Nearly Losing an Empire: India 1829-1858

Question 1

What happened in 1757?

Answer 1

The Battle of Plassey resulted in the East India Company under Robert Clive gaining ascendency.

Question 2

What regulations were placed on the EIC by the British government between 1773 and 1786?

Answer 2

-The Tea Act was meant to prevent the EIC going bankrupt but required greater regulation of the Company under the Regulation Act 1773
-Establishment of the Board of Control in 1784
-Governor General nominated by Company but decided by the Board of Control by 1786

Question 3

When was the EIC monopoly on trade removed?

Answer 3

-Charter Act 1813 ended the EIC monopoly on trade except for tea and china
-Charter Act 1833 saw a complete end to the EIC commercial monopoly

Question 4

How did free trade change the functions of the EIC in the early 19th century?

Answer 4

As the company’s commercial monopoly had ended by 1833, the EIC changed function from commerce to administration, primarily through their new role as tax collectors. British representatives in India were now more involved in local administration than ever and now saw themselves as rulers rather than simply engaging in commercial activity. It made sense for local rulers to ally themselves with the British to ensure protection from other rulers and to ensure the smooth collection of taxes from their subjects. An army of civil servants came into the Company employment to oversee the collection of taxes, supported by the Company’s armies when necessary.

Question 5

How useful was India under EIC rule?

Answer 5

Taxation raised £18 million a year in the early 1800s, a third of the peacetime revenue of Britain itself. Although India was about as valuable a trading partner as Jersey, it had a growing narcotics empire that could be useful.

Question 6

How important was Bengal to the EIC?

Answer 6

It was the most important presidency in the Company in the 19th century and its President was the governor general of all the territory controlled by the EIC following the passing of the Government of India Act 1833. The administrative structure of Bengal was developed under the governor generalship of Lord Cornwallis (1786-93) and Calcutta was the administrative and judicial centre of India (and capital) until 1911.

Question 7

How important was the Bengal army?

Answer 7

The army of the Bengal presidency was twice the size of the other two armies and was recruited mainly from the higher castes. As the principal army of the company, they played a pivotal role in the annexation of the Punjab.

Question 8

How large was the Company army in 1820?

Answer 8

There were 3 private armies based in the 3 presidencies and by 1820, troops numbered 200,000.

Question 9

How did the Company army develop?

Answer 9

The increased focus on training military personnel reflected the changing company focus to civil administration. From the mid 18th century there were also a small number of British army regiments dispatched from Britain. By 1857, there were 45,000 European soldiers out of a total of 277,000 soldiers (the rest being sepoys).

Question 10

How did the Company territory grow?

Answer 10

The strength and increasing professionalism of the army meant that British territory in India increased to 243,000km2 by 1800 as successive governors (notably Wellesley) sought to increase Company territory and eradicate any pockets of remaining French influence in the subcontinent. Expansion largely took place in the west where there was some Russian influence (easier than east with French and Dutch empires and Himalayas blocked northern expansion).

Question 11

Which territories did the Company successfully annex?

Answer 11

Successfully annexed Assam, Manipur and Cacher between 1823 and 1826. Sind was annexed in 1843.

Question 12

Which territories were not successfully annexed?

Answer 12

The Afghan War 1838-1842 cost India 20,000 lives and £15 million. Conquering the Punjab took most of the 1840s until it was brought under British control by 1849. Additionally, these campaigns limited company profits as these had to be funded through taxation.

Question 13

Why was the Company able to grow its territory successfully?

Answer 13

-Growth of the army and increased focus on training
-Defeat in Afghanistan made the Company determined to secure Sind and the Punjab in compensatory conquest
-The Company was able to successfully exploit the complicated local tensions to expand its presence in the subcontinent, e.g. in gaining the support of the Sikhs during the Indian rebellion

Question 14

How did the British change the traditional caste system?

Answer 14

The untouchables and low-caste Indians enjoyed an improvement of their social standings. The mingling of different castes increased and the newly educated and affluent middle class in the cities mixed socially with people based on their financial position and class, not caste. By the end of the Raj, traditional Indian society began to break down into a westernised class system. A strong middle class evolved out of the caste system, allowing men of low castes to rise to high ranks and positions of power previously closed to them.

Question 15

How did the British not change the traditional caste system?

Answer 15

The British actually gave the Brahmins back certain special privileges which had been withdrawn from them under Muslim rule. The degree to which the caste system was successfully challenged by British rule is questionable, as though they are now prohibited by Indian law, they have not totally vanished in practice today.

Question 16

What was the campaign against thagi?

Answer 16

William Sleeman led the campaign against thagi after capturing a thagi (Feringhea) in 1835. Feringhea confessed and described the practices of the secret network to Sleeman, who devoted himself to its eradication. The Thugge and Dacoity Department was created in 1835, with Sleeman as its first superintendent.

Question 17

What happened during the campaign against thagi?

Answer 17

A vigorous and highly publicised campaign ensued in which more than 1000 thagi were transported or hanged for their crimes and 3000 were tried and punished in total. The campaign was based on capturing thagi and using their confessions to track down and capture others.

Question 18

How successful was the campaign against thagi?

Answer 18

Thagi activity seemed to have been largely dealt with by Sleeman’s efforts in the 1830s and crucially, thagi suppression didn’t seem to have been widely resented by Indians at the time, unlike other campaigns from the modernising agenda.

Question 19

How was sati dealt with originally by the EIC?

Answer 19

Company officials had disliked the practice and had tried to discourage it, but there were serious concerns about the impact of such a ban on the local population. However, the practice had been banned in Calcutta in 1798 and Wilberforce forced amendment to the 1813 Charter Law to allow missionaries to preach against sati.

Question 20

What happened in the campaign against sati?

Answer 20

The Act of Abolition 1829 outlawed sati in areas under Company control and anyone guilty assisting with a sati was deemed to be guilty of culpable homicide and prosecuted. The practice was outlawed in the entirety of India in 1861.

Question 21

How successful was the campaign against sati?

Answer 21

Some princely states followed the British example in the 1830s and 1840s and discouraged sati but most cases continued in the Punjab and in Bengal, outside of British jurisdiction. Despite the full ban in 1861, cases continued throughout the 19th century and even today. This campaign was also resented by higher caste Indians who saw the British interference as an attack on caste purity and they hated the presumption of cultural superiority.

Question 22

What was the campaign against female infanticide?

Answer 22

Bentinck enforced the laws that had been passed in 1795 and 1802 against female infanticide. The practice of killing girl babies at birth was common in Rajputana, Maharashtra and some parts of northern India. It stemmed from the difficulty of providing dowries for female children and the shame attached to having unmarried daughters.

Question 23

How successful was the campaign against female infanticide?

Answer 23

Bentinck’s efforts materially improved the lot of women in India, however British interference here and in outlawing sati contributed towards the rumbling discontent towards British rule in the 1830s and 1840s.

Question 24

What did Christian missionaries do in India?

Answer 24

They wanted to convince students that Christianity was superior to Hinduism. They were also in favour of higher education being in English. Both Anglican and Baptist missionaries focused on the education of Indians and campaigns against traditions like sati. They also learnt Indian languages to translate the Bible into their languages. They set up seminaries, for example Baptists set up a college for the training of indigenous ministers in 1818.

Question 25

How influential were Christian missionaries?

Answer 25

Missionaries like Alexander Duff’s work were very influential in the development of Bentinck’s educational policy, resulting in the Education Act 1835. English was also made the language of government and higher legal courts in 1835 as a result of the missionaries’ actions.

Question 26

How did the EIC respond to missionaries?

Answer 26

The EIC wanted to avoid clashes between missionaries and Indians and banned missionaries from Calcutta until 1813, when the British government overruled them and allowed missionaries into India under the Charter Act 1813. This showed a lack of EIC power and added to the opposition they faced in trying to tax and administer their territories.

Question 27

What was the positive reaction of some Indians towards missionaries?

Answer 27

Some Indians were interested and Indians like Ram Mohan Roy wanted to merge the best aspects of both cultures. The Bengal Renaissance saw reinterpretation of Indian religious philosophy. Brahmins and some others chose to send their children to missionary schools to keep their social status.

Question 28

What was the negative reaction of some Indians towards missionaries?

Answer 28

However, some Indians turned further to their own religions like Hinduism and there was some uncoordinated resistance. In 1842, people of Bombay attempted to stop children attending missionary schools.

Question 29

What were Dalhousie’s attitudes and beliefs?

Answer 29

He was Governor General from 1848-1856 and was an energetic moderniser and committed Utilitarian, devoted to his vision of an improved India. He saw no reason to continue with alliances with the princely states as he viewed the princes as conservative forces getting in the way of his vital modernisations.

Question 30

What were Dalhousie’s successes?

Answer 30

The Punjab was pacified and locked into Company rule, its fertile soil yielding a substantial revenue surplus for the Company, the first Indian railroads were constructed, the first telegraph line was laid and the Penny Post was introduced.

Question 31

What was the Doctrine of Lapse and paramountcy?

Answer 31

An annexation policy devised by Dalhousie stated that any princely state under direct influence of the British should be annexed if the ruler was incompetent or died without an heir.

Question 32

What unpopular event did the Doctrine of Lapse lead to?

Answer 32

The annexation of Awadh in 1856 was widely resented in Awadh, the traditional recruiting ground of the sepoys of the Company’s Bengali army. Determined to reform the state, Britain announced that land would be taken from all talukdars unable to prove legal title to their estates. The British attack on the established social order was deeply destabilising. In 1857, Awadh was one of the areas which saw widespread participation in the uprising against the British.

Question 33

How did new guns cause resentment in India?

Answer 33

There were rumours amongst sepoys that new cartridges would be lubricated with animal fat, placing Hindus and Muslims at risk of defilement. Sepoys viewed this as proof of Britain’s plan for the Christianisation of India and this was the spark that ignited the simmering resentments against missionaries and events in Awadh.

Question 34

What was the result of opposition to the new guns?

Answer 34

Following the court martial of 85 sepoys for refusing to load the new rifles in Meerut on 9th May 1857, all 3 sepoy regiments rose in revolt, freeing mutineers and massacring local Europeans.

Question 35

Why was the Bengal army in a state of unrest?

Answer 35

It followed the General Service Enlistment Act 1856, where they feared they would eventually be forced to serve overseas and thus pollute their caste status.

Question 36

What happened at Jhansi during the 1857 rebellion?

Answer 36

Jhansi was attacked by 2 native allies of the British but the Rani of Jhansi successfully repelled the invaders and the region remained peaceful throughout 1857. When the British finally arrived in March 1858, they demanded surrender but the Rani refused and escaped. It took 2 months to capture her and kill her and she became a nationalist hero.

Question 37

What happened at Cawnpore during the 1857 rebellion?

Answer 37

Sir Hugh Wheeler had not been careful enough in his preparations and the British only held out for 18 days before surrendering on 27th June. During the transfer to Allahabad, fighting broke out and 400 were killed. The remaining 200 British were massacred on 15th July, the day before relief arrived.

Question 38

What happened at Lucknow during the 1857 rebellion?

Answer 38

During the siege at Lucknow, Sir Henry Lawrence shepherded his Europeans into the fortified residency from the end of May with enough food and ammunitions that Lucknow was able to hold out against attack for 5 months. First relief arrived on 25th September 1857 and Lucknow was successfully evacuated after the second relief in November 1857.

Question 39

Why was the rebellion most serious in Awadh?

Answer 39

The mutiny proved to be the spark which ignited a wider revolt as the discontented talukdars were joined in opposition to the British by those with familial links to the sepoys of the Bengali army. The situation was complicated by peasant uprisings, whose grievances centred on local issues like changing land structures and excessive tax collection. Local leaders emerged like the Rani of Jhansi.

Question 40

How did rebel weakness allow the British to retain control of India?

Answer 40

The rebels weren’t a cohesive force: there were mutineers, aggrieved landowners in Awadh, peasants and local leaders who were unwilling to cooperate to forge a national revolt. The centres of revolt in Delhi, Lucknow and Cawnpore each had their own centres of power converged around rebel leaders. Once the British regrouped, they simply had to eliminate one centre of resistance after another.

Question 41

How did British strengths allow the British to retain control of India?

Answer 41

Dalhousie’s infrastructure works were useful for moving troops and for communication. The British had better weapons like Enfield rifles and more skilled and experienced soldiers.

Question 42

How did the support of sepoys allow Britain to retain control of India?

Answer 42

The other 2 presidency armies remained unaffected by the unrest and the Punjabi sepoys proved key in suppressing the rebellion. 30,000 sepoys sided with the British to fight against the mutineers. Even in Lucknow, the centre of disaffected Awadh, about half of the 7000 soldiers who sought refuge in the Residency were Indian soldiers.

Question 43

How did British political control of India change after the 1857 rebellion?

Answer 43

The Government of India Act 1858 ended Company rule in India and British India was ruled directly through a viceroy who was accountable to Parliament. There was a Secretary of State for India and an India council. Princely states were brought under indirect control but indigenous rulers’ privileged existence was preserved by the British. All 560 princely states remained loyal to the British Raj.

Question 44

How did British economic control of India change after the 1857 rebellion?

Answer 44

Accommodation was made with talukdars in Awadh. New taxation system with an income tax on wealthier groups. The £50 million cost of ending the rebellion was transferred to the new Raj.

Question 45

How did the British change their cultural control of India after the 1857 rebellion?

Answer 45

Indians were promised religious toleration, equal protection under the law and rights of native princes to their lands were protected. The British proceeded with extreme caution when moving against religious customs and rituals. It was only in 1891 that the age of consent for girls for marriage was raised from 10 to 12. However, the sense of British racial superiority remained, especially at the memory of the atrocities suffered by white people at the hands of brown men.

Question 46

Did the role of missionaries change after the 1857 rebellion?

Answer 46

Officials couldn’t prevent missionary activity and in 1858 the London Missionary Society resolved to send an additional 20 missionaries to India within 2 years. However, proselytising was kept out of official policy as much as possible.

Question 47

What were the changes made to the recruitment for the army resulting from the rebellion?

Answer 47

Proportion of sepoys in the army was reduced by 40% and British troops were increased by 50% to make the ratio 3:1 instead of 9:1 and troops were recruited from areas deemed most loyal to the British, particularly the Sikh Punjab and Muslim north-west.

Question 48

How did army planning and policy change after the rebellion?

Answer 48

It ensured that adjacent regiments had different ethnic and religious backgrounds to prevent the spread of mutiny from regiment to regiment. Within regiments, sepoys were to come from a mix of geographical areas and ethnicities. The breech loading rifle in 1867 ended the conflict over animal fat lubricated rifles.

Question 49

How did the British attitude to ruling India change after the rebellion?

Answer 49

Policy became more pragmatic and cautious and the British were far less inclined to educate or ‘develop’ Indian society. However, they wanted to keep India as an important source of wealth. Avoiding famine was judged to be key to keeping the native population content.

Question 50

What infrastructure works were completed under the new British rule?

Answer 50

The rail network had 24,700 miles of track by the turn of the century. Irrigation projects, the telegraph and postal networks, sanitation and lighting projects made steady progress. The telegraph, railway and opening of the Suez Canal meant in a future emergency, backup could be moved swiftly into position.