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Between the early 1600s and 1857, the British East India Company gained influence, power and territory in India. They took power through force and agreements with Indian rulers. In 1857, Indian soldiers employed by the British East India Company, called sepoys, rebelled in what is known as the Sepoy Rebellion**, or Sepoy Mutiny**. In order to use British-supplied rifles, sepoys had to use cartridges soaked in cow and pig fat. Cows are sacred to Hindus and pork is forbidden for Muslims. The sepoys saw it as a disrespectful ploy to undermine their religions to convert them to Christianity, so they fought. In the end, the British defeated the sepoys and took control over India once again.
As a result of the British East India Company’s inability to control India, the Company was replaced by the British government sometimes called the British Raj. India became an official British colony and was known as the “jewel in the crown” of the British Empire because it was the colony that made them the most money.. After the Sepoy Rebellion, British attitudes toward Indians shifted to racism. British families and their servants lived in military installations at a distance from Indian settlements. Private clubs where the British gathered for social interaction became symbols of exclusivity and racial segregation. The British also took advantage of fights between Muslims and Hindus, who commonly disagreed over religion and land, encouraging them to fight each other so the British Raj could focus on ruling all of them.
At the end of World War II, many small nations in Africa and Asia gained independence from European imperialists. This trend was known as decolonization and the first major colony to gain independence was India in 1947
During the first World War (1914-1918), India sent troops to fight with the British against the Central Powers in Europe
The British government promised Indians self-rule as a reward for their support, but when the war ended self-rule was not granted.
Mahatma Gandhi
During the 1920s a leader named Mohandas Gandhi emerged as the leader of the Indian Independence movement
Gandhi urged Indians to use non-violent means to achieve independence and to deliberately break unfair British laws (called Civil Disobedience)
Gandhi encouraged peaceful protests and boycotting British goods in order to hurt the British colonial economy.
“It is my claim that as soon as we have completed the boycott of foreign cloth we shall have evolved so far that we shall necessarily give up the present absurdities and remodel national life in keeping with the ideal of simplicity and domesticity implanted in the bosom of the masses. We will not then be dragged into an imperialism which is built upon exploitation of the weaker races of the earth, and the acceptance of a giddy materialistic civilization protected by naval and air forces that have made peaceful living almost impossible. On the contrary we shall then refine that imperialism into a commonwealth of nations which will combine, if they do, for the purpose of giving their best to the world and of protecting, not by brute force but by self -suffering, the weaker nations or races of the earth. Non-cooperation aims at nothing less than this revolution in the thought world. Such a transformation can come only after the complete success of the spinning wheel. India can become fit for delivering such a message, when she has become proof against temptation and therefore attacks from outside, by becoming self-contained regarding two of her chief needs-food and clothing.”
Excerpt from the weekly journal Young India, published by Gandhi and his followers, June 29, 1921
In 1935, the British granted India limited self-rule, but not total independence.
But, self-rule created tensions between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority who feared giving power to the Hindus.
When World War II broke out (1939 – 1945) Britain again called up Indian troops to the war which led to new protests and calls for independence.
When the war ended in 1945, Britain was ready to grant independence, but the violence between Hindus and Muslims made that difficult.
Indian and British leaders decided to partition (divide) India into two nations: India (for Hindus) and Pakistan (for Muslims).
During the partition, 10 million people relocated; violence broke out leaving 1 million dead, including Gandhi who was assassinated in 1949.
In 1947, India became the world’s largest democratic nation with Jawaharlal Nehru being elected as their first Prime Minister.
Throughout the Cold War, India remained determined to not join either side of the conflict and led several nations as unaligned countries.
When Nehru died in 1964, his daughter Indira Gandhi was selected to be Prime Minister, an office she held for most of the time between 1964 to 1984.
Jawaharlal Nehru
During this time India grew to become a major power in South Asia, but also faced major problems.
Religious tensions also presented another issue to India.