INDIA
The Indian Mutiny of 1857 was much more than the name suggests – in reality, it was a full blown rebellion in the north of Britain’s most prestigious imperial possession. Large sections of the Indian army, supported by peasants and land-owning ‘zamindars’, incensed at the condescending and moralising nature of Britain’s rule attempted to throw off the imperial yoke. Horrified at the brutality of the mutiny, the perpetrators were dealt with ferociously by the British, who proceeded to change the style of their rule in India. The government took administrative responsibility from the East India Company, and attempts to ‘Christianise’ the country ceased as British policy changed to govern with, rather than against the grain of Indian tradition. Additionally, Prime Minister Disraeli styled Victoria as ‘Empress of India’, to consolidate the symbolic nature of British rule in 1877. Importantly, the Indian army was also reformed – British regular units were placed in India with greater frequency, Indian artillery regiments were disbanded, and Indian troops were armed with discarded British rifles. Funded by the Indian taxpayer, the Indian army was one of two pillars upon which British rule rested – as Lord Salisbury described, India was ‘an English barrack in the Oriental Seas from which we may draw any number of troops without paying from them’. Before 1914, Indian troops would serve in more than a dozen imperial campaigns, perhaps most spectacularly and efficiently in the Anglo-Abyssinian war of 1868 – a demonstration of the significance of India in Britain’s imperial setup. In the 1900s, Lord Kitchener made further reforms to render it capable of repelling invasion, quelling internal unrest and in providing support beyond India’s borders. The other great pillar of British rule in India was the Civil Service – nearly 400 million Indians were ruled by no more than a thousand civil servants, making it the most efficient bureaucracy in the world. The ICS attested to Britain’s skill in ruling with local Indian support, enjoying the relative indifference – or consent – of the people at large. British rule in India allowed for a great leap forward with regards to infrastructure, irrigation and industry, with the government investing £400 million into India by 1914, and a public health generally improving despite the occurrence of two disastrous famines in the mid to late nineteenth century. The early twentieth century would see the British Raj at its zenith as well as the beginning of underlying dissent. Viceroy Curzon (ruled 1898 to 1905) partitioned Bengal to create a Muslim majority, thus sparking outrage from Indian nationalists, whilst putting governmental trust in benevolent Indian rulers. Curzon also restored the Taj Mahal, as well as instituting the ultimate symbol of the power and prestige of the British Raj – the Dehli Durbar – the first of which was in 1903. The ceremony to crown Edward VII as the Emperor of India would be rerun in 1911 for George V, was a spectacular display of pomp and ceremony in which the various Maharajas, Princes and Governors swore allegiance to the Emperor. For all the glamour of British rule, by 1914 violence by Indian nationalist terrorists was an increasing problem for British officials – only the year previously, Viceroy Hardinge narrowly survived an assassination attempt.
The Indian Mutiny of 1857 was much more than the name suggests – in reality, it was a full blown rebellion in the north of Britain’s most prestigious imperial possession. Large sections of the Indian army, supported by peasants and land-owning ‘zamindars’, incensed at the condescending and moralising nature of Britain’s rule attempted to throw off the imperial yoke. Horrified at the brutality of the mutiny, the perpetrators were dealt with ferociously by the British, who proceeded to change the style of their rule in India. The government took administrative responsibility from the East India Company, and attempts to ‘Christianise’ the country ceased as British policy changed to govern with, rather than against the grain of Indian tradition. Additionally, Prime Minister Disraeli styled Victoria as ‘Empress of India’, to consolidate the symbolic nature of British rule in 1877. Importantly, the Indian army was also reformed – British regular units were placed in India with greater frequency, Indian artillery regiments were disbanded, and Indian troops were armed with discarded British rifles. Funded by the Indian taxpayer, the Indian army was one of two pillars upon which British rule rested – as Lord Salisbury described, India was ‘an English barrack in the Oriental Seas from which we may draw any number of troops without paying from them’. Before 1914, Indian troops would serve in more than a dozen imperial campaigns, perhaps most spectacularly and efficiently in the Anglo-Abyssinian war of 1868 – a demonstration of the significance of India in Britain’s imperial setup. In the 1900s, Lord Kitchener made further reforms to render it capable of repelling invasion, quelling internal unrest and in providing support beyond India’s borders. The other great pillar of British rule in India was the Civil Service – nearly 400 million Indians were ruled by no more than a thousand civil servants, making it the most efficient bureaucracy in the world. The ICS attested to Britain’s skill in ruling with local Indian support, enjoying the relative indifference – or consent – of the people at large. British rule in India allowed for a great leap forward with regards to infrastructure, irrigation and industry, with the government investing £400 million into India by 1914, and a public health generally improving despite the occurrence of two disastrous famines in the mid to late nineteenth century. The early twentieth century would see the British Raj at its zenith as well as the beginning of underlying dissent. Viceroy Curzon (ruled 1898 to 1905) partitioned Bengal to create a Muslim majority, thus sparking outrage from Indian nationalists, whilst putting governmental trust in benevolent Indian rulers. Curzon also restored the Taj Mahal, as well as instituting the ultimate symbol of the power and prestige of the British Raj – the Dehli Durbar – the first of which was in 1903. The ceremony to crown Edward VII as the Emperor of India would be rerun in 1911 for George V, was a spectacular display of pomp and ceremony in which the various Maharajas, Princes and Governors swore allegiance to the Emperor. For all the glamour of British rule, by 1914 violence by Indian nationalist terrorists was an increasing problem for British officials – only the year previously, Viceroy Hardinge narrowly survived an assassination attempt.
