India - The Golden Bird PDF

## INDIA - THE GOLDEN BIRD - The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in India, establishing a colony in Goa in 1510. - Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, discovered the sea route to India in 1498. - The Mughal Empire declined during the eighteenth century. - Private companies from the...

## INDIA - THE GOLDEN BIRD - The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in India, establishing a colony in Goa in 1510. - Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, discovered the sea route to India in 1498. - The Mughal Empire declined during the eighteenth century. - Private companies from the Netherlands, Britain and France all sought to extend their influence further into India. ## THE SPICE TRADE - The earliest trade between Europe and Asia was for spices such as black pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, cloves and cinnamon. - Spices were important commodities for preserving meat. - Spices were thought to have healing properties and were used in early European medicines. - Most spices came from India. ## MODERNISATION OF BRITISH INDIA - The British built an extensive rail network that connected the many different regions of India during their rule. - It enabled quicker transport of export goods to England. - It was important in getting food to starving populations during times of famine. - It allowed the British to introduce a postal service to India. - The British built roads, telegraph lines, schools, hospitals, law offices and government buildings. - The vast administration of the British Raj depended on good organisation. - The mechanised clock became an important tool for organising factory work, official government business and eventually, everyday life. - Railway timetables depended on precise timing. - The introduction of English as a common language helped to unify the different language and cultural groups throughout India. - The numbers of books and newspapers published in India also helped the spread of the English language. - By 1911, printing was the second largest industry in Calcutta, the capital of the British Raj. - Indians responded in different ways to British rule. - Some western-educated Indians embraced modernisation under the British. - Others began to demand greater freedoms and independence. ## EUROPEAN CONTACT - Merchants from Holland, England, France and Denmark all established bases on the Indian coast. - These were not like the Portuguese colony at Goa; they were factories used solely for the purpose of trade. - Private armies protected these bases, as disputes between European traders were not uncommon. - No missionaries were permitted to live on the English bases. ## DECLINE OF THE MUGHALS ### PROBLEMS OF SUCCESSION - Questions over who would succeed the living emperor always seemed to trouble the Mughals. - Throughout the eighteenth century the problem became worse, as no Mughal emperor could hold on to power for more than a decade. - Wars of succession, usually between sons of the emperor from different mothers, severely weakened the Mughal armies. - Competing claimants to the throne were always ready to use their own armies to defeat their rival relatives. - While they were fighting amongst themselves, the Mughals could not keep control of the provinces throughout India. ### FARMANS - Farmans issued by the Mughal emperors were intended to maintain order, secure loyalty, and regulate various aspects of the empire, including revenue collection, land distribution, and administrative appointments. - These decrees also played a crucial role in fostering alliances with regional rulers (nawabs and rajas), as they often received farmans granting them authority over specific territories in exchange for their loyalty and tribute to the Mughal emperor. - The British traders often sought farmans from Mughal emperors and local rulers to secure trading rights, protection, and privileges. - These farmans granted them favourable terms for trade and established a foothold for them in Indian territories. ## AKBAR'S RULE - Akbar saw himself as a 'king of kings', the most important of the many rulers throughout India. - Akbar’s military genius enabled him to win victory after victory. - His diplomatic skills helped unite many of the kingdoms within India. - Enemies who submitted to Akbar's authority were richly rewarded. - Most were allowed to keep collecting taxes from the peasants who worked on their lands. - To obtain the loyalty of the powerful Hindu Rajputs in northern India, Akbar decided to marry into Rajputs. - This helped build family alliances with the leading Rajputs. - Akbar built an elaborate network of roads, which also helped his armies get to trouble spots quickly. - This promoted trade between different towns and provinces. - Domestic trade grew significantly during the Mughal era but there was little demand for European goods. - As a result, Europeans were forced to buy Indian goods with silver and gold rather than with items produced in Europe. ## LET JUSTICE AND REASON BE OUR GUIDE - Akbar appointed Hindu as well as Muslim advisers. - He won widespread support by abolishing the much-hated tax on all non-Muslims. - Akbar was curious about other religions and developed close relationships with some of his Hindu advisers. - Over time, he began to see the merits of other religions. - Each Thursday Akbar would meet with Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jain and Zoroastrian scholars to find out what all religions shared in common. - His conclusion was that in all matters, justice and reason should be the guiding principles rather than religious dogma or rules. - Akbar eventually established his own religion, called the Din-i-ilahi, which took the best features of all the religions in India, including Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. ## GOLDEN AGE OF THE MUGHALS ### EXPANSION UNDER AKBAR - Akbar was proclaimed emperor at just 13 years of age. - Akbar's rule from 1556 to 1605 was a golden age for the Mughal Empire. - By the end of his reign, it had spread throughout most of north and central India. - Akbar managed to unite many smaller and often hostile kingdoms and developed a strong central government to India. - This helped to raise more tax revenue. - This revenue was used to build some of the remarkable monuments, mosques and palaces still in existence in India today. - In 1569, after conquering Rajasthan, Akbar celebrated his victory by building a new city called Fatehpur Sikri ('City of Victory'). ## THE BEGINNING OF MUGHAL ROLE - The Mughals were Muslims from Central Asia. - They were descendants of the Mongols (in fact, the word ‘Mughal’ is the Indian spelling of ‘Mongol’). - Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, the first Mughal emperor, was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. - Babur possessed the same military cunning as his great ancestor and, in 1526, captured the northern city of Delhi. - He was the first Muslim general to use muskets and cannons, which helped him to defeat an army four times the size of his own. - Mughal rule in India was based on the principles of religious tolerance, matrimonial alliances and respect for human rights. - In northern India the Hindu majority were now under Muslim rule. - After capturing Delhi, Babur ordered that no cows be killed, since Hindus considered these sacred. - He even compensated farmers whose land was destroyed during the fighting. - This approach helped to unify a diverse region made up of many local kingdoms and different religious traditions. - Babur realised that Mughal rule could last only if the majority of non-Muslims supported it. - Hindus were allowed to express their religion freely and to build temples. - Babur’s rule as Mughal emperor lasted only four years, but in that time he laid the foundations of Mughal rule for the next two hundred years. ## BRITISH ARRIVED AS TRADERS - British colonialism in the subcontinent began soon after the establishment of the East India Company (EIC), which was set up in the 1600s by a group of English merchants with the aim of engaging in trade with the Indians. - The decline of the Mughal Empire did not explicitly begin with Aurangzeb; it had already shown signs of weakening during the reign of Jahangir, the son of Akbar the Great. - Jahangir, known for his patronage of the arts and his relatively tolerant policies, played a pivotal role in shaping the early interactions between the Mughal Empire and the British. - During his rule, he allowed the establishment of British factories, marking the initial steps towards British presence in the Indian subcontinent. - These factories served as trading outposts where British merchants could conduct their business. ## THE EAST INDIA COMPANY - The primary objective of the East India Company was to export valuable Indian commodities, such as spices and other raw materials, to Britain, which were in high demand due to the ongoing Industrial Revolution in Europe. - India’s production of fine-quality cotton and silk also found a lucrative market in Europe, further motivating European merchants to explore opportunities in the Indian subcontinent. - Prior to the British, other European powers like the Portuguese and Dutch had already ventured into Eastern markets, setting up their trading posts along the Indian coasts. - The Mughal emperors, recognising the potential benefits of these European trading ventures, facilitated their establishment and even granted significant trade concessions to the Europeans. - This collective effort resulted in the Indian subcontinent becoming one of the busiest hubs for trade, with several European trading posts dotting its coastlines. - The interactions between the Mughal Empire and these early European traders, especially during the reign of Jahangir, laid the groundwork for the significant transformations that would follow in the centuries to come as British colonialism continued to evolve in the region. ## EIC BEGAN TRADE IN BENGAL - The inaugural English factory was established in 1651, serving as the operational centre for the East India Company’s trade activities. - This facility included a warehouse for storing export goods and offices where Company officials conducted their business. - As trade prospered, the Company encouraged merchants and traders to relocate to the vicinity of the factory. - In 1696, they commenced the construction of a fort around the settlement, firmly establishing their presence in Indian territory. ## GROWTH OF COMPANY INFLUENCE - Throughout the eighteenth century the British East India Company established major trading bases at Surat, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. - By 1750, they were the dominant European power in India, having defeated the French and the Portuguese. - In 1757, soldiers of the British East India Company defeated the nawab of Bengal and his French allies at the Battle of Plassey. - This victory extended company rule to the densely populated region of Bengal. - For the next one hundred years, the company further extended its territory by allowing mini-states such as Bengal to exist, as long as native rulers favoured British interests. - The British argued that without their civilising influence, rulers of local kingdoms would have treated their subjects far worse. ## TRADE LED TO BATTLES - To expand their fortified settlements and trade, EIC tried continuously to press for more concessions from the authorities. - They started to manipulate existing privileges and bribed the Mughals and other officials. - Their effort to carry on profitable trade also led to intense conflict with local rulers. - It looked like EIC found it difficult to separate trade from politics. ## MUGHAL CULTURAL INFLUENCES - The Mughals were influenced by Persian culture since the time of Humayun’s exile, and they hoped to one day unite Persia with India. - Jahangir made Persian the official language of the Mughal court. - Persian fashion was also popular among the nobles. - Under Jahangir, paintings became much smaller and more in line with Persian works of art of the day. - These usually depicted court scenes, the natural world and individual portraits in a colourful yet realistic way. - This also showed the influence that European painting had on Jahangir. ### LITERATURE AND LEARNING - Many epics from Hindu mythology were translated into Persian and decorated with miniature scenes painted in the style preferred by Jahangir. - The Mughals’ love of poetry and literature meant that the Great Mughals from Akbar onwards built libraries and commissioned calligraphers to produce more and more copies of the great works of Persian and Indian literature. - Akbar, Jahangir and his successor, Shah Jahan, also encouraged the writing of literature in native Indian languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Tamil and Sanskrit. - Both Babur and his great-grandson Jahangir wrote extensive autobiographies and almost all of the Great Mughals were prolific poets. ### ARCHITECTURE - The most lasting influence of the Mughals is their elaborate architecture. - In 1632, Emperor Shah Jahan was so overcome with grief at the loss of his wife that he commissioned work on a huge marble mausoleum for her. - The world-famous Taj Mahal took more than twenty years to build. - Its gardens alone took five years to complete. - The Taj Mahal is impressive not just for its size and design, but also for its finely decorated marble exterior featuring verses from the Quran. ### MUGHAL FOOD - Many of the meat dishes you are likely to find in any Indian restaurant today have their origins in Mughal times. - While most Hindus are strictly vegetarian, the Mughals were meat eaters and brought many of their recipes with rich sauces to India. - These were combined with new spices found only in India to produce a type of dish, which is today called Mughlai cuisine. - They also introduced the portable tandoor oven, which could be used anywhere to cook bread and meat on skewers. - Mughlai cuisine tends to be most common in the north of India, where Mughal influence was strongest. ## COMPANY RULE - In 1774, Warren Hastings became the first British governor-general of India (before this, he was the governor of Bengal). - His term in office lasted for more than a decade, during which time he was responsible for introducing codified or written law, law courts and a civil service. - He expanded the territory under company control by winning a series of wars against the Marathas and the last remaining Mughals. - This gave the British East India Company important territory throughout the north and along the east coast, down to southern India. - To maintain control of such a large territory, Hastings had to transform the British East India Company into a political and military institution, rather than just a commercial one. - Employees of the British East India Company were permitted to engage in private trade, and Hastings and others made personal fortunes from their time in India. - Bribery and corruption were common. - This not only resulted in loss of profits for the British East India Company, but also bred competition and suspicion between the top men in the company. - In 1772, a parliamentary committee found that leading company employees had paid over £2 million in bribes and private 'gifts' to local Indian merchants and rulers. - Hastings returned to England in 1785 and he was impeached by the Parliament in 1787. - This meant that he had to defend himself against charges of improper behaviour. - The trial dragged on for seven years and although he was found not guilty, Hastings was declared bankrupt due to the costs of the trial. - The trial highlighted the corrupt nature of company rule and turned public opinion in England against the British East India Company. ## ANGLO-MYSORE WARS - The southern Indian state of Mysore had grown in strength under the leadership of powerful rulers like Haider Ali and his famous son, Tipu Sultan. - Mysore controlled the profitable trade of the Malabar coast where the EIC purchased pepper and cardamom. - The British saw Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan as formidable opponents to be controlled and crushed. - They waged four wars (1767-69, 1780-84, 1790-92 and 1799) for the sole purpose of taking over Mysore. - These came to be known as the Anglo-Mysore Wars. ### HAIDER ALI - Haider Ali (ruled from 1761 to 1782) was not only a good warrior who created a disciplined army, but also a clever diplomat who allied himself with the French. - His aim was to drive the British from the Carnatic (a south Indian region controlled by the British). - In the year 1766, the British allied themselves with the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad to counter Mysore's growing power. - However, these alliances were unstable due to shifting political dynamics in the region. - Haider Ali had persuaded the Nizam to withdraw from this alliance and the two joined together to fight against British. - Tensions escalated between the British and Mysore over territorial disputes. - In 1767, Haider All launched an invasion of the Carnatic region, triggering the First Anglo-Mysore War. - The war ended without conclusion and left both, Mysore and the British in weakened states. - A treaty was signed at Madras which returned the territories captured by both sides and instructed that each side would help the other defend its territories against a third party (which were the Marathas in this case). - This clause of the treaty was broken by the British. - They betrayed Haider Ali when the Marathas attacked. - Haider Ali realised that it was the British who were the actual enemies when they provoked him by capturing the port of Mahe which lied in his territory. - Haider Ali declared war on the British in 1779 and in 1780, he captured Arcot during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. - The Nizam and the Marathas once again sided with the British and helped them to defeat Haider Ali. - However, with the aid of the French, Haider Ali was able to conquer Cuddalore in 1782. - The British suffered their worst defeat at the hands of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. - That same year, Haider Ali died from illness in his tent at the Battle of Chittoor. - His son, Tipu Sultan took over as the ruler of Mysore. ### TIPU SULTAN - THE TIGER OF MYSORE - Tipu Sultan (ruled from 1782 to 1799) defeated the Company and took Chittoor from the British and fought hard to keep Mysore. - He also stopped the export of goods through the ports of his kingdom and disallowed local merchants from trading with the Company. - EIC found it very difficult to beat Tipu Sultan. - His army was strong and like his father, he used rockets to beat the British soldiers. - Only in the last battle - the Battle of Seringapatam, EIC ultimately won a victory. - It attacked the capital of Tipu Sultan with about 50000 soldiers. - Tipu Sultan had about 30000 men who tried hard to defend the capital under his command. - But unfortunately, Tipu Sultan died fighting bravely to the end. - After his death, EIC imposed a subsidiary alliance on the state of Mysore, too. - Historians found Tipu Sultan and his father as ‘early freedom fighters’ against British rule in the subcontinent. ## WAR WITH THE MARATHAS - The Maratha were Hindu warriors who played a significant role in the gradual decline of the Mughal Empire. - By the late eighteenth century, the EIC had effectively dismantled Maratha power. - The turning point for the Marathas came with their defeat in the third Battle of Panipat in 1761, which shattered their dream of establishing rule from Delhi. - As a consequence, the Marathas fragmented into numerous states, each under association centred in Pune, located in Central India. - However, the Marathas eventually succumbed to a series of wars, culminating in the third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817-19, which decisively crushed Maratha power. ## THE DOCTRINE OF LAPSE - The final wave of annexations occurred under Lord Dalhousie (governor general from 1848 to 1856). - He devised a policy that came to be known as the Doctrine of Lapse. - The doctrine declared that if an Indian ruler died without a male heir then the rights of his relatives to his land were considered ‘lapsed’ or ended and passed on to the British government. - By applying this doctrine, one kingdom after another was annexed simply increasing the British control on the subcontinent. - One of the most important example is of Jhansi. ## THE GREAT REBELLION - The policies of EIC especially the Doctrine of Lapse and annexation policy affected the local rulers, peasants, landlords, tribals and soldiers of the subcontinent in different ways. - Since the mid-eighteenth century, nawabs and rajas had seen their power erode. - They had gradually lost their authority and honour. - Many ruling families tried to negotiate with the Company to protect their interests but failed. - The Company even began to plan how to bring the Mughal dynasty to an end. - In 1856, Governor-General Canning decided that Bahadur Shah Zafar would be the last Mughal king and after his death none of his descendants would be recognised as kings - they would just be called princes. - Heavy taxes and rigid methods of revenue collection were imposed on the landlords and peasants. - Most of them lost their lands that they had tilled for generations. - Not only this, the Company allowed Christian missionaries to function freely in its domain. - In 1850, a new law was passed to make conversion to Christianity easier. - This law allowed an Indian who had converted to Christianity to inherit the property of his ancestors. - Many Indians began to feel that the British were destroying their religion, their social customs and their traditional way of life. - The Indian sepoys who were employed in the Company also had reasons for discontent. - They were unhappy about their pay, allowances and conditions of service. - Some of the new rules violated their religious sensibilities and beliefs. ### THE SEPOY ARMY - To protect its territorial interests, the British East India Company created an army of Indian soldiers from the finest native fighters throughout India. - Known as sepoys, these soldiers had helped oust the French from India and defeat local nawabs who opposed British rule. - The sepoy army grew into a much larger army before the Battle of Plassey, when the British needed a stronger force to claim Bengal. - By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the company’s army of sepoys was about 150000 strong, making it one of the largest armies in the world at the time. - By 1852, this number had grown to 233000. - Sepoys often took great pride in their regiments’ achievements. - Regular pay and a pension on retirement meant that enlistment in the sepoy army was considered prestigious. - A bright red coat with gold buttons gave the sepoy a distinct look. - Only men of British origin, however, could become officers. ## FIGHTING DURING THE GREAT REBELLION - The situation dramatically. The emperor led the ‘freedom fighters’. - People of the towns and villages also rose up and rallied around local leaders and chiefs who were prepared to establish their authority and fight the British. - The war spread in different parts of the subcontinent including Meerut, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Gwalior, Jhansi, Awadh (Oudh) and so on. - The freedom fighters started capturing one after another city. - However, this initial success could not be proved long-lasting as the British came back strongly to repress the revolt with all its might and to regain the lost territories one by one. - To them it was a ‘mutiny’ by disobedient troops against their officers and government. ## MUTINY, REBELLION OR WAR OF INDEPENDENCE? - There has been much dispute between Indian and British historians about the naming of the Great Rebellion of 1857. - While the British at the time saw it as a localised disturbance caused by the issue of the cartridges, historians have tended to view it as a large-scale rebellion against foreign rule. - They claim that what began as a particular problem within the sepoy army quickly attracted large-scale support from Hindus and Muslims who sought to restore Mughal rule. - Some have even called it a war of independence, similar in nature to the American Revolution against British rule a century earlier. ## THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY - Under company rule, no missionary was allowed to live on the trading bases. - In 1813, however, the British government ended the exclusive trade rights of the British East India Company. - This opened India to new merchants and allowed more missionaries to stay for longer. - Britain experienced an evangelical revival at this time, which saw an increase in church attendance and a new enthusiasm to preach the gospel to people of other religions, especially in India. - For Hindus and Muslims, conversion to Christianity brought great shame to their families and many reacted by disinheriting children who converted. - In 1850, the British introduced the Caste Disabilities Act, which protected the property rights of individuals who converted to Christianity from other religions. - The removal of this obstacle helped the spread of Christianity in India. ## MODERNISATION - Throughout the nineteenth century, India was seen as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the British Empire. - This belief reflected the British view that they had transformed India into a civilised and prosperous society. - Unlike other European colonisers, the British could proudly to point to the development of a road and rail network, schools and universities, hospitals, a large civil service and greater rights and freedoms for the natives under their control. - A vast administration had led to the growth of major cities in British India. - The introduction of clocks, a fairly recent contribution of the industrial age, helped organise thousands of civil servants. - Office work began and ended at a set time each day. - Railway timetables also were based on precise timing. ## THE END OF COMPANY RULE - The Great Rebellion of 1857 brought significant changes to the nature of British rule in India. - Only British officers were given charge of the artillery and more British soldiers were incorporated into the army. - More importantly, though, the Sepoy Mutiny, as the British called it, brought an end to company rule and marked the beginning of direct government rule in India, known as the British Raj (raj is a Hindi word for rule). - Within a year, the British Parliament had appointed a new viceroy to carry out the will of parliament. - In November 1858, Queen Victoria announced important changes to improve the nature of British rule. - She declared that all her Indian subjects would be protected under British law; ## FIGHTING FOR THE EMPIRE - By the end of World War I, about 827000 Indian volunteers had joined the British army. - The pay of 11 rupees a month attracted many recruits. - Many of the officers in the Indian Army were British. - Fighting for the first time as an Indian army, many soldiers expressed their allegiance to ‘King and Empire’ in letters home. - About 62000 Indian soldiers died during World War I, which is roughly the same as the number of Australians who died. - During World War I, nine Indian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest honour for an act of bravery on the battlefield. ## INDIAN NATIONALISM - British-educated Indians became increasingly aware of their rights as they were taught about the development of British democracy. - Many believed that it was time for British rule to end . - Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Indian nationalism had emerged as a significant movement. - Indian nationalism was the belief that India should be governed by Indians and for Indians. - The formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 attracted many educated Indians who were critical of British rule. - At the risk of being imprisoned, leaders of the Indian National Congress called for home rule, which meant government run by Indians, but still belonging to the British Empire. ## CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR - Soon after the war, The British EIC’s was abolished by the British crown and the British Parliament took over the administrative control of the subcontinent. - In 1858, with the removal of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal ruler, the Mughal rule came to an end. - In 1877, Queen Victoria was given the title “Empress of India,” signifying the formal recognition of British authority over India. - The British government began to punish local participants of the rebellion by publicly hanging them in the streets. - The British Governor General was also assigned the post of “Viceroy,” representing the British Crown in the subcontinent. - Following the rebellion, many Muslims felt isolated and marginalised, as the British did not accommodate their concerns and largely blamed them for the war of independence. - Sikhs and Hindus, on the other hand, accepted the changes introduced by the British and benefited from English education and language. - After 1857, the British authorities did not allow Indian soldiers to have their own weapons in an effort to prevent further rebellions. ## CHANGES TO INDIAN SOCIETY ### BRITISH EDUCATION - In 1835, Thomas Macaulay argued that it was in Britain’s interests to create a new class of Indians that was ‘English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect’. - He believed this could be achieved through the establishment of English-speaking schools and universities. - By 1854, English universities had been established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, and there were English primary and secondary schools right throughout British India. - This was a remarkable achievement, since there were no government schools in Britain itself at the time. - In order to enter the British civil service, Indians had to sit a very competitive exam at one of the English-speaking universities. - This system attracted many children from wealthier Indian families, and by 1918, Calcutta University had become the largest university in India, with about 27000 students. - Many of the printing presses established in India produced only English material. - This assisted the spread of English throughout India. - By 1911, printing was the second largest industry in Calcutta, the capital of the British Raj. - By this time, every city in British India also had its own local language newspaper. - Textbooks, however, were the most popular books published. - Many of these stressed the benefits of British rule and the inferiority of Indian values. - They promised a bright future to students who ended up working in the British civil service in India. - Despite this, there was only a 10 per cent pass rate in the university entrance exams. ### THE PRINCELY STATES - In keeping with the promise to acknowledge the rights of native rulers, India was divided in two-British India and Princely India. - While the governor-general ruled over British India, the British viceroy was ultimately responsible for both domains. - British India consisted of the territory that had been ruled by the British East India Company. - This made up about 60 per cent of the subcontinent. - Princely India was made up of 562 Native States. - Native princes were permitted to implement their own laws, but the British could intervene if trouble arose. - This was their reward for not taking part in the rebellion against the British. - Over time, many of these princes proved to be the greatest supporters of the British. - Most were young and had been educated in England, and many spent most of the year living the high life in London.