The British Raj and the Road to Independence

“THE ROAD THROUGH HISTORY is the theme of the document. It aims to concentrate on historical events ranging from the British conquest of India to Indian resistance and final independence from the British Empire.”

Political Structure Prior To Mid-18^th Century

The mid-18^th century India witnessed transformation from Centralized to Fragmented political structure. After Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 AD and that of his weak successor, Bahadur Shah, five years later, the empire of the Great Mughals began to crumble. The devastating raid by Nadir Shah in 1739 prove to be last nail in coffins of Imperial Mughals.

In the 1740s the ambitious Subadars of Bengal, Awadh, Hyderabad and Carnatic had become to all intents and purposes, independent rulers." Besides, the Maratha, Jats and Sikhs had also set up their own states as challenger to weakened Mughal Empire.

The most important power to rise on the debris of the Mughal empire was that of the Marathas who occupied huge tracts of Mughal territory by 1730, besides holding large areas in central India and the Deccan and forcibly collecting taxes from as far as Orissa.

When Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India, it was the Marathas and not the forces of the Mughal emperor who opposed him in the third battle of Panipat in 1761. Nevertheless,their defeat dealt a severe blow to their power around the time when victory over Nawab Siraj-ud-daulla of Bengal in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, had given the British their first foothold on power in India.

Administrative Unity under British

Indiahad been united under the Mauryas and the Great Mughals. However, the unity established by the British was, however, qualitatively different. This was due not only to their extremely efficient and centralized administration, but also to the development of modern infrastructure, which became the foundation of a modern state. Though modern infrastructure was built to meet colonial needs, it also contributed to Indian unity and the emergence of nationalism.

The magnitude of the differences can be easily perceived.

• Maurya and Mughal: Different parts of the Maurya and Mughal empires were connected by waterways and highways.
• British: The British established a countrywide network of railways which provided for unprecedentedly rapid communication, and the telegraph, enabling almost instantaneous transmission of messages.
  • Meant to facilitate the movement of troops and commerce, both also helped education and ideas to travel to the intellectually stagnant hinterland areas.

The British Bequest

What led to Revolt of 1857?

• As British power transformed to political power, its exploitative economic policies, expansionary political policy, administrative discriminatory and racist policies, social reformative policies and Military policies increasingly led to discontentment, resistance and Revolt by Indians.
• Discontent was also growing among the Indian Sepoys of the British Army over overseas service, pay and other issues.
• What proved to be the last straw was the introduction of new Enfield rifles and its greased cartridges of which had to be bitten off before loading.
• The word spread that its grease was made of the fat of cows and pigs the consumption of which were forbidden to Hindus and Muslims respectively by their religions.
• The result was the great uprising of the Sepoys in 1857, which also had considerable popular support, and which has been described as 'the most dramatic instance of traditional India's struggle against foreign rule'.
• It was the powerful jolt, which shook British power to its foundations and somehow, they saved their British Empire in India

British System of Education

The system of education the British established during the governor-generalship of Lord William Bentinck (1828-35) and the far-reaching consequences on Indian society, political structure, economy and Nationalism.

Exposure to the critical methods, rationalism and liberal ideas of the West triggered an intellectual turmoil in the minds of the young, educated class of Indians particularly Bengalis. Simultaneously, the rediscovery of India's glorious ancient history and rich civilization legacy by European orientalists like James Princep, William Jones, Monnier Williams, Max Muller and others, greatly boosted their self-esteem and confidence in their ability.

Two important results followed from this.

1.     Nationalist sentiments:

The first was the emergence of one of the main prerequisites of nationalist sentiments.

2.     Intellectual ferment

The second outcome of the intellectual ferment created by the introduction of Western education was the Bengal Renaissance of the 19th century characterized by-

• a brilliant burst of creativity in literature, historical studies, scientific investigations, social criticism and journalism
• a quickening of intellectual life in some other parts of India

It enhanced the confidence of the Indians and encouraged them to examine the causes of the country's decline into colonial servitude as well as of the stagnation, degradation and intellectual barrenness of their ritual/superstition-plagued life.

Organized Resistance to British Rule

Formation of Political Association

The Revolt of 1857 led to beginning of nationalism in modern sense. It manifested itself in the shape of political associations, culminating in the establishment of India's first all-India political organization, the Indian National Congress, in 1885.

British Rule was contested in the moderate phase (1885-1905) by the ideology of 3P (Prayer, Petition, and Protest), which was further advanced by extremists through the concept of passive resistance and boycott of British goods.

During Gandhian Phase, Mahatma Gandhi challenged the might of British Government through the Ideology of Satyagraha and in the form of Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedient Movement and Quit India Movement.