British in India: Myth and Facts
History is written by the winners, nowhere its more true than in the recent history of India. The sun set on the British Empire in 1947, when India became independent but the propaganda of British empire has survived and continues to flourish.
The narrative of British conquest goes something like this; The British came to India to trade in spices and through this trade they became rich. With these riches and superior technology i.e cannons and gun, they defeated the local Indian rulers who were still fighting with the medieval bow and arrows. This is of course an oversimplification, but I think most people would not disagree in principal with this narrative.
This narrative above is probably the earliest example of “fake news” that has persisted till now. The facts of history tell an entirely different story, a story in which the “powerful” colonial army suffered humiliating losses for centuries and its was their deep knowledge of Indian politics and a good bit of luck that changed their fortunes in India.
The British East India Company (aka the Company)had established trading post in India with permission of Mughal rules in early 1600s. Mughal empire ruled by Aurengzeb, was the worlds largest economy of that time. The word “mogul” itself came to mean a very important and powerful person in english, so when someone says “a media mogul etc. ” it has imprint of Indian history all over it. The 1st Anglo Indian war started in 1684, in what is called the Child’s War. Upon request from East India Company , King James II sent 12 warships to India with 200 cannon and men to support the Company’s efforts in India. This led to naval blockade in several Mughal ports and brought them in direct conflict with the Mughal Empire. Mughal fleet engaged and easily ended the British blockade, which was followed by complete surrender by the Company.
The British envoys has to prostrate themselves in Mughal court and promise better behavior is future, along with heft fines.
They were pardoned and allowed to continue their trade. One wonders what the would world would look like if that decision was different. This was the first, but by no means the last war the British lost in India.
Post the Mughal era (after 1700), the country had splintered into several smaller kingdoms like the Marathas, Mysore, Nizams etc. to name a few. Maratha being the most prominent of these. The power vacuum left by Mughals allowed the British to somewhat establish themselves in India.
One of key turning points for British in India was the ‘ Battle of Plassey-1756’ in which British defeated the province of Bengal, one of the richest and most populous part of India during that period. The bengal province had an army 10 times bigger than the British and were allied with French, who were fighting the British in Europe in the “7 year war”. The British did not win this war using better renaissance technology, as people would think. It was won by old fashioned bribing and political maneuvering. The British bribed the chief army officials in bengal army, so while they did join the war, they refused to fight. On top of that, severe rain the night before the war tilted balance of power. The British used tarpaulins to protect their ammunition, while the Bengal Nawab’s army took no such precautions. The outcome was decided even before the fight commenced, and British finally got the lucky break they need to establish themselves in India. Even with this win in Bengal they were just one of the many power in the post Mughal India. It would take another 100 years and several losses before they get their next lucky break in the sub-continent.
One of the next loss for British , came in Anglo-Mysore of 1776, in which British were routed by a relatively smaller provincial kingdom of Mysore. There were several war with state of Mysore, and British lost all of them till 1799. In 1799, Mysore allied with French (supported by Napoleon Bonaparte who was posed in Egypt at that time) was defeated by a combined force of Marathas, Nizam and British who attacked Mysore from all sides. Again, a it was not guns but diplomacy that gave the British an edge.
During the 1700s, Marathas were one of prominent power in India. Now with British established in Bengal and flexing their new found power it was only a matter of time before the conflicts began. It’s worth pointing out that at this time there were scores of French, Dutch, even British and Scotts in Maratha armies and similarly large number of Indians employed in the British armies. The cannons and guns were locally made in factories built with French-Maratha partnerships.
The first Anglo-Maratha war started in 1775, and concluded with Maratha victory in 1781 resulting in ‘the treaty of salbai’ and relative peace for next 20 years between two powers. The politics and situation leading to the war was complicated but the point here is that British were far from being the dominant power in India even in late 18th century. Maratha confederacy at that time were governed by council of Peshwas, which lead to infighting for successions. It was only a matter of time before internal infighting spilled over, with some Peshwas siding with the British precipitating the 2nd Anglo-Maratha war and then a 3rd war in 1818 leading to British victory and decline of Maratha power.
Contrary to the prevailing simplified narrative, the rise of British in India was complicated, slow and hard fought. They suffered several set back for centuries in India and it was a combination of luck, timing and politics that helped them gain an upper hand. They rise of British Raj was actually not very different than rise of any other power like the Mughals or Marathas or any other kingdom for that matter. However, unlike other pan-indian empires like the Mughal, Marathas, Maurya and Guptas which lasted for centuries, British Raj was short lived lasting only 90 years.
Finally after establishing the Raj in 1857, the short lived empire built by blood and war, was brought to its knees by British educated Indian man named Gandhi with nothing but his words and a stick.
