Essay on Impact Of British Colonization Of India

Did you know that the British were responsible for the death of 35 million Indias? The British colonization of India had both positive and negative consequences. They helped with their infrastructure development but the British damaged India's handicraft industry and also caused starvation/rebellion. Throughout this essay, I will be going into further detail about each of these categories.

Under the colonial authority, the Indian handicrafts that had made the nation famous collapsed. This was mostly because of competition from machine-made items imported from the United Kingdom. The traditional handicrafts business was up against some hard competition from these mass-produced items. Britain was able to flood the Indian markets during the colonial period with low-cost products, particularly cotton textiles. The British had established a railway infrastructure which increased demand for low-cost, conveniently available modern items causing the handicraft market to suffer as more and more people started to support these machine-made goods. The railways eased the transport of these items to their most distant locations. However, the East India Company was able to impose conditions of trade thanks to its free trade policy. The British had forced Indian craftsmen to sell their wares for less than market value as they hired their services for less than the going rate.

Britain built infrastructures across India. They provided work opportunities and completes projects such as hospitals, schools, railways, and roads. All these acts make traveling easier and people’s quality of living increased significantly. As a result of infrastructure development, water supply projects sparked an agricultural revolution. Also creating millions of job opportunities for the Indians. A significant achievement made by Britain in the year 1850 was the development of railroads. This effort had two effects on the Indian economy. First of all, it encouraged people to move from place to place and cross borders, and second of all, it popularized Indian agriculture. Though that may seem like a positive act for India, it was not Britain's intention. This was done only to serve imperial interests rather than the ordinary people. Projects were not completed to improve the life of the Indians but instead to ease the exploitation of their resources and labor.

During the British colonization, India also suffered starvation and rebellion. There was the Great Bengal famine of 1770, which killed up to 10 million people, the Great Famine of 1876–78, which killed between 5 and 10 million people and affected up to 60 million, the Indian famine of 1899–1900, which killed between 1.25 and 10 million people, and the Bengal famine of 1943, which killed more than 3 million people that were among them. This was all caused by a food shortage in India which reached its peak during the british administration, some say they were made worse by the british government. There were many times the Indians suffered famines but this was the worst of all. They starved the Indias resulting in many deaths and hurting of the citizens and their families. Between May 1857 and June 1858, Indian members of the East India Company's army rebelled and took up weapons against their British rulers in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. As the British government sent more troops and several Indian tribal groups sent their forces to back the rebels, the rebellion exploded into a military war. The rebellion was put down after a year of fighting, but the consequences were far-reaching. Most of the participants did it for religious reasons, while others did it out of devotion to their former rulers or simply to steal. Many people wanted to destroy the Company's tax collection system, this came as a shock to the British. As a result, the British had no choice but to take over control of India. Following the Indian Rebellion, the East India Company failed miserably for years before being officially destroyed in 1874.

To conclude the colonization of India by the British had both beneficial and bad outcomes. Although the British have colonized many countries I would say it had the biggest effect on the Indians.