When the British set their feet on an expedition around the world, they went to places never known before. They sailed through his unchartered waters to reach the lands that were just only heard of before.
In was on one such excursion of theirs, that they reached the lands of India. They started a trade relation with the nation and slowly built their influence over the territories. It was a few years on when they capitalized on their prowess and seized control over the territory of India.
There were many wars fought throughout but they laid claim to the reins for around 190 years. The period of British rule from 1858 to 1947 when the nation regained independence is also referred as British Raj.
Today we’ll look to unearth a few such facts about the British rule over India that were buried deep down. The facts might involve some positive news while it may have negative bearings too. Nevertheless, we start off our fact-file through our first entry down below. Read along.
10) British set foot in India as traders
- The lands of India were used by the Portuguese and French for the trade and industry purposes. It was after them that the British set foot in this area.
- They built their factories and traded goods with permissions from the Rajas of the lands.
9) Empress of India
- After the annexation of India under the British Raj, Queen Victoria was named the Empress of India in 1876.
- She held the title until the independence of India in 1947.
8) Princely states and Native states
- The kings and Rajas were given the option to seek allegiance with the British Empire. Such an action allowed them to rule over the region albeit in varying degrees of control. The states remained princely states during the rule of British.
- Other states lost out to the supreme prowess of British imperial army.
7) Increased import
- As the British gained control over India, they flourished their trade and industry.
- The Indian trade products lost out the market and was replaced by the foreign imports from Britain.
6) Start of Railways
- One thing British can be credited is for the fact that they developed railways in the nation.
- As a measure of transportation of goods from one place to another, they seek faster and cheaper means of transportation which lead to the birth of railways in India.
5) Expansion of Educational
- Although British rule in India coincides with the reverse growth in the Indian economy, they did some good too.
- They diversified the educational system through multiple state-of-the-art infrastructure and educational universities. Multiple universities were built around the nation and libraries were set up.
4) Abolishment of evil practices
- There were many evil practices occurring in the nation such as state system and more.
- Such practices were put to an end with the start of British rule in India.
- The abolishment of evil practices resulted in the saving of many lives of people around the country
3) Tragic deaths from Starvation
- Many times, the food cantonment for some parts of thenation were diverted to the British legions. That caused quite a starvation in the nation and among its vicinities.
- It is estimated that around 15 to 25 million Indians died during the famine spread around different parts of nations.
2) Use of Indian armies in the world wars
- Many battalions of Indian army were used to serve for the British crown in the first and second world wars. It is said that India contributed more soldiers than many other nations combined.
- A fine example of colonial status abuse of India.
1) Flourish of English language
- The British rule in India adopted the English language as the language of administration.
- It allowed the English language to flourish in the country neglecting the need of native or regional local languages.
- As of current, India is the second largest English-speaking nation in the world.
We dwelled into the unchartered waters and extracted different facts on the British rule in India. We’ve compiled a 10-fact list of what we think everyone of your must know about. We hope you gained a wealth of knowledge from it. That’s us signing off from this post.
Santosh Kumar is a Professional SEO and Blogger, With the help of this blog he is trying to share top 10 lists, facts, entertainment news from India and all around the world.