Effects of British Rule

Effects of British Rule

Introduction

The general breakdown of the central authority, in the wake of Mughal’s fall, resulted in a English trading company taking over India. Initially, the English East India Company’s focus was not on administration. Its aim was ensuring smooth trade. However, after the terrible Bengal famine of 1770, they began to exercise power with some responsibility. Not withstanding their exploitative economic policy, their professed objective was the safety of the people they governed and administration of justice. The justification for their expansionist policy was the extermination of tyranny of the local rulers and the harassment by robbers and marauders in the country. Railways and telegraph, introduced for easier communication, also served the purpose of curbing resistance and the control of the local population. However, their agrarian and commercial policies had a ruinous impact on the economy. India’s wealth was drained in several forms. By the 1830s there was large scale emigration of ruined peasants and weavers to plantations in the British Empire countries.