How Did the British Establish Hegemony in India?

How Did the British Establish Hegemony in India?

{draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:g} {draw:g} {draw:frame} If you were an Indian living in the 1700’s and heard that an entity by the name of the East India Trading Company was coming to your country would you be suspicious? Of course not, and neither was anybody who lived in India at the time. Little did they know that that very company would go on to rule their country for over a hundred years. So what transformed them from traders to rulers? What changed them from businessmen to sovereigns? How did the British come to rule India? Once they realized that India was there to be colonized, they exploited the fact that India was not one united nation, but rather many mini-states, that they could pit against one another for their own benefit. They beguiled Indian’s into believing that they were there just as traders, while slowly made acts and alliances that helped them get more land, and finally even fought wars to take over the country. To begin with, Indian citizens did not realize that the British were here for more than simply trade until it was too late. At first, the EIC was truly just a company that traded desired goods with India, but once the British government discovered India’s vast riches they used the EIC to be the face of their colonization for India. Initially, the EIC’s trading activities with India were in fact beneficial to Indian citizens. Because trading helps both parties, Indians thought of the British fondly. This is depicted in movies such as Mangal Pande: The Rising, where the sepoy soldiers treat the British not with hostility, but rather with respect (Dhondy). Additionally, the original British traders were actually very accepting of Indian traditions and beliefs, and integrated themselves with the local community. As a result, the Indians were led to believe that the British were there friends and put trust in them, seeing no reason to be suspicious. By the time that the Indians realized that the British were in...

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