[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

princes. Under Lieutenant Colonel Robert Clive, the company indulged in
large-scale plunder, extortion and atrocities against anyone who rebelled
against its rule. As its political and commercial power grew, it set out to
expand its territorial acquisitions.
TIPU SULTAN: THE TIGER OF MYSORE
Tipu Sultan was the Muslim ruler of the southern kingdom of
Mysore, who posed a serious threat to the rapidly spreading
power and influence of the British East India Company. Mysore was
involved in four wars with the British, and Tipu fought in all four,
fi rst under his father Haider Ali and later as the sultan of Mysore
after his father died. He was killed by the British in May 1799 while
defending his capital Seringapatam during the Fourth Mysore War.
Concerned about the atrocities and exploitative practices of the
company, the British government recalled Clive. It tightened its control on
the company by appointing Warren Hastings as governor general of Bengal
in charge of affairs in India. In other changes brought about by the British
government, parliamentary acts of 1813 and 1833 ended the company s
trade monopoly. It also banned discrimination against Indians who were in
government employment.
The new British governor generals instituted a variety of reforms in
India. Lord William Bentinck, who was governor general from 1828 to 1835,
abolished sati, the practice of widow self-immolation, and banned thuggees,
armed gangs who robbed and killed travellers. Widow remarriage was
allowed by law and the ancient Devadasi tradition, in which women were
 married to temple deities and trained in dance and music to entertain the
Lord was banned. English was made the official language of the country and
a number of Christian missionary schools and institutions of higher learning
were built to provide English education.
HISTORY
59
Lord Dalhousie, as governor general, had roads and irrigation systems
constructed and founded the Post and Telegraph Department. He made
radical changes in Hindu law, terminating the right of an Indian ruler to adopt
his heir. This change in law was widely unpopular, as it resulted in a number of
independent states, including Jhansi, coming under the control of the British.
The territories annexed by the company formed British India, which was
divided into provinces such as Madras, Bengal and Bombay, and subdivided
into districts. Governors, councillors, district collectors and other officials in
these provinces were part of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) introduced by
Lord Cornwallis when he was governor general. Indians were not allowed
in the ICS until the 1860s. The states that were not under direct British rule
retained their own monarchs but were required to follow the orders of
the British. Calcutta became the capital of the British East India Company s
Indian territories.
RANI OF JHANSI
Lakshmi Bai, or Rani of Jhansi, the queen of the kingdom of Jhansi,
was one of the heroines of the nationalist movement. She became
a widow at the age of 18 after the death of her husband, Maharaja
Gangadhar Rao, on 21 November 1853. The British refused to
accept the Maharaja s adopted son as his heir and decided to annex
Jhansi. Lakshmi Bai, determined to defend her kingdom, assembled
an army of volunteers and fought fearlessly when the British invaded
Jhansi in March 1858. Despite her best efforts, she was defeated but
she managed to escape dressed as a man with her son strapped to
her back. The British caught up with her in neighbouring Gwalior
and she died fighting on 18 June 1858. She was just 22 years old.
The company required more revenue to sustain its expansionist
policies as British India grew in size. For this purpose, it taxed the public
heavily and asked for more tribute from the independent states. This caused
widespread public discontent and unrest, which in turn limited the growth
of the economy. In 1857, unhappy Indian troops in Bengal revolted against
British rule. In 1858, the British government dissolved the British East India
60
Company and assumed direct control of its Indian affairs, paving the way
for the British Raj.
THE SIKHS AND THE KOHINOOR DIAMOND
The Sikhs formed a powerful empire in Punjab during British
company rule and were united under Ranjit Singh who was known
as the  Lion of Punjab . Ranjit Singh was the chief of the Sukerchakia
clan and established the Sikh kingdom of Punjab, after capturing
Lahore in 1799. He built up a formidable army and gradually
expanded the empire to include parts of Himachal Pradesh and
Kashmir in the extreme north. The kingdom was inhabited by Sikhs,
the dominant group, as well as by Hindus and Muslims. Ranjit Singh
encouraged agriculture and supported commerce and industry in
the state. His empire was peaceful and prosperous, and he enjoyed
amicable relations with the British. After his death in 1839, the
empire fell into disarray and six years later, in 1845, the Sikhs
fought their first war with the British and had to give up part of
their empire.
It was at this time that Maharaja Duleep Singh, a minor under
the guardianship of his mother, gave away the famous Kohinoor
(Mountain of Light) diamond to the British to adorn Queen
Victoria s crown. The 106-carat diamond was acquired by Ranjit
Singh as part of his booty during a military campaign in Afghanistan.
Under Ranjit Singh s will, the diamond was to be given to a Hindu
temple in Orissa. But his request was not carried out.
According to legend, the Kohinoor diamond originated in
the diamond-producing region of Golconda in Andhra Pradesh. It
belonged to the king of Malwa in the 14th century and fell into the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]