Introduction
Britain’s main aim of colonizing other countries was to get raw materials for its industries at home and to get markets for their already manufactured goods. Generally, they aimed at developing their mother country with no interest of the wellbeing of the countries they colonized.
They considered India more in bettering their own economic considerations. Their economic interests in India began early in the 16th century with the advent of the British East Company. At that time India was ruled by the Mughal emperors and they allowed British to enter their country.
The allowance of British to India this termed as the beginning of British control of India’s economy. They were in full control of all that was coming out or into the country. The British dominated India and they satisfied all their interests1.
Discussion
Land settlements
By the time the British entered India, they had founded the British East Company. Through this company, the British controlled various sides of the country’s economy.
Consequently, they gained more power and they began carrying out other tasks on behalf of the Mughal emperor like tax collection. As the interactions increased between the two, the British could join the military in India. Unbelievably, what was true is that the Indians capital was been fled to Britain.
When they began enjoying these freedoms from the Mughal emperor, they began constructing railways, canals, roads and cities in India. The British’s aim in doing this was to lure the thinking of the Indians thoughts so that they could perceive the British rule with positivity.
All these strategies were aimed at developing the British with no benefit to the Indians. The British were therefore fully settled in India and they began accomplishing their mission.
Growth of intermediary interest in Land
As the British settled in India, they were interested much on the land. It was fertile and they therefore opted to practice agriculture. They enlarged their settlement and covered almost all parts of the country.
They settled mostly on the highland areas where rain was adequate and the soils were fertile. As they were spreading in the country they were able to learn all the features in the country and this later helped them to practice agriculture.
Commercialization of Agriculture
After the British had spread their settlement in India, they began practicing agriculture. Their aim in doing this was to get raw materials for their home country industries. Agriculture was commercialized as plantations and estates were introduced. Most of the crops were cash crops that were required by the industries in Britain.
As agriculture grew in India, the desires of the British were been satisfied while the Indians were been exploited economically2.
Growth of agricultural laborers
With increase in agriculture, more laborers were required to work in the farms. The Indians became the workers in the farms. They were overworked by the British and they were also given low wages that could not sustain them.
The British acted as the owners of the land using Indians as workers and this was total dominance of India by the British. The British were only supervisors in the farms.
Destruction of handicrafts and cottage industries
The British made an extra effort of brainwashing the Indians by slowly doing away with their culture. This was done as they occasionally destroyed monuments and books that enriched the Indian heritage. As they began introducing their own culture, they were also creating more time to remain in India hence fully exploit them economically3.
The old industries in India where destroyed as new ones grew with the interests of the British. The Indians were therefore blind folded and they thought their country was developing of which it was not.
Later after the great efforts by the British to lure the Indians, they later found that the Indians still knew their heritage through some of the materials that still existed in Sanskrit language. The British tried to get this translated to English so that they could understand.
The learners were also given more examples of western than their own Indian examples. This always aimed at confronting the learners that English was the right. More time was created and they continued enjoying massive benefits from the Indians4.
Drain of wealth
The British made further efforts to make the young minds have the idea that India had no known civilization and so everything was known to come from the British. Earlier the Indians had greater civilization that was even acknowledged by the Europeans who were there before the British.
As the exports came out of the country they were taken to the industries in Britain, the wealth of the Indians was therefore been drained to Britain. This was a form of dominance as the Britain got all the benefits.
Conclusion
The British used various strategies to lure the Indians so that they could get enough time to develop their mother country. Through their company, British East Company, they controlled the exports in India and also collected taxes.
This company out ruled the Mughal emperor that was in rule and they brought in western culture. It was hard to outcome the deep Indian heritage but they did it with prowess. The Indians thought that they were surviving because of the British but it was vice versa5.
Bibliography
Oxford Business Group. The report: Malaysia 2007. London: Oxford, 2007.
Riddick, John. The history of British India: A chronology. Pennsylvania: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. Print.
Footnotes
- Oxford Business Group. The report: Malaysia 2007. London: Oxford, 2007.
- Oxford Business Group. The report: Malaysia 2007. London: Oxford, 2007.
- John, Riddick. The history of British India: A chronology. Pennsylvania: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. Print.
- Oxford Business Group. The report: Malaysia 2007. London: Oxford, 2007.
- Oxford Business Group. The report: Malaysia 2007. London: Oxford, 2007.