The Devilfish in Egyptian Waters

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The Devilfish in Egyptian Waters
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BRITISH IN INDIA

• Case Study of acquisition and control

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Kicking India around
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• 1850 -- 100,000 British men ruling over 200
  million Indians
• After 1850s -- 20,000 bureaucrats control 300m

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Benefits to England

• India's huge population attractive market
• 1880s -- about 20 of Brit's exports to India
• 1910 exports worth 137 million
• India exported huge quantities of goods to
  Britain (like tea)
• Indian army probably Brit's single greatest
  resource
• 40 of India's wealth for army, used in Egypt
  1882, Boer War, WWI, WWII
• Labor in South Africa, Fiji, etc.
• 1901British viceroy, Lord Curzon, As long as we
  rule India, we are the greatest power in the
  world. If we lose it we shall straightway drop to
  a third rate power.

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1. Private enterprise

• East India Company for spices, but gold and
  silver drain

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2. Government Aid

• British navy dominated shipping in the Indian
  ocean and the Arabian seas
• War vs. Burma, secure border
• Control chokepoints Singapore, Malacca, Suez
• Land war vs. France, finally win by 1763

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3. EIC again

• Military aid to Indian states for econ benefits
  or fees
• Play states against each other
• Merchants made personal investments on side ?
  relate with Indian merchs ? offer milit protect
  to them and states subsidiary alliance
• Expand on own, w/o Brit gov or even Board of
  Trustees

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• Started from Bengal, one of richest most
  fertile areas of India (today one of poorest)
• Profits from Bengal (textile exports)
• Triangular Trade India-China-Britain
• Built up Calcutta

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How conquer Bengal

• Connect with banks (bullion trade)
• 1757 Bengal ruler raises taxes on landlords and
  merchants, starts war
• Robert Clive EIC employee -- allies with
  Calcutta banks and Bengal general, wins at
  Plassey
• By 1764 secures control over Eastern India

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• 1765 get right from Mughal emp. to collect,
  control all Bengal revenues
• No more bullion drain
• Yay!
• More Asia trade, Asia conquest

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4. Similar methods in other areas

• Southwest (Malabar coast) through Indian merchs
  and banks alliance with elites
• Find, support cooperative family with Brit power

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5. Annex for debts

• Subsidiary alliances expensive, trap rulers in
  debt ? EIC, Brit take over

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6. Lapse

• EIC also got states that had no natural male heir
  (no adoptions)

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7. Bad administration

• Accuse of incompetence, then annex

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8. Residency

• Like intimidation
• Keep Brit rep at court, to monitor ensure
  loyalty

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9. Just conquer it

• And use Indian troops (minority were Brit)

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10. Made possible by decline of Mughals
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Causes of Revolt of 1857

• 1. Brits drained gold and silver
• EIC actually getting crit by liberals in Eng
• Charter Act of 1813 ends EIC monopoly of trade
  with India, but still governed

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• 2. Destruction of Indian industries IR cheap
  mass production, esp. textiles (Even 1830, India
  still 2x production of Brit)
• 3. China tea profitable, EIC uses Indian opium ?
  non-food cash crop
• Indian econ for Brit profit

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• 4. Peasants heavy taxes
• 5. Famine 10m die 1770

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6. Disregard for India

• I am quite ready to take the Oriental learning
  at the valuation of the Orientalists themselves.
  I have never found one among them who could deny
  that a single shelf of a good European library
  was worth the whole native literature of India
  and Arabia. The intrinsic superiority of the
  Western literature is, indeed, fully admitted by
  those members of the Committee who support the
  Oriental plan of education. Sir Thomas Macaulay
  (1800-1859)

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• Control education
• Control courts
• New bullets greasy pig or cow?

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Picture of Sepoy rebellion
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Honoring the empress
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Justice!
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Areas under British control 1857
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Why lost? Same reasons as conquest Divide and
conquer

• Some landlords, bureaucrats supported because
  stability of property, civilization
• Play religions, ethnicities, castes, languages,
  areas vs. each other
• Lots of peasants stayed out

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Keep control

• 1. consolidate Brit govt take over, end EIC
  gov ? viceroy
• 2. RRs, telegraph, mail system to tie together
• 3. finish destruction of Indian econ ? impoverish
  India, more famines, deforestation actually had
  to import food
• 4. keep elites happy with ed and jobs

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India center of col policy

• Afghan vs. Russ
• Turkey vs. Russ
• Egypt vs. France
• Fashoda in Sudan vs. France
• East Africa, Indian Ocean