MODERN INDIA

Unit 1: Indian States and Society in the 18th century.

In 18th century, local & regional political & economic forces began to arise due to the decline of the Mughal empire. Some of the independent powers were Bengal, Awadh, Hyderabad, Mysore & Maratha Kingdom. The succession states were Bengal, Awadh & Hyderabad. The state of Hyderabad was founded by Nizam-ul-mulk Asaf Jah, in 1724, who was one of the leading nobles of the post-Aurangzeb era. He consolidated his power by establishing an orderly administration in the Decan on the basis of the Jagirdari system. The Carnatic was one of subahs of the Mughal Deccan & as such came under the authority of Nizam of Hyderabad. Bengal became independent due to exceptional ability of Murshid Qulikhan & Alivardi Khan. Murshid Quli Khan became the Governor in 1717. There were 3 major uprisings of Zamindars in his rule. Khalisah & taccavi was in vogue. In 1756-57, the East India Company declared war on siraj-du-Daulah & got victory. The founder of the autonomous kingdom of Awadh was Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk who was appointed Governor of Awadh in 1722. He was an extremely bold, energetic, iron-willed and intelligent person. He improved the life of peasants by buying equitable land revenue & by saving them from oppression by the big zamindars. His administration was efficient. Mysore under Haider Ali emerged as the most important kingdom in South India. Tipu Sultan succeeded Haider Ali who ruled Mysore till 1799 until his death at the hands of the British. He was an innovator who changed with the time. He also established 2 dockyards. Mysore flourished economically under Haider Ali & Tipu. Kerala was divided at the beginning of the 18th century among a large number of feudal chiefs & rajas. The 4 most important States were of Calicut, Chirakkal, Cochin & Travancore. King Martanda Varma came into prominence in 1729. 18th century saw a remarkable revival in Malayalam literature. The most outstanding Rajput member of the 18th century was Raja Sawai Jai Singh of Amber (1681-1743). He founded the city of Jaipur & made it a great seat of science & art. The Jats, a caste of agriculturists, lived in the region around Delhi, Agra & Mathura. Jat power reached its highest glory under Suraj Mal, who ruled from 1756 to 1763. The Sikhsism was founded by Guru Nanak at the end of 15th century. Sikhs became a political & military force under Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the tenth & last guru of Sikhs. At the end of 18th century, Ranjit Singh, Chief of the Sukerchakia Mist, rose to prominence. He was a strong & courageous soldier, an efficient administrator and a skilful diplomat. The most important Challenge to the decaying Mughal power came from the Maratha Kingdom which was the most powerful of the succession states. There was a civil war between Shahu (grandson of Shivaji) and his aunt Tara Bai at Kolhapur. In 1713 Shahu made Balaji Vishwanath his Peshwa or the Mukhpradhan (Chief Minister). He was succeeded by Baji Rao I who was a bold & brilliant commander. The British divided the Maratha Sardars and defeated them in separate battles during the second Maratha war (1803-05) & the third Maratha war, (1816-19). India failed to make any progress economically, socially or culturally in 18th century. India's agriculture was technically backward and stagnant during the 18th century. India had an extensive inland as well as overseas trade. The most important article of export was cotton textile which was famous all over the world. Kashmir was the centre of woolen manufacturers & ship building industry flourished in Maharashtra, Andhra & Bengal. At the dawn of the 18th century, India was one of the main centres of world trade & industry. Education was not neglected but on the whole was defective. The centres of higher education were all over the country & were usually financed by nawabs, Rajas and rich zamindars. Caste was the central feature of the social life of the Hindus. The family system in 18th century was primarily patriarchal. The purdah system was common mostly among the higher classes in the North. Two great social evils of 18th century were caste system & Sati. The Indians remained ignorant of the scientific, cultural, political and economic achievements of the west.

Unit 2: Beginning of European Companies & settlement.

India's trade relation with Europe is very old. During the middle ages trade between Europe & India & South East Asia was carried on along several routes. In 1498, Vasco de Gama of Portugal discovered a new and all sea-route from Europe to India. He sailed round Africa via the Cape of Good hope & reached Calicut. In India, Portugal established their trading settlements at Cochin, Goa, Diu & Daman. Right from the beginning they combined the use of force with trade. It was under the viceroyalty of Alfonso d' Albuquerque, who captured Goa in 1510 & estd. Their domination over the entire Asian Coast. In 1602, the Dutch East India company was formed & received a charter giving powers like waging wars, conclude treaties, acquire territories & build fortresses. They established their trading depots at Surat, Broach, Cambay & Ahmedabad in Gujarat in West India, Cochin in Kerala, Nagapatam in Madras, Masulipatam in Andhra, Chinsura in Bengal, Patna in Bihar & Agra in U.P. A group of merchants known as merchant adventures was formed in 1599 by group of merchant which later on became popular as the East India Company. In 1608 it opened a 'factory' (trading depot) at Surat. On the west coast of India. By 1623 English East India Company had established factories at Surat, Broach, Ahmedabad, Agra & Masulipatam. South India favoured English as there was no strong Indian Government. The English opened their first 'factory' in the South at Masulipatam in 1611 but soon centre of activity shifted to Madras. Fort St.George, a small port was built here by English. The island of Bombay was acquired by East India company from Portugal in 1668. The English opened its first factory in Orissa in 1663 that is in Eastern India. In 1651 it got permission to trade at Hugli in Bengal. It also opened factories at Satna, Balasore, Shaka & other places in Bengal Orissa & Bihar. In 1686 the company declared war on the Emperor and war ended disastrously for company. In 1698 the company got zamindari of 3 villages where it built, Fort William and the village grew into a city which came to be known as Calcutta. France had appeared as a new rival to English company. French East India was founded in 1664 & established itself at Chandernagore near Calcutta & Pondicherry on the east coast. In 1742 war broke out in Europe between France & England & when news spread to India clashes between the two companies started. Supleix, was the lust Govenor-General at this time. The French slowly & gradually started friendship with the Rajas & Nawabs & in return they got wealth both in the form of land & money. Robert Clive was a young clerk in East India Company who defeated the French forces under his command.

Unit 3: British Conquest of India

Bengal was the most fertile and the richest of India's provinces. Its industries & commerce were well developed. In 1717 the company got a royal forman which included many privileges. When Siraj-ud-Daulah became the nawab of Bengal he restricted the misuse of royal dastaks. English refused to obey his commands. People close to the Nawab who joined English were Mir Jafar, the Mir Bakshi, Manick Chand, Amirchand, Jagat Seth & Khadim Khan. Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulan & English met for battle on the field of Plassey on 23 June, 1757 in which Nawab was defeated. The battle of Plassey paved the way for the British mastery of Bengal & eventually whole of India. Mr Qasim formed on alliance with Shuja-ud-Saulan, the Nawab of Avadh & Shah Alam II to defeat Britishers. The three allies clashed with the company's army at Buxar on 22 October 1764 & were thoroughly defeated. The Dual system was that the Nawab was the legal head by the state but all the powers vested in English people so it was like power without responsibility for English. The nawab & his officials had responsibility of administration but not the power to discharge it. The weaknesses of the Govt. could be blamed on the Indians while its fruits were gathered by the British. Lord Hastings compelled Sindhia to accept British suzerainty and defeated the armies of Holkar, Peshwa & Bhonsle. By 1818 the entire Indian sub-continent except Punjab & Sindh was under British control. Due to the growing Anglo-Russian rivalry in Europe the Britishers wanted to take over the region of sindh which was annexed in 1843 by Sir Charles Napier. After the death of Raja Ranjit Singh the Punjab Govterment became politically unstable and then after the defeat of Punjab army the humiliating Treaty of Lahore was signed on 8 March 1846. Lord Dalhousie came to India as the Governor General in 1848. He implemented the policy of annexation that was 'Doctrine of Lapse'. Under this doctrine if a ruler dies without a natural heir his state would be annexed to British India Many States, like Satara, Nagpur & Jhansi were annexed by applying this doctrine.

Unit 4 : Structure of Government & Administrative Organisation of the British Empire in India (1757-1857).

There was a long phase of changes in structural govterment between 1757 & 1857. When the Britishers came to India they only wanted to make money and only money and had little intention of making any innovations in its administration. The Indian officials had responsibility but no powers whereas the English officials had power but no responsibility. The East India Company's higher authority was situated in England English servants used to make quick money through illegal means. The first important parliamentary act regarding the company's affairs was the Regulating Act of 1773 but it soon broke down in practice. Another important act was Pitt's India act which gave supreme control to British Govterment over the company's affair's & its administration in India. It estableshed six commissioner for the affairs of India called as board of control. With the passing of Charter Act of 1813 the trade monopoly of company was ended and was opened to all British Subjects. Lord Cornwallis initiated the Civil Service in India. He came to India in 1786 as Governor General. He stopped the tradition of accepting bribes and presents and raised the salaries of the officials to stop it. The company's civil service became the highest paid service in the world. In 1800 Lord Wellesley established. College of Fort William at Calcutta to educate the young recruits to the civil service. From the charter of 1853, there came a system of recruiting by competitive exams and Indian nationals were excluded from this service. The Indian civil Service became one of the most efficient & powerful civil services in the world. Army was the second most important pillar of the British regime. The bulk of company's army consisted of Indian soldiers from area of U.P. & Bihar. The highest Indian officer was the Subedar. The foreign soldiers were expensive & less in number. So this was reason that the bulk was of Indian Soldiers. There was absence of modern nationalism in Indian soldiers. Thus the Britishers were able to have a large army. It was again Cornwallis who brought the concept of police in India. He modernised the old Indian system of Thanas which was headed by Daroga. Later on the post of District Superintendent of Police was created to head the police organisation in a district. Warren Hastings started the judicial system in assembled way in India but it was stabilised by Cornwallis in 1793. In each district a Diwani Adalat or Civil court was established headed by the District Judge. Bentirick raised the status & powers of Indians in the judicial service & appointed them as Deputy Magistrates. In 1865 High Court were established at Calcutta, Madras & Bombay. Macaulay headed the law commission appointed by the Govt. in 1833. The English presented a new concept of the rule of law, to gives rights & liberties. British system of judiciary used the concept of Equality which was not before. All were equal in the eyes of law.

Unit 5 : Economic, social & cultural policy of the British Empire in India (1757-1857).

Initially the role of East India company was of a trading company which brought goods and in exchange took goods like textiles and spices. India was very famous for its cotton textile which was gradually banned in Britain because it was more cheaper than British textile and the quality was much more better. The company eliminated its rival traders, both Indian & foreign so that it can dictate terms to the weavers of Bengal who were then forced to sell their products at a cheaper & dictated price. The servants of the company monopolised the sale of raw cotton made in Bengal. To new classes were born during this period one was of the industrial capitalists and the other of labour hired on daily wages. The rise of a powerful class of manufacturers had an important impact on Indian administration and its policies. Lots of wealth was drained from India to Britain which later on helped the Britain to consolidate its economy. The drain took the form of an excess of India's exports over its imports for which India got no return. Till the middle of 19th century the mode of transportation in India was backward. It were the Britishers who introduced steamships on the rivers & improved the roads. The major was Grand Trunk road from Calcutta to Delhi. Britishers were the one who established the modern postal system in India and introduced the telegraph. Lord Dalhousie introduced the postage stamps. The step taken to consolidate the land revenue policy by the Britishers was the Permanent Settlement of land, which was introduced in Bengal & Bihar in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis. The settlement was of fixing of land revenue at a permanent amount. The other settlement was Ryotwari settlement according to which the cultivator is to recognised as the owner of his own plot of land subject to the payment of land revenue. The settlement under the Ryotwari system was not made permanent. The third system was Mahalwari system in which revenue settlement was to be made village by village or estate by estate with landlods or heads of families who claimed to be the land lord of the village.

Unit 6 : Social & cultural awakening in the first half of the 19th century.

19th century was the time of social and cultural awakening which was more or less the impact of modern Western culture. Raja Rammohun Roy is regarded as the first great leader of modern India. He spent all his life in reforming the social and religious condition of the people of India. He represented a synthesis of the thought of East & West. In 1814 he started the Atmiya Sabha. He opposed the worship of idols, the rigidity of caste and meaningless religious rituals. He believed in the principle of reason which was based on the philosophy of Vedanta. He criticized the negative points of Hindu and defended the religion from the ignorant attacks of the missionaries. In 1828 he founded a new religious society which was initially known as Brahma Sabha, later it was known as Brahmo Samaj. The main purpose was to purify Hinduism & to preach monotheism or belief in one God. This basis of this society were the Vedas & Upanishads. The Samaj laid emphasis on human dignity & opposed idolatory, and criticised social evils as Sati. He was who a pioneer of Indian journalism. He was a firm believer in internationalism and in free cooperation among nations. In late 1820s there was a new radical trend arising among the Bengali intellectuals and was known as young Bengal movement. Its leader was an Anglo-Indian Henry Vivian Derozio. He died at an very early age of 22. Debendranath Tagore,father of Rabindranath Tagore, founded the Tatvabodhini Sabha to propagate Rammohun Roy's ideas. Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great scholar and reformer. He dedicated his entire life to the cause of social reform. He was a great scholar of Sanskrit and evolved a new methodology of teaching it. He waged a long struggle in favour of widow remaniage. He also protested against child marriage. One of the first reformers in Bombay was Bal Shashtri Jambekar. He attached Brahmanical orthodoxy and tried to reform Hinduism. Some other prominent reformers of this time were Jotiba Phule, Vishnu Shashtri Pundit, Gopal Hari Deshmukh etc. and most important Dada Bhai Naoroji.

Unit 7 : Revolt of 1857

The revolt of 1857 began with a mutiny of the sepoys which nearly swept away the British rule. There were many general causes which were responsible for the outbreak of revolt besides the mutiny. The most popular cause of popular discontent was the economic exploitation of the country by the British. They exploited peasants, artisans, handicrafts men and zamindars too. Their judicial system was complex, which always used to suppress poor. The distinction of behaviour between foreigners & Indians was also another reason. The annexation of Awadh by Lord Dalhousie in 1856 was widely resented in India in general & particularly in Awadh. Doctrine of Lapse was one of the main reason of revolt and the Indians who were against it were Rani of Jhansi, Nana Sahib. The British were Christians so they wanted Hindu & Muslim to convert to propagate their religion which caused resentment among the people of India. The immediate cause of the revolt of 1857 was the using of the greased cartridges made up of beef & pig fat which were used by both Hindus & Muslims. The revolt began at Merut on 10 May, 1857. Mangal Pande is said be the to soldier who revolted first. The sepoy revolt spread to Bengal, Awadh, Rohilkhand, the Doab, the Bundelkhand, Central India, large parts of Bihar & East Punjab. The main storm-centres of the revolt of 1857 were at Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi & Arrah in Bihar. At Kanpur the revolt was led by Nanasahib, in Jhansi by Rani Lakshmi Bai. In Lucknow by Hazrat Mahal, the Begum of Awadh. However the greatest heroes of the revolt were sepoys. There are not one but many causes of the failure of revolt. Firstly it was not widespread. Most rulers and rich zamindars were out. Sindhia of Gwalior, the Holkar of Indore, the Nizam of Hyderabad and many gave active help to Britishers during this time. Madras, Bombay & the Western Punjab remained undisturbed. People like merchants, money-lenders, zamindars of Bengal resented the revolt. The intellectual classes also played an important role by siding with British. The sepoys were brave but not disciplined. By the end of 1859, British authority was reinstated over India. This revolt paved a way for the rise of the modern national movement and left an unforgettable impression on the minds of Indian people.