The British took interest in India around the 1600's, when the British East India Company set up trading post to Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. India's ruling kept European traders under control. But in 1707, the Mughal Empire was collapsing. And in 1757, Robert Clive led East India Company troops to a victory over Indian forces against the French at the Battle of Plassey. From that time until 1858, the East India Company became the leading power.
In 1850, the British controlled most of the Indian subcontinent. The British tried converting the Indians to Christianity but they resented. And as economic problems increased, so did their resentment and nationalism. In 1857,A garrison commander was shocked when 85 of the 90 sepoys refused to accept the cartridges and to make matters worse the British handled the issue badly. The soldiers who had disobeyed were jailed, and on May 10, 1857, the sepoys rebelled. They migrated to Delhi, where they were joined by Indian soldiers stationed there.
The British first treasured India's potential instead of its actual profit. Thanks to the Industrial Revolution India became a major supplier of raw materials. Its 300 million people was a large potential for British-made goods. The British established a railroad network there and the railroads transported raw products from the interior to the ports and manufactured goods again. Plantation crops were a major resource that the British liked. Which included tea, indigo, coffee, cotton and jute.
The impact the British had on India was negative. Most of the time the Indians did not appreciate, or approve of the changes the British were making. The British did not realize that they were separating religious cultures then combing them with the exact opposite religion.
PRIMARY SOURCE: "It is this consciousness of the inherent superiority of the European which has won for us India. However well educated and clever a native may be, and however brave he may prove himself, I believe that no rank we can bestow on him would cause him to be considered an equal of the British officer." -LORD KITCHENER, quoted in K. M. Panikkar, Asia and Western Dominance.
Video on Imperialism in India-
In 1850, the British controlled most of the Indian subcontinent. The British tried converting the Indians to Christianity but they resented. And as economic problems increased, so did their resentment and nationalism. In 1857,A garrison commander was shocked when 85 of the 90 sepoys refused to accept the cartridges and to make matters worse the British handled the issue badly. The soldiers who had disobeyed were jailed, and on May 10, 1857, the sepoys rebelled. They migrated to Delhi, where they were joined by Indian soldiers stationed there.
The British first treasured India's potential instead of its actual profit. Thanks to the Industrial Revolution India became a major supplier of raw materials. Its 300 million people was a large potential for British-made goods. The British established a railroad network there and the railroads transported raw products from the interior to the ports and manufactured goods again. Plantation crops were a major resource that the British liked. Which included tea, indigo, coffee, cotton and jute.
The impact the British had on India was negative. Most of the time the Indians did not appreciate, or approve of the changes the British were making. The British did not realize that they were separating religious cultures then combing them with the exact opposite religion.
PRIMARY SOURCE: "It is this consciousness of the inherent superiority of the European which has won for us India. However well educated and clever a native may be, and however brave he may prove himself, I believe that no rank we can bestow on him would cause him to be considered an equal of the British officer." -LORD KITCHENER, quoted in K. M. Panikkar, Asia and Western Dominance.
Video on Imperialism in India-
http://youtu.be/X9Nx3rZ_Fng