British Empire

• Sepoys - Indian soldiers who fought for the British
• Indian rebellion, 1857, started by trigger - gunpowder cartridges greased with pig and cow fat. This went against Muslim and Hindu beliefs
• The Indian rebellion started in Meerut, when 85 Sepoys were broken out of prison and killed any Europeans they could find.
• Nana Sahib, local ruler who had his estate seized by British, led the rebels in Cawnpore.
• July 1857 - 120 women and children were imprisoned and murdered by Sepoys when British were near Cawnpore.
• British held public executions after the Indian Rebellion, these included whippings, hangings and firing from canons.
• The Government of India Act 1858 - BEIC's territories in India were passed to the Queen, the company ceased to exist. Crown appointed a Vicery to replace company's Governor General. Position of Secretary of State was created and they now had control of Indian Civil Service.
• Aftermath of Indian Rebellion - Proportion of British to Indian troops increased to 1 : 2. Deliberately mixed Caste and Religion in Regiments. Army enlisted more Gurkhas and Sikhs. Indians denied officer ranking.
• Tea plantations in India increased from one in 1851 to 295 in 1871
• David Livingstone - Scottish missionary and explorer. He discovered the Victoria Falls. He died in Africa in 1873
• John Speke - goal was to find the source of the Nile. Discovered Lake Victoria in 1858 and he published accounts of his travels in 1863 and 1864
• Brussels Conference 1876 - King Leopold I of Belgium hosted a conference of explorers and geographers. It concluded that Africans were ‘incapable’ of developing the extraction of resources, and European intervention was necessary​
• Berlin Conference 1884-85 - Decided that ​​Europeans should protect indiginous people and help to end slavery and If any power took possession of further land on the coasts of Africa it should notify the others. This lead to huge expansion.
• Work began on the Suez canal in 1859 and was completed in 1869
• Disraeli bought 41 % of the Suez canal shares in 1875 for £4 million, after the Khedive was in severe debt after modernisation schemes in Egypt.
• Evelyn Baring - Consul-General in Egypt between 1883 and 1907. Forced to resign after Denshawai Incident in 1906. He established a new guiding principle - the 'Granville Doctrine' which allowed Baring to dismiss Egyptian minister who refused to accept British directives.​
• Mahdi's Revolt 1881- Sudanese disliked Egyptian control and British influence which led to a nationalist uprising in Sudan. In 1882 Mahdists had control of area around Khartoum. In 1883 a joint British military expedition was sent by Tewqik to stop the Mahdists. Egyptian / British forces were defeated. Gladstone orders Gordon back to Sudan to evacuate troops. Gordon disobeyed and stayed in Khartoum. In March 1884 Gordon decapitated by Mahdi, relief force only sent to Khartoum in October.
• Bantu - Used as a general label for the 300-600 ethnic groups in Africa who speak Bantu languages.​
• Boers - Descendants of original Dutch settlers on Cape also known as Afrikaners. Established independent states of Orange Free State and Transvaal to ‘escape’ from British control
• Gold Rush - Discovery of gold in Transvaal in 1886 brought many people into the region. By 1895 there were over 100,000 foreign miners working in the Transvaal. This increased demand for labour and land. Many black Africans migrated to work in mines or on farms.​
• Cape Colony - The first permanent European settlement in South Africa (established in 1652). It became self governing in 1872 but remained part of the British empire until 1910 when it joined with other colonies to form the Union of South Africa.​
• Kruger - President of the Boer republic of Transvaal from 1883-1902. A strong believer in the independence of his country he resisted attempts at annexation by Britain. His government passed laws that restricted the rights of non-whites.​
• Uitlanders - Non-British residents of the Transvaal. They made up about half of the population of Johannesburg. Most worked in the gold mines. Uitlanders felt they did not have enough political power because they could not vote in elections.​
• First Boer War 1881 - Boers fight British garrisons in Transvaal .​Feb 1881 defeat British force at Majuba Hill (over 150 Britons killed). March 1881, British forced to sign the Convention of Pretoria, which recognised Boer self-government in the Transvaal
• Sir Bartle Frere and Lord Chelmsford’s decision to launch the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 shows how both men acted independently and ignored the wishes of the British government
• Bartle Frere - Appointed High Commissioner and Governor of Cape Colony in 1877 to set up Federation.​ Decided to destroy Zulu threat so that a Federation could be achieved.​ He deliberately disobeyed instructions and provoked Zulu war invading Zululand Jan 1879.​
• Anglo-Zulu war 1879 - In January 1879, Sir Bartle Frere ordered troops into Zululand despite warnings from London. This led to the Battle of Isandhlwana on 22nd January 1879. Over 1400 British soldiers died. However, the British won the battle of Ulundi on 4th July 1879. King Cetshwayo was captured and exiled to St Helena. The war ended in September 1879.​
• The Jameson Raid 1895/6 - Cecil Rhodes planned to use a group of volunteers to attack the Boer Republic of Transvaal. Their aim was to create chaos and encourage the British Government to take military action against the Boers. The raid failed as the volunteers were quickly defeated by the Boers. Rhodes resigned as Prime Minister of Cape Colony.​
• Lord Chelmsford - Commander of British forces during the Anglo-Zulu war. Ignored instructions from London and invaded Zululand without waiting for reinforcements. Led to disaster at Isandlwana where over 1400 soldiers were killed.
• Cecil Rhodes - controlled 90% of world's diamonds. He formed his own company, the British South Africa Company, which received a royal charter in 1889.​ Became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony 1890-96. Forced indigenous tribes from their land.​ 1895 - Rhodesia.​
• George Goldie - Bought a palm oil business in the Niger basin in 1875.​ Formed the Central African Trading Company in 1876.​ In 1879 he persuaded all the British trading firms on the Niger river to join forces - The United African Company which controlled 30 trading posts.
• Jingoism - extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy
• The Second Boer war was projected to cost £ 10 million but actually cost £ 250 million
• 26 thousand Boers died in concentration camps in the Second Boer War, along with 14 thousand Bantus
• Fashoda Incident 1898 - France and Britain fought over control of the area. French backed down and the British were hated in France.
• Denshawai incident 1906 - A series of misunderstandings (shooting of pigeons - food source for the villagers) and  high-handed British action led to the arrest of 52 villagers, 4 of whom were convicted of murder and sentenced to death
• Partition of Bengal 1905 - ​Curzon saw it as improving administrative efficiency as the province was too large.​ People in Bengal saw it as a direct attack on the ancient regional boundaries of India​​​. INC led protests, raising their profile.
• Rowlatt acts 1919 - These laws allowed the government to hold prisoners without trial if they thought they might commit an offence. They also made it easier to deport people who posed a threat to national security.
• Morley Minto reforms 1909 - The first time Indians could be elected into legislative councils at provincial level. Muslims had separate electorates so they would not have to vote alongside Hindus. This meant that there was no chance of them being outvoted by Hindus.
• Swadeshi movement - self sufficiency campaign to undermine British rule. Tilak at forefront of movement