British in India 1829-58

Question 1

What trading status was given to the East India Company in 1600 and lasted to 1813?

Answer 1

Royal Charter gave them a monopoly on trade in India.

Question 2

Which group ruled India for much of the 16th to 19th centuries whose empire collapse enabled EIC to step in?

Answer 2

Mughals

Question 3

When was the Indian Rebellion?

Answer 3

1857

Question 4

What trading monopolies remained with EIC after 1813 Charter Act?

Answer 4

trade with China and tea

Question 5

When did EIC rule in India end?

Answer 5

1858

Question 6

What Act ended EIC rule in India?

Answer 6

1858 Government of India Act

Question 7

When and how did EIC gain India?

Answer 7

1757 through Battle of Plassey

Question 8

What did the 1773 Regulating Act do?

Answer 8

brought political and administrative functions of EIC under government control via a five-person governing council with majority appointed by parliament

Question 9

What did the 1784 East India Company Act do?

Answer 9

It made EIC a regularised subsidiary of the Crown, so government had control of commercial interests as well as political/admin functions.

Question 10

When was India’s monopoly on trade with China removed, with EIC’s focus then becoming administrative rather than commercial?

Answer 10

Charter Act 1833

Question 11

Name the three company presidencies of EIC.

Answer 11

Bengal, Madras and Bombay

Question 12

From 1774, which president was the head of the company presidencies?

Answer 12

governor and president of Fort William (in Calcutta, Bengal)

Question 13

What did the 1784 Act say about war in India?

Answer 13

Other presidencies could not make war or peace unless directed to by governor of Bengal

Question 14

What meant that, even though technically overseen by the Board of Control in London, the governor general of Bengal and his council had high autonomy?

Answer 14

slow communication between India and London

Question 15

What powers did the 1833 Government of India Act give to the governor general?

Answer 15

“superintendence, direction and control of the while civil and military Government”

Question 16

How many private armies did EIC have?

Answer 16

three (one for each company presidency)

Question 17

How many troops did EIC have by 1820?

Answer 17

200,000

Question 18

What % of the EIC soldiers were Europeans (with rest being Indian)?

Answer 18

about 20%

Question 19

Who campaigned against thagi?

Answer 19

Colonel William Sleeman

Question 20

What was thagi?

Answer 20

highway robbery and ritual murder by strangling in service of the Hindu goddess Kali

Question 21

What was sati?

Answer 21

tradition of Hindu widows killing themselves on their husbands’ funeral pyres

Question 22

When was sati abolished?

Answer 22

1829

Question 23

Who led the campaign against sati ?

Answer 23

William Bentinck

Question 24

Who led the campaign against female infanticide?

Answer 24

William Bentinck

Question 25

Why was female infanticide common in India?

Answer 25

difficulties in providing dowries for female children and shame of unmarried daughters

Question 26

Why did Christian missionaries support the English Education Act?

Answer 26

Aim was to attract higher caste Hindus to Christianity via ambition for their children to learn English and then teaching them from the Bible.

Question 27

When was the English Education Act?

Answer 27

1835

Question 28

When was the 1st Marquess of Dalhousie governor general of India?

Answer 28

1848-1856

Question 29

Give three examples of modernisation under Dalhousie.

Answer 29

first Indian railroads first telegraph line Penny Post introduced

Question 30

What was the doctrine of lapse?

Answer 30

that any princely state under direct British influence should be annexed if ruler incompetent of died without an heir

Question 31

What was the doctrine of paramountcy?

Answer 31

that any princely state under direct British influence should be annexed if ruler incompetent

Question 32

A primary cause of the Indian Rebellion was the annexation of where and in what year?

Answer 32

Awadh in 1856

Question 33

How did Britain annex Awadh?

Answer 33

Under doctrine of paramountcy when the ruler was accused of maladministration

Question 34

What did the British do in respect of landowners in Awadh?

Answer 34

It took all land if the owners couldn't prove their legal title

Question 35

Why did annexation of Awadh have such influence on starting the Indian Rebellion?

Answer 35

Many sepoys (Indian soldiers in British army) recruited from there, plus taking of land affected many (not just ownders but their relations, servants etc).

Question 36

What rumour led to the Indian Rebellion?

Answer 36

that new cartridges were to be issued to sepoys lubricated with animal fat (beef fat an issue for Hindus, pork fat an issue for Muslims) - "proved" Britain's plan to Christianise India given it was already interfering in religious practices

Question 37

How many sepoys were court martialled for refusing to load the new rifles in Meerput in May 1857?

Answer 37

85

Question 38

What happened in Meerput?

Answer 38

All three sepoy regiments revolted - they freed the 85 mutineers whilst the British were at church and massacred all the local Europeans.

Question 39

Where was there a siege for 5 months in 1857?

Answer 39

Lucknow

Question 40

What happened when 7 battalions reached Lucknow in September 1857?

Answer 40

Many casualties, but joined those already in the fortified residency until second relief arrived and freed them all

Question 41

What were the two main reasons that Britain still retained control of India despite the Indian Rebellion?

Answer 41

1. Rebels weren't a cohesive force who wouldn't cooperate to form a national revolt 2. Only Bengal army rebelled, the other two presidency armies remained loyal.

Question 42

How did British punish mutineers at Cawnpore?

Answer 42

They were forced to lick clean blood-stained buildings then forced to eat pork or beef then hanged.

Question 43

How did British punish mutineers in Peshawar?

Answer 43

40 men strapped to barrels of cannon and blown apart

Question 44

What effect did the Indian Rebellion have on the wider Empire?

Answer 44

policies became less liberal/modernising/westernising and more about infrastructure and clear separation of British and natives

Question 45

What changes were made to the Indian army after the Rebellion to reduce likelihood of future rebellions?

Answer 45

* ratio of Indian: British reduced (from 9:1 to 3:1) * ensured that adjacent regiments had different ethnic/religious backgrounds * allowed use of whatever grease was preferred for rifles