ERH-321WX-01 British Empire Timeline
Introduction to the British Empire and The British Raj
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The famous phrase that “the sun never sets in the British Empire” was actually true at the height of the British Empire. The Empire covered an expanse of land and even water so vast that it was always daylight in some part of the empire. This size is incredible for any empire to achieve and really goes to demonstrate the power that the small country of England wielded. One of Great Britain’s most prized empirical possessions was that of India, known as the Crown Jewel of the British Empire. The British Rule in India was known as the British Raj, and was a very dominating force in India for around a hundred years. The combined presence of the East India Company and the British Raj lasted for around two-hundred years. The British Raj has possibly one of the most colorful and possibly bloody histories of any of the British Empire’s Colonies and had a large impact on the British Empire as a whole. In this time-line of ten of the most important events in British India, a picture of what molded the country and how it finally gained its independence will be built.
Works Cited for this section:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj#1947:_Violence.2C_partition.2C_independence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire
http://www.britishempire.co.uk/
Early 19th-Early 20th Century, The Great Game
The Great Game was a very significant intelligence and control operations rivalry between the British and Russians that took place from the early 19th to the early 20th century. The Great Game, as it was so know, consisted of many spies and sources gathering intelligence about the other parties to try and keep the upper hand on what was happening in their control areas. The Russians at the time were trying to expand their empires and this posed as a major threat in the minds of the British to the security of their empire. Rudyard Kipling’s novel, Kim, delves into the great game some with the character Kim who is a very crafty and resourceful Sahib that the British end up training as one of the spies for gathering intelligence and other resources from the Russians. Through Kim, the Great Game is given life and depth to the point where one might be able to understand what it was like during the time to face the dangers of being involved in these operations.
Works Cited for this section:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game
1857, The Sepoy Mutiny/rebellion
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The Sepoy Mutiny occurred in the year 1857 as a result of a sepoy named Mangal Pandey being imprisoned and executed by the British, and the Indian army refusing to use new Enfield cartridges that were supposedly greased with cow fat which was a problem for Hindi people. The Rebellion itself happened after the troops were imprisoned when a large group of sepoys who were enraged by the British action rose up and shot their officers then proceeded to take over Delhi. The rebellion ultimately failed. There was massive reorganization that resulted from the rebellion, including getting rid of the East India Company and putting in its place direct English Rule. One of the other more significant results of the rebellion is that a consultation policy was developed in which the British made sure to incorporate Indian opinion in 1861. This had multiple implications for the Indian people. They now had a voice where previously absent; however, Britain now took direct rule over the Indian people.
works cited for this section:
http://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Mutiny
1914-1918, The First World War
The First World War was looked at as a proving ground for Indians under British Rule. The Indian people believed during the time that if they fought in Britain’s war and won, that they would rightfully have earned their independence from British rule and be free from Britain as a colony. The Indians contributed about a million and a half soldiers of the Indian Army to fight on part of the mother country in battles such as Verdun and the Somme. Even large sums of money were offered by the Indian people to the British at times. The British did not share the views of Indian independence, however, and the tensions between the British and Indians after the war would only continue to grow. E.M. Forster’s novel, A Passage to India, takes place in the 1920’s right after the First World War and expands on some of the tensions that began to present themselves after the war between the British and Indians.
Works Cited for this section:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/india-and-world-war-one/
1916, The Lucknow Pact
The Lucknow Pact was an agreement between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League that not only effected the relations between Hindus and Muslims in India, but also restructured the government of India to encourage the British to lessen their grip on India. The hope of the Indians with this is that they would be able to be more autonomous as a government. The Major demands of the Pact were Increased Indian representation, self-governing of India, and Half of the Imperial Legislative Council should be Indians. The Pact was an important tool involved in uniting the parties within India and set the tone for future movements such as the Non-cooperation movement.
Works Cited for this section:
www.britannica.com/event/Lucknow–Pact
1919, Rowlatt act
The Rowlatt act of 1919 was one of the most controversial acts passed by the British in India against the indigenous population of Indians. The Rowlatt acts caused a very significant uproar within the Indian community and sparked a lot of very large occurrences such as the Massacre at Amritsar and the Non-Cooperation movements (which are described below). The Rowlatt act was a piece of legislation passed by the British that permitted the British to try the Indians in court without a jury and be imprisoned essentially without reason. The act basically extended the Defense of India Provisions of 1915 indefinitely. This act and those similar to it were a central element to mobilizing the Indian populous to fight for their rights and more importantly, their independence.
Works Cited for this section:
http://www.britannica.com/event/Rowlatt-Acts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowlatt_Act
1919, Massacre at Amritsar
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The Massacre at Amritsar occurred in 1919 when a large contingent of British troops moved into an area around a large group of unarmed Indian people and opened fire on them killing a few hundred people indiscriminately. The British soldiers saw the gathering as an act of insubordination by the Indian people of earlier acts restricting the sizes of public gatherings. The massacre was an attempt at making an example of the Indian people who did not obey British rule and trying to solidify power. The exact opposite was the real effect though. Not only did the Massacre at Amritsar enrage the Indian people, it was also poorly received in Great Britain and turned a very negative opinion on the British Empire from their own people. The massacre at Amritsar proved to be a large stepping stone towards Indian independence that sparked a lot of activism in India.
Works Cited for this section:
http://www.britannica.com/event/Massacre-of-Amritsar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
1920-1922, The Indian Non-Cooperation acts
The Non-Cooperation Movement was the culmination of a buildup of events against the Indian people that was tipped by the Amritsar Massacre in which the British killed a few hundred unarmed Indians and did nothing to the men who committed the atrocity. Gandhi inspired and led the Non-Cooperation movement in India in further effort to achieve the ability to self-govern out of British rule. The movement was supported by the Indian National congress and was a non-violent protest and boycott of anything British in nature. The idea Gandhi had behind this movement was that if Indians could starve the British economy in India, the British would have to either leave or give in to the Indian demands. The movement had great significance in that even though it was unsuccessful, it really opened up the floor, so to speak, for Indian protest of British rule and signaled the inevitable end to British rule in India. A Passage to India deals with aspects of these Non-Cooperation acts as well indirectly. The novel helps to set the stage for these acts by, again, displaying the mistrust and rising tensions between the indigenous people of India and the British that resided within the country.
Works Cited for this section:
http://www.britannica.com/event/noncooperation-movement
1929, Jinnah’s Fourteen Points
Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Fourteen Points was a plan that involved Muslim’s rights to self-government in India. Their main idea was that they would protect the rights of the Muslim population and assure that they would not be thrown aside in their representation in Legislation and government in general. A simplified list of their aims was that they wanted a larger representation of Muslim representatives, better representation of minorities, establishment of Muslim minority provinces, religious liberty, and more. This document was important to the eventual establishment of Pakistan. The overall intent of these points was to insure and safeguard Muslims in a Non-British ruled India. This just further emphasizes the the loss of control by the British Empire, more and more, people are considering what to do when they are gone.
Works Cited for this section:
http://genius.com/Muhammad-ali-jinnah-fourteen-points-of-jinnah-annotated
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Points_of_Jinnah
1938-1941, Lahore Resolution
The Lahore Resolution was a very significant piece of Muslim history in British India. The Lahore Resolution was a reaction to concerns that the Muslim population of India had about becoming a minority in India and losing their power of representation. The direct proposal of the Lahore Resolution was that there be created independent Muslim States within British India to ensure the rights of Muslims were upheld.
Works Cited for this section:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahore_Resolution
http://historypak.com/lahore-resolution-1940/
1947, The Fight and Victory for Independence
The Indian’s fight for Independence from Great Britain was a long and hard fought one that cost many Indians their lives directly or indirectly. The British Empire’s rule over India known as the British Raj as well as the previous controllers, the East India Company, lasted for around two-hundred years. The Indian people had to fight for through two world wars and countless of the conflicts, external and internal, to gain what they wanted. In 1947, the Indians finally achieved what they wanted. The Indian Independence Act of 1947 finally granted India independence from the once massive British Empire. The Independence Act created the free nations of both Pakistan and India following World War II. The British India was no more. The country of India was set as the Hindu region and Pakistan as the Muslim region, though they mixed in-between.
Works Cited for this section:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Independence_Act_1947
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1947/30/pdfs/ukpga_19470030_en.pdf
BOOKS REFERENCED:
E.M. FORSTER’s A Passage to India
RUDYARD KIPLING’S Kim
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