Imperialism in India

* Islam in India

- 711 AD, Muslim conquered Indus valley in first Muslim wave

-> Indian states managed to stop them there

- Sultan Ghur conquered northern India in the late 1100s

-> conquest went fairly well

=> light cavalry quicker than elephant cavalry

=> low-caste Hindu peasants happy to convert to Islam to rise up

=> Hindu princes fought each other as much as Muslims

-> capital at Delhi made this the Delhi Sultanate

=> Delhi Sultanate lasted 1206-1526 as a unified State

- religious violence at the begining

-> minority, and peaceful, Buddhists got hammered

-> anti-Hindu slaughters and forced conversions

-> with time, religious cohabitation developed

-> Sikhism developed, a mix of Islam and Hinduism

- Muslim rule was positive for India otherwise

-> trade with west increased

-> architecture, science, literature, and cosmopolitanism all saw benefits

-> leaving Hiduism was good for lower castes

- 1526, Mughal Dynasty replaces the Delhi Sultanate

-> a Mongol dynasty that quickly went native

-> Akbar the great brought India to it's pre-colonial hight of culture and wealth

* Portuguese arrive

- 1497 Vasco da Gama arrives

- Portugal grabs a series of trade ports throughout India

-> mutually lucrative trade with Europe developes

-> Mughals and Indian princes get a taste of profits

* Rise of the British Raj

- British East India Company chartered to trade in India in the early 1600s

-> Not the British government, but representing it

-> primarily involved in Bengal and the Eastern coast of India

- by mid-1700s, Mughal dynasty was heading into

a period of corruption and poor leadership

- B.E.I.C. took what it could get and provided some benefits

-> roads built to help trade, Indians learning European language and science, etc.

-> B.E.I.C. also bribing, using mild force, etc. when it needed

- 1751 Clive fights Raza Sahib at Seige of Arcot, begining aggressive conquest of India

-> Battle of Plassy follows in 1757 and Britain finds itself

controlling Bengal after defeating Siraj Ud Daulah

- British begin to administer tax systems and bureaucratic systems of Indian states

they don't flat-out control

-> partially empire, partially business, all Raj

* India becomes the jewel of the British Empire

- British "improvements" of Indian savagery cause cultural clashes

-> banning Sati strikes at culture and sparks Hindu nationalism

=> probably also unintentionally leads to an increase in otherwise rare Sati

- 1850s British begin using "sepoys," Indian troops, throughout the Empire

- 1850s Hindu widows allowed to remary, irritating Hindu morality (officially anyway)

- 1857 Sepoy Mutiny when Indian troops (Muslim and Hindu) rebel

over cow and pig fat on bullets

-> in fact, cartridges were already changed, but issue took flight

-> biting off cartidge tips as a religious violation

-> rebellions more the straw the broke the camel's back over British lack of respect

-> putting down the Sepoy Mutiny led Britian down the road of increasingly open

Imperial rule

=> Britain imposes a Viceroy to rule in Queen's name in 1858