India in the 20th c'

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India in the 20th c.
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Unique Features

• Worlds largest democracy and with virtually no
  previous democratic tradition!
• Diversity (religions, ethnic groups, languages)
• Potential conflict
• over Kashmir
• nuclear testing
• Growing economy

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In the Early Modern Era

• Mughal Dynasty
• f. 1526
• Muslim from Central Asia
• A gunpowder empire
• As their power declined in the 18th century,
  lesser princely contenders vied with one another
  for supremacy.
• In this environment, the British East India
  Company was able to play off one Indian prince
  against another --divide and rule
• Likewise, at first the Mughal Empire controlled
  the Europeans traders but as the Empire began to
  fall apart the British found it easy to gain
  control.

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From Trading Stations to Indirect British Rule
Era of the Princely States

• In 17th c., BEIC established trading stations in
  Surat, Bombay, Calcutta. It had the right to
  establish colonies, make laws collect taxes,
  and have an army!
• Growing British control enabled them to sell
  their relatively cheap manufactured goods to
  Indians with significant long-term consequences
  indigenous manufacturing, especially of textiles,
  and a whole generation of Indian artisans were
  ruined by the forced opening of the India market
  (dependency theory)

Until 1857, Britain established informal colonial
rule (via BEIC) because PROFITS, not political
conquest, was goal of this private corp., the
BEIC allowed local rulers to remain in power if
they helped the company.
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Era of the Princely States

• To increase its profits the company began to
  develop the infrastructure of India
• Built the most extensive Railroad system in Asia
• Established a postal and telegraph network
• Canal system opened millions of acres of land to
  agriculture
• Roads and bridges
• Who does all this benefit the most though? What
  might be wrong with a company running a country?
  

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British Improvementsin India - Health

• Health care helped population increase

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Whats wrong or right with this?

• B.E.I.C began to make reforms to change and
  outlaw traditional Indian practices such as the

• Equality before the law- regardless of caste
• Elimination of caste and religious customs
  considered barbaric
• Sati
• Female infanticide

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• Education reflected British ethnocentrism, but
  also created an upper and middle class that spoke
  a common language and picked up western political
  ideals such as rule by the consent of the
  governed

• To change some of the traditional beliefs and
  attitudes held by Indians, the British built

SCHOOLS
However, all classes were taught in
ENGLISH
Future independence leaders were educated in the
Western ideals of freedom and equality
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• The British also make the Indians follow British
  Laws
• Is this a good thing or bad thing?

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• The British believed that they were
  ______________India.

modernizing

• This also meant that India was being forced to
  _______________ which many Indians did not want
  to do.

westernize
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1857 Turning PointSepoy Rebellion

• Muslim Hindu Sepoys angered over new gun grease
  pouches used to keep new amno dry.
• British suppress establish direct colonial rule
  as a consequence (Govt of India Act 1858)
• Marked beginning of British Raj (present-day
  India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar)

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Under British Rule

• Crown Jewel of British Empire India supplied
  raw materials outlet for manufactured goods,
  plus soldiers in both world wars
• Economy stagnant with little industry and
  oppressive landlords
• Central government effective state

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Economic Changes under British Rule

• Improved transportation communication
  infrastructure BUT

• Improvements in transportation were beneficial
  to British industry but paid for by Indian people
  (taxes)

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British Effect on the Indian Economy - Industry

• Indian used to have cottage industries which
  sold goods to Europe (until 1800s)
• British govt closed home market to Indian goods
• This caused widespread unemployment in India

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British Effect on the Indian Economy - Industry

• India became a great MARKET for British goods
• India was transformed into a farming colony of
  Britain ( Crops)
• India provided raw materials to British industry

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India was a major supplier of raw materials
Indians must buy finished goods from Britain
Indians must produce raw materials for Britain
Jewel in the Crown
Tea, indigo, coffee, cotton, and jute, opium
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British Effect on India - Social Political

• British occupied most of the high positions in
  society and government
• British treated Indians as inferiors morally,
  politically and culturally
• British gave Indians no responsibility for their
  own govt ---didnt allow them to experience
  self-rule
• Famines became more frequent and widespread.
• Traditional Indian values IGNORED!

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Indian National Congress

• f. 1885 in the midst of growing intellectual and
  cultural ferment
• British colonial leaders and traditional Indian
  elites became allies of sorts from poor
  peasants, squeezed resources used to maintain
  colonial, bureaucratic state and conspicuous life
  styles of princes
• Growing Indian NATIONALIST movement At first,
  mainly Indian elites who invoked liberal
  principles of political equality by requesting
  greater Indian involvement in higher offices
  (still under British rule) and sending petitions
  to British government

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World War I Turning Point in Indian nationalism

• As great European empires disintegrated
• self-determination (Wilsons 14 Points)
  applied to Europe --Indian elites argued why
  there not here?
• Indian soldiers shot sacred Europeans and seen
  them fight one another and fall
• Russian Revolution an example of throwing off
  monarchy
• 1919 Rowlatt Acts suppressed speech protests
• 1919 Amritsar Massacre

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Mohandas K. Gandhi

• Charismatic leader the mahatma
• Most responsible for transforming the INC from a
  narrow, elitist club to a mass nationalist
  movement advocating home rule
• Under his leadership, Indians of different
  economic classes, castes, religions etc. came to
  share core political values such as national
  sovereignty

• Fought to improve the status of the lowest
  classes of society--the casteless Untouchables,
  whom he called harijans ("children of God").
• Used ahimsa (non-violence)
• satyagraha (passive resistance by
  peaceful boycotts, strikes
• non-cooperation and mass
  demonstrations --literally means
• holding fast to truthsometimes
  called truth force),
• swadeshi ("of our country" or
  self-reliance --Gandhi weaving own cloth)

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Gandhi Economic Self-Sufficiency

• Convinced that economic self-sufficiency was a
  prerequisite for self-government, he called on
  Indian people to boycott British goods and return
  to wearing rough homespun cotton clothing.
• Disagreed with those who wanted India to
  industrialize, advocating instead manual labor
  and the revival of cottage industries.
• Admonished his people to boycott institutions
  operated by the British in India such as schools,
  offices and courts.

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Under Gandhi, INC launched 2 movements

• Non-Cooperation movement
• 1920-1922
• -Jawaharal Nehru emerged as an important leader,
  exploring ways of combining socialist ideas with
  satyagraha and ahimsa

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and Civil Disobedience Movement (1930)

• Began with salt boycott March to the Sea

Results 1935 Government of India Act Limited
self-government with executive under British
control. Ultimately failed because 600 nominally
sovereign princes refused to cooperate and
Muslims feared Hindu domination
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World War 2 the final straw
1943 Quit India movement renewal of mass
civil disobedience Most INC leaders in jail
during WW2 Only Muslim League supported British
WW2

• At wars end, Britain and its economy were
  severely damaged.

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1947 Indian independence from Britain
Partition India and Pakistan (divided into two
parts in NW and NE corners of subcontinent)

• Though India Pakistan were overwhelmingly Hindu
  and Muslim, respectively, approx. 50 mil people
  caught on borders of other country violence
  erupted.
• Gandhi assassinated by Hindu radical five months
  after independence

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Fears of a Civil War in India, Feb. 1946
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Initial Advantages for India

• Strong sense of national identity
• No anti-British witch hunt (contrast China and
  USSR which made self-conscious attempts to cut
  themselves off from pre-Revolutionary societies)
  --emphasis on consensus and accommodation of
  leaders
• Long anti-colonial movement gave leaders
  experience many educated in England

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Jawaharlal Nehru 1st prime minister, 1947-1964

• Gifted PM left lasting mark on country through
• combination of personal charisma,
  intellectual
• power and an ability to provide effective,
  day to
• day political leadership
• India adopted constitution--based on British
  model

• Nationalist and social democrat
• inherited a strong central government and a weak
  economy from Britain
• goes about trying to strengthen India's
  independence and national power on one hand and
  improve economy and poor on the other used
  government machinery that India inherited to
  accomplish
• created a mixed economy with a strong and
  powerful state role in planning which allowed for
  significant private enterprise as well
• secular

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In the Cold War

• India under Nehru was non-aligned
• made U.S. suspicious because did not support
  its view of the global struggle of the "free
  world" vs. "totalitarianism" --India does not
  see world in same terms having just emerged from
  colonialism

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Indira Gandhi

• PM 1966-1984 (except for 3 years in 70s)
• Chosen by Congress Party (what INC became after
  independence) because she was Nehrus daughter
  (connection to powerful man) and thought could
  manipulate her
• Populist leader appealed to common people
• Nationalist re-ignited nationalist ideas
• Personal style very popular surrounded only by
  highly loyal officials