GCSE · History · AQA · Spec 8145

British expansion in India

Here's a strange fact to start with: for about a hundred years, most of India wasn't run by the British government at all. It was run by a company.

History · British expansion in India

When did a company become a ruler?

Before the British arrived, India was ruled by the Muslim Mughal Empire. Under the ruler Aurangzeb, Mughal power shrank through war and economic difficulties, and the British, French and Dutch were all trying to gain a foothold in India. So when did a British company take control, and when did the British government? Drag each marker to the year you think it happened, then check.

The rebellion of 1857

?

Reason it through

Why did the rebellion break out, and what did it change about the army?

Link 1 of 4

First link · your turn

Start with the sepoys. Who were they, and how did they feel?

2
Locked — reveal the link above first
3
Locked — reveal the link above first
4
Locked — reveal the link above first

Predict, then check

You've already met one effect: the army was reorganised. Were there others?

The rebellion was put down. So did it change anything beyond the army?

Your judgement

Was British rule good for India?

The claim

British rule was good for India.

Place each piece of evidence to load the balance. Mark the strong ones — they count double.

  1. The British improved India's infrastructure, for economic purposes.

    Evidence 1: does it support or challenge the claim?

  2. The British introduced healthcare initiatives in India.

    Evidence 2: does it support or challenge the claim?

  3. Britain was criticised for exploiting India's resources.

    Evidence 3: does it support or challenge the claim?

  4. Britain was criticised for failing to prevent famine in India, or even contributing to it.

    Evidence 4: does it support or challenge the claim?

History · India and Britain's trade

How much did India matter to Britain's trade?

By the late 1800s, roughly what share of ALL British exports do you think were going to India?

Your estimate

50%

0%100%

History · The other direction

How did ruling India change Britain?

Sort each piece of evidence by the kind of impact it shows on Britain.

Still to sort

Money and trade (0)

Britain made a very large amount of money from India.

Where the line is: If it's about what was bought, sold or made, it's money and trade, even when the goods are everyday things like clothing.

War (0)

Military help for Britain.

Everyday culture (0)

Subtler influences on daily life in Britain.

Where the line is: Culture is about how people in Britain lived and spoke, not about the money Britain made.

People and politics (0)

Who came to Britain, and who helped run it.

Where the line is: This is about people: who travelled, who settled and who was elected.

8 of 8 still to sort.

Empire didn't only change India. Cultural exchange between Britain and India moved in both directions, and both countries were permanently changed by the other.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

For about a century after Plassey, a trading company controlled more and more of India. The British government only took over in 1858.

What you need to know

  • A trading company, not the British government, took control of most of India first. The government only took over in 1858.
  • The 1857 rebellion was put down, but it still changed the army and the government's approach to Indian culture.
  • Whether British rule was good for India is a judgement: there is evidence on both sides, and historians' interpretations differ.
  • Empire changed Britain too: its trade, its wars, its food and words, and its Parliament.

The big picture

How a trading company founded in 1600 came to control most of India after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, why the sepoys revolted in 1857 and what that changed, how India became a Crown colony in 1858, and how British rule changed both India and Britain.

Key points

1Before the British arrived, the Muslim Mughal Empire ruled India. Under Aurangzeb, Mughal power decreased through war and economic difficulties, and the British, French and Dutch were all trying to gain a foothold in India.
21600: the East India Company was founded and given a monopoly over trade in East Asia.
31757: at the Battle of Plassey, Robert Clive's East India Company gained control. Through the 18th and 19th centuries it expanded its control, alongside government involvement. Warren Hastings is one individual credited with helping to build the British Empire in India.
4The doctrine of lapse, an unpopular policy, let Britain take control of more Indian land. By the time of the 1857 rebellion, the Company ruled two-thirds of India.
51857: sepoys in the Company's army, unhappy with their treatment, revolted. The rebellion seriously threatened British rule but was put down by British soldiers. The army was then reorganised because the Company could no longer be trusted to provide military protection.
6After the rebellion the government, seeing it must show more respect for Indian culture, withdrew support from Christian missionaries and backed local Indian landlords. One long-run view is that the rebellion was central to the growth of Indian nationalism.
71858: the British government took over from the Company and India became a Crown colony, run by a viceroy on the monarch's behalf. By 1876 Queen Victoria was Empress of India, ruling with a viceroy and an anglicised Indian elite.
8Impact on India: infrastructure improved for economic purposes and healthcare initiatives, but Britain was criticised for exploiting India's resources and for failing to prevent, or contributing to, famine.
9Impact on Britain: money from raw materials, factory jobs and sales such as cotton clothing (one estimate: about a quarter of all British exports went to India by the late 1800s), India's army in both world wars, food, drink and borrowed words, lascars and ayahs who settled, and Indian MPs such as Naoroji.

Worked example

Problem

A student writes: "In 1757 the British government conquered India in one go at the Battle of Plassey." Find the two mistakes and rewrite the sentence so it is accurate.

⚠ Watch out

Writing about the impact of empire as if it only ran one way. Ruling India changed Britain too: its trade, its wars, its food and words, and even its Parliament. Cultural exchange moved in both directions.

🧠

Memory hook

Trade, Take, Crown. In 1600 the Company comes to TRADE; at Plassey in 1757 it TAKES control; in 1858 the CROWN takes over. Then 1876 adds the Queen as Empress.

✓

Check yourself

From memory, order these and give each a year: Empress; Plassey; Company founded; Crown takeover; rebellion. Then: in 1800, was British power in India mainly held by the Company or the government?

Flashcards

(15)
Who ruled the Indian subcontinent before the British arrived?
The Muslim Mughal Empire.
Why did Mughal power decrease under Aurangzeb?
War and economic difficulties.
What was the East India Company given when it was founded in 1600?
A monopoly over trade in East Asia.
Which European powers were trying to gain a foothold in India?
The British, French and Dutch.
Why does the Battle of Plassey (1757) matter?
A trading company, not a government, now held control.
What was the doctrine of lapse?
An unpopular policy that let Britain take control of more Indian land.
How much of India did the Company rule when the 1857 rebellion broke out?
Two-thirds: most of the subcontinent.
Why did the sepoys revolt in 1857?
Indian sepoys in the Company's army were unhappy with how they were being treated.
Why was the army reorganised after the rebellion?
The Company could no longer be trusted to provide military protection.
Name two ways the government showed more respect for Indian culture after 1857.
It withdrew support from Christian missionaries and backed local Indian landlords.
How was India run after 1858, and what is a viceroy?
As a Crown colony, run by a viceroy: an official governing on the monarch's behalf.
What title did Queen Victoria have by 1876?
Empress of India.
Give two criticisms of British rule in India.
Exploiting India's resources, and failing to prevent (or contributing to) famine.
Who were lascars and ayahs?
Lascars were Indian sailors; ayahs were nurses, maids or nannies. Some settled in Britain.
Who was Dadabhai Naoroji?
An Indian migrant who became an MP in the 1890s and was known as a critic of British rule in India.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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