Colonialism, Expansion of British Rule and Popular Resistance
What the domain covers
This domain covers colonialism, the expansion of British rule and popular resistance. Code 128 tests the stages of conquest, land revenue systems, economic impact, the 1857 revolt and earlier and later peasant and tribal movements.
Core rules and concepts
- European companies: Portuguese, Dutch, French and English; the English East India Company gained trading privileges and then territory.
- Battles: Plassey in 1757 and Buxar in 1764; the grant of Diwani in 1765 gave the Company revenue rights in Bengal.
- Land settlements: Permanent Settlement in 1793 in Bengal with zamindars; Ryotwari in Madras and Bombay with cultivators; Mahalwari in the north-west with village or estate bodies.
- Economic change: drain of wealth, deindustrialisation, commercial agriculture, famines, and railway construction that served colonial trade.
- Resistance: Sanyasi and Fakir rebellions, Santhal revolt of 1855, Indigo Revolt of 1859-60, Deccan riots of 1875, and Munda rebellion of 1899-1900.
- 1857: sepoys, princes, peasants and townspeople; immediate trigger the greased cartridge; after suppression, the Crown took over in 1858.
Worked example
A question asks how the Permanent Settlement changed rural Bengal. Reasoning: the Company fixed revenue with zamindars, who became hereditary proprietors responsible for payment. Cultivators lost customary rights, and failure to pay led to auction of estates. Conclusion: the settlement created a loyal revenue class but also absentee landlordism, peasant insecurity and stagnation.
Traps
Do not reduce 1857 to a sepoy mutiny; it had multiple causes and civilian participation, though it was not uniform across India. Do not say all land systems were identical. Do not ignore tribal and peasant resistance before 1857.