5.9: Effects of the Industrial Revolution on India
- Page ID
- 196817
Growing Problems in India
The Industrial Revolution created significant problems in India which resulted in increased poverty and greater European domination. Simultaneously a sense of national identity was forming as well. For the most part, India was in crisis in the early 1800s. The Mughal imperial army was in disarray after being engaged in constant warfare all over the Indian subcontinent. Independent Hindu and Muslim kingdoms controlled much of India. These kingdoms constantly had to deal with restless Hindu warriors including the Marathas who would raid and plunder.
The British first became involved in India through the auspices of a joint-stock company called the English East India Company or EIC. Although founded as a commercial operation, the Company slowly established political control on the subcontinent. For the most part, the EIC began to exert influence in India as the industrial revolution began in the early 1800s and as India entered a period of instability. The EIC took advantage of the empire’s weakness to expand its trading activities and slowly took over the regional principalities that split off from Mughal control. During the 1700s there were wars between the Mughal elites, the Marathas, the British, and the French. By the early 1800s, EIC emerged as one of the dominant powers in India. From its capital in Calcutta, the EIC then took over Bengal, which was one of India’s wealthiest regions. They then used this wealth to finance a well-armed and well-trained force of Indian soldiers known as sepoys. Additionally, the Maratha attacks and instability in India disrupted trade and local elites began to look to the EIC for protection. They saw the British as the lesser of two evils. By the early 1800s, the British then occupied Delhi and the Mughal emperor lost all power. For the most part, the British were able to dominate India through divide-and-conquer tactics. The British steadily increased the size of their army to “pacify” India. The vast majority of soldiers were Indians but the officers were British.
By 1800, the primary products of India were being utilized to fuel economic development in Britain. As a consequence, agriculture in India became more commercialized. Raw cotton, wool, opium, and indigo became major products for international trade. Bengal emerged as a major producer of jute and India began to produce some tea and coffee. The British economy increasingly demanded more tea and sugar, because employers purchased stimulants to ensure that workers remained productive. However, most tea came from China, and raw cotton was the only commodity that the Chinese would buy in large volumes legally in return for tea. There was a massive illicit trade in Indian-grown opium between Britain and China.
By the mid-1800s, the EIC controlled large swathes of territory in what are now India, Pakistan, Burma, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The EIC shifted its policy away from simply trading and began reorganizing the Indian economy. However, very few Indians actually benefited from increasing British economic domination. During the 1600s, the EIC used precious metals to purchase Indian cloth. Once the British took over Bengal, they forced Indians to pay taxes which would then be used to purchase primary products in India. Taxes were high and if these could not be paid, then Indian farmers were forced to sell their land. Higher caste individuals often took over the land when this happened. As a result, more and more peasants had to rent land and had to sell their products to pay for rent in silver rupees.
At first, the EIC formed “subsidiary” alliances to control India. The local kings and princes were forced to pay taxes to the East India Company and in return, sepoys were stationed in these kingdoms to “protect them” and ensure order. There were also company employees who resided in these kingdoms that oversaw the governments of the local kings and princes. The taxes were very high and local elites struggled to pay them. Therefore, silver and gold flowed out of India. Indian states could not form into bilateral relations and the British controlled relations between the kingdoms.
There were serious problems with EIC rule. By the mid-1800s, more and more EIC British officers belonged to a racist school, known as the Utilitarianists, who regarded Indian civilization as barbaric and backward. In the cities, the English had their own separate neighborhoods and societies. The higher echelons of government were dominated by the British and the EIC limited Indians and mixed-race people to serving in minor local offices. More and more kings and princes went into debt because they could not afford the taxes to the British. These kings and princes also had to deal with frequent upheavals because taxes were so high. As these kingdoms went bankrupt and became unstable, the EIC would then annex them. To provide more raw cotton for British factories, the British annexed much of India for the cotton-producing regions and took control of indigo production. The British often justified annexation by claiming that Indian kings and princes were tyrannical. However, the English East India Company imposed more hardships on the Indians by increasing land taxes to pay for the growing government and military costs. This only generated more rebellions and protests. More and more, the British relied on its military force to rule.
Nevertheless, increasing British rule created conditions in which elites across the Indian subcontinent could unite in a common cause and begin to develop a shared identity as Indians. A small segment of Indians was becoming familiar with British law, western science, and the idea of linear historical change by the early 1800s in the colleges established by the EIC in India. English became the language of government and higher education. There was also a more uniform legal system based on British interpretations of Hindu, Muslim, and English law which would be administered by British courts. By the 1850s, there were elites from all over India that were college-educated English speakers. There were also British scholars who studied and wrote about Indian history and culture. The British also brought more geographic unity with infrastructure improvements and a postal system.
British rule also homogenized India. The British wrote and distributed grammars for Indian languages. Hindu religion historically has many variations and practices but the British sought to standardize it. British colleges in India published and distributed works on mythology and scriptures of Hinduism. More and more Indians had the shared experience working on estates producing commercial crops.
The Sepoy Rebellion
On the eve of the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, there were serious underlying economic and political problems in India. The decline of Indian industry accelerated as British-manufactured cloth flooded into India. More and more Indians were landless and debt servitude became more common. As commercial agriculture spread, the landowning elites cared less and less for the workers who toiled on their lands. The moral economy in the village broke down. More and more of the elites and kings no longer supported British rule, because they lost their authority and power as the EIC annexed more and more territories. Many were angered that they were stripped of their titles and felt increased pressure as higher taxes were imposed on them.
The revolt began on May 10th, 1857 when sepoys in the Meerut garrison mutinied. It is important to note in this context that the British called the uprisings of 1857 a “mutiny” because they felt that their paid soldiers had betrayed them. The soldiers attacked British officers and civilians and then marched towards the Mughal capital of Delhi. These rebels were soon joined by sepoys in other garrisons in central India and along the Ganges River plain. Sepoys in the Bengal Army resented being sent off to distant areas which included Egypt, Indonesia, and the Caribbean. A rumor had spread that the cartridges for their muskets were greased with pork and beef fat. This was a problem because the sepoys had to bite into the cartridge to load it and most soldiers were either Hindu or Muslim. Hindus were forbidden from consuming beef and Muslims were forbidden from consuming pork. When the soldiers refused to use these new cartridges, they were imprisoned.
The rebels took over Delhi and received the support of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah. He was seen by many Hindus and Muslims as a legitimate authority. The Mughals claimed that they that they aimed to reestablish Indian rule in India (See primary source article #3). The Mughal emperor even banned the Muslim sacrificial practice of cow slaughter and did not frame the rebellion as any kind of Muslim holy war. Muslims argued that the British were a threat to both Hinduism and Islam. Rebellious Hindus and Muslims both had a shared experience of being exploited and mistreated under British rule. However, the major armies in Bombay and Madras did not join this revolt. Also, the Sikhs of the Punjab remained loyal to the British. Figure 5.9.1 depicts the violence of the uprisings in 1857. The image shows the use of swords, rifles, and large animals such as horses and elephants. Figure 5.9.1 shows the Indians being used to put down the rebellion. Rebels are fighting over the division of spoils: a few men are pointing rifles at each other and trying to gather the gold coins and valuables on the ground. Does this picture depict Indian unity against the British? The rebellion was crushed but it resulted in bringing more Indians together. After the rebellion, there was a British push to build more railroads that could help better control India. There were educated elites that were critical of the EIC but they lacked a national organization in the 1850s. The uprising in 1857 was the beginning of Indian resistance to British dominance. It led to the dissolution of the East India Company, reorganization of the army, and ignited nationalist sentiments and opposition against British rule in India.
When the Indians rose up against the EIC, the Mughals sought to take the lead and unite all Indians behind the Mughal Emperor. The Mughals tried to make the case to Hindus that both groups were Indian and needed to break free of foreign domination.
Discussion Questions
- How is the Mughal emperor seeking to unite all Indians?
- What are the main criticisms of East India Company Rule?
It is well known to all that in this age the people of Hindustan, both Hindus and Muslims, are being ruined under the tyranny and oppression of the infidel and treacherous English. It is therefore the bound duty of those who have any sort of connection with any of the Muslim royal families, ... to stake their lives and property for the well-being of the public . . . and I, who am the grandson of Bahadur Shah Ghazi, emperor of India, having... come here to extirpate the infidels residing in the eastern part of the country, and to liberate and protect the poor helpless people now groaning under their iron rule, have, by the aid of the Mujahidins [fighters for Islam against infidels] ...raised the standard of Muhammad, and persuaded the orthodox Hindus who had been subject to my ancestors, and have been and are still accessories in the destruction of the English, to raise the standard of Mahavir (a name for the Hindu god Vishnu).
…Be it known to all, that the ancient works, both of the Hindus and Muslims, the writings of the miracle-workers, and the calculations of the astrologers, pundits, and fortune-tellers, all agree in asserting that the English will no longer have any footing in India or elsewhere ....
Section II Regarding Merchants
It is plain that the infidel and treacherous British government has monopolised the trade of all the fine and valuable merchandise, such as indigo, cloth, and other articles of shipping, leaving only the trade of trifles to the people, and even in this they are not without their share of the profits, which they secure by means of customs and stamp fees, etc., so that the people have merely a trade in name .... When the royal government is established, all these aforesaid fraudulent practices shall be dispensed with, and the trade of every article, without exception, both by land and water, shall be open to the native merchants of India, who will have the benefit of the government steam vessels and steam carriages for the conveyance of the merchandise gratis; and merchants having no capital of their own shall be assisted from the public treasury ....
Section III - Regarding Public Servants
It is not a secret thing, that under the British government, natives employed in the civil and military services, have little respect, low pay, and no manner of influence; and all the poses of dignity and emolument [reward] in both departments, are exclusively bestowed on Englishmen .... But under the royal government, ... the posts ...which the English enjoy at present ... will be given to the natives ... together with landed estates, ceremonial dress, tax-free lands, and influence. Natives, whether Hindus or Muslims, who fall fighting against the English, are sure to go to heaven; and those killed fighting for the English, will, doubtless, go to hell. Therefore, all the natives in the British service ought to be alive to their religion and interest, and, abjuring their loyalty to the English, side with the royal government ....
Charles Ball, The History of the Indian Mutiny, London Printing and Publishing, in the Public Domain
- How were Indians united by 1857?
- What were the main causes of the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857?