British India. India - English colony British rule in India

In the XIV-XV centuries, Indian and Chinese goods began to be imported into Europe. Jewelry, spices and other rare outlandish things immediately attracted the attention of European merchants.

The Portuguese and Dutch were the first to explore the Indian coast. They took control of all known trade routes to the coast of India and even built their own ports and warehouses there. The trade in Indian clothes and spices turned out to be such a profitable and successful business that the British and French rushed to join this niche. Europe's interest in India first enriched the country and led it to a rapid economic recovery, but very soon the heyday gave way to a complete decline both economically and politically.

In 1600, by order of the queen, the East India Joint Stock Company was founded, ousting Dutch, Portuguese and French merchants from India. Thus, the British not only received a trade monopoly, but were also able to control the political life in the country.

british India

By the middle of the nineteenth century, England controlled almost the entire territory of India, dividing it into three large presidencies. Wealthy local princes were now subjects of the empire and were forced to pay huge taxes. At the same time, small principalities managed to maintain their independence from British India, but such free states remained in the minority and did not have the strength to resist the East India Company.

Policy England on territories colonies

The colonization of India by England had an extremely negative impact on the economic condition of the country. The East India Company worked exclusively to export all valuable goods, and the country was heavily taxed. The conduct of such a policy very quickly turned India into a very poor country. Poverty led to disease among the local population. Only in Bengal in 1770, about 10 million inhabitants died of starvation.

Indian peasants also found themselves in an extremely deplorable state. The British government was constantly experimenting with land taxes, trying to collect as many taxes as possible from the peasants. As a result, this led to the rapid decline of agriculture in India. The situation was also exacerbated by the incredible corruption and inactivity of local and state courts: proceedings could drag on for months and years. Once strong Indian communities weakened and disintegrated.

gaining independence

The first war of India to liquidate the East India Company broke out in 1857-1859 - it was the Sepoy or Indian popular uprising. The war against the colonialists was not crowned with success, but it was the first serious step taken by the Indian people on the road to liberation. India gained full independence only after the Second World War in 1947. Today, the state is the second largest in the world in terms of population and the seventh in terms of territory. is still included in the list of 22 official languages ​​spoken in India.

The riches of India haunted the Europeans. The Portuguese began systematic exploration of the Atlantic coast of Africa in 1418 under the auspices of Prince Henry, eventually circumnavigating Africa and entering the Indian Ocean in 1488. In 1498, a Portuguese expedition led by Vasco da Gama was able to reach India, circumnavigating Africa and opening up a direct trade route. to Asia. In 1495, the French and English and, a little later, the Dutch, entered the race to discover new lands, challenging the Iberian monopoly on maritime trade routes and exploring new routes.

Vasco de Gama sailing route.
In July 1497, a small exploratory fleet of four ships and about 170 crew members under the command of Vasco da Gama left Lisbon. In December, the fleet reached the Big Fish River (the place where Diash turned back) and headed for uncharted waters. On May 20, 1498, the expedition arrived in Calicut, in southern India. Vasco da Gama's attempts to get the best trading conditions failed due to the low value of the goods they brought in compared to the high-value goods that were sold there. Two years after the arrival of Gama and the remaining members of the crew of 55 people on two ships returned with glory to Portugal and became the first Europeans to reach India by sea.

At that time, on the territory of modern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, there was a huge empire of the "Great Moghuls". The state existed from 1526 to 1858 (actually until the middle of the 19th century). The name "Great Mughals" appeared already under the British colonialists. The term "Mogul" was used in India to refer to the Muslims of North India and Central Asia.
The empire was founded by Babur, who, together with his associates, was forced to migrate from Central Asia to the territory of Hindustan. Babur's army included representatives of various peoples and tribes that were part of the Timurid state of that time, such as, for example, Turkic, Mogul and other tribes.
The founder of the state of Baburids (1526) in India - Zahireddin Muhammad Babur (February 14, 1483 - December 26, 1530). Babur is a descendant of Tamerlane from the Barlas clan. He ruled in the city of Andijan (modern Uzbekistan), and was forced to flee from the warring nomadic Kipchak Turks, first to Afghanistan (Herat), and then went on a campaign to Northern India. Babur's son, Humayun (1530-1556), inherited from his father a vast kingdom stretching from the Ganges to the Amu Darya, but did not hold it, and for more than 25 years the Afghan dynasty of Sher Shah occupied his throne.

Map of the Mughal Empire. The borders of the empire: - under Babur (1530), - under Akbar (1605), - under Aurangzeb (1707).
Actually the founder of the Mughal Empire is the son of Humayun - Akbar (1556-1605). The reign of Akbar (49 years) was devoted to the unification and appeasement of the state. He turned the independent Muslim states into provinces of his empire, he made the Hindu rajas his vassals, partly by alliances, partly by force.
The appointment of ministers, governors and other officials from the Hindus won the favor and devotion of the Hindu population to the new monarch. The hated tax on non-Muslims was abolished.
Akbar translated the sacred books and epic poems of the Hindus into Persian, was interested in their religion and respected their laws, although he forbade some inhuman customs. The last years of his life were overshadowed by family troubles and the behavior of his eldest son, Selim, vindictive and cruel, who rebelled against his father.
Akbar was one of the most prominent Muslim rulers in India. Distinguished by great military talent (he did not lose a single battle), he did not like war and preferred peaceful pursuits.
Imbued with broad religious tolerance, Akbar allowed free discussion of the tenets of Islam.
Since 1720, the collapse of the empire begins. This year, under Sultan Mohamed Shah, the Viceroy of the Deccan, Nizam-ul-Mulk (1720-1748), forms his own independent state. His example was followed by the governor of Aud, who became a vizier from a simple Persian merchant, and then the first Nawab of Aud, under the name of Nawab Vizier of Aud (1732-1743).
The Marathas (one of the indigenous Indian peoples) imposed tribute on the whole of South India, broke through eastern India to the north and forced the concession of Malwa from Muhammad Shah (1743), and Orissa was taken away from his son and successor Ahmed Shah (1748-1754) and received the right tribute from Bengal (1751).
Internal strife was joined by attacks from outside. In 1739, the Persian Nadir Shah made an incursion into India. After taking Delhi and sacking the city for 58 days, the Persians returned home through the northwest passes with booty valued at £32 million.
Vasco da Gama's expedition marked the beginning of Portugal's colonial conquests on the west coast of India. Military fleets with large numbers of soldiers and artillery were sent annually from Portugal to capture Indian ports and naval bases. With firearms and artillery at their disposal, the Portuguese destroyed the fleets of their trade rivals - Arab merchants - and captured their bases.
In 1505, Almeida was appointed viceroy of the Portuguese possessions in India. He defeated the Egyptian fleet at Diu and entered the Persian Gulf. His successor Albuquerque, a cunning, cruel and enterprising colonizer, blocked all approaches to India for Arab merchants. He captured Ormuz, a trading and strategic point at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, and also closed the exit from the Red Sea. In 1510 Albuquerque captured the city of Goa. Goa became the center of Portuguese possessions in India. The Portuguese did not seek to capture large territories, but created only strongholds and trading posts for the export of colonial goods. Having established themselves on the Malabar coast of India, they began to move east, to the centers of spice production. In 1511, the Portuguese captured Malacca, thus opening the way to the Moluccas and China. In 1516, a Portuguese expedition appeared off the coast of China. Soon a Portuguese trading post was established in Macau (southwest of Canton). At the same time, the Portuguese settled in the Moluccas and began to export spices from there.
The Portuguese monopolized the spice trade. They forced the local population to sell them spices at "fixed prices" - 100-200 times lower than the prices in the Lisbon market. In order to maintain high prices for colonial goods on the European market, no more than 5-6 ships with spices were brought in per year, and the surplus was destroyed.

At the beginning of the 17th century, other European maritime powers also rushed into the colonial race.

Map of European trading settlements in India, showing years of foundation and nationality.

In several European powers ripe for colonialism (except Portugal, where the exploitation of the colonies was considered a matter of state), companies were established, endowed with a monopoly on trade with the East Indies:
British East India Company - founded in 1600
Dutch East India Company - established in 1602
Danish East India Company - established in 1616
French East India Company - established in 1664
Austrian East India Company - founded in 1717 in the Austrian Netherlands
Swedish East India Company - established in 1731

The most successful and famous was British East India Company(Eng. East India Company), until 1707 - the English East India Company - a joint-stock company established on December 31, 1600 by decree of Elizabeth I and received extensive privileges for trading in India. With the help of the East India Company, the British colonization of India and a number of countries of the East was carried out.
In fact, the royal decree gave the company a monopoly on trade in India. Initially, the company had 125 shareholders and a capital of £72,000. The company was run by a governor and a board of directors who were responsible to the shareholders' meeting. The commercial company soon acquired government and military functions, which it lost only in 1858. Following the Dutch East India Company, the British also began to place their shares on the stock exchange.
In 1612, the armed forces of the company inflict a serious defeat on the Portuguese at the Battle of Suvali. In 1640, the local ruler of Vijayanagara allowed the establishment of a second trading post in Madras. In 1647, the company already had 23 trading posts in India. Indian fabrics (cotton and silk) are in incredible demand in Europe. Tea, grain, dyes, cotton, and later Bengali opium are also exported. In 1668, the Company leased the island of Bombay, a former Portuguese colony ceded to England as a dowry by Catherine of Braganza, who had married Charles II. In 1687 the Company's headquarters in West Asia was moved from Surat to Bombay. The company tried to force trading privileges, but lost, and was forced to ask the Great Mogul for mercy. In 1690, the Company's settlement was founded in Calcutta, after the appropriate permission of the Great Mogul. The expansion of the Company to the subcontinent began; at the same time the same expansion was carried out by a number of other European East India Companies - Dutch, French and Danish.

Meeting of shareholders of the East India Company.
In 1757, at the Battle of Plassey, the troops of the British East India Company, led by Robert Clive, defeated the troops of the Bengal ruler Siraj-ud-Dole - just a few volleys of British artillery put the Indians to flight. After the victory at Buxar (1764), the company receives divani - the right to rule Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, full control over the Nawab of Bengal and confiscates the Bengal treasury (values ​​worth 5 million 260 thousand pounds sterling were confiscated). Robert Clive becomes the first British governor of Bengal. Meanwhile, expansion continued around bases in Bombay and Madras. The Anglo-Mysore Wars of 1766-1799 and the Anglo-Maratha Wars of 1772-1818 made the Company the dominant force south of the Sutlej River.
For almost a century, the company pursued a ruinous policy in its Indian possessions, which resulted in the destruction of traditional crafts and the degradation of agriculture, which led to the death of up to 40 million Indians from starvation. According to the famous American historian Brooks Adams, in the first 15 years after the annexation of India, the British removed from Bengal valuables worth 1 billion pounds. By 1840, the British ruled most of India. The unrestrained exploitation of the Indian colonies was the most important source of British capital accumulation and the industrial revolution in England.
The expansion took two main forms. The first was the use of so-called subsidiary contracts, essentially feudal - local rulers transferred the conduct of foreign affairs to the Company and were obliged to pay a "subsidy" for the maintenance of the Company's army. In case of non-payment, the territory was annexed by the British. In addition, the local ruler undertook to maintain a British official ("resident") at his court. Thus, the company recognized "native states" headed by Hindu maharajas and Muslim nawabs. The second form was direct rule.
The strongest opponents of the Company were two states that had formed on the ruins of the Mughal empire - the Maratha Union and the state of the Sikhs. The collapse of the Sikh empire was facilitated by the chaos that followed the death in 1839 of its founder, Ranjit Singh. Civil strife broke out both between individual sardars (generals of the Sikh army and de facto large feudal lords), and between the Khalsa (Sikh community) and darbar (courtyard). In addition, the Sikh population experienced friction with local Muslims, often ready to fight under British banners against the Sikhs.

Ranjit Singh, the first Maharaja of the Punjab.

At the end of the 18th century, under Governor-General Richard Wellesley, active expansion began; The company captured Cochin (1791), Jaipur (1794), Travancourt (1795), Hyderabad (1798), Mysore (1799), principalities along the Sutlej River (1815), central Indian principalities (1819), Kutch and Gujarat (1819), Rajputana ( 1818), Bahawalpur (1833). The annexed provinces included Delhi (1803) and Sindh (1843). Punjab, the Northwest Frontier and Kashmir were captured in 1849 during the Anglo-Sikh wars. Kashmir was immediately sold to the Dogra dynasty, which ruled in the principality of Jammu, and became a "native state". In 1854 Berard was annexed, in 1856 Oud.
In 1857, an uprising against the British East India Campaign was raised, which is known in India as the First War of Independence or the Sepoy Rebellion. However, the rebellion was crushed, and the British Empire established direct administrative control over almost the entire territory of South Asia.

Fight between the British and the sepoys.

After the Indian National Uprising in 1857, the English Parliament passed the Act for the Better Government of India, according to which the company transferred its administrative functions to the British crown from 1858. In 1874 the company was liquidated.

Dutch East India Company- Dutch trading company. Founded in 1602, existed until 1798. Carried out trade (including tea, copper, silver, textiles, cotton, silk, ceramics, spices and opium) with Japan, China, Ceylon, Indonesia; monopolized trade with these countries of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

By 1669, the company was the richest private firm the world had ever seen, with over 150 commercial ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees, and a private army of 10,000 soldiers. The company took part in the political disputes of the time along with the states. So, in 1641, she independently, without the help of the Dutch state, knocked out her competitors, the Portuguese, from present-day Indonesia. For this, armed groups from the local population were created at the expense of the company.
The company was in constant conflict with the British Empire; experienced financial difficulties after the defeat of Holland in the war with that country in 1780-1784, and fell apart as a result of these difficulties.

French East India Company- French trading company. Founded in 1664 by finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The first CEO of the company was François Caron, who worked for the Dutch East India Company for thirty years, including 20 years in Japan. The company failed in an attempt to capture Madagascar, content with the neighboring islands - Bourbon (now Reunion) and Ile-de-France (now Mauritius).

For some time, the company actively interfered in Indian politics, concluding agreements with the rulers of the southern Indian territories. These attempts were thwarted by the English baron Robert Clive, who represented the interests of the British East India Company.

The Battle of Plassey (more precisely, Broadswords) is a battle off the banks of the Bhagirathi River in West Bengal, in which on June 23, 1757, British Colonel Robert Clive, representing the interests of the British East India Company, inflicted a crushing defeat on the troops of the Bengal Nawab Siraj ud-Daula, on the side by the French East India Company.
The armed clash was provoked by the capture by the Nawab (who considered that the British had violated previous agreements) of the British bridgehead in Bengal - Fort William on the territory of modern Calcutta. The Board of Directors sent Colonel Robert Clive and Admiral Charles Watson to counter the Madras Bengalis. A significant role in the victory of the British was played by the betrayal of the commanders of the Nawab.
The battle began at 7:00 am on June 23, 1757, when the Indian army went on the offensive and opened artillery fire on the British positions.
At 11:00 am, one of the Indian commanders led the attack, but was killed by a British cannonball. This caused panic among his soldiers.
At noon it began to rain heavily. The British promptly hid gunpowder, guns and muskets from the rain, but the untrained Indian troops, despite French help, were unable to do the same. When the rain stopped, the British still had firepower, while the weapons of their opponents needed a long time to dry. At 14:00 the British began their offensive. Mir Jafar announced the retreat. At 17:00, the retreat turned into a rout.

Robert Clive meets with Mir Jafar after the battle.

The victory at Plassey predetermined the English conquest of Bengal, so it is customary to begin the countdown of British rule in the Indian subcontinent from it. The confrontation between the British and the French in India was the eastern theater of the Seven Years' War, which Churchill called the first world war in history.

Prehistory. In the 1750s, having created a combat-ready army of local soldiers (sepoys) trained according to the French model, the French captain, and later the brigadier Charles Joseph Bussy-Castelnau, became the de facto ruler of southern India; the ruler of Hyderabad was completely dependent on him. In opposition to the French, the British developed their base to the northeast, in Bengal. In 1754, an agreement was signed between the French and British East India Companies that neither of them would interfere in the internal affairs of India (formally subordinate to the Great Mogul).
In 1756, the Nawab of Bengal, Alivardi Khan, died, and his grandson Siraj ud-Daula took the throne, attacked Fort William in Calcutta, the main English settlement in Bengal, and captured it on June 19, 1756. On the same night, from June 19 to 20, many Englishmen from among the prisoners were tortured to death in the "black pit". In August news of this reached Madras, and the British General Robert Clive, after great delay, departed for Calcutta on board one of the ships of the squadron under the command of Admiral Watson. The squadron entered the river in December and appeared before Calcutta in January, after which the city quickly passed into the hands of the British.
When information about the outbreak of war in Europe arrived in Madras and Pondicherry at the beginning of 1757, the French governor Leiry, despite the favorable situation, did not dare to attack Madras, preferring to obtain an agreement on neutrality from the British representatives. Siraj ud-Daula, who opposed the British, sent an offer to the French in Chandannagar to join him, but he was refused help. Enlisting French neutrality, Clive went on a campaign and defeated the Nawab. The Nawab immediately sued for peace and offered an alliance to the British, relinquishing all claims. The proposal was accepted, after which, having secured their rear, the British began hostilities against the French.
In 1769, the French company ceased to exist. Some of the company's trading posts (Pondicherry and Shandannagar) remained under French control until 1949.
Danish East India Company- a Danish trading company that carried out trade with Asia in 1616-1729 (with a break).
It was established in 1616 on the model of the Dutch East India Company. The largest shareholder of the company was King Christian IV. Upon creation, the company received a monopoly on maritime trade with Asia.
In 1620, the Danish crown acquired a stronghold in India - Tranquebar, which later became the center of the company's trading activity (Fort Dansborg). In its heyday, together with the Swedish East India Company, it imported more tea than the British East India Company, 90% of which was smuggled to England, which brought her huge profits.

Fort Dansborg in Tranquebar.

Due to poor economic performance, the company was abolished in 1650, but re-established in 1670. By 1729 the Danish East India Company had fallen into decay and was finally abolished. Soon, many of its shareholders became members of the Asiatic Company, formed in 1730. But in 1772 it lost its monopoly, and in 1779 Danish India became a crown colony.
The Ostend Company is an Austrian private trading company, established in 1717 in Ostend (Southern Netherlands, part of the Austrian Empire) for trade with the East Indies.
The success of the Dutch, British and French East India Companies encouraged merchants and shipowners of Ostend to establish a direct commercial link with the East Indies. A private trading company in Ostend was formed in 1717, and several of its ships went to the East. Emperor Charles VI encouraged his subjects to invest in the new venture, but did not grant a patent. In the early stages, the company achieved some success, but neighboring states actively interfered with its activities, so in 1719 the Ostend merchant ship with rich cargo was captured by the Dutch off the coast of Africa and another one by the British off Madagascar.
Despite these losses, the Ostend people stubbornly continued the enterprise. The opposition of the Dutch forced Charles VI to hesitate for some time with the satisfaction of the company's petitions, but on December 19, 1722, the emperor granted the Ostendians a patent granting the right to trade in the East and West Indies, as well as on the coast of Africa, for thirty years. Contributions quickly flowed into the enterprise, two trading posts were opened: in Koblom on the Coromandel coast near Madras and in Bankibazar in Bengal.
The Dutch and the British continued to resist the growing competitor. The Dutch appealed to the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, under which the Spanish king forbade the inhabitants of the Southern Netherlands to trade in the Spanish colonies. The Dutch insisted that the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, according to which the Southern Netherlands went to Austria, did not cancel this ban. However, the Spanish government, after some hesitation, concluded a trade agreement with Austria and recognized the Ostend Company. The answer to this treaty was the unification of Great Britain, the United Provinces and Prussia into a defensive league. Fearing such a powerful alliance, the Austrians decided to give in. As a result of an agreement signed in Paris on May 31, 1727, the emperor withdrew the patent letter of the company for seven years, in exchange for which the opponents of the Ostendites recognized the imperial Pragmatic Sanction of 1713.
The company nominally existed for some time in a state of prohibition and soon closed. The Austrian Netherlands did not participate in maritime trade with the Indies until their unification with Holland in 1815.

Swedish East India Company, created in the XVIII century to conduct maritime trade with the countries of the East.
In Sweden, the first trading companies, modeled on foreign ones, began to emerge as early as the 17th century, but their activities were not very successful. Only in the 18th century did a company appear that could rightly be called the East India Company.
Its foundation was the result of the abolition of the Austrian East India Company in 1731. Foreigners who hoped to profit from participating in the lucrative colonial trade turned their attention to Sweden. The Scot Colin Campbell, together with the Gothenburger Niklas Sahlgren, turned to Commissioner Henrik Koenig, who became their representative before the Swedish government.
After preliminary discussions in the government and at the Riksdag, on June 14, 1731, the king signed the first privilege for a period of 15 years. She gave Henrik König and his companions the right, for a moderate fee to the crown, to carry out trade with the East Indies, namely "in all ports, cities and rivers on the other side of the Cape of Good Hope." Ships sent by the company had to sail exclusively from Gothenburg and return there after sailing in order to sell their cargo at a public auction. She was allowed to equip as many ships as she wanted, with the only condition that they had to be built or bought in Sweden.
The company was managed by a directorate, which included at least three persons versed in trade. In the event of the death of one of the directors of the company, the remaining ones had to elect a third. Only Swedish subjects who professed the Protestant faith could be directors.
Already at the very beginning of its existence, the company faced obstacles that were put in place by foreign competitors and its domestic opponents.
The first equipped ship of the company was captured by the Dutch in the Sound, but was soon released. An attempt to gain a foothold in India was even less successful. In September 1733, the company laid a trading post in Porto Novo on the Coromandel Coast, but already in October it was destroyed by troops equipped by the English governor of Madras and the French governor of Pondicherry. All goods were confiscated, and the subjects of the English king who were there were arrested. In 1740, the British government agreed to pay £12,000 in compensation to the company.
For Gothenburg, which was the seat of the company, the East India trade served as an impetus for rapid development. Expensive Indian and Chinese goods - mainly silk, tea, porcelain and spices - were sold at busy auctions and then dispersed throughout Europe, occupying a fairly significant place in Swedish exports.

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India was the first state of such a large scale, which was turned into a colony. Taking advantage of the weakness of administrative and political ties, the British relatively easily, without much loss, mainly through the hands of the Indians themselves, seized power and established their dominance here. The accession of India to Britain was not so much a political act, the result of a war or a series of wars, as the result of complex economic and social processes throughout the world, the essence of which was the formation of a world capitalist market and the forcible involvement of colonized countries in world market relations.

Over time, colonial trade outgrew its original framework, it was spurred on by the fact that the rapidly developing English industry at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. was in dire need of markets for factory goods. In the 19th century India finally fell under the control of the British. By 1819, the East India Company established its control over central and southern India, and in 1849 defeated the Punjab army. Indian princes were forced to recognize her authority.

But the interference of the administration of the East India Company in the internal affairs of the country, and above all in the centuries-old agrarian relations (the British administrators clearly did not understand the real and very difficult relationships between the possessing and non-owning strata in India) led to painful conflicts in the country. The influx of factory fabrics and the ruin of many of the aristocrats accustomed to prestigious consumption affected the well-being of Indian artisans. A huge country did not want to put up with this. There was growing dissatisfaction with the new order, which threatened the usual existence of almost everyone. And although due to the weakness of internal ties and the dominance of numerous caste, language, political and religious barriers that separated people, this discontent was not too strong, it nevertheless quickly increased and turned into open resistance to the British authorities. In 1857, the famous sepoy uprising began.

By the beginning of the XIX century. The East India Company managed to create in India a strong and combat-ready army from local residents under the command of English officers. The Indians who served in this army were called sepoys. The company's center of military power was the Bengal sepoy army. Sepoys from high castes painfully felt their lowered position in the army in comparison with the British who served next to them. The ferment in their ranks gradually increased due to the fact that after the conquest of India, the company, contrary to the promise, not only reduced their salaries, but also began to use them in wars outside India - in Afghanistan, Burma, even in China. The immediate cause of the uprising was the introduction in 1857 of new cartridges. They were wrapped in paper soaked in pork or beef fat. By biting it, both Hindus who revered the sacred cow and Muslims who did not eat pork were defiled.

On May 10, 1857, three regiments of sepoys rebelled near Delhi, the ancient capital of India. Other units joined the rebels and soon the sepoys approached Delhi and occupied the city. The British were partly exterminated, partly fled in panic, and the sepoys proclaimed emperor the aged Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah II, who lived out his days on the pension of the company. The purpose of the uprising was to return India to pre-English orders. The uprising lasted almost two years and was crushed by the British.

By rightly evaluating the uprising as a powerful popular outburst of dissatisfaction not only with the rule of the colonialists, but also with a rough breaking of traditional forms of existence, the British colonial authorities were forced to significantly change their policy. Even before the final suppression of the sepoy uprising, the English parliament in 1858 passed a law on the liquidation of the East India Company. India came under the direct control of the British government, and Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. The country was to be ruled by a governor-general, who soon received the official title of Viceroy of India. The activities of him and the entire administration of British India were controlled and directed by the Ministry of Indian Affairs responsible to Parliament. A number of important reforms followed. The sepoy regiments were eliminated, and the number of British in the army increased markedly. In a special address to the Indian princes, her vassals, Queen Victoria promised to respect their traditional rights. In particular, the right to transfer the principality by inheritance to adopted sons was introduced (if the line of direct inheritance was interrupted). The British crown undertook to pay attention to the existence of a traditional caste system in India. All these reforms were aimed at respecting customary norms and avoiding further discontent and protests from the people of India.

The British are beginning to bet on the formation of a social stratum of Indians loyal to England. Back in 1835, Governor-General Macaulay carried out an education reform, the meaning of which was to begin training personnel for the colonial administration from Indians, to create from them “a stratum, Indian in blood and skin color, but English in tastes, morals and mindset ". In 1857, the British opened the first universities in India - in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. In the future, the number of universities and colleges with teaching in English and in English programs of study increased, not to mention the fact that many Indians, especially from among the wealthy social elite, were educated in England itself, including in its best universities. - Cambridge and Oxford.

In 1861, the British Parliament passed a law on the organization in India of legislative councils under the governor-general and provincial governors. Although the members of these councils were appointed, not elected, it was stipulated by law that half of them should be composed of persons not employed in the service and thus independent of the administration. A judicial reform along the English lines was also carried out. The active introduction of elements of European (British) political culture and practice, European education - all this contributed to the penetration of European ideas, knowledge and experience into India. Over time, the use of English as an official language and uniting representatives of various ethnic groups becomes the norm. English gradually became the main language for all educated India.

The growth of the influence of the British and European culture took place against the general background of the strengthening of the position of colonial capital in the country and the corresponding changes in its economy. India exported cotton, wool, jute, tea, coffee, opium, and especially indigo and spices. To ensure a rapid increase in the amount of exported raw materials, the British created plantation farms of the capitalist type. Most important for the transformation of the economy was the industrial development of India and the export of capital that stimulated it.

The British were actively engaged in the construction of railways and the creation of an initial industrial infrastructure - a network of banks, communications enterprises, plantations, etc., which contributed to the emergence of numerous national industrial enterprises, including handicraft production at manufactory-type enterprises. In the 19th century the first Indian workers appeared: by the end of the century, their number ranged from 700 to 800 thousand. Working conditions were very difficult, the working day lasted 15-16 hours, which contributed to the intensification of the labor movement. Numerous strikes of workers led to the emergence of primitive factory legislation: in 1891 it was forbidden to use the labor of children under 9 years old in factories, the length of the working day was gradually reduced (at the beginning of the 20th century to 12-14 hours).

Oriented towards England and European values, the educated part of the population, who opposed obsolete remnants and for the reform of the traditional foundations of religious culture, gradually consolidated. The Indian National Congress (INC), established in 1885, became the spokesman for the interests of this Indian intellectual elite. Over time, he became the banner of the struggle for the democratic transformation of traditional India.

From Muslim merchants from India, spices and various goods came to Europe that could not be found in Europe. Many merchants wanted to find a sea let in this country. The British also joined in trying to find India in the 15th century. In an attempt to find this country, they discovered the island of Newfoundland, explored the east coast of Canada and discovered North America. And already in 1579, Thomas Stevens became the first Englishman to come to India.

Start of colonization

The first English East India Company was organized in 1600. By decree of Elizabeth I, a joint-stock company was created, designed to establish trade in India and colonize it. The first trading trips were directed to the Indian archipelago, rich in spices, but soon the first trading agency was organized by the British in Masulipatam.

In 1689, the company decided to obtain territorial possessions in India. To monitor the conduct of hostilities, as well as to declare peace or war, the Governor-General of India was appointed.

War with France

The only serious rivals of the British were the French and the Dutch, who also fought among themselves. Until 1746, the French and English colonies coexisted peacefully, but their relationship changed. The focus shifted from trading goals to political ones. The struggle for primacy began, the governors brought troops from Europe and recruited natives. They also got involved in wars with native possessions and quickly proved the superiority of the European army.

Their first clash in India happened in 1746 in the Carnatic and ended in the defeat of England. In this clash, the British lost Madaras, their only possession in the south was Fort St. David. In 1748, the British besieged Pondicherry, the main French possession, but the siege was unsuccessful. With the help of the peace treaty in Aachen, the British regained Madaras. The French governor Dupley decided to make a French empire in India. He placed his candidacies on the thrones of Hyderabad and Arcot, thus temporarily earning prestige in the south. The British put forward their candidacy for the throne of Arcot, this was the beginning of a new war. Neither side was able to win from 1750 until 1760, but in 1761 the British defeated the French at the Battle of Vandivash, captured Pondicherry and the French surrendered.

At the end of the 18th century, Parliament began to intervene more and more often in the affairs of the East India Company and in 1858 a law was passed according to which the power in the colony belonged to the representative of England in the status of Viceroy and the lands seized by the British became known as British India.

sepoy uprising

For successful military operations, troops were needed and the East Indian colony began to use sepoys - specially trained Indian warriors.

The main reason for the rebellion of the sepoys was the very fact of colonization. The spread of English power, the transition to a new system of life, the huge taxes levied by the British, the inaccessibility of high positions for the natives in the service of the company.
The uprising began on May 10, 1857 at a military camp in Meerut. The sepoys freed the captives from prison and began to beat all the Europeans they met, and then went to Delhi, which they captured by the morning along with Aud and Lower Bengal.

The cities of Punjab, Madaras and Bombay and the Mohammedan state of Hyderabad remained loyal to the English government. A month later, the British began to besiege Delhi and after 6 days took the city, Lucknow was also liberated from the rebels.
Although the main city was taken and the main part of the rebellion was suppressed, the uprisings in various parts of India continued until 1859.

World War I

India itself was not affected by hostilities, but the soldiers of the Indian army participated in hostilities in Europe, Asia and Africa.

The largest Indian army was sent to Mesopotamia in 1914. There, the soldiers were sent inland, but in 1915 they were defeated at Ctesophon and were forced to retreat to El Kut. There, the Indians were besieged by Ottoman troops. In April 1916 they surrendered. Later, additional Indian units arrived in Mesopotamia, and in March 1917 they captured Baghdad. After that, they were part of the battles until the Armistice of Mudros.

In March 1915, Indian troops took part in the Neuve Chapelle offensive, in the autumn most Indian units were sent to Egypt.

The war brought many changes to India. Since 1916, the colonial authorities of Britain made concessions to the demands of the Indians, abolished the excise tax on cotton and began to appoint Indians to officer positions in the army, to award princes with awards and honorary titles. The end of the war brought economic changes. Taxes rose, unemployment increased, and there were food riots. The international position of the country has grown and Indian politicians have demanded the expansion of local government in the country.

The Second World War

In 1939, Lord Litlingow, Viceroy of India, declared war on Germany without consulting the Indian Congress. Hindus in high positions resigned in protest against this decision.

In August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi demanded the withdrawal of all British from Indian territory, but was imprisoned, and riots broke out in the country. They were put down within 6 weeks, but riots continued to flare up until 1943.

Later, influence passed to Subhas Bose, who had left the congress earlier. He collaborated with the Axis in an effort to free India from British influence. With the support of Japan, he organized the Indian National Army. At the end of 1945, soldiers of the Indian National Army were tried, this caused massive protests.

In 1946 new elections were held. It was decided to divide India, the Muslims demanded the creation of British India as an Islamic national home. Clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims.

In September, a new government is appointed, in which the Hindu Jawaharlal Nehru was chosen as prime minister.
The British government decided that it could no longer govern India, in which mass unrest was gaining momentum and began to withdraw its army from the country.

On August 15, India was declared an independent state, part of the country had been separated the day before and was called Pakistan.

India on the eve of the British conquest

India entered the late Middle Ages, being one of the advanced countries. By the beginning of the new time there were already well-developed commodity production and exchange. However, a number of features of the development of India - closed, self-sufficient rural communities, the peculiar nature of the Indian city, the caste system, the invasions of foreign conquerors, who often stood at a lower level of socio-economic development, etc. - delayed the formation of the capitalist structure in the bowels of the Indian feudal society.

Meanwhile, England after the victory in the middle of the XVII century. The bourgeois revolution quickly followed the path of capitalist development. The economic laws of capitalism pushed the British government onto the path of colonial expansion in the East, and in particular in India.

The deep crisis experienced by feudal India from the second half of the 18th century created an exceptionally favorable environment for the invasion of the colonialists.

Penetration European colonizers to India

From the second half of the XVIII century. England embarked on the path of major territorial conquests in India. But the penetration of European colonizers into India began as early as the 16th century.

Having opened the sea route to India, the Portuguese captured several bases on the Malabar coast. However, they did not have sufficient forces to move inland.

The predominance of the Portuguese in European trade with India was broken by the Dutch, who took possession by the second half of the 17th century. most of the Portuguese bases in India (except Goa, Diu and Daman).

At the beginning of the XVII century. The British received permission from the Mughal government to establish a temporary trading post in Surat, which was later transferred to Bombay. In addition, from 1640 they settled in Madras, and at the end of the century they built the fortified city of Calcutta on the land provided to them by the Great Mogul. To manage their strongholds in different parts of Hindustan, the British formed three presidencies: Madras, Bombay and Bengal.

In the last third of the XVII century. In India, the French appeared, whose center of activity was Pondicherry (Puttucciri). In Bengal they had a fortified trading post at Chander Nagor.

Other European states also took the path of colonial policy in India. Several trading posts were founded by the Danes. The Swedes and Austrians made attempts to expand their activities.

The colonial policy of the European powers was carried out through the respective East India Companies. Following the Dutch, the English (beginning of the 17th century) and French (second half of the 17th century) East India companies were founded, which enjoyed in their countries a monopoly on trade with the East. Having a network of fortified bases on the coast of India and creating trading posts in the interior of the country, they bought up the Indian goods they needed, selling them in Europe at monopoly high prices.

Anglo-French wrestling in India

In the middle of the XVIII century. the activities of European colonialists in India acquired new features. First the French, and then the British, began to use the internal struggle in India in the interests of their colonial aggression.

Creating armed forces to carry out territorial seizures and fight the British, the Governor-General of the French possessions in India, Duplex, like the Dutch in Indonesia, formed military units under the command of French officers from hired Indian soldiers (sepoys), armed and trained in a European way. Taking advantage of the struggle of various Indian states and principalities, the French offered some princes to take over the protection of their principalities by deploying their "auxiliary troops" on their territory. The prince had to subsidize this army and coordinate his foreign policy with the French East India Company. The French succeeded in the 40s of the XVIII century. subjugate by concluding such “subsidiary agreements” the large principality of Hyderabad and its neighboring Karnatik (Karnataka).

England did not want to put up with the threat of French dominance in India. The British began to create sepoy units and actively intervene in the struggle of the Indian feudal rulers. In the future, England had a number of advantages over feudal-absolutist France. In particular, unlike the French authorities in India, the British received active support from the mother country.

During the War of the "Austrian Succession" (1740-1748), hostilities between England and France unfolded in India, where they continued until 1754. The French were seriously pressed, but the final outcome of the Anglo-French struggle in India was decided by the Seven Years' War ( 1756-1763). France retained only Pondicherry and four other cities on the Indian coast. England was able by this time to carry out major territorial seizures.

English colonial conquests in India in the second half of the 18th century.

The main bases and centers of the English East India Company were Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Adjacent to Madras, the principality of Karnatic, inhabited by Tamils, had already become a vassal of the company. The company was very active in Bengal. She had 150 warehouses and 15 large trading posts here.

Realizing the growing danger from the British colonialists, the young Bengali Nawab Siraj-ud-Dole, who ascended the throne in 1756, began military operations against them and captured Calcutta.

Robert Clive, who commanded the landing troops, decided to consolidate this first success. He entered into an agreement with a feudal group hostile to Siraj-ud-Dole. An official agreement was concluded with an influential nobleman, the commander of the Nawab Mir Jafar, who promised his help and assistance during the offensive being prepared by the British. The British, in turn, promised to help Mir Jafar become Nawab of Bengal. Clive's actions were one of the links in the ongoing Anglo-French struggle, for Siraj-ud-Dole relied on the support of the French.

Clive's troops, consisting of 800 Europeans and 2,200 sepoys, set out on a campaign. In the summer of 1757, at Plassey, a decisive battle took place with the 70,000-strong army of Bengal. Its outcome was affected by the advantages of the British in artillery and the betrayal of Mir Jafar, who commanded the main forces of the Nawab. The Bengal army was defeated. Siraj-ud-Dole fell into the hands of the British and was executed. Mir Jafar became the Nawab, and the East India Company became the actual owner of Bengal. The capital of Bengal, Murshidabad, was robbed, and the state treasury was seized by the British. This gangster operation gave the company over 37 million pounds. Art.; in addition, its top officials, led by Clive, pocketed £21 million. Art. The Nawab of Bengal became a puppet of the company. The systematic plunder of the rich country began.

After some time, the British removed Mir Jafar from power and, for a round sum, transferred the Nawab throne to another pretender - Mir Qasim. Having increased the tax burden and thus quickly fulfilled his financial obligations to the East India Company, the new Nawab then tried to limit British control over Bengal. This led in 1763 to a military clash. Mir Qasim's troops were supported by the population. But they were driven back by the British to Oudh. Here, an alliance was concluded between the Nawabs of Bengal and Audh, which was joined by the Great Mogul Shah Alam II, who fled here after the battle of Panipat. However, in 1764, in the decisive battle of Buxar, this anti-English coalition was defeated. The colonialists consolidated their power in a vast area of ​​the lower reaches of the Ganges.

Part of the territories captured as a result of the victory at Buxar, the East India Company handed over to their captive Shah Alam II, whom the British still recognized as emperor. In turn, the Mughal emperor signed a decree giving the company the right to collect rent-tax in Bengal. At first, the old collectors and the old tax collection system were retained, which now went, however, to the treasury of the East India Company. But soon the colonialists created their own administrative apparatus. Bengal completely came under the rule of the British colonizers. The principality became dependent on the British after the battle of Buxar and Oudh. In the south of Hindustan, the large principality of Hyderabad became their vassal.

By that time, the main opponents of the colonialists in the south of Hindustan, and throughout the entire peninsula, were the Maratha confederation and the strengthened South Indian state of Mysore.

The ruler of Mysore, Haidar Ali (1761-1782), relying on the central part of the principality inhabited by the Kannar people, created a strong and combat-ready army, trained with the participation of European (mainly French) "officers. At first, Haidar Ali saw in the British only one of the participants (along with Marathas and Hyderabad) struggle for hegemony in South India. After the first war with the British (1767-1769), Haidar Ali even agreed to conclude a defensive alliance between Mysore and the East India Company. But in the war that broke out soon between Mysore and the Marathas, the British did not support their ally. Under the influence of this, and also taking into account the general situation, Haidar Ali began to consider the British as the main enemy of Mysore and tried to unite the feudal states of India against their common enemy. By this time, English interference in Maratha affairs intensified. to the throne of the Peshwas, they met with strong resistance and the Anglo-Maratha War broke out. Haydar Ali went for peace and rapprochement with the Marathas, and by the beginning of the second Anglo-Maysur war (1780-^ 1784), Mysore, Marathas and Hyderabad entered into an alliance against the British.

The British were in a difficult position. Simultaneously with military operations in India, England had to wage war with the rebellious colonies of North America, as well as with France, Spain and Holland. But the British colonialists skillfully used the contradictions between the Indian feudal lords. They won over the strongest Maratha principality of Gwaliar to their side, supporting the claims of the Gwaliar Maharaja to the Delhi region, and through his mediation concluded a separate peace with the Maratha confederation. Under the treaty of 1782, the East India Company even somewhat expanded its possessions in the Bombay area.

Mysore continued to fight alone for another two years, after which he was forced to make an agreement with the British. The Anglo-Mysore Treaty of 1784 recognized the parties' pre-war possessions. But this meant the strengthening of the position of the East India Company and the refusal of Mysore from the struggle for hegemony in South India. If before that the goal of Mysore was the expulsion of the British from Hindustan, now the task of preserving Mysore's own integrity and independence has come to the fore.

Even during the war, Haydar Ali died, and the throne of Mysore passed to his son Tipu Sultan, an implacable enemy of the British colonialists. Tipu preached the idea of ​​a "holy war" against the British, sent his emissaries to the Great Mogul and to many principalities of India with an appeal to join forces. He sought support from revolutionary France and sent a mission to Turkey.

The British saw Tipu as a dangerous enemy. East India Company diplomacy sought to isolate Mysore from other Indian states. In 1790, with the support of the Maratha principalities and vassal Hyderabad, the British launched a third war against Mysore. Despite the great superiority of the Allied forces, the Mysore army, led by Tipu Sultan, resisted stoically. But in 1792, Tipu was forced to accept the terms of the peace, according to which half of the territory of Mysore departed to the East India Company and its allies.

In 1799, the British, having gathered large military forces, again attacked Mysore. After a fierce artillery bombardment, they stormed his capital, Seringapatam. Tipu Sultan fell in battle. Having transferred part of the Mysore territory to Hyderabad, the British turned the remaining region into a vassal principality, placing their protege on the throne.

The Kannar people completely lost their independence and were artificially divided between the possessions of the East India Company and its two vassal principalities - Hyderabad and the truncated Mysore.

Thus, as a result of colonial wars in the second half of the XVIII century. the richest regions of Hindustan - Bengal with Bihar, Orissa and Oud adjoining it, and all of South India - turned into an English colony.

Colonial exploitation of the peoples of India

In the XVIII century. The colonial exploitation of the peoples of India was carried out by methods characteristic of the period of primitive accumulation of capital. From the very beginning, the British colonial policy in India was carried out by the East India Company, created by large British merchants and enjoying a monopoly on trade between England and the East. The conquest of India was also carried out by the trade and administrative apparatus and the armed forces of the East India Company.

But colonial policy, and especially territorial conquest in India, has never been a private affair of the shareholders of the East India Company alone. Behind the company were the ruling classes of England and the British government. At the same time, there was a stubborn struggle within the ruling class of England for influence on the British administration in India and the distribution of the wealth plundered there. Shareholders of the company and circles associated with them sought to maintain their monopoly. Other factions of the ruling class, in their own interests, fought for the expansion of government control over the activities of the company.

In 1773, the English Parliament passed the Indian Administration Act, according to which the governor of the company in Calcutta became the governor-general of all English possessions in India, with the governors of Madras and Bombay subordinate to him. The government appointed members of the council under the governor-general. The English Supreme Court was established in the possessions of the East India Company. Under the law of 1784, a Control Board for Indian Affairs, appointed by the king, was created in London, the chairman of which was a member of the British cabinet. The Council was supposed to control the activities of the East India Company and determine the British colonial policy in India. At the same time, the Board of Directors, elected by the company's shareholders, was preserved. This system of "dual control" allowed the British government to expand its expansion in Hindustan and influence the management of the possessions of the East India Company.

The administrative colonial apparatus of the East India Company, in combination with the corresponding feudal institutions of the vassal principalities, formed a political superstructure that helped the British government to carry out colonial exploitation of the peoples of Hindustan.

The main instrument of their robbery was taxes. In the occupied areas, rent-tax began to flow to companies. A significant part of the rent-tax levied in the vassal principalities also came to the British in various ways. An important source of income was the East India Company's monopoly on the extraction and trade of salt. Salt was sold at a very high price.

The proceeds from taxes collected with monstrous cruelty and the salt monopoly were supplemented by sums obtained by open robbery, such as the seizure of the Bengal treasury by Clive and other "exploits" of a similar nature. The company forcibly attached tens of thousands of Indian weavers and other artisans to its trading posts, making extensive use of forced labor. One of the British merchants wrote: "The British, with their Indian agents, arbitrarily decide how much goods each artisan should deliver and at what price ... The consent of the poor weaver, generally speaking, is not considered necessary."

In addition, the companies and their employees derived considerable profits from predatory trade and speculation. The wealth plundered in India was one of the sources of capital with which English industry was created.

British colonial policy was personified by the leaders of the British colonial administration, cruel and inhuman knights of profit, deprived of honor and conscience.

One of these colorful figures was Robert Clive - a native of a petty noble family, first a scribe, and then an officer in the company's troops. Having grown rich during predatory campaigns, he bought himself a seat in the House of Commons of the English Parliament, and then, having received the title of Lord, was appointed governor of Bengal. His activities were accompanied by such embezzlement and abuse that in 1773 Clive appeared before the court of the English Parliament. During the trial, he announced the robbery of Murshidabad: “A rich city was at my feet, a powerful state was in my power, the cellars of a treasury filled with ingots of gold and silver, precious stones were opened to me alone. I took only £200,000. Art. Gentlemen, to this day I never cease to be amazed at my own modesty!” The House acknowledged that Clive committed a number of crimes, but noted that "Robert Lord Clive rendered great and worthy services to England."

Clive was replaced by another colonial brigand, Warren Hastings, who was appointed the first governor-general of all British possessions in India. This speculator and bribe-taker, too, was eventually brought before the courts of Parliament. The Hastings Trial, which lasted from 1788 to 1795, exposed the monstrous crimes of the British colonialists against the peoples of India. However, the main culprit Hastings was acquitted. The reasons for this decision were correctly pointed out by one English historian, who wrote: “As long as we firmly own the wealth and territory of India, won by blood and deceit, as long as we appropriate and retain the very fruits of robbery, it is senseless and monstrous to brand Hastings a rapist and killer."

The results of the capture of India by the colonialists

Bengal and other areas captured by the British were subjected to merciless robbery, which completely undermined their economy. The arrival of the colonialists meant a sharp increase in the feudal exploitation of the peasantry. Significantly increased the size of the rent-tax. If in the early years of the company in Bengal the amount of tax was about 1.5 million pounds. Art., then ten years later it reached 2.8 million, and in 1793 it amounted to 3.4 million. Peasants and artisans were ruined, crop areas were reduced. Within a few years of British rule, the economy of Bengal was ruined. There was a famine, which killed about 10 million people - almost half of the then population of Bengal.

Even the English governor-general Cornwallis wrote in his report in 1789: "I can safely say that 1/3 of the territory belonging to the company in Hindustan is now a jungle inhabited only by wild animals."

One of the speakers declared in the English Parliament: “If we were driven out of India today, one could only say that this country during the inglorious period of our dominance was owned by people not much different from orangutans or tigers.”

Undermining the economy of India, the British colonialists also destroyed those sporadic shoots of new economic relations that were taking shape in Indian society. The English conquest, turning Hindustan into a colony without rights, consolidated the dominance of feudal remnants in its economy, the economic and cultural backwardness of its peoples.