NCERT Class 8 Social Science Exploring Society India and Beyond Part 1 Chapter 04 The Colonial Era in India PDF Download

Chapter 4: The Colonial Era in India

Nearly two centuries ago the early Britons in Bengal and the sister Presidencies regarded the land and the people as fair game for plunder. ... Under the later Britons, as administrators ... the plunder is proceeding far more outrageously today than at any preceding period. ... Modern England has been made great by Indian wealth, ... wealth always taken by the might and skill of the stronger.

- William Digby (1901)

[Figure 4.1: A painting entitled 'The East offering its riches to Britannia', by a Greek painter, Spiridione Roma, 1778. (The painting is discussed later in the chapter.)]

The Big Questions

1. What is colonialism?
2. What drew European powers to India?
3. What was India's economic and geopolitical standing before and during the colonial period?
4. How did the British colonial domination of India impact the country?

In the previous chapter, we saw the Marathas considerably weaken the Mughal Empire, before they themselves succumbed to the British forces early in the 19th century. And yet, military campaigns were only one factor in India becoming the 'jewel in the Crown' of the British Empire - indeed, the empire's largest colony.

The Age of Colonialism

Before we get there, we must step back a little in time and consider the phenomenon of colonialism. Its usual definition is the practice where one country takes control of another region, establishing settlements there, and imposing its political, economic, and cultural systems. This is not a recent occurrence: colonialism can be traced to the time of the great empires in the 1st millennium BCE; in the 1st millennium CE, the spread of Christianity and Islam also involved the colonisation of the territories converted to the new faiths.

[Figure 4.2: Timeline showing key events from 1440 to 1890, including: 1498 Vasco da Gama's arrival at Calicut (Kozhikode); 1560 Establishment of the Inquisition at Goa; 1612-1690 The English East India Company establishes trading posts at Surat, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta; 1674 The French East India Company sets up a trading post at Pondicherry; 1741 Defeat of the Dutch at the Battle of Colachel; 1746-1763 The Carnatic Wars between the British and the French; 1757 British victory in the Battle of Plassey; 1770-1772 First great famine in Bengal; 1818 Third Anglo-Maratha war ends Maratha power; 1829-1833 The Khasi Uprising (in present-day Meghalaya); 1835 Macaulay's Minute on Indian Education; 1848-49 Fall of the Sikh Empire; the East India Company annexes Punjab; 1857 The Great Indian Rebellion; 1858 The British Crown ends the rule of the East India Company; start of the British Raj, See in your textbook]

But the 'Age of Colonialism' usually refers to Europe's expansion from the 15th century onward, which, within a few centuries, extended to large parts of the world. As you will discover in higher grades, European powers - in particular, Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, and Netherlands - established colonies across Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia and many Pacific islands, after conquering large parts of those regions of the world.

Often, the conquests were achieved through military campaigns that involved the massacre or enslavement of native populations.

Teacher's Note

Colonialism is not just military conquest; notice the definition includes imposing political, economic, and cultural systems. When you study colonialism in India, you will see all three elements at work - armies, new trade rules, and changes to education and language. Understanding this broad definition helps you see why colonialism had such deep and lasting effects.

What impelled those nations to undertake such campaigns? Political competition between European powers created a race for territorial expansion and global influence. Territorial expansion had obvious economic advantages: access to new natural resources, new markets and new trade routes - and, often, plunder, as we will see. Converting indigenous populations to Christianity was another powerful motivation. A lesser one, but significant nonetheless, was scientific inquiry - the

Teacher's Note

The timeline on this page shows key moments across more than 400 years. Notice that the English East India Company arrives as traders (1612-1690) but becomes a military power by the time of Plassey (1757). This shift from trade to military control happened gradually, which is why India did not fall under British rule all at once.

Key Points

• Colonialism is when one country takes control of another region and imposes its political, economic, and cultural systems on the people living there.
• European powers from the 15th century onward competed with each other to establish colonies across Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia and the Pacific islands in order to gain natural resources, new markets, and trade routes.
• The conquest of these regions often involved military campaigns, enslavement, and the massacre of native populations.
• The English East India Company began as a trading company in India in the early 1600s but gradually transformed into a military power that eventually took control of India.

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