In the 8th century, several significant events occurred in the world. One of these events is the industrial revolution which occurred in England and extended to the rest part of Europe. The industrial revolution resulted in the invention of new sea and trade routes. The route to India was discovered in 1498 by the Portuguese and was referred to as Vasco DA Gama. As a result European and British traders came to India for trading purposes.The industrial revolution led to an increase in demand for raw materials for factories in Britain. Meanwhile, the British needed a market to sell their product and India offered a platform to accomplish their needs. India experienced an internal power struggle in 18the century, which led to a decline of power of the Mughal empire. This provided a great opportunity for the British leaders to establish their hold over Indian territory. In order to achieve their objectives, they started wars, forced treaties, annexations and formed alliances with various regional powers to colonize India. Therefore, the paper will be focusing on the British Raj in India and how it has affected the country.
The British colonization in India was more practical than other colonial powers because its motivation was economic and not evangelical (Thompson and Garratt, 1999, PP. 24). They westernized India only to a limited scope attain a monopolistic trading position as well as a market for their finished goods. The colonization of India was the main element in the world power structure based on the geography, logistics and military manpower. British Raj was able to westernize India because of the Indians were not united. However, the British was not averse to Indian economic development, whether it increased their markets, but refused to assist in areas which brought the conflict with their own economic interest and political security. For instance, British rule did not offer protection to the Indian textile until its main competitor became Japan rather than Manchester and they refused to further technical education (Richard, 2012, PP.327). Therefore, the British rule managed to affect the Indian life significantly.
The British Raj had great effect on the Indian army. British officials restructured the Indian army to prevent future mutinies. To establish the most remarkable instruments of war in British hands, the disbanded all Indian artillery units. They discharged all regular European soldiers and provided India with battalions of the regular British army. British officials also changed the ethnic composition of the Indian army dramatically. However, the traumatic recollection of uprising Indian troops killing British officers shook their confidence in all non-European solders. This is so because they recruited sepoys from regions that had yet to face the complete impact of the economic and social dislocations generated by Imperial rule. The Raj also bestowed significant irrigation projects in these regions to reduce the chance that Sepoy grievances over its agrarian policies might spark further unrest (Ledes, 2000, PP. 62).
British officials sought to apply the evident lessons of the mutiny by making the new Raj more responsive to conservative forces in Indian society. The reformers left the Utilitarians’ Anglicization experiment, placed new restrictions on Christian evangelism and sought to co-opt and reinforce Indian customs and traditions. The Raj had little use of the Indian educated and commercial classes, which had failed to convince the general population of the value of British rule (Mahajan, 2001, PP. 54).
The British Raj had great effect on the Indian agriculture. The British policy led to the introduction of a significant number of commercial crops such as indigo, tea, opium, Cotton and coffee among others. Several commercial crops were introduced with diverse intentions. For instance, the Indian opium was employed to equalize the trade of Chinese tea with Britain to capture the china market. Its market was completely controlled by British traders which did not give Indian producer to collect profits. The British Raj forced Indians to produce indigo and sell it on conditions dictated by them. It was sent to England and utilized as a dyeing agent for that British town produced. However, the cultivation of Indigo made the Indian land infertile which made farmers not to grow it.
Commercialization of agriculture also promoted the speed of transfer of ownership which increased the number of landless workers. This contributed to an increase of traders and merchants who came to exploit the situation. As a result the peasant depended on them to sell their produce during the harvest period. Since the peasants shifted to commercial crops, the stable crop production reduced which led to famines. The was a significant drain of wealth from India to British because of economic policies which placed financial burdens on the Indians. These economic policies developed by the British Raj managed to alter the social structure of Indian society (Traill, 2000, PP. 35).
The British Raj led to the rise of the new money-lending class in India. This is so because they demanded excessive revenue, which forced peasant to receive loans from creditors. These creditors exploited the peasants by charging them high interest rates. They employed unfair method and the policy introduced by the British Raj was meant to benefit moneylenders who were merchants and traders. Mostly, peasants were unable to pay back the debt with complete interest, which made these moneylenders acquire their land (Sandria, 2003, PP.
Meanwhile, the significant impact of the British Raj in India was the rise of the new middle class. This was because of the increased British commercial interests, which create opportunities for a few Indian people who acted as the intermediaries and agents of the British Raj. These Indians made vast fortunes who contributed to the formation of a middle class. This class of landowners replaced the peasant who lost ownership of their land. This led to land aristocracy, which was created after the permanent settlement was introduced. These Indians received English education and became the new elite who got the job opportunities from the British. The Indian society experienced significant change such as the introduction of law courts, commercial agencies and government leaders among others. However, the English people who were highly educated obtained the vital patronage of their colonial rulers. Therefore, British Raj also created a new professional and service-holding middle class besides those with landed interests (Iyer, 2010, PP. 697).
The British Raj had great effect on the Indian society and culture. This is so because when they came into India its society experienced several changes. During the colonization some social practices such as child marriage, rigid caste system, female infanticide, polygamy and sati among others became rampant (Parsons, 1999, PP.117). These practices were seen immoral and going against human dignity. For instance, women were discriminated and became disadvantage gender in the society. Likewise, they were denied access to development opportunities to enhance their status. The education was made available the men who belonged to the upper castes. British Raj also brought ideas such as equality, liberty, human right and freedom from the Renaissance, which changed some society completely.
The British Raj led to reform movements, which was attributed to visionary Indians such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Pandita Ramabai among others (Burke and Quraishi, 2004, PP. 57). These movements were meant to promote social unity and achieve fraternity, equality as well as liberty. For instance, several reforms were achieved, such as the abolition of sati and child marriages. This is so because these reform movements adversely opposed the caste, particularly the practice of untouchability. The movements reforms led to women empowerment where they were allowed to receive education and job opportunities (Klein, 2008, PP. 734).
Therefore, the British Raj in India affected Indians significantly. It led to great changes in social, political and economic institutions. For instance, some changes which were introduced to reinforce the British political and trading interests brought culture transformation. The cultural and judiciary changes that occurred during colonization continue to affect Indians life. The rails, the club life, imperial buildings and parliament are significant impact of the British colonization in India. Several commercial crops that were introduced has resulted in food such as tea, bread and cake among others. Likewise, several costumes such as trousers and ties seen in the urban India were adopted during the colonial period. The Indian armed forces also adopted the British training and culture. The English language in India is also a legacy of British colonization and continue to be the lingua Franca when seeking employment in India. Therefore, the coming of British Raj in India had a great impact on social, political and economic institutions.
Reference Lists
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