india garside

• When was the East India Company granted a charter to trade by Elizabeth I?


  1600
• Where did the EIC establish fortified trading posts?


  Bombay, Madras and Calcutta
• Who ruled India from the 16th to the 19th century?


  The Mughals
• How can Britain's relationship with India in the 18th and 19th centuries be described?


  As a complicated web of treaties and alliances between local power-holders and the EIC.
• What were the main religions in India?


  Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism
• How many languages were spoken in India?


  Six main languages with over 200 dialects
• What did the term 'regularised subsidiary' mean in relation to the East India Company in the late 18th century?


  The EIC was no longer autonomous but overseen and regulated by the British Crown and parliament.
• What did the Charter Act of 1813 do?


  Renewed the EIC's charter for another twenty years, but removed its monopoly on Indian trade, with the exception of the trade in tea with China, which was removed in the 1833 Charter Act.
• Why did the EIC become increasingly involved in the civil administration and tax collection of Britain's territories in India after 1813?


  It was seeking new sources of income.
• Why was the collapse of the Mughal Empire significant?


  It left a power vacuum in the subcontinent into which the EIC stepped, acting as a self-funding agent of imperialism for the British government.
• What area did the EIC control by 1818?


  The entire Indo-Gangetic Plain, as far as the Sutlej River.
• What were the Company presidencies?


  The three administrative branches of the EIC established first as trading posts and growing to control heir territorial acquisitions, fanning out from the original factories situated in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
• What is a nabob?


  Originally the name for an official under the Mughal regime, it was used by the British to describe the Company employees who made their fortunes in India.
• What did the Regulating Act of 1773 do?


  Created a governing council of five, based in Calcutta, of which two were Company members and three were nominated by parliament, thereby ensuring a parliamentary majority. The appointment of governor generals was made subject to approval by a council of four who were nominated by the Crown.
• What did the 1784 India Act do?


  Made the EIC subordinate to the Crown in all its political functions and a further regulatory body, the Board of Control, was set up to achieve this.
• Who were the members of the Board of Control?

  The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for India and four privy councillors appointed by the king.
• What did the 1786 India Act do?


  Enabled the Governor General in special cases to override his council. Executive power was therefore exercised by individual governor generals whose appointments were ultimately at the discretion of the Crown.
• Who was the first governor to serve under the new system in India from 1774 to 1785?


  Warren Hastings
• By 1820 how many troops did the Company have in India?


  200,000
• Why did the EIC Company Presidency's have armies?


  These were initially formed to protect the trading interests of the EIC and to support its local collaborators.
• What was a sepoy?


  An Indian soldier serving under British or European command.
• How many European soldiers were there in India by 1857?


  45,522
• Where were officers of the EIC trained from 1809?


  Addiscombe Military Seminary in Surrey
• What three territories were successfully annexed by the Company in the years 1823-26?


  Assam, Manipur and Cacher
• Why were the British worried about the north-west frontier in India?


  The feared a Russian invasion, either through Afghanistan or through Sind.
• When was the First Afghan War?


  1838-42
• How much did the First Afghan War cost in lives and money?


  20,000 lives and more than £15 million
• When was Sind formally annexed by the Company?

  1843
• When was Punjab finally brought under British control?


  1849
• What was the most important presidency in the Company in the 19th century?

  Bengal
• Which governor was responsible for developing the administrative structure of Bengal with his Code of Regulations?


  Lord Cornwallis
• Which city was the capital of British India until 1911?

  Calcutta
• Why were EIC officials becoming less tolerant of local customs and religions in India?


  Driven by a sense of racial superiority.
• What did EIC officials want to do to India by the early nineteenth century?


  Modernise and 'improve' it for the benefit of the native population.
• Why had EIC officials not suffered from the delusion of cultural superiority in the 1800s?


  The wealth and complexity of Mughal civilisation and the luxury goods that they obtained from the subcontinent meant they enjoyed a far superior life to that in Stuart or Georgian England. Many EIC officials preferred to adopt a local lifestyle.
• What are Evangelical Christians?

  Christians who are interested not only in their own salvation but the salvation of others through missionary efforts.
• How did evangelical Christians view other religions such as Hinduism?


  As inferior
• What did evangelical Christians encourage Hindus and Muslims to do?

  Convert to Christianity
• What impact did the actions of evangelical Christians have in India?


  Destabilised local social systems and caused resentment and fears of forced conversion to Christianity.
• What impact did the arrival of more British women have in India?


  It reinforced a sense of growing cultural division between the Company employees and Indians.