The British in India in the Electronic Passport

	E-mail Home Download Quiz
Mr. Dowling's Electronic Passport India and the Himalayas

The British in India

       Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama circumnavigated Africa to reach India in 1498. His journey paved the way for other European nations, including the Dutch, French and British. The Europeans came to India to trade for jute (a tropical plant used for making rope), indigo (a blue dye), sugar, tea, cotton, ginger, pepper, and other spices. Eventually, India's Mogul rulers became puppets of the British. In 1857, British troops exiled the last of the Mogul emperors after an uprising by the Indian people. Nineteen years later, the British proclaimed Queen Victoria Empress of India.

       The British at first had no interest in changing the Indian way of life, but they eventually made many reforms. They outlawed suttee. Suttee was an Indian custom of a widow burning herself, either on the funeral pyre of her dead husband, or soon after his death. Sometimes, wives were sacrificed before their husband's expected death in battle. The British also built the largest railway system in Asia, constructed roads and irrigated large areas of land. They improved health care and prevented many famines.

       The Indian people were not happy with British rule. They resented the harsh taxes of their colonial rulers. The British forbade the Indian people from trading with other nations. India's many ethnic groups united to evict the British and bring self-rule to the subcontinent.

India to the Himalayas

To cite this page:
Dowling, Mike., "The Electronic Passport the Britiah in India," available from http://www.mrdowling.com/612-british.html; Internet; updated Tuesday, April 30, 2002 .