British Rule in India — Overview

• How the East India Company came to rule India (1600→1757→1858).
• Battle of Plassey (1757) — turning point; Company gains political power in Bengal.
• 1857 Revolt — first large-scale uprising against British; causes and outcomes.
• Crown Rule (1858) — British government takes direct control from Company.
• Methods of British economic exploitation: drain of wealth, deindustrialisation.

Timeline of British control

Battle of Plassey (1757)

• Cause: Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah of Bengal objected to EIC expanding fort without permission.
• Key factor: Mir Jafar (Nawab's general) betrayed him; conspired with Clive.
• Result: EIC became dominant political power in Bengal; Mir Jafar made puppet Nawab.
• Significance: Start of British territorial control in India.

Revolt of 1857

Causes:

• Military (immediate): Sepoys (Indian soldiers) refused to use greased cartridges (rumoured to have cow/pig fat — insulting to Hindus and Muslims).
• Political: Doctrine of Lapse — Lord Dalhousie annexed kingdoms without heirs (Jhansi, Satara, Nagpur).
• Economic: Heavy taxation; peasants losing land; Indian weavers ruined by cheap British cloth.
• Social/religious: Fear of Christian missionaries converting Indians.

Key centres: Meerut (started), Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi.

Key leaders: Mangal Pandey, Rani Laxmi Bai (Jhansi), Tantia Tope, Nana Sahib, Begum Hazrat Mahal.

Result: British crushed the revolt by 1858; Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar exiled to Burma.

Economic drain

Drain of wealth (Dadabhai Naoroji's theory):

• India's revenues collected but spent on British salaries, armies, and exported profits.
• India's raw materials (cotton, jute, tea) exported cheaply; finished British goods imported expensively.
• Indian handicraft industry destroyed — Indian weavers couldn't compete with machine-made British cloth.

• What was the significance of the Battle of Plassey?
• Name three causes of the 1857 Revolt.
• Who was Mangal Pandey?
• What was the Doctrine of Lapse?
• What happened after the 1857 Revolt in terms of British governance?

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on British Rule in India.