Question

British India was Europe’s most important colonial possession in Asia between 1750-1850. Which strategies did the British East India Company employ to colonize India? What were the major economic and cultural effects of the British colonization in India?

Answer 1

Well initially the British East India company came to the country for trading in spices, and Indian rulers back then allowed this considering a genuine business opportunity. But little did they know that this company will establish a monopoly and take over the country under its rule. Some of the strategies incorporated by the Britishers are stated below:

• Establishing a monopoly. This gave the company a sense of supreme power and bestowed them the impetus to enter into governance as well.
• The overtaking was supplemented by the company's very own army and a judiciary system suiting their interests.
• The slow and steady occupation began throughout the country by virtue of battles which British East India Company won quite comfortably owing to strong army and arsenal. The victory in Anglo-Mughal war in 1690 gave the confidence for them to extend throughout the eastern coast as well.
• Most importantly, corruption done by the Nawabs pushed Britishers to take control of the company in totality. Thus by chucking out these nawaabs and restoring their positions with elite civil servants, the corruption was decreased.

After many years, in 1858 the Government of India Act was formed and the British government directly began administering British rule in India under the British Raj.

Now let's see about the economic implications of the British colonization in India:

• Heavy disruption of traditional economy. A rapid shift in the economic structure favoring the Britishers' needs meant that the existing economy had to be demolished. This affected a lot of households during that time.
• A collapse in arts and crafts industry. The reasons attributed to this is the inability of the local craftsmen to compete with the machinery brought by the British.
• Agriculture was detoriated.
• Setting up of modern industries. This employed majorly Britishers and due to the lack of skill set the indian households had to resort for other petty jobs.
• Famines everywhere. You might have heard about the Bengal famine. The rapid increase in taxation, modern industries, etc meant that the Indians hardly had any job to meet their ends meet. This soon converted into famines with millions of deaths throughout the country.

Let us take a gander at the Cultural effects of British colonization without going into historical nuances:

• The educational system was changed entirely. The Britishers felt the need of westernizing the education to meet their demands. Christian missionaries were already set up to spread their ideas through religious teachings. English was imposed.
• In 1829 Sati was made illegal. This was one of the better things which happened during the Britisher's rule. In Sati, the widow is burnt along with her husband after he is dead.
• The declaration of slavery to be illegal was amended by the British government. Slavery was a menace back in those days, and this law helped curb that practice to a great extent.

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