-Aruna Asaf Ali, a leader of the Indian National Congress.

There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. India, having previously been an group of independent and semi-independent princedoms and territories, underwent great change under British administration. Originally intended to consolidate their hold on India by establishing a population that spoke the same language as their rulers, the British decision in the 1830s to educate Indians in a Western fashion, with English as the language of instruction, was the beginning of a chain of events, including a rise in Indian nationalism, that led to Indian resentment of British imperialism and ultimately to the loss of British control over India.

One of the most important factors in the British loss of control over India was the establishment of English as a unifying language. Prior to

British colonisation, India was fragmented and multi-lingual, with 15 major languages and around 720 dialects. English served as a common ground for Indians, and allowed separate cultural and ethnic groups to identify with each other, something which had rarely if ever occurred before on a grand scale. Although it was mainly educated Indians of a privileged caste who spoke English, these were the most influential people in terms of acting as facilitators for nationalist ideas to be communicated throughout the populace. The publication of magazines and journals in English was also a great influence on the rise of Indian nationalism. Although most Indians received nationalist ideas orally, these journals allowed Indians who were literate in English to come into contact with the ideas of social and political reformers.

At this time, and while the world was in the throes of World War One, the British were committing more acts to instigate resentment amongst Indians. India had a large part in World War One, with more than a million pounds sterling voted from Indian revenues towards the cost of the war (Cowie, 39, 1994). With this in mind, the Montagu Declaration was issued in 1917, promising 'gradual' and 'progressive' self-government for India. There was, however, much suspicion that this declaration meant nothing and that Britain had no intention of relinquishing control beyond simple aspects such as health services, agriculture and public works (Cowie, 39, 1994). This of course caused much resentment - autonomy was essentially being denied, and in a condescending manner after India's sacrifice for the Empire in World War One.

British imperialism on India had many positive and negative affects on both the mother country, Britain and the colony, India. Many people would argue which effects were more prominent in these countries and some would agree that they were equal. But in both cases there were actually both.

Many individual events associated with Ghandi's satyahara approach, such as the Salt March in 1930 which demonstrated defiance of the British monopoly on salt manufacturing, and Ghandi's "Quit India" campaign that lasted throughout the 1920s and 1930s, led to the eventual independence of India in 1947. The one movement that underpinned singular acts of patriotism was the nationalist movement, led by 'Mahatma' Ghandi. Ghandi was "...shrewd enough to utilise the nature of British rule in India to win independence without too much bloodshed" (Masani, quoted in Wood, 32, 1989). This movement was made possible by the establishment of English as a

Some common words found in the essay are:
World War, Prior British, Muslims Hindus, National Congress, Rowlatt Acts, English Rich, Exposure Western, Western European, Montagu Declaration, Ghandi's Western, resentment british, political principles, british imperialism, european political principles, european political, indian resentment british, national congress, indian national, indian national congress, indian resentment, indian nationalism, control india, british administration, richards 301 1994, english unifying language,
Approximate Word count = 1734
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)