British Raj

The period in which India was under the control of the British is referred to as the British raj. The British rule in India was from 1858 to 1947. For about two hundred years the British ruled India. At the end of British rule in India, the Indian subcontinent was divided into two dominant states namely, India and Pakistan. To manage the entire Indian subcontinent, the British raj set up the British East India Company. At that time, Indians started having general distrust and dissatisfaction with the company leadership. 

As a result, in 1857, the mutiny of sepoy troops spread across the Indian subcontinent. This revolt made British India restructure and reconsider its governance in India. Later, British India established its power throughout the subcontinent. This article will give the complete history of British India with the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and the actions of the British against the Mutiny in detail. 

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History Of British India

In ancient days, Europeans mainly concentrated on India for making the trade. Likewise, the British also entered India to make the trade. The long distance between India and European countries gave them potential obstacles and obfuscations from middlemen. Also, they started feeling that trade making was unsafe, unreliable, and expensive. The popular trade route, the Silk Road was also blocked, when the Mongol empire collapsed and the Ottoman Empire rose.  This action made the Portuguese and other Europeans explore maritime navigation routes. To simplify the trade market in India, European countries started setting up their trade company in India and establishing their territories. 

Likewise, British India established the East India Company with the proper permission from local authorities to own land and to fortify its holdings. Also, they conducted duty-free trade for maintaining mutual relationships between India. Meanwhile, the British raj became a supreme power in its territory, as they were involved in hostilities, sidelining rival European companies. In 1757, British rule in India started overthrowing the Nawab of Bengal and installed puppet rulers in their territories. In the 1770s, the entire Bengal came under the control of British rule and Warren Hastings overviewed the nawab’s administrative offices to Calcutta (now Kolkata). 

The British parliament began to regulate the East India Company of the British raj. They started creating India Acts and indirectly brought Bengal under the control of the British government. British Rule involved in various wars, treaties and annexations for extending their company across the Indian subcontinent. Meanwhile, they captured most parts of India and appointed governors and merchants to control it. 

Later, the British government started imposing direct rules in India and increased its participation in Indian governance. This action decreased the power of Indians and triggered Indians to become involved in the adamant national independence movement and to fight against the British. 

The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857

In late March 1857, an Indian soldier from the East India Company named Mangal Pandey attacked British officers at the military garrison in Barrackpore. In early April, British rulers found him and arrested him. In April, the sepoy troopers at Meerut heard rumours about the cartridges, which is the grease of cartilages made up of pigs and cows. As the Indian Hindus believed cows as gods and Muslims believed pigs as ugly animals. They refused to fill cartridges. But British rulers forced them and gave them long prison terms, fettered, and put them in jail. This created a huge conflict among the Indians and British India. This became the great reason for the initiation of the 1857 Revolt.  On the 10th of May, the Sepoy targeted the British officers and marched to Delhi as no European troops were found. 

Meanwhile, the local sepoy garrison joined with Meerut men. The tumultuous soldiery made the British government fall overnight and nominated Mughal emperor Bahādur Shah II to power. The capture of Delhi attracted the focus of northern Indians and set the whole mutiny pattern. Likewise, the Mughal emperor and his sons and Nana Sahib adopted the deposed Maratha Peshwa. On 08th July 1859, the Sepoy Mutiny came to an end.

Impact of the Sepoy Mutiny 

The Sepoy mutiny acquired the concentration of the British and made them clean the Indian administration. Then, the East India Company abolished all flavours of India and brought the whole Indian subcontinent to the direct rule of the British government. They introduced a more personal note into the government. Also, the British government removed the unimaginative commercialism, which delayed the court of directors. The sepoy mutiny created the financial crisis to reorganize the Indian administration in a modern way.  They also reorganized the Indian army in an extensive way. 

The British government also began the policy of consultation with Indians as the result of mutiny. In 1853, the British government created the legislative council, which contained only Europeans and behaved as a full-fledged parliament. So, this created a huge communication gap between the Indians and the British government. In 1861, the new council was created to nominate the Indians. British raj also created a little interruption in the educational and public works programs in roads, railways, telegraphs and irrigation. All these public works helped the troops' transportation. Also, the British raj imposed many social measures, which affected Hindu society. 

Also, Indians started facing many other effects of the mutiny. Indians also started a protest against the incoming alien influences in the traditional society. British raj also started to break the structure of traditional structure and imposed the Westernized class system. Meanwhile, these helped to strengthen the middle class of Indian nationalism. 

This article described the complete information about the history of the British raj and sepoy mutiny and its impacts in detail