By: Justin Chen
Examine the British Control Over India
When the British took over India, they immediately turned it into a powerhouse. The English East India Company enjoyed its monopoly in Indian trade. With permission from Mughal emperors from India, they created fortified posts on the coastline. After the death of the emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, the monopoly took advantage of the Mughal weakness and attempted to expand its posts as much as possible. They later began conquests of just control of India. With the help of sepoys, a small British army with a large number of Indian troops, they were able to achieve just that. This led to direct Imperial rule of the British on India. They suppressed many Indian beliefs and forced their own views upon them, heavily stressing the adoption of their own British culture.
How did it set the stage for later British expansion?
As the East India Company and British colonial agents tightened their grip on India, competition among European states kindled further, more powerful empire-building efforts. Beginning in the early nineteenth century, French and Russian strategists sought ways to break British power and establish their own colonial presence in India. The French bid stalled after the fall of Napoleon, but Russian interest in India continued and even fueled a prolonged contest for power in central Asia with the British. This led to competition between the regions for controlling more land. Thanks in part to Russia competing with them, the British were fueled to expand their power into Central Asia and Southeast Asia.
In what ways did the British control of India represent the best and worst of British rule?
The British Empire in India is the most prolific example in world history of the domination of a vast territory and population by only a small minority of an alien race. Both the conquest and the administration of the country were exceptional, and although the work has been carried on, the English have persistently contended that we have been acting really in the interests of the subdued peoples. As a matter of fact, India is, and will probably remain, the classic instance of the ruinous effect of unrestrained capitalism in Colonial affairs. It is very important, therefore, that the International Social-Democratic Party should thoroughly understand what has been done, and how baneful the temporary success of a foreign despotism enforced by a set of islanders has been to a large population. Despite all this, the way the British treated matters in India had a great bias towards their empire.