India

Question 1

When was the East India Company established?

Answer 1

In 1600.

Question 2

Why was the East India Company initially established?

Answer 2

To trade exotic goods from India like spices, dyes, and silks.

Question 3

Who were nabobs?

Answer 3

They were men who joined the EIC after realising that they could make fortunes through it, and some became very successful at it.

Question 4

Who were the two most well-known nabobs?

Answer 4

• Robert Clive

- Warren Hastings

Question 5

How did the East India Company protect itself?

Answer 5

It set up an army to protect itself from other European powers trying to take over the profitable trade in India.
This army also helped the EIC later take over more and more Indian territory.

Question 6

Who was Robert Clive?

Answer 6

He began working with the EIC as a small-scale trader but went to work for the EIC’s army, becoming an officer.

Question 7

What happened in the Battle of Plassey?

Answer 7

Robert Clive defeated the ruler of Bengal, which was India’s most populated state.
The EIC gained a lot of wealth and power through the state of Bengal.

Question 8

When did the Battle of Plassey happen?

Answer 8

1757.

Question 9

Why was Robert Clive significant?

Answer 9

During his role as an officer, he helped expand the EIC’s territory in India. This success also led to the signing of the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765.

Question 10

What was the Treaty of Allahabad and when was it signed?

Answer 10

It was signed in 1765.
The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II was forced to allow the EIC to collect Diwani (taxes) from the people in Bengal.
This Treaty transformed the EIC from traders to rulers.

Question 11

Who was Warren Hastings?

Answer 11

• He came from a poor background but migrated to India to work for the EIC.
• Through the EIC, he became one of the wealthiest men in Britain.
• After serving the EIC for 20 years, he became the first Governor of Fort William in 1773.

Question 12

What attitudes did Warren Hastings have towards the Indian people?

Answer 12

• He disapproved of harsh treatment of the Indian people by some in the EIC.
• As Governor, he promoted cultural mixing, and built a Muslim school in Calcutta and encouraged the study of Indian culture and language.

Question 13

Why was Warren Hastings significant?

Answer 13

• He became the first Governor of Fort William, therefore he practically ruled the parts of India that Britain had control over.
• He vastly extended British power in India by using the army to gain power over more Indian states.

Question 14

How powerful were nabobs?

Answer 14

• They became very rich and powerful in India.
• Their power also reflected in the parliament back in Britain because they could use their wealth to buy seats in parliament.

Question 15

How many nabobs were in parliament in 1767 compared to 20 years later.

Answer 15

In 1767, there were five nabobs in parliament, however, twenty years later, there were 45.

Question 16

What was the India Act?

Answer 16

The India Act allowed the British Parliament to be more involved in the controlling of India, decreasing the EIC’s power.

Question 17

When was the India Act passed?

Answer 17

1784.

Question 18

What was the Doctrine of Lapse?

Answer 18

It stated that if an Indian prince did not have an heir, he could not adopt one.
This meant that if the prince died, he had no one to pass his land to and the British would seize the land immediately.

Question 19

The British clashed with Indian culture; what did the British do against the Hindus?

Answer 19

They introduced a law that allowed Hindu widows to remarry and banned the Hindu practise of suttee (this was when the widow would throw herself on top of the funeral pyre during her husband’s cremation).

Question 20

What was India known as in The British Empire?

Answer 20

It was known as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Empire.

Question 21

When did the Indian Rebellion happen?

Answer 21

In 1857.

Question 22

Who were the Sepoys?

Answer 22

The Sepoys were Indian soldiers who served in the EIC’s army.

Question 23

What did the EIC do to the guns that the Sepoys used?

Answer 23

The cartridges in the guns began to be greased with beef and pork fat.
Since the sepoys had to bite off the ends of the cartridges before using them, they would get the animal fat in their mouths, which was against their Hindu and Muslim beliefs.

Question 24

What happened in the Indian Rebellion?

Answer 24

85 Sepoys said they would not use the cartridges, and so they were sentenced to prison.
The British chained the imprisoned sepoys by the ankles and shamed them in front of 4000 other Sepoys.

Question 25

What did the Sepoys do in retaliation to the prisoner humiliation?

Answer 25

They mutinied and turned against the British government. They attacked their British army leaders and the British government using violence and managed to release the imprisoned Sepoys and unleashed violence on the troops.

Question 26

Who lost the Indian Rebellion?

Answer 26

At first, the British had briefly lost, but by the end of 1858, they had regained control over the rebellion.

Question 27

What did the British do to get revenge on the Sepoys?

Answer 27

They brutally attacked and murdered the Sepoys and other Indians, even though Queen Victoria had given the Sepoys a pardon.

Question 28

What happened to the EIC after the rebellion?

Answer 28

The British government abolished the EIC and took full control over India.

Question 29

After the EIC was abolished, how was India controlled?

Answer 29

It was ruled/controlled by a British viceroy, and there was a Secretary of State for India in Parliament.

Question 30

How did the British government give the Indians possibilities?

Answer 30

• They were able to join the Indian Civil Service to help govern India.
• Colleges were established to promote education.
• Many Indians had opportunities to train as lawyers.

Question 31

When was the Indian National Congress established?

Answer 31

1885.

Question 32

What was the Indian National Congress meant to do?

Answer 32

It was meant to give Indians rights and prospects within the Empire; however, in reality, the Indians were oppressed by British rule.

Question 33

How did Indian Nationalism grow?

Answer 33

The Indians were angered by how the British believed that they were racially superior to the Indians and wanted to control India in order to westernise it.
This laid the foundations for Indian Nationalism.