Write a 1500 words research essay

8

The roots of British Imperialism in the subcontinent started in the 1600s. This was when East India Company came to the subcontinent and started trading through different port cities in the subcontinent like Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta.1 At that time, the key intention of the company was to trade spices only. However, the East India Company saw an opportunity during the initial years of the Mughal Empire downfall in the 1700s. The East India Company started chalking their plans to invade the subcontinent, taking advantage of the same situation . The process continued for a long time until the East India Company came into supreme power in 1858.2 The British government exercised authoritative control over the East India Company for controlling the subcontinent. From that time, British Imperialism remained active in the subcontinent till 1914, when World War 1 started. The British Imperialism in the subcontinent between 1858 and 1914 put adverse political and economic impacts by suppressing the local government, free trade, and damaging local handicraft industry; however, it also made decent demographic impacts through women's right, equality, and education .

Talking politically, the British entered the subcontinent politics gradually by building support from the local powers assisting the British influence compared to their neighbors . It supported the British in creating an internal war situation within the country by using political manipulation to bring the Indians themselves before the declining Mughal Empire to achieve the targeted objectives and make the process easier for them.3 It benefitted the British in emerging as a supreme power in the subcontinent sooner. At the same time, Lord Dalhousie, who acted as a Company Governor-General from 1848 to 1858, also established a Principle in the subcontinent, i.e., the Doctrine of Lapse.4 As per this doctrine, the British government gained the opportunity to automatically annex any leader who was competent or died without an heir at the princely states or territories falling directly under the influence of the British East India Company.5 In other terms, this doctrine offered a great opportunity to the East India Company to remove any ruler who disobeyed them. It was the first practical step by the British government towards establishing an authoritarian state at the subcontinent.

The gain of political power by the British government in the subcontinent offered them a key power for exploiting the rights of local individuals living in the region for personal gains. For instance, the British government used their political power in the subcontinent for implementing a one-way free trade program allowing Britain to generate maximum profits by importing their desired stuff.6 They created a strong resistance for the local individuals to receive good returns for their products and services, compelling them to become servants to the British government to ensure their survival .7 In the same fashion, the Britain government continued to exploit their economic and political power to keep the Indians away from each other so that they did not have to face any rebels.8 It implies that the Britain government built their political power gradually in the subcontinent, where they continued to exploit the same power for the rest of their time for maintaining their imperialism at the subcontinent.

The economic policies implemented by the British in the subcontinent led to the massive transformation in the subcontinent economy, making it a colonial one as the British determined this nature and structure based on their own needs . The British conquerors disrupted the traditional structure within the subcontinent economy. They never become a key part of subcontinent life. Instead, they remained foreigners, always attempting to exploit the subcontinent resources and looting their wealth as a tribute.

For instance , British Imperialism in the subcontinent leads to a great decline in the urban handicraft industry. This industry existed for centuries in the subcontinent and was considered one of the most valuable markets in the world.9 The collapse majorly occurred due to Britain's high level of competition in the market through the import of cheaper machines in the market for lowering the cost as compared to the handmade crafts . 10 Britain imposed a one-way free trade policy in the subcontinent, by which many British manufacturers moved to the subcontinent for producing cotton textiles. The cotton goods being manufactured in the subcontinent, using primitive techniques, could never compete with the British machines producing similar stuff using large-scale steam-operated machines.11 This destruction was followed by the British manufacturers' set-up and usage of railway networks, allowing them to reach the uproot of traditional industries in the remote villages of the sub-continent, particularly damaging the rural artisan industry to the maximum extent. 12 It implies that the spinning and cotton-weaving industries were the worse hit from the British side in the sub-continent.

Apart from using imported machines for manufacturing low-cost stuff to damage the subcontinent industries, British imperialism also sparked multiple other actions affecting the subcontinent from the economic aspect. For instance, the East India Company oppressed multiple artisans and their servants to work for them at a low price compared to the market wage or sell their products to the company at low pricing compared to the market value. 13 These actions caused multiple artisans in the subcontinent to leave their traditional profession as they started finding it hard to meet both ends with their earning. The high import duties imposed by the British government related to the subcontinent products also restrained them from selling their products internationally.14 It means that British imperialism stopped all the economic pathways for the subcontinent population and made them heavily reliant on the products and services being offered from their side.

With the increased overcrowding in agriculture, the demand for excessive land revenue increased accordingly, and landlordism grew and increased indebtedness. Such overcrowding of agriculture in the subcontinent led to dividing large lands into smallholdings. 15 However, peasants' situation continued to worsen, leaving them with no resources for improving their agricultural efficiency, using better cattle, fertilizer, or seeds. The British government did not offer any incentive or support to the peasants to maintain their agricultural survival.16 It was also the time when the agricultural process all across the world was being modernized; however, the British government paid limited attention to the same areas resulting in no use of technology within the agricultural sector in the subcontinent, making its situation even worse in the market. 17 It implies that British imperialism also affected the agriculture sector in India, adversely putting a direct negative impact on the economic stability of the subcontinent.

From a demographic's aspect, Indian women were discriminated against in all stages of their life . They were considered an inferior entity, and multiple immoral practices continued with them, like child marriage, sati , and polygamy. The British Imperialism brought different ideas resulting in improving the Indian women's condition in the subcontinent.18 They took multiple legislative measures to boost the status of Indian women in the subcontinent. For instance, the British government banned Sati and passed a law related to widow remarriage in 1856. Similarly, they also passed the Age of Consent Act, consequently offering more power to the women in the subcontinent, taking them out of the cruelty they experienced in society.19 It implies that the proper steps from the British government supported improving the condition of women in the subcontinent.

The British government was also much interested in the education of Indians. Although they intended to gain educated or competent labor at low wages through the same belief; however, it carried some positive aspects for the subcontinent. For example, the British government opened different universities in different areas, including Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras, in 1857 to offer quality education to the people of the subcontinent.20 Similarly, they also initiated English schools and colleges offering an opportunity to the people of the subcontinent to improve their literacy and competency level to become a modern liberal and democratic country.21 Along with education, the British government also promoted the idea of freedom, equality, liberty, human rights in the subcontinent.22 It leads to massive social and religious reforms in the subcontinent, offering an opportunity to their people to adopt modern manners of living their lives positively. It is evident through the expansion of Christian missionary activities in the subcontinent because of the western civilization's advent in the county leading to the rapid growth of reform movements .23

Overall, British imperialism in the subcontinent was a mixture of good and bad impacts. British imperialism certainly negatively impacted the subcontinent from political and economic aspects. For instance, they damaged the local crafts industry in the country and created pressure for the local people to work for them at low wages. However, they put some positive impacts on the subcontinent as well by bringing necessary changes within their culture and society related to women's rights, education, and equality .

1 Vijay K Seth. "Traditional Flexible Manufacturing and the East India Company." In The Story of Indian Manufacturing. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2018, 130.

2 Lakshmi Iyer. The long-term impact of colonial rule: evidence from India. Division of Research, Harvard Business School, 2004, 5.

3 Lakshmi, 4.

4 Lakshmi, 9.

5 Lakshmi, 10.

6 John Gallagher, and Ronald Robinson. "The imperialism of free trade." The Economic History Review 6, no. 1 (1953): 4.

7 Zoë Laidlaw. "“Justice to India–Prosperity to England–Freedom to the Slave!” Humanitarian and Moral Reform Campaigns on India, Aborigines and American Slavery1." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 22, no. 2 (2012):306.

8 Lakshmi, 6.

9 Mayer, Tara. "From craft to couture: Contemporary Indian fashion in historical perspective." South Asian Popular Culture 16, no. 2-3 (2018): 186.

10 Peter Harnetty. "The Imperialism of Free Trade: Lancashire and the Indian Cotton Duties, 1859-1862." The Economic History Review 18, no. 2 (1965): 334.

11 Peter, 338.

12 Peter, 339.

13 C. P. Kindleberger. “Foreign Trade and Economic Growth: Lessons from Britain and France, 1850 to 1913.” The Economic history review 14, no. 2 (1961): 290.

14 Harnetty, 333.

15 Madhav Gadgil and Romila Thapar. "Human ecology in India some historical perspectives." Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 15, no. 3 (1990): 216.

16 Harnetty, 336.

17 Madhav, and Thapar, 213.

18 Joanna Liddle and Rama Joshi. "Gender and imperialism in British India." South Asia Research 5, no. 2 (1985): 151.

19 Sumita Mukherjee. "Using the legislative assembly for social reform: The sarda act of 1929." South Asia Research 26, no. 3 (2006): 221.

20 Muhammad Asim and Syed Raheem Abbas Shah. "Educational System in British India and its Socio-Political Impacts on Pakistani Society." International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies 7, no. 1 (2014): 92.

21 Muhammad, and Shah, 92

22 Claude Markovits. "Cosmopolitanism and Imperialism in Nineteenth-Century British India." Humanity: An International Journal of Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development 12, no. 1 (2021): 53.

23 Claude, 52.