Prelude To The History Of British India
As human beings, we tend to consume bits and parts of information, due to which, we fail to get a broader perspective of things. Half-baked knowledge can be more dangerous than no knowledge. Same is the case with history of British India. We might know about the important events from our freedom struggle and sacrifices by great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh, Marketing but most of us might be unaware about the genesis of British Indian history. Let's plunge deep and explore where it all began.
Trade with East India Company
It is believed that India was one of the richest countries in the world during the 16th century and European nations badly wanted to build trade relations with us. Although the Portuguese explorer Vasco-da-gama was the first European to discover a sea-route to India in 1497, several others followed suit to explore trade opportunities. East India Company set up its first Indian factory in Masulipatnam in 1611. Slowly and steadily they started gaining the confidence of Indian rulers and established several other factories. You can say, this is where history of British India actually began. The Indian rulers were happy because of the benefits of trade, but they did not realise that the British had a wicked motive in mind.
The Shift in Power
East Indian Company's victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 can be considered as one of the biggest triggering points in the history of British India. The Nawab of Bengal Mir Jafar was appointed by Robert Clive, and he was simply a puppet ruler under the Company. The Company also got the rights to collect revenue in Bengal and Bihar in 1765.
Fiddling with Indian Governance
Although East India Company was a private firm, the British Government started taking control when the Company was crumbling due to wide-spread corruption. The Pitt's India Act was introduced in 1784, which gave the British government more power to control the private company. A capital was set up in Calcutta and Warren Hastings was appointed as the first Governor-General. The Marathas gave a tough fight but were defeated by 1818, and Peshwa's territories were annexed.
Revolt of 1857
Unable to take on the growing atrocities of the Company rule like heavy land taxation, partial behaviour towards kings and landlords etc., a pressure-cooker situation was building in the Indian Subcontinent. This growing unrest led to the revolt of 1857 that almost shook the British off completely. Indian soldiers working for the Company revolved against the British on 10th May 1857 in Meerut which inspired several others from different parts of the subcontinent to fight back. 81-year-old Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah Zafar was declared as Emperor of Hindustan. Several rulers like Jhansi ki Rani contributed immensely during the revolt while many other princely states of Hyderabad, Travancore, Mysore etc. remained silent. Finally the rebellion was brutally crushed through mass prosecution and use of army in 1858. The Government of India Act was introduced in 1858 when India became an official colony under the British Raj. Queen Victoria became the Empress of India and the history of British India began officially.
SMK Lamongan
Now that you know how it all started, it will be much more exciting to learn more about history of British India .