British Imperialism in India is a significant topic in world history. It had a large influence on the expansion of the British Empire and caused a large shift in the world economy. Before India was imperialised by the British, however, the Mughal emperor Akbar was ruling over an empire that spanned 750’000 square miles. By the 1600s the Mughal empire could boast a century of strong centralised power, military dominance and cultural productiveness. This empire had amassed wealth that was unimaginable by any country in Europe at the time and was renowned for its natural produce and art all around the world. (picture: The Red Fort built in the mid-1600s by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan). From the 1st century AD to the beginning of the British colonization of India in the 17th century, India's GDP ranged from ~25-35% of the total world GDP, which is larger than the total GDP of Europe combined. The country had an independent economy, where despite its many manufacturing activities, agriculture was the main source of livelihood. Other than that, India’s handicraft industry was noted for its fine quality of material and its high standards of craftsmanship in the fields of cotton and silk textiles, as well as metal and precious stone works.

While the economy flourished and was self-sufficient, Indian society did not have the same ideals as many in European society by that time. Certain social practices like female infanticide, child marriage, sati (widow sacrifice), polygamy and a rigid caste system became more prevalent. Women did not have access to any development opportunities to improve their status, since education was limited to a handful of men belonging to the upper castes of the caste system in India.

Why did Great Britain want to seize control over India?

By the seventeenth century, India was a mostly urbanized and industrialized nation with a thriving export commerce dominated by cotton textiles, but also comprising of silk, spices, and rice. India was the world's largest producer of cotton textiles, with a significant export trade to Britain and other European countries through the East India Company. The East India Company (EIC) was a British company formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region. However, as the Mughal Empire started to weaken due to its unstable leadership, European nations saw this as the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation and so the EIC, along with the Dutch, the Portuguese and the French, began to exert their influence over the Mughal Empire and its territory, as it could provide great economic benefit for them.

What effects did Imperialism have on India?

India was called the ‘Jewel in the Crown’, because of the great value it had for the British Empire in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The period of direct British rule was called the British Raj. Some people say the interference of Britain in their economy helped India evolve into a more modern economy. This can be seen in the development of many canals, roads and railways across India during which the fourth-largest rail network was built, in India, with the help of British engineering. With this network, the transportation of goods and people became easier and much quicker. A lot of the goods which were produced in England were sold in India, which benefitted the British economy greatly. Simultaneously, they exported goods from India to fuel the factories in England. They even reinforced laws that forced the Indian citizens to grow crops, which would be used in English factories, instead of producing food crops. This led to several severe famines that killed around 55 million Indians, which could’ve been reduced if the economic policies had been different.

Nationalism grew during this time, and people like Mahatma Gandhi (picture) became important and led to calls for independence from British control. The Indian population grew massively from 130 million people in 1600 to 380 million in the mid-1900s, with those numbers being explained that the British rule led to an improvement in health and quality of life standards. The average life expectancy also improved from 25 years of age in 1880 to 35 years of age in 1950. These improved health statistics were explained by the building of new hospitals and schools which trained doctors and nurses. The British army also suppressed and controlled the Indian population by giving them lower ranks in the military, so that there could be no Indian officials, preventing them from obtaining the power of self-ruling.

The British East India Company started to establish their own private armies, the members of those armies were known under the name ‘sepoys’. The power of the British East India Company ended in 1857 with the outbreak of the Sepoy Mutiny. This Sepoy Mutiny took place because of multiple factors. The rebellion began when sepoys refused to use new rifle cartridges, which were thought to be lubricated with grease containing a mixture of pigs’ and cows’ lard and thus religiously impure for Muslims and Hindus. The soldiers were shackled and imprisoned, but their outraged comrades shot their British officers and marched in Delhi. (Picture: The Indian Sepoys) The sepoys had the ability to gain rank now but were still outranked by the British officers. When the British East India Company became more powerful and also expanded its rule over India, they forced taxes on Indians and on the sepoys as well. British officers also forced cultural ideals and religious practices on the Sepoys. Those factors led to a growing mistrust and ended in the Sepoy Rebellion.

Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, an Indian queen, (picture) was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion and became a symbol of resistance to the British Raj for Indian nationalists.

After this Rebellion, the immediate result was that the East India Company was abolished in favour of direct rule of India by the British government.

Slowly, as the English language spread among the Indian population, a New Middle Class was formed. New fields of knowledge in science, humanities, and literature became accessible to them. English became the primary language of India's educated population, eventually making them politically aware of their rights, as learning the language provided them with the chance to study about the functioning of democratic institutions in Europe, as well as the concepts of liberty, equality, fraternity, human rights, and self-government as expressed by enlightened thinkers such as John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. This aided many Indians in adopting a modern, logical, democratic, liberal, and patriotic political perspective.

“By the end of the nineteenth century, India was Britain’s biggest source of revenue, the world’s biggest purchaser of British exports and the source of highly paid employment for British civil servants and soldiers all at India’s own expense. Indians literally paid for their own oppression.”

- Shashi Tharoor, Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India

How did India gain independence from Great Britain?

In 1984, a British colony in southeastern Africa called Natal took away the right to vote for all the Indian residents there and even enforced a segregated system, where Indians were strongly discriminated against. During this, Mahatma Gandhi was living in this area, 24 years old at the time and had just recently become a lawyer. Disgusted by this treatment, he organised Indian resistance, fought anti-Indian legislation and led large protests against the government.

Through this, he gained a public persona for his philosophy of truth-focused, non-violent non-cooperation, which he called Satyagraha. When he went back to India, he brought this philosophy with him. He got elected for the Indian National Congress political party, where he began to advocate for independence from Great Britain. He coordinated resistance to a 1919 statute that allowed British authorities to detain suspected revolutionaries without trial. The Amritsar Massacre, which killed 400 unarmed demonstrators, was Britain's savage response to this opposition. Gandhi continued to fight back, first by responding by boycotting English goods, and then by organising a 241-mile-long protest march. This led to the British imprisoning over 60’000 peaceful protesters which, despite the intention of the British, only increased the support Gandhi’s movement gained.  At one point, due to one of his protests, Gandhi got arrested and huge demonstrations ensued. Slowly but surely, there was enough resistance for the British government to start planning to withdraw from the Indian subcontinent. By 1944 Gandhi was released from jail and on August 15th, 1947 India gained its independence.