British Rule In England
“Trade was Britain’s doorway to India. ” (Bogard et. al. 4th par. 3rd sentence) The colonization of Asia is often referred to as the Second British Empire; the British East India Company India was successful in annexing the Indian subcontinent (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar), an extremely lucrative acquisition as it became a large source of revenue (British East India Company 1st par. 1st sentence). India is a country with a rich culture and a civilization far older than that of the British (Bessant 2nd par. 2nd sentence). Its identity has been forged long before the coming of Western Civilization.
However, during the period of the annexation of the subcontinent, India was in a period of regional strife. There were wars being fought among the different governors in the territory. The local leaders were fighting each other as well as the foreign invaders. In “Did Great Britain Unify India? ”, the authors think that when Great Britain first came to India, it was suffering a period of division (2nd par. ). The governors of India tended towards disintegration, leading to outrageous defense expenditures which continued with the conflicts against the British (Birodkar).
The British made external changes that led India to desire and achieve national unity (Bogard, et. al. 4th par. ). An example of the unifying external changes introduced was the concept of a universal language. The British required knowledge of the English language to qualify for employment in the government. It was also taught in the universities. But the Indians did not completely accept the foreign language of the colonizers. The regional languages still exist today, and only a small portion of population speaks English.
However, even if the Indians still speak in different languages and there is still no universal language in India, Hindi has become the official language. Hindi is taught in the elementary and high school level. English is taught in the college levels, it is the language of the educated in India. (Bogard, et. al. ). The British also introduced western developments. The Empire built railroads, highways and ports across the Indian subcontinent to facilitate trade, built canals for irrigation and created public health measures to prevent diseases.
On the flip side, the activities of the British were geared towards acquisition of economic wealth for Britain. (Bogard, et. al). According to Bidokar, “The policy of ‘Great’ Britain was of a systematic annihilation of Indian handicraft industries by exposing them to the ruinous competition from the cheap machine products coming from UK. ” (18th par. 1st sentence) A large bulk of the raw materials produced by India is acquired, at very cheap prices, by the Britain; then, later on, finished products are dumped back to India, resulting to very large profits for Britain (Bidokar18th par. 2nd sentence).
This exacerbated the poverty of India (Bidokar18th par. 2nd sentence). Bidokar also believed that: Thus after nearly two centuries of living through the twilight of two ages of the dying feudalism and the deformed nascent newborn Capitalism, we inherited an economy which bore the worst features of both feudalism and colonial capitallsm at the dawn of our independence. (20th paragraph) Bogard et,al, on the other hand, claims that poverty in India is a result of improved health care. The public health measures created by the British led to lower infant mortality rates and population explosion.
The caste system is a social system by which the members of society are divided into four groups which are ranked. These four groups are priests and teachers, rulers and warriors, merchants and traders and workers and peasants. In the Indian caste system, a person is born within a caste and has little means of improving social standing, except through reincarnation. The occupation and acquaintances of a person is also governed by his caste. The caste system has already been criticized and attacked by various groups before the coming of the British, among these are Buddhists and Muslims.
It was convenient for the British to strengthen the caste system when it first came to India (Bogard, et. al). It gave back the privileges of the priests and teachers which the Muslims had previously taken away. However, the changes in society introduced by the British weaken the caste system (Bogard, et. al). People of different caste started mingling in public transportation. British laws also do not allow a higher punishment for a person of lower caste from that of a higher one for the same offense. The advances in transportation allowed people of lower caste from other regions to pretend to belong in a higher caste in a different region.
India is the birth place of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Religion is a vital part of Indian life; it permeates all other aspects of life and culture. Religion’s impact is felt even on political matters. Moreover, it constantly clashed with the western culture introduced by the British. As an example, the Sepoy Rebellion arose because the Buddhist soldiers believed that the British did not respect their religion. Christianity made its debut in India before the British through the Portuguese and Spanish missionaries. Later, Anglican and Protestant missionaries also helped spread Christianity in India.
At present, it is the second largest religious minority in India; Islam is the first. Christianity also influenced Hinduism. Ram Mohan Roy, a hindu leader, was inspired by the story of Jesus Christ that he fought against the social abuses inherent in Hinduism. It was through his effort that the suttee was declared illegal. (Bogard, et. al) Another devout Hindu influenced by teachings of Christianity is Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi read the works of many west’s great thinker and the gospel of Christ’s He actions is greatly influenced by his readings, but he never lost his faith in Hinduism or his Indian identity.
(Bogard, et. al) The effects goes both ways, Ramakrishna, a Hindu missionary, roamed the United States and England to preach Hinduism. Lamb said: The fact that he had so successfully preached Hinduism in the very lands from which the Christian missionaries came seemed to prove that political subjection need not involve religious subjection. Hindus could be proud at least of the essential truths of their religion. The reaffirmation of Hinduism served as an emotional counterbalance to the damage to Hindu self-respect caused by British political domination.
(qtd. Bogard, et. al. ) Religion spilled over Indian literature. The Ramayana and Mahabharata, considered as two of the greatest literature of all time, are familiar epics of the Sanskrit. It is written in verse and orally passed down. In more modern times, Indian literature is represented in the world by the works of Rabindranath Tagore and Allama Iqbal. The more lasting influence of Britain to India is in the field of sports. Cricket, a sport invented by the British, is India’s favorite past time (Bogard, et. al). In fact in the 1993
At present, the ties between India and Great Britain are being kept strong by international trade. India and Britain entered into a partnership in 1993. Britain reported a 69% increase in bilateral trade after the partnership was entered into and several joint ventures have been signed between Indian and British companies. Britain is also the largest market for Indian trade services, this amount to 12% of the total IT service exports. Cited Works Bessant, Annie. “England and India. ” Theosophical Publishing Co. 1921. http://www. theosophical. ca/EnglandIndiaAB. htm. Birodkar, Sudheer.
“The Coming of European Colonialism. ” http://www. hindubooks. org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/landbritish. html. “British East India Company. ” Wikipedia. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/British_Empire. “British Raj. ” Wikipedia. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/British_Raj. Bogard, Medina, et. al. “Did Great Britain Unify India? ” May 1, 1997. http://home. snu. edu/~dwilliam/s97/india/. “Indian Literature. ” Wikipedia. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Indian_literature. “Indo-UK Partnership. ” http://www. google. com. ph/search? hl=tl&q=indo-british+partnership+initiative&meta=.
