India - British introduction

• 1600s: trading company, Elizabeth I Royal Charter. 1700s/1800s: private armies for each presidency- Bombay, Bengal and Madras.
• Private fortunes gained by EIC Nabobs. Poor management led to government intervention. 

Regulating Act 1773- Creating government council of 5, 2 EIC and 3 Parliament. Appointment of governor generals by approval of council of 4, nominated by Parliament.

1784 Act- Made EIC subordinate to the crown in political functions. Board of Control set up.

1786 Act- Enabled governor-general to override council. Control by Parl- free trade, reduced + enabled commercial monopoly on trade. 

1813-1833 Charter Acts altered terms on EIC charter. Company made most of its money as a monopoly by tade. Monopoly was challenged in late 18th century by free trade politicians. Charter Act 1813 renewed EIC charter for 20 years but removed the Indian monopoly. It also ended their commercial activities completely- tea monopoly in China. 

Needed new income- turned to civil administration and tax collection, aided by power vacuum left by the collapse of the Mughal Empire. 

Regularised subsidiary of the crown: EIC no longer autonomous, now overseen by the crown. 

Governor-general:

• Nominated by EIC Court of Directors, serve 5 years.
• Changed 1773 as appointment of council of 4.
• Presidents of Madras, Bombay + Bencolen could not make war/accept peace without governor approval.
• Power strengthened 1784 when India Act passed, first with these powers- Cornwallis

Private armies:

• By 1820 numbered 200,000. 
• By 1857, there were 45,522 Europeans of all ranks in India out of 277,746 soldiers. 
• White regiments and locals/sepoys- white commanders.
• Armies used to force treaties and support tax collection.
• British territory increased to 243,000km squared by 1800

1883 onwards- governor of Fort William became concurrent governor-general. 

• 1. Crown -->
• 2. Government (appoint governor-general) -->
• 3. Board of Control, London -->
• 4. Board of directors, East India Company
• 5. Governor-general (Bengal president from Board of Directors) -->
• 6. Bengal: Bombay: Madras -->
• 7. Each presidency links to both the private armies and the EIC

Richard Wellesley 1798-1805:

Sought to increase company territory and eradicate any pockets of remaining French influence.

19th century transition to administration- company civil servants trained to reflect the changing focus to civil administration. 

Bengal:

• 1st presidency was the governor-general of all territory controlled by the EIC.
• Bengali army- true allegiance not known to be the crown.
• Province annexed after Battle of Plessy, allowed British expansion.
• Most important presidency. Cornwallis 1786-93: Code of Regulations...

Code of Regulations:

Land divided into districts under a collector and landholders were settled with the rights to land in return for fixed tax liabilities.

Collectors supervised by Board of Revenue in Calcutta. 

Legal administration in hands of local judges and magistrates, supervised by regional courts of appeal. 

Army of Bengal 2x bigger than 2 other armies. Capital until 1911 then replaced by Calcutta. 

• Gun issue- It was believed that standard issue was greased with lard and tallow made from pigs and cows. Pigs were 'unclean' for Muslims whilst cows were sacred to Hindus. Sepoys were told to make their own cartridges greased with beeswax or mutton fat, harder to come by, if they were unhappy with the standard issue. 
• White women- cultural separations.
• Culture.
• Sati- another issue regarding culture.
• White soldiers vs sepoys.
• Missionaries- religious differences.
• Governor powers.
• Commercial- administrative.
• Britishness.
• Reinforcement of the caste system. 

Baptist mission which focused on education and translation of the Bible into Bengali. Set up a college for training indigenous ministers. 

Charles Grant + Wilberforce campaigned to remove the East India Company ban on missionaries- involved in the Charter Act 1813.

Anglicans and Baptists engaged in education and campaigns across India.

Evangelical voice was in favour of higher education in English- Education Act 1835.

Driven to carry out what they believed to be 'God's work' regardless of any upset or trouble they caused.

Missionaries added to opposition that East India Company officials already faced. 

Cultural superiority: paternalistic need to 'improve' India, less tolerant of local customs. Earlier nobles adopoted Indian lifestyles, wealthy mughols.

Changing function of East India Company: reinvented into administration and taxes, less governed by profit- 'modernise and improve' India.

Mix of races: racial intermingling- taboo in 1800s, mixed race kids were not accepted. Grieviences of the natives- rebellion. 1780- 1/3 of EIC men had a native Indian wife, much less in 1850.

Religion: Evangelical Christians and missionaries- converting mission, destabilised local systems. 

Cultural divisions: company workers vs Indians. British women brought tension- fishing fleet, marrying men.

Other: Dalhousie- impatient with states and structure of India. Bentnick- allocated EIC funds for education, made English official government and legal language. 

Assumed British paramountcy:

Doctrine of Lapse + paramountcy: states under British influence should be annexed if the ruler was incompetent or died without an heir. After 1857, British supported incumbents of states.

Dalhousie's reforms:

• Immediate cause- cartridges greased in animal fat. To many sepoys this seemed to prove Britain's dark plan to Christianisation of India. 

• The Bengal army was already in unrest following the General Service. Enlistment Act 1856, which broke the tradition by which soldiers of the Bengali army did not serve where they were unable to march, as travel over water would pollute their caste status.
• Canning, governor-general, wanted to rectify what he saw as an anomoly so he could use the army with company armies in Burma.
• The Act applied to new recruits only but sepoys feared it would soon force them to serve abroad. As recruitment in the Bengal army traditionally drew very largely from higher castes, it was a very contentious issue.

• Following the court martial of 85 sepoys on 9 May 1857, all 3 regiments rose in revolt, freeing the mutineers and massacaring all local Europeans. 

• Immediate cause- cartridges greased in animal fat. To many sepoys this seemed to prove Britain's dark plan to Christianisation of India. 

• The Bengal army was already in unrest following the General Service. Enlistment Act 1856, which broke the tradition by which soldiers of the Bengali army did not serve where they were unable to march, as travel over water would pollute their caste status.
• Canning, governor-general, wanted to rectify what he saw as an anomoly so he could use the army with company armies in Burma.
• The Act applied to new recruits only but sepoys feared it would soon force them to serve abroad. As recruitment in the Bengal army traditionally drew very largely from higher castes, it was a very contentious issue.

• Following the court martial of 85 sepoys on 9 May 1857, all 3 regiments rose in revolt, freeing the mutineers and massacaring all local Europeans. 

Occurred under the doctrine of lapse- primary cause of 1857 rebellion. 

Nwab Wajid Ali Shah was deposed after being accused of maladministration. Shah conformed to British prejudices regarding princes. Awadh was also a prosperous province that would benefit the East India Company. It was taken by the British on 7 February 1856.

Widely resented in Awadh- the traditional recruiting grounds of the sepoys. 

Determined for reform, Britain announced that land would be taken from all talukdars unable to prove legal titles. As each landowner was responsible for large retinues of relations and servants, the British attack was deeply destabilising.

In 1857, Awadh was an area that saw widespread participation in the uprising. 

• Rebellion spread quickly- British had only one European regiment between Calcutta and Agra
• British temporarily lost control of Awadh, Delhi and some areas in the Punjab
• Situation complicated by peasant uprisings, whose grievances were centred on local issues around changing land structures and tax collection.

• On 11 May, Bahadur Shah II, last of the Mughals, was 'restored' to his position in Delhi. However, the intial blow struck by Meerut sepoys stagnated in Delhi and he and his sons did not emerge as leaders. 

• The rebellion still dealt some large blows to the British:
  • In Cawnpore, Sir Hugh Wheeler had not been careful enough in his preparations and the British held out for only 18 days before surrendering on 27 June, having been promised safe passage in boats down the river to Allahbad. During the transfer, fighting broke out and 400 were killed. The remaining British, 200, were held then massacred on 15 July- a day before relief arrived.

Enduring symbol of British resistance. 

• The governor, Sir Henry Lawrence, had accurately read the situation and shepherded his Europeans into the fortified residency from the end of May, with food/ammunition for 5 months.
• The siege began at the end of June and Lawrence died on the 4 July. 
• Successful relief eventually arrived, with a force numbering over 3,000, made up of 6 British infantry battalions and 1 Sikh battalion.
• The first relief reached Lucknow on 25 September, 87 days after the siege.

• It was not possible to evacuate immediately due to the casualties but the defended area was extended and their decision to remain in the residency rather than fight out was influenced by the discovery of buried stores. 
• The second relief was led by the new commander-in-chief, Sir Colin Campbell, and fought their way into the residency between 14-17 November.
• Lucknow was evacuated and abandoned and the area was not retaken until March 1858.

The rebels were not a cohesive force. The centres of the revolt in Delhi, Lucknow and Cawnpore each had their own centre of power- Britain simply eliminated one after another. 

Britain had a foothold- ascendency. They were able to exploit religious and political divisions. The competing rebel blocs were unable to forget these differences. 

Too many good things in British rule- East India Company tax.

Other two presidency armies stayed loyal- even in Lucknow about 1/2 of 7,000 soilders seeking refuge were Indian. 

The rebels were not a cohesive force. The centres of the revolt in Delhi, Lucknow and Cawnpore each had their own centre of power- Britain simply eliminated one after another. 

Britain had a foothold- ascendency. They were able to exploit religious and political divisions. The competing rebel blocs were unable to forget these differences. 

Too many good things in British rule- East India Company tax.

Other two presidency armies stayed loyal- even in Lucknow about 1/2 of 7,000 soilders seeking refuge were Indian. 

• Cawnpore: forced to lick clean blood stained buildings and publicly hanged. 
• Delhi: retaking of the city accompanied by slaughter.

Lessons learnt in London- The machinery of the East India Company and its presidencies were to blame. In future, Britain were determined to reorganise the methods of ruling Inidia. Direct control of the parliament.

Changes to the Indian army:

• 40% reduction to Indian sepoys
• 50% increase of British
• From 1858 sepoys were recruited from more loyal areas

• Cost of ending rebellion £50 mil- taxation system revamped. British relied heavily on their old collaborators and introduced an income tax on wealthier groups
• Missionaries- could not be prevented but did keep proselytising out of policy. Laws on sati/female infanticide remained but only in 1891 female consent changed from 10 to 12.
• Missionaries remained- 1858 London Missionary Society sent an extra 20.
• Religious tolerance and protection. 
• Impact on Empire was a convulsive reaction to the atrocities of white people. The mutiny meant withdrawing an enclave for them, reistant to growing nationalism. 

The modernising agenda of Bentinck and Macaulay had been misjudged. Modernisation was seen to stem from cultural superiority.

Following the rebellion, the attitudes of British imperialists were no longer imbued with self-confidence and optimism which characterised the modernising agenda of pre-rebellion British in India.

From then on, policy was to become more pragmatic and cautious. 

Determined to keep India for wealth and strategy- less inclined to now modernise it. 

Avoiding famine- seen as the key to keeping natives content.