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Flashcards in Period 5: European Imperialism in India Deck (7)
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1
Q

What was the British East India Company?

A
  • a joint stock company that operated like a multinational corporation with exclusive rights over British trade with India
  • led in India by Robert Clive in the 1750s
  • raised an effective army that rid India of the French
  • took advantage of the weakening Mughals and set up administrative regions throughout the empire
2
Q

Who was Robert Clive?

A
  • led the British East India Company

- conquered the Bengal region (present-day Bangladesh) (not British troops but corporate troops lol)

3
Q

Who were Sepoys?

A
  • Indians who worked for the Brits, mostly as soldiers
  • became alarmed with the company’s conquering of India by the mid-1800s
  • the British East India Company didn’t respect the local customs of the Sepoys nor the religious customs of Islam and Hinduism
4
Q

What was the Sepoy Mutiny?

A
  • the Sepoys learned that their bullet cartridges (which had to be bitten off in order to load into the rifle) were greased with pork and beef fat in 1857, thus violating both Muslim and Hindu dietary laws
  • rebelled for 2 years but failed
5
Q

What were the consequences of the Sepoy Mutiny?

A
  • the British parliament took control of India away from the East India Company in 1858 and made all of India a crown colony
  • Bahadur Shah II, the last of the Mughal rulers, was sent into exile, thereby ending the Mughal empire for good
  • Queen Victoria was recognized as Empress of India by 1877
6
Q

How did England impact India?

A
  • upper castes were taught English and were expected to adopt English attitudes
  • Christianity spread
  • railroads and canals were built
  • urbanization increased dramatically
  • all at the expense of Indian culture and institutions
  • the upper castes were Anglicizes and thus gained the education and worldly sophistication to begin to influence events and started to dream of freeing India from British rule
7
Q

What was the Indian National Congress?

A

The Indian National Congress was formed by a group of well-educated Indians in 1885 to begin the path toward independence.