British Influences on India
There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. India, having previously been a group of independent 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. Although it was mainly educated Indians who belonged to a higher caste who spoke English, these were the most influential people in terms of acting as leaders for nationalist ideas to be
Following the Mutiny of 1857, Indian nationalism gained much more momentum than had previously existed in the first part of the century. This movement consisted mostly of British-educated intellectuals, and ironically was made possible by the British encouragement of higher education, originally intended to create a middle management that could carry out simple administration jobs. Most of the Indian nationalists, including Ghandi, were educated in Western Europe and were educated in freedoms, civil liberties and autonomy. The Indian National Congress was the largest and most obvious nationalist group. This Congress, however, had no power in terms of action and it can be seen as an attempt by the British to appease Indian nationalists who wanted progress. The seeming uselessness of the Indian National Congress in terms of enforcing changes and reforms can be seen as a great cause of Indian resentment of British nationalism. Even so, a nationalist organisation such as this would not have been possible had it not been for the fact that the British acquainted a group of Indians with European political principles. As well as the moderate nationalism that grew within the Indian National Congress, extreme nationalism was also becoming prevalent. Aside from more violent protesters such as Tilak, nonviolent opposition to British imperialism emerged in protesters such as Ghandi. In response to the Rowlatt Acts, which enabled a protester or suspected terrorist to be imprisoned without trial, and the Amritsar massacre, in which 379 unarmed anti-British demonstrators were killed, Ghandi advocated a return to traditional Indian simplicity as opposed to Western materialism. Ghandi also gained insight into his culture through discussion with English friends on religion, both Christianity and Hinduism, which he now began to discover on a philosophical level. Ghandi's Western education allowed him to develop his radical technique of 'satyagraha' or 'truth force', where laws were opposed with the force of truth and moral consc
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1363
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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