at their court. The British were able to
take control by this
policy
on Hyderabad in 1798 and 1800, Tanjore in 1799, Awadh in 1801,
Gwalior in 1804,
Indore
in 1817, Udaipur, Jaipur and Jodhpur in 1818.
Doctrine
of Lapse stated that if an Indian ruler had no right of adoption
of heir and if
he
passed away without leaving any male natural heir his territory would
be directly
annexed
by East Indian Company. Some states which came under Doctrine of
Lapse were
Satara
in 1848, Jaitpur and Sambalpur in 1849, Jhansi 1853 and Nagpur in
1854.
By
1856 whole India was under direct control of East India Company.
Education
and other reforms.
Traditional
way of Education was changed during British Rule. The British
introduced new
way
of Education in India but two different group of Britishers were
predicting two
different
way of Education one group was called Orientalist and other was
called Anglicist.
Orientalist
were saying that the Education
of Indian would be traditional Indian in
traditional
Indian languages like Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. On the other hand
Anglicists
were
saying that medium of language shall be English and Western Education
should be
given
to Indians.
However
the then Governor General Lord Maculay prefered to take side
of Anglicist so
Indian
Education was abolished and western education was given to Indian
people.
The
Western Education to Indians created a sense of loyalty in hearts of
Indian towards
Britishers
but it also made awareness about some evil tradition of India like
Sati and
dis-allowance
of widow remarriage.
A
ban on practise of sati was put in governorship of Lord Bentinck
in
1829. The former Governor general Lord Wellesly was also keen to put
ban on Sati but
at
that time condition was not suitable to do so.
Widow
remarriage was also legalised during tenure of Lord Dalhousie in
1856.
by
effort of Indian reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
Introduction
to telegram and railways was also done during British
rule.
First telegram line was set from Calcutta to diamond harbour in 1850.
First railway line
was
from Bombay to Thane.
Railways
and telegram helped in faster communication which
Britishers
took full advantage. Through help of railways the British army could
be
transported
anywhere in India and through telegram news of revolt could be
transmitted any
whrere
in India.
Indigo
plantation was forcefully done by Indian farmers under pressure of
British.
British
bought them from Indian farmer at very low cost and sell them in
their country at
very
high cost. Indigo exploited the fields and condition of Indian
farmer worsen this was
one
of the reason for Revolt of 1857.
Revolt of
1857 and takeover by British Government
The
year 1857 was a boon for Indian independence struggle. A revolution
was held in
India
as Indian were wanting to as soon as get rid of from British East
India Company rule.
Reasons
for Revolt of 1857 were-
a)
Economic exploitation of Indian farmers, artisan, etc. British
drained resources of India
in
such a systematic way that it totally exploited economy of India.
India which was once
called
golden bird was now reduced to mere subsistence level. There were
famine everywh-
ere.
b)
Political Reasons Doctrine of Lapse and Subsidiary
alliance as well as removal of
Mughal
dominency from India were some of the political reasons for the
revolt. British
declared
that after Bahadur Shah Zafar II the Mughal dynasty would be
abolished.
Name
of emperor were removed from the coins and he was locked in Red fort
(Lal Quila)
in
Delhi.
c)
Religious exploitation, British exploited the religious faith
of both Hindus and Muslims.
In
Hindu faith the practice of Sati was banned which angered Hindus of
upper caste.
In
army the Indian sepoys were not allowed to grow beard on their face,
this angered the
Muslim
members of army.
Introduction
of new cartridge of Enfield rifle had given a blow to faith of
both
Hindus and Muslim. The cap of the cartridge had to be bitten out with
mouth before
loading
it in rifle but he cartridges were greased with Cow fat and Pig lard
which were not
to
be consumed by Hindus and Muslim. This was the main reasin for
Revolution. The
English
missionaries were considered for mixing slow poison in Indian
culture.
The
soldiers of 19th regiment refused to use the cartridge
there leaders severely punished
the
soldiers. On 29 March 1857 Mangal Pandey, a soldier of 34th
regiment refused to use
cartridge
when his sergent major came to punish himhe fired on him and asked
whole 34th
regiment
to revolt. However Mangal Pandey was arrested and executed. This was
beginning
of
revolt. The regiments at Lucknow and Ambala also protested. The
regiment at Lucknow
was
disbanned.
At
Meerut on 24 April 1857 the 3rd Calvary revolted, they
were given
punishment
of 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. On 9 May, they were stripped
out of
their
uniform and were disgraced publicly. Next day the whole regiment
revolted the
infantry
also joined them. They released prisoners and killed British officers
and civilians
and
marched to Delhi same night and crowned Bahadur Shah Zafar II their
leader and
Emperor
of India. This was real beginning of revolt.
At
Kanpur Nana Saheb revolted against Doctrine of Lapse.
He
captured Kanpur and declared himself Peshwa. The British however
captured Kanpur
later.
This
revolt also occurred at Jhansi under Rani Laxmi Bai, in Lucknow under
Begum
Hazrat Mahal (wife of Nawab of Lucknow), Bihar under Kunwar Singh,
Bareilly
under
Khan Bahadur Khan and at Gwalior under Tantia Tope. However these all
places
were
recaptured by British very soon.
The
Revolt failed but it created a sense of fear under British which
resulted
in end of East India Company rule and held the power to British
Government and
Queen
Victoria was declared Empress of India.
Aftermath
revolt following changes occurred:-
a)
End to Company’s rule.
b)
Board of Control and Court of Director were abolished. In place of it
secretary of India
and
Indian Council was created.
c)
The Doctrine of Lapse was abolished.
d)
Policy of annexation was finished.
e)
General pardon was given to rebels except those who were subject of
Britisher's murder.
f)
British Parliament passed Government of India act, 1858.
New
policies and formation of Indian National Congress
After
revolt British Government formulated some new policies for Indian
people.
Vernacular
Press Act
Vernacular
means native or indigenous. The local press of India was publishing
news again-
st
British Government some newspaper and periodicals were- The Hindu,
Amrita, Bazar
Patrika,
etc. The Act alienated Vernacular press from publishing any anti
British news.
Arms
Act
Arms
act was passed during Viceroy ship of lord Lytton. The act forbid any
Indian from
keeping
arms and ammunition as it can be danger for British security. It was
repealed at
time
of Lord Ripon.
Ilbert
Bill
Ilbert
bill was proposed during tenure of Lord Ripon. The bill allowed
Indian judges
to
try European as well. This angered British resident and they
protested against that bill.
Finally
bill was cancelled. This act of Britishers showed their feeling of
racial
discrimination.
Formation
of Indian National Congress
In
1885 a retired British Imperial Service officer formed Indian
National Congress for
helping
Indians to put their demand after British Government and also to
create a sense of
equality
among Indians. Womesh Chandra Banerjee was chosen first president of
INC.
Indian
freedom struggle from start to end.
Now,
I will start story from arrival of Gandhiji. Before his arrival some
more great leaders
had
started freedom struggle they included- Dada bhai Naroji, Gokhale,
etc.
After
return of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a lawyer of Indian origin
practising at
South
Africa. He had seen bad condition of Indians at South Africa. Now he
had returned to
hos
motherland to serve it and get it off fro hand of British rule.
Ghandhji was a follower
of
non-violent method of protesting. This was called Satyagrah.
He
joined Indian National Congress and launched many
non-violent
movements against Britishers, these plans included Non-cooperation
movem-
ent,
Civil disobidence movement, etc. These movement had boycotting of
British goods
and
peaceful protesting. But people sometimes come in so much anger that
they used
violent
methods, such actions resulted in loss of life and accident like
Chauri-Chaura.
Gandhiji
was joined by Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar
Vallabhai
Patel,etc.
But
some revolutionaries realised that only revolution can get India
independent
these included Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shakhar Azad, etc.
Leaders
like Subhash Chandra Bose said that only battle can get India out
of
Britishers. His some famous slogans were ' Dilli Chalo' and ' Tum
Mujhe Khun do
main
tumhen azadi dunga'.
The
Muslim League on other hand demanded for separate nation for
Muslims
'Pakistan'.
The
British in return formed policies like Divsion of Bengal to
weak
feeling of Nationalism but they did not work.
Finally
on 15th August 1947 India became independent with
Jawharlal
Nehru
as first Prime Minister.
Nationalist
literature also helped in freedom struggle and
igniting
fire of Nationalism in hearts of Indians. Some of National literature
works
are Saare Jahan se acha, Kaidi aur Kokila and our national anthem
.
“ This
was whole history of British Rule or Raj on India”
'
Saare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara-Hamara'
'सारे
जहान से अच्छा हिन्दुस्तान
हमारा-हमारा'
'سارے
جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا۔ہمارا
About
the author
Muhammad
Abul Fazal (2000-) was born in city Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, India.
He studiesd at St.Mary’s Convent School, Varanasi and is currently
studying in Kendriya Vidyalaya, B.H.U. His father M.A.Shaz is
proffersor of Physics in B.H.U, his mother name is Shabana Mujeeb he
have small sister Almaas Nasreen.
