The British rule or the Raj as it was popularly known, was one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the Indian sub-continent. Being the last invaders of the land, and with their rule existing for almost two centuries they have left an indelible mark on the south Asian mind which can be felt and observed even today. That being the case, their rule has had a great influence on the affairs of the sub-continent in numerous ways. From the warm cup of chai, to cricket, to the bitter Indo-Pak relations, the British impact can be still seen in various arenas of the subcontinental life.

The English came to India as small-time merchants of the East India Company, when they established their first factory in Surat with the approval of Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1615. They continued their business peacefully till the next century, acquiring more settlements on the Indian shores like Madras and Calcutta. They acquired the seven islands of Bombay in 1661 as part of the dowry from the Portuguese when their princess Catherine married Charles II of England, which later proved to be a great boon for them. When Chatrapati Shivaji sacked Surat twice in 1664 and 1670, the British moved their base from Surat to Bombay, which was impervious to land attacks thereby securing themselves from further turmoil of the contemporary Indian politics. Thus, Bombay became what is due to this migration. The British also brought along with them various skilled craftsmen communities from Surat to settle and work for them in Bombay, including the famous Parsis who later became synonymous with the city.

Things started to change drastically in the subcontinent after the death of emperor Aurangzeb in 1707. The Mughals had drained most of their power and treasury in an abortive 27 years’ war with the Marathas, and their central authority was weakened. A sort of anarchy prevailed due to the rise of various regional powers and some Mughal governors declaring their independence from the emperor. Delhi lost its central hold and new power centres arose in Pune, Mysore, Hyderabad, Murshidabad, Lucknow etc. further decentralizing authority. The British saw their chance and made their first move in Bengal. Continued hostilities between Siraj-ud-Daula, the nawab of Bengal and the EIC led to the battle of Plassey in 1757 which the company won, albeit by deceit thereby becoming a political entity in the subcontinent. The EIC secured the Diwani rights in Bengal from the Mughal emperor whereby they gained the power to collect taxes from the native population. Mutual distrust amongst native powers played a major role in the rise of the British. The nawabs army which heavily outnumbered the company forces was mainly defeated because an entire flank of Siraj-ud-Daula’s army remained inactive under his general Mir Jafar who was bribed by Robert Clive to become the next nawab. Thus, the last independent nawab of Bengal lost his province to the British due to betrayal by his own people.

Alarmed by their meteoric rise, Haider Ali of Mysore started strengthening his defences against the British and managed to keep them at bay in the peninsula. His policy was further extended by his son Tipu sultan, who was the fiercest enemies of the British, and had dealt them a crushing defeat at Pollilur in 1780. Tipu had aimed to form a united triumvirate of the Marathas, Nizam and Mysore to drive the British out of India once and for all. However, the Nizam was already pocketed by the EIC and the deep distrust of Pune against Mysore prevented the Marathas form joining hands with Tipu. Thus, Tipu was left alone in his fight against the English. His efforts came to a valiant end in the siege of Srirangapatnam in 1798, when the EIC subdued the Mysorean forces. The other contemporary powers in the subcontinent were still unperturbed by this development in their backyard. An ignorance for which they paid later by losing their independence to the EIC. The British domination of India was nearly complete in 1818 with the debacle of the Maratha empire under the Peshwas at the battle of Khadki. The Sikhs remained the last major power and they were subjugated in 1849.

No political unity against a foreign enemy existed in the subcontinent as is clear from the above examples. All the kings and nobles had a parochial view limited only to their domain and were indifferent to their neighbour’s cause. The national unity we know of today only started emerging after 1857. The discontent of the natives against the Company rule finally culminated in the Great Rebellion of 1857 led by the sepoys. However, even the rebellion didn’t see a solid united front of the native powers against the British. The leaders were temporarily aligned with each other only for their own means. Many Indian powers such as the Sikhs, the Rajputs, and the Nizam aided the Company officials to quell the rebellion. For e.g., the Sikhs had no sympathy for the Bengal sepoys who had fought them and ended the Sikh empire just a decade before, and the long-term Sikh-Mughal animosity didn’t allow the Sikhs to accept Bahadur Shah Zafar who had been proclaimed the symbolic emperor of Hindustan by the sepoys. Also, the rebellion couldn’t penetrate south India which remained relatively peaceful throughout this period. Additionally, larger section of the Indian society which consisted of the lower castes were happy by the arrival of the British as they had hoped that these newcomers would end the oppression, they had faced at the hands of the upper caste compatriots and rulers. Hence, they remained largely aloof from the rebellion. Jyotiba Phule, the great social reformer believed that ‘the coming of British in India was gods will which had to be fulfilled.’ Thus, Indians stood divided at this pivotal moment as well.

After quelling the rebellion, the EIC was dismissed and the British crown took over the direct administration of the Indian empire. The British had already started consolidating their rule by introducing various pioneering projects albeit for their own imperial means. Railways were introduced to the subcontinent and the first train ran in 1837 in Madras, which was also the first train to run in Asia; the first passenger train ran in Bombay in 1853; the Indian postal service was started in 1854. Various large scale engineering works were undertaken throughout the country such as land reclamation of the Bombay islands; construction of canals, dams, bridges, and irrigation projects. The Grant Trunk Road was updated to its present form by 1860 and extended from Kabul in the west to Chittagong in the east. The foundations of our modern armed forces were already laid and were now been extended and updated.

The British documented numerous other aspects of the subcontinent such as its geography, flora, fauna etc. They measured the heights of the major Himalayan peaks which lead to the conclusion of the Himalayas being the highest mountains in the world. This project was done by the Survey of India which was established way back in 1767. This was followed by the establishment of the Archaeological Survey of India, the Geological Survey of India, and the Zoological Survey of India, which are still important institutions in our country. Today, the Gir lions are the only remaining species of the Asiatic lions in the world. This was due to the efforts of the controversial Lord Curzon who refused to hunt the already dwindling beasts and persuaded the Nawab of Junagad to conserve these lions in his territory by banning their hunt. The Indian cheetah was already hunted to extinction by the 20^th century.

The British also laid the foundations of modern western education in India. The major universities of Mumbai and Kolkata were established immediately after the rebellion. They were also fascinated by India’s ancient history and undertook extensive research on the same, founding the Asiatic Society in the process. They deciphered two major ancient scripts of India viz. Bramhi and Kharoshti which the natives had completely forgotten, thereby opening new vistas in the study of India’s ancient past. The rulers who had issued various inscriptions in these scripts now began to speak through them in languages which were also studied and revived by the British. The accidental discovery and further explorations of the Harrapan civilization placed India in the league of the oldest urban civilizations in the world along with Mesopotamia and Egypt. Introduced to western education, Indians became acquainted with modern western ideals such as nationalism, secularism, liberalism etc. Studying the historical discoveries of their country, they became aware of their rich past and a common shared heritage by the people of the subcontinent. They increasingly began to see themselves as compatriots united under the British yoke which had to be overthrown.

Meanwhile, the British continued their exploitation of the Indian resources. One of the major reasons and contributors to the Industrial revolution in England, was the wealth drained form India. Famines became a recurring feature in the subcontinent under the Raj, most of which were a direct result of the exploitative policies of the British. The Great Bengal famines of 1770 and 1943 killed nearly 12 million people in the eastern provinces. Indian agriculture which was highly sustainable and in sync with the seasonal cycle, was now turned into cash crop farming which changed the agricultural scenario drastically. The subcontinent contributed 25% of the global GDP till the 17^th century, which was reduced to a mere 1.5% by the mid 20^th century. Managing such a huge landmass with such diverse population was a major challenge before the British. So, they resorted to dividing people among communal and religious lines. The partition of Bengal into Hindu majority west Bengal and Muslim majority East Bengal in 1905 was one of the major events in this policy. This gave a further fillip to the anti-British sentiment among Indians.

The British had already kindled Hindu nationalism by surfacing ancient Indian studies. Now, they set forth to ignite the Muslim counterpart. The Muslim League was already established with the partitioning of Bengal in 1906 by Muslim nobles under the aegis of the British government. The shifting of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi was a significant step to provoke the Muslim pride. Delhi had been the historical capital of Muslim rulers in India. By moving the capital to the old site, they portraited themselves as the rightful heir of the Muslim political heritage in India. Thus, they succeeded in creating the opposing philosophies of Hindu and Muslim nationalism, which are still a major hindrance in the subcontinental politics.

They also coerced Indians to fight for their empire in both the world wars. Indians thus formed the largest voluntary army sending around three and half million men in both wars to fight for the Raj. Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942 had said that the British, “couldn’t have come through both wars if they hadn’t had the Indian Army.”

By 1945, the lines of communal hatred were running deep in the society and the demand for a separate state for Muslims, Pakistan had already grabbed hold of majority of Muslims in the subcontinent. Mass riots had begun from 1946 between Hindus and Muslims the worst of which was the Calcutta Killings aka Direct Action Day on 16^th August 1946 which saw around 4000 people killed and 10000 left homeless from both sides within 72 hours. The dividing policies the British had implemented over the years had worked effectively towards the end of the Raj. Finally, in order to put a halt to the massacres, the Congress acceded to the partition of the country and the subcontinent was split into India and West and East Pakistan on 14^th August 1947.

While Pakistan declared itself as an Islamic republic, India preferred to stay a secular democratic republic owing to the vast diversity of its population. Both countries have taken different trajectories since then. While democracy has struggled to survive in Pakistan due to its military’s high hand in domestic affairs ultimately leading to East Pakistan seceding from the west to form the nation of Bangladesh in 1971, India has managed to stay the world’s largest democracy albeit with 21 months imposed emergency, and various sectarian tumults which continue to this day. The British in their two centuries raj in the subcontinent turned the place upside down in many aspects. We have paid an extortionate price to the British for our present condition, (a whooping $45 trillion according to the economist Utsa Patnaik) both good and bad. Let us all keep that in our minds and prevent the country and largely the subcontinent from slipping down further into chaos under any circumstances. May the place reunite to its former glory.