India, Egypt and Sudan 1857-1914.

Question 1

Why did Britain renew interest in Egypt? When did this happen?

Answer 1

1) Interest in Egypt revived during the American Civil War of 1861, due to British mills being starved of cotton.
2) Egypt had particularly good cotton which attracted those who were anxious to find new sources of such an important raw material.

Question 2

Who was Isma’il Pasha and what did he do?

Answer 2

1) Pasha came to power in Egypt in 1863 as its Khedive, who was committed to the process of modernisation of Egypt initiated by the Ottoman ruler Ali Pasha.
2) Pasha embarked on a number of projects such as irrigation and railways to schools, street lighting and the cutting of the Suez canal through Egypt.

Question 3

When was the Suez canal set up?

Answer 3

1) Work on the canal began in 1859 and it was completed in 1869.

Question 4

Why was Britain not sure about wether to invest in shares of the Suez canal at first?

Answer 4

1) The British were sceptical since they believed that the canal would not be able to get large ships through it.

Question 5

Why did Britain all of sudden gain interest in the canal after originally being sceptical of it?

Answer 5

1) The canal had an immediate impact and dramatic effect on world trade, reducing profits of those British traders in the cape.

Question 6

Why did Pasha sell his country’s shares in the Canal? Who seized this opportunity?

Answer 6

1) Pasha faced increasing debts and therefore sought a buyer for his country’s shares in the canal for £4 million.
2) British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli stepped forward and bought the shares.

Question 7

Who became the Khedive after Pasha? What did this new Khedive effectively rely on to keep Egypt afloat?

Answer 7

1) Pasha’s son Tewfiq became the new Khedive, however it was British economic and political interference that kept Egypt alive.

Question 8

What had to be done in order to help restore Egypt’s economy? What did these measures lead to?

Answer 8

1) Taxes had to be imposed on Egyptian food and goods, and the army was reduced by 2/3’s.
2) These measures led to increased unemployment and led to a national rebellion under Colonel Arabi Pasha

Question 9

What happened in Alexandria?

Answer 9

1) In June 1882, tensions spilled out onto the streets of Alexandria where 50 europeans and 125 egyptians were killed.

Question 10

How did Prime Minister Gladstone react to the unrest in Egypt?

Answer 10

1) More revolts led to Gladstone intervening and British naval forces were sent to bombard Alexandria and in the process destroying residential areas and more.

Question 11

After the British had regained control of the situation in Egypt, who did they appoint as ‘consul general’?

Answer 11

1) Evelyn Baring became consul general.

Question 12

What happened to Tewfiq?

Answer 12

1) Tewfiq became a puppet ruler who was forced to create a government similar to Britain’s, employ British military personnel and rely on British advisors.

Question 13

Which act basically established British influence in Egypt?

Answer 13

1) The Convention of London in 1885 sealed British influence in Egypt.

Question 14

What did Egypt become?

Answer 14

1) ‘Veiled protectorate’, where Evelyn Baring effectively ruled Egypt behind a screen of Egyptian ministers.

Question 15

Who was sent from Britain to act as Governor General of Egyptian administered Sudan?

Answer 15

1) Colonel Charles Gordon was sent between 1887-90.

Question 16

What happened to General Gordon?

Answer 16

1) British administrators faced opposition from the Sudanese islamic cleric Muhammad Ahmad who proclaimed himself as the Mahdi.
2) Ahmad transformed a political movement into a jihadist army who sought to liberate Sudan from outside rule.
3) A joint Egyptian-British military expedition launched a counter attack against the Mahdists where General Hicks (leader of the group) was killed.
4) Gladstone did not want to get further drawn into the conflict and ordered General Gordon to oversee the evacuation of British and Egyptian troops in 1884, but in early 1885 these forces were overrun by the Mahdists, and General Gordon was beheaded.

Question 17

Why was Gordon eventually killed?

Answer 17

1) Gordon defied Gladstone’s orders and stayed at Khartoum, but he was sent no relief.
2) Gladstone eventually sent the ‘Gordon relief expedition’ of 15k men but this was sent too late and arrived 2 days after the death of Gordon.

Question 18

What event led to a needed change of rule in India?

Answer 18

1) The Indian Mutiny of 1857 against the British East India Company, which lasted a year and caused thousands of deaths.

Question 19

How did the British take control of India?

Answer 19

1) After the mutiny had been squashed, the British government decided that a change of rule was necessary to ensure another mutiny did not happen.
2) The British East India Company was dissolved as a result.

Question 20

What did the Government of India Act do?

Answer 20

1) Indian territories belonging to the British East India Company were passed to Queen Victoria and the company was dissolved..
2) The position of Secretary of State for India was created, who received powers and duties that were once exercised by the East India Company directors.
3) The India Council, a council of 15 members with experience of Indian affairs was appointed.
4) The Crown appointed a Viceroy who exercise direct authority on behalf of the Queen.
5) The Indian Civil Service was placed under the control of the Secretary of State.

Question 21

What was the main British aim during the Raj? What did this lead to?

Answer 21

1) During the years of the Raj, the priority was to maintain its control in India.
2) As a result of this, on January 1st 1877, Queen Victoria was made Empress of India as a symbol of British domination

Question 22

Provide the Indian Viceroy’s from 1858-1894

Answer 22

1) Earl Canning (1858-62)
2) Earl of Elgin (1862-3)
3) Sir John Lawrence (1864-69)
4) Earl of Mayo (1869-72)
5) Lord Northbrook (1872-76)
6) Earl of Dufferin (1880-84)
7) Marquess of Lansdowne (1884-94)

Question 23

What were the Indian princely states?

Answer 23

1) large parts of India that had been bound to the British Crown by treaties and were therefore ‘protected’

Question 24

How was India administrated under the Raj?
How did the Viceory rule?
Effects on the Indian Civil Service?
Queen Victoria?

Answer 24

1) The Viceroy of India ruled with a legislative council (5 people) who were responsible for finance, law, the
army, economy and home affairs.
2) Provincial governors represented the Viceroy in the provinces and had their own legislative councils
3) On a day to day basis, District Officers oversaw local councils and reported on practical issues
4) 1000 British Civil Servants were employed as a member of the Indian Civil Service.
5) Victoria became Empress, and she promised that there would be no messing with Indian tradition or religious culture.

Question 25

In what ways did the British rely on cooperation and collaboration of the native people in India?

Answer 25

1) The Viceroy depended on native rulers who took charge of the 565 independent Princely states.
2) Bilingual Indians were appointed to the Civil Service as low level clerks.
3) The British community was forced to rely on increasing numbers of India bureaucracies, part of a growing
middle class that demanded a greater say in the administration of the country.

Question 26

What measures did Britain take in order for them to defend India under the administration of the Raj?

Answer 26

1) Army now consisted of 70,000 Britons and 125,000 Indians by the late 1880s.
2) Reigments of Indian troops were trained and stationed in their own districts and cut off from one another to prevent any sense of unity.
3) Greater number of Gurkhas and Sikhs replaced Bengali troops who had not been loyal to the British during the mutiny.
4) Number of British officers was increased and field artillery was placed in British hands.
5) Growth of railways helped. 3000 miles of track was added all over India a year after the mutiny, exaggerating British presence and enabling faster development of troops in the event of trouble.

Question 27

What was the partition of Bengal? What did it do and what was the reaction to it?

Answer 27

1) In July 1905, Viceroy Curzon decided that Bengal should be divided into two separate provinces, Muslims in the east and Hindu’s in the west.
2) This angered upper class Hindu’s since they owned land in the east which they leased to muslim peasants.
3) The Hindu’s saw it as a pay back for their criticisms of British rule and there were strikes, protests and boycotts of British made goods..
4) Led to a new string of Indian nationalism which Viceroy Curzon tried to stop through censorship of the press.
5) The event split Congress between extremists and continuing moderates and led to Curzons resignation in 1905.

Question 28

What reforms did Viceroy Curzon bring about?

Answer 28

1) Curzon made some changes in the civil service to improve efficiency and founded the Imperial Cadet Corps in 1901.
2) He also reformed universities and the police, lowered taxes and adopted the gold standard to ensure a stable currency.
3) he also set up a new commerce and industry department, promoting industry and an agricultural department sponsoring research and overseeing the establishment of agricultural banks.

Question 29

What were the Morley Minto reforms?

Answer 29

1) Viceroy Minto introduced a limited programme of reforms in 1909 in an attempt to appease the Bengalis :
- Indian Councils Act of 1909 enabled 27 Indians to be elected from provincial constituencies to the Viceroy’s Council. Further democratic reform in 1910 meant that in elections for enlarged provinvial councils, 135 Indians were able to secure seats across the subcontinent and play a greater part in government.

Question 30

What did Viceroy Hardinge do to try to reunite Bengal?

Answer 30

1) Used the visit of King George V in 1910 as an opportunity to reunite Bengal the following year.
2) Hardinge also moved the capital city from Calcutta to Delhi as a means of undermining the revolutionary Hindu groups.

Question 31

What were the:
1) Capitulations
2) Caisse de la Dette
3) The Mixed Courts
and how did they impact British authority?

Answer 31

1) The Capitulations- all foreigners in Egypt came under regulations known as the Capitulations which were privileges once granted by the Sultan to protect Europeans from Muslim laws against Christians.
2) Caisse de la Dette- controlled Egypt’s finances. About half of the countries revenue went to European bond holders. The members of the Caisse could stop the British Consul General from spending Egypt’s money on matters they disapproved of.
3) The Mixed Courts- Had been setup to deal with cases involving both European and Egyptians and were presided over by European and Egyptian judges who were not always supportive of the British

Question 32

What threat did the French pose to British rule in Egypt?

Answer 32

1) The French did pose a challenge to British supremacy.
2) However after the Fashoda incident in 1898, Britain and France grew closer together and in 1904 they signed an Entente Cordiale where the French agreed to respect the British’s special rights in Egypt and in return the British respected France’s takeover of Morocco.

Question 33

Who acted as the advisor to the Khedive of Egypt between 1883 and 1907?

Answer 33

1) Evelyn Baring, the British Consul General.

Question 34

What was Baring’s role in Egyptian administration?

Answer 34

1) Egypt had a partially elected government, but all Egyptian government officials had the support of a British adviser. If they resisted British advice or interference they could be dismissed.
2) In 1885, there were about 100 Britons in in government, but by 1905, there were over 1000.

Question 35

What was Baring’s role in Egyptian finances?

Answer 35

1) Khedive Isma’il had accumulated £70 million of debt. Baring therefore made cutbacks to Egypt’s military and bureaucracy. He also revitalised the economy by improving communications and investing in irrigation schemes.
2) Within 10 years exports of cotton had trebled and the population had risen by 3 million.

Question 36

What involvement did Baring have in Egyptian projects?

Answer 36

1) He improved conditions labourers, introduced better sanitation and health services in towns.
2) The Aswan Dam was built which was 18 miles high and took 6 years to build. It was to hold back the waters of the Nile.

Question 37

What involvement did Baring have in Egyptian military changes?

Answer 37

1) 6000 British troops were placed within the army to ensure that British interests weren’t jeopardised by either the military or popular disturbances.
2) The military was placed under the control of Kitchener.

Question 38

What involvement did Baring have in Egyptian education?

Answer 38

1) Egyptians were rarely offered more than a few years of elementary schooling (due to seeing what had happened in India when higher education was available).
2) In 1909 a new university was founded to teach modern subjects and train men for the professions.

Question 39

What involvement did Baring have in Egyptian tourism

Answer 39

1) He oversaw the rapid expansion of modern tourism.
2) Thomas Cook and Son became Egypt’s largest employer providing jobs in hotels etc.
3) By 1900 it had become popular for wealthy Britons to ‘winter’ in Egypt. They were horrified by the filth and poverty in Egypt.

Question 40

Which Egyptian people gained from all of the changes under Baring?

Answer 40

1) The Egyptian upper classes benefitted.

Question 41

Which Egyptian people did not benefit from the changes under Baring?
Provide a quote showing this.

Answer 41

1) The Nationalists complained of the lack of opportunity for educated Egyptians who seemed even less likely to run their own government than before.
2) “The Egyptians who had once summoned giants from solid rock were now a nation of slaves”.

Question 42

What opposition began to emerge whilst Baring was Consul General amongst the Egyptians?

Answer 42

1) Growing middle class nationalist movement, fuelled by newspapers attacking the government for doing little to help the Egyptian poor and for failing to deal with corruption.
2) A nationalist party was formed in 1881 but revived in 1893 as a secret society which attracted professionals.
3) They sought the end of British occupation.
4) Cromer did appoint a nationalist as minister for Education in response to demands/
.

Question 43

What happened at the Denshawai incident?

Answer 43

1) In June 1906, a group of British officers angered the residents of Denshawai by shooting pigeons for sport near their village.
2) The villagers asked them to stop since the pigeons were bred for food.
3) But a scuffle broke out and an officers gun went off (allegedly by accident) and wounded the wife of the Muslim prayer leader.
4) An officer fleeing the scene collapsed and died due to the heat.
5) The British arrested 52 villagers where 1 was sentenced to death, 1 given a life sentence on the suspicion of killing the British officer who died.

Question 44

Why did the Denshawai incident cause a problem for British rule?

Answer 44

1) Provoked a further backlash to British rule amongst Egyptian nationalists

Question 45

Who succeeded Baring as Consul General? What did he do?

Answer 45

1) Eldon Gorst replaced Baring.
2) Brought more Egyptians into responsible government positions to weaken the Egyptian nationalist party.
3) Tried to impose tighter censorship of the press in 1909, passed the ‘Regulation Law’ to imprison criminals without trial to try to stop the nationalist movement.

Question 46

Who replaced Eldon Gorst as Consul General? What did he do?

Answer 46

1) Kitchener replaced Gorst.
2) He tried to curb nationalism.
3) Britain declared a protectorate over Egypt in November 1914 where the ruling Khedive was deposed.

Question 47

What was British native policy for white settler colonies.

Answer 47

1) Self government worked.
2) Britain trusted these areas like Canada and Australia to remain loyal so there was no need to dominate them with British officials.
3) Self governing colonies were still subject to British rule over defence, commerce and foreign affairs.
4) Britain relied on these colonies to reserve its global power.

Question 48

What was British native policy for other areas?

Answer 48

1) In many parts of the Empire the British worked alongside the ‘elite’ classes to make British control possible.
2) Britain had to work out who they could trust to make control easier. Many natives became wealthy due to cooperation with the British.
3) Cooperative middle class were favoured with positions in administration.

Question 49

What was British native policy in divided areas?

Answer 49

1) Britain would be friendly with one group rather than another.
2) Without cooperation by selected native people Britain would have never had the capacity to establish control.

Question 50

Who became Prime Minister in 1885? What did this man think about Egypt?

Answer 50

1) Salisbury became the PM.

2) Salisbury believed that Egypt was vital to the security of Britain’s sea-route to India.

Question 51

What was Salisbury’s concerns about British rule in Africa?

Answer 51

1) He was worried about other European countries and the interest they showed in Africa.
2) The British were concerned about French and German expansion inland in East Africa, fearing that they might have to gain control of the headwaters of the Nile.

Question 52

What did Salisbury do due to his determination to keep rival nations out of East Africa?

Answer 52

1) A treaty between the British and Germans was signed in 1890, where the the Germans agreed to take Tanganyika while the British took Kenya and Uganda.

Question 53

What gave Salisbury the excuse for a campaign in Sudan?

Answer 53

1) Italian forces were defeated by Ethiopian resistance at Adowa in 1896.
2) There was now the opportunity to avenge death of General Gordon.

Question 54

How did Britain gain control of the Sudan?

Answer 54

1) General Kitchener (head of the Egyptian army) in 1896 was given orders to penetrate Sudanese territory as far as Dongola. Kitchener was determined to go further to take Khartoum and conquer the whole region.
2) Kitchener encouraged his troops ‘to regard their enemy as vermin-unfit to live”.
3) He succeeded at the Battle of Omdurman on September 2nd 1898 at a cost of fewer than 50 British/Egyptian dead.
3) Kitchener proceeded to order the destruction of the Mahdi’s tomb after the battle.
4) The initial Egyptian expeditionary force of 10,000 was transported up the Nile by a fleet.

Question 55

What was the Fashoda Incident in 1898?

Answer 55

1) Salisbury had ordered Kitchener to go to Fashoda on the headwaters of the Nile, where a French expedition under Major Marchand had arrived.
2) Kitchener treated Marchand courteously and tactfully. He had the Egyptian flag rather than the British one hoisted over Fashoda.
3) Kitchener won praise for his tactful handling of the Fashoda incident.

Question 56

How did the British press react to the Fashoda incident?

Answer 56

1) The press published that Britain and France were on the brink of war.

Question 57

What happened to ensure that there was no conflict at Fashoda?

Answer 57

1) France’s Marchand withdrew, believing that he had upheld his own and his country’s honour.
2) He had the wisdom of knowing that by turning Britain into an enemy, France’s power in Europe would be gone and the French government had already been facing internal problems.

Question 58

What conclusion did the British and French come to after the Fashoda incidentof 1898?

Answer 58

1) In 1899, the French and British made an agreement where the French promised to stay out of the Nile in return for territory in West Africa.

Question 59

What other agreement did 1899 bring involving the British? What did this agreement lead to?

Answer 59

1) In 1899, there was an agreement between the British and Egypt’s ‘vailed protectorate’ where Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was established.
2) Would be administered in an arrangement known as a condominium, which meant that Sudan would be run by the British with Egyptian support in practice.
3) Also led to Kitchener being appointed the first Governor General, and was rewarded £30,000 for his work in Sudan, and contributed some of this money to the setting up of Gordon Memorial College at Khartoum which trained young Sudanese people to run their own country.

Question 60

Provide some detail as to what happened during the ‘Indian Rebellion’:

1) When did it begin and why?
2) What was the Cawnpore Massacre, when was it and how did British respond?
3) How were Muslim mutineers treated?
4) Which regiments stayed loyal to the British
5) When was British rule fully asserted?
6) When was peace declared?

Answer 60

1) Cartridges in the new Enfield rifles had been greased in animal fat which offended Sepoy religious sensibilities. Began with Sepoys in Meerut killing several of their British officers. Sepoys took control of other cities and also shortly tried to restore the old Mughal Empire.
2) Cawnpore Massacre, June 1857- 200 British women and children were killed. Caused outrage, and led to Britain deploying 70,000 men sent with the latest colt-revolvers.
- British gave swift and brutal revenge.
3) Muslim mutineers were sewn into pigs skin before being made to lick blood off the floor and were blown. from the barrel of a cannon.
4) Gurkhas, Sikhsand Pathan regiments stayed loyal to the British.
5) June 1858.
6) July 8th 1858.

Question 61

What were some of the benefits and drawbacks of the British Raj?

Answer 61

1) British built railways-but most villages lacked even mud roads.
2) British offered markets for Indian agricultural produce
3) British developed irrigation schemes and land improvements- affected only 6% of the land
4) British provided Indians with cheap British manufacturers-but India was unable to develop viable industries of its own
5) British provided jobs for Indians on the railways and in the army-but only a minority of Indians could gain positions and they were often racially segregated
6) Universities were established in Bombay and Calcutta in 1857- but these were only available to the privileged.