5.32 The indian subcontinent: a.d. 1801 to 1900

The indian subcontinent

India's history shows a tendency of any strong government, particularly those in the Gengetic plain, to expand and the British Bengal government-of about 1800 followed this pattern under Governor Lord Richard Colley Wellesley

The use of legislation to institute social change began during the governor-generalship of Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835). Laws included the forbidding of suttee, as well as female infanticide, slavery and human sacrifice. Other changes included support of higher education institutions that used the English language. This was seen as a means of introducing a true understanding of the world and it was endorsed by such Indians as Ram Mohan Roy, also called Rammohun. He was a most distinguished Indian radical, at- tempting reform in Hindu customs and religion. In a sense he was an isolated forerunner of the anglicized upper class Indian, who subsequently became so important in Indian history. His influence helped to stimulate reform of Hindu laws and institutions. (Ref. 68 , 139 , 37 )

Some regions of India deserve special attention. The Punjab in northwest India was

1/2 the size of France and was called the "Country of five rivers". It had been ruled through the centuries by Persians, Macedonians, Mauryas, Scythians, Parthians, Huns and then the caliphs of Islam. The indigent people were the Sikhs, who recaptured the area from the Moguls. It was the granary of India, a feat made possible by an immense network of irrigation canals, which were early built by the British. In this century there were some 15,000,000 Hindus, 16,000 Moslems, and 5,000,000 Sikhs, living in about 18,000 towns. The language was Urdu. Before collapsing in 1849 the Sikhs gave the British red-coats their worst defeat on the Indian subcontinent at Chilleanwala.

In contrast to the figures just given, the State of Bengal at the mouth of the Ganges, contained 35,000,000 Moslems and 30,000,000 Hindus, overall more people than in Great Britain, including Ireland. In spite of the religious divisions, all Bengali spoke the same language and came from the same racial stock, dating back to the pre-Christian era. The Moslems seemed to migrate to the east while the Hindus congregated in the west. The east grew almost no food at all, just jute, while the west grew enough rice for both.

To escape the dust and heat of the Indian summer, the ruling British established a summer retreat at the base of the Himalyas at Simla, a miniature Sussex hamlet, characterizing the complete separation of the ruling British from their subjects. Only three carriages were allowed in the entire community and the standard conveyance was a rickshaw requiring four coolies, almost all of which had tuberculosis. Indians were not even allowed to walk on the mall. (Ref. 37 ) Through various pressures, political unification was pretty well obtained and a modern state created by about 1855. The first steam vessel had arrived in 1826. By 1855 there were 2,500 miles of telegraph lines. Some generalizations of the impact of western rule are that trade and commerce responded to new conditions better than industry and that the creation of a market economy was important in political unification. Industry tended to remain in small enclaves entirely under western control, but through the century India had a favorable balance of payments because of the sale of jute, hides, oilseeds and wheat.