The British Enter India
" In the first half of the century (18th), the British were a trading presence at certain points along the coast; from the 1750s they began to wage war on land in eastern and south-eastern India and to reap the reward of successful warfare, which was the exercise of political power, notably over the rich province of Bengal. By the end of the century British rule had been consolidated over the first conquests and it was being extended up the Ganges valley to Delhi and over most of the peninsula of southern India. By then the British had established a military dominance that would enable them in the next fifty years to subdue all the remaining Indian states of any consequence, either conquering them or forcing their rulers to become subordinate allies." |
Problems Between India and Great Britain
The British Raj depended on India for economic support, establishing tea and cotton agriculture and coal and iron industries. By 1940, the Tata Iron Works was the largest iron industry in the world located in Mumbai, India. The British Raj also developed extensive railroad and telegraph lines, however these successes didn't yield a positive reaction from the Indian people whose traditional culture and economy were disrupted and they grew restless of the growing gap between the upper-class British and lower-class Indians.
The British Raj depended on India for economic support, establishing tea and cotton agriculture and coal and iron industries. By 1940, the Tata Iron Works was the largest iron industry in the world located in Mumbai, India. The British Raj also developed extensive railroad and telegraph lines, however these successes didn't yield a positive reaction from the Indian people whose traditional culture and economy were disrupted and they grew restless of the growing gap between the upper-class British and lower-class Indians.
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The Sepoy RebellionThe Sepoy's were Hindu and Muslim soldiers whose job was to implement British rule and policies in India. The Sepoy rebellion was result to the reaction of the rumor that " the end of the cartridge, ...was greased in pig fat and beef tallow... presented a problem for native soldiers, as pig fat is a haraam, or forbidden, substance to Muslims, and beef fat is, likewise, deemed inauspicious for certain Hindus. Thus, the revolt occurred as a reaction to this particular intrusion into Hindu and Muslim culture", (Ian A. Talbot). The Sepoy Rebellion is the initial reaction that would eventually evolve into a nationalist movement.
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