Modern India in the aftermath of British Rule
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| Assignment Type | Executive Summary |
|---|---|
| Subject | History |
| Academic Level | Undergraduate |
| Citation Style | APA |
| Length | 7 pages |
| Word Count | 2,158 |
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Executive Summaries
Modern India in the aftermath of British Rule
The British Come to Rule India and the Return of Indian Sovereignty is an article by Sudheer Birodkar that presents the factual history of British rule in India during the 1700s and 1800s, but it also presents a modern perspective on the affects that continue to ripple through India because of those years of colonization. The perspective is objective and wide in scope. The writer presents a valid impression of pre-colonial India, the positives and negatives of British rule in India and the contemporary situation as it relates to the colonial era.
Pre-colonial India
Pre-colonial India is described as a feudal nation ruled by Mogul lords. Slavery exists and the caste system is practiced. The arrival of the British mid seventeenth century is described as the beginning of the end of feudal rule, although a transition period in which Marathas ruled along with Mogul lords is presented. Although the British are credited for this transition to some extent, the author offers arguments which suggest that high taxes, abuse and racial inequality were also critical components and drivers of change.
India under British Rule
In this article the British are described as seizing parts (and ultimately all) of India from Maratha control in 1757 under the banner of the East India Trading Company. Despite the end of feudalism under British rule the author talks about the uprising against the British beginning early to mid-1800s and, according to the author, it is initially an uprising of the feudal upper classes against the British although the movement transformed to become the freedom movement of the next century.
Modern India
British rule brought with it capitalist and democratic structures which remain in place today. To show this the author discusses older Indian systems in comparison to the modern systems of India. While the author credits the British influence for India’s modern industrial economy he describes complex systems of influence and power which influenced and formed the often difficult road to transition.
Modern Imperialism in Africa/Russian Imperialism in the 1800s
Imperialism and Africa is an article written by Adam Booth which describes modern Africa in respect of imperialism across the whole African continent. In the opening passages the author describes imperialism in a Marxist context which suggests that this interpretation of imperialism may be different to a commonly held view of what imperialism means. Regardless of the interpretation of the meaning, the article discusses modern African unrest as a direct result of imperialistic ideals and artificial boundaries imposed upon a previously peaceful landscape, for capitalist motives. The article then describes the domination of the British in Africa and the move from military imperialism and control to economic imperialism, promulgated through the complete alteration of the economy, farming methods and traditional trade. This modern day imperialism is represented in the article with examples of enforcement by bodies like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank which impose regulations and requirements on Africa within their structural adjustment programs.
This form of described imperialism through westernization is reminiscent of Russia in the 1800s. At the time Russia was ruled by the Tsar who had absolute power, but that power was difficult to enforce because of the geographical size of the nation and the fact that many people were unreachable. The Tsar saw westernization as a way to implement a different type of leadership and to boost the economy by adapting western capitalist style reforms. To this end the Tsar of the time, Alexander II, attempted reform by adopting industrialist policies, creating elected district assemblies called zemstvos, and emancipating the serfs. Just as in Africa, this shifted the economy from farming based income to more global trade income and created political and socio economic fragmentation. The shift did result in the successful move for Russia, to an industrial economy.
Gay Rights and Social Justice
Human Rights, Social Justice and 'Gay' Spin is an article written by Linda Harvey in Mission America . The article is interesting because it describes the gay rights and the struggle for social justice in the context of religious doctrine. The article articulates God’s word and states that all homosexuality is a sin. The article encourages the reader not to confuse human rights and social injustice with the gay cause. It suggests that our children may be taught within our schools that gay rights should fall under the umbrella of social justice but that it does not, because it is unnatural; homosexuality destroys families and fractures communities. She further alludes to an association between homosexuality and promiscuity and describes homosexuality as degrading. The anti Christian-ness theme of homosexuality is repeated throughout the article.
Finally, in her article Ms. Harvey discusses issues facing American schools which include failing grades, violence and disobedience of young people today. She questions why in this environment we would choose to teach children about gay rights as a solution to failing schools. She describes the effort of schools to do so as “fine tuning rage against traditional values.” She says to do so is a recipe for failure.
Ms. Harvey’s sentiments are strikingly similar to the opposing voices of feminism in the late 1800s early 1900s when women were asking for the right to be recognized as equals. The exact same arguments were promulgated; the sanctity of marriage and the role of women as wife and mother were sacred to the church and feminist women were promiscuous. Traditional values were being threatened and would surely be compromised if women could vote or divorce their husbands. Women’s rights were the sure recipe for failure of community and family values. Then too there was intense opposition to women’s rights, women’s education and the idea of teaching any social ethos that involved placing women’s equality as an important moral issue.
Reformation and Revolution
The cause and results of the reformation, written by Dr. Jack L Arnold, discusses protestant reformation from the early days of discontent with the Catholic Church to the modern day. Specifically the article covers such topics as the cause of the reformation, the men of the reformation, the doctrinal unity of the reformers, and the results of the reformation. Dr. Arnold discusses how the reformation has affected every aspect of modern life without exception including our modern views of law and politics, because prior to reformation the church controlled the whole show, government, politics, law, religion and the economy. In addition science was controlled by the Catholic Church who, Arnold contends, directed science favorably toward ideas that support Christianity and that purportedly covered up scientific discovery and experimentation that would have been controversial in term of religious doctrine. Dr. Arnold makes the point that some have compared the reformation to a revolution because much of the reformation greatly altered the political and economic landscape of Europe.
In the latter respect the protestant reformation was similar to the early industrial revolution of the late 1700s and early 1800s. With scientific discovery available to the masses after reformation the world now had access to the information required to advance technology and further interests of a broader population, both economically and politically. The industrial revolution is characterized by the freeing of technological advance which led to rapid growth and expansion. The same can be said of the reformation. While there are some similarities between the reformation and the revolution in terms of rapid and extreme change it is fair to say that while the reformation bridged class, economic and social gaps, the industrial revolution created opportunities but widened the distances between rich and poor and have and have-nots.
The Egyptian Revolution
The article This is Egypt's revolution, not ours: All we in the Muslim Brotherhood want is for President Mubarak to go and real democracy to prevail, written by Mohammed Mursi discusses the events, the oppression, the poverty, desperation and rage that led to the Egyptian revolution. These precursors to the revolution are, according to the article, the direct result of 30 years of a corrupt political regime, a stagnating economy and gross prejudice and human injustices on the part of the ruling government. The article points out that it is the youth of the nation that drove this campaign, under an ideological banner for change.
Like the American Revolution the Egyptian revolution was, and is, about young people demanding a less oppressive and more tolerant society. In other words the American Revolution was a rejection of the oligarchic systems of Europe, of a class society which was not equal and of a socio economic hierarchy that favored a few. The American Revolution, like the Egyptian revolution, was a quest for more liberal values within a democratic framework. Just as in the American Revolution, the Egyptian revolution was preceded by an underground ideological movement.
The same can be said about the French revolution as the Egyptian and American revolutions. It was preceded by an underground ideological movement, caused significant political and social upheaval and defeated the oppressive ruling monarchy in favor of a more fair and democratic system by groups armed only with protest and ideology. In each case the ultimate goal of revolution was a democratic republican state. The word enlightenment is often used in reference to the ideological changes in the American and French revolutions and it would not be surprising if that term is applied in history to the Egyptian revolution as well.
Gender Violence
Women, War and Darfur: Implementing and Expanding Gender Violence Justice written by Mary Deutsch Schneider is a compelling look at gender violence in hostile environments. The hostile environments described by Schneider include war, rebellion, dictatorship and all forms of uprising. She cites nearly 50 locations that are presently in conflict and where atrocities against women are occurring. While Schneider acknowledges that trauma is inflicted upon men in conflicted areas as well, she points out a significant number of atrocities that are experienced exclusively by women, usually civilian women. These atrocities include all of the atrocities that men must endure including torture, murder and humiliation but as Schneider points out, these events are often, in the case of women, accompanied by rape or a number of other forms of violence which she states may include; forced sexual intercourse or other sexual acts with family members, forced impregnation, forced pregnancy, sexual mutilation, sexual humiliation, medical experimentation on women’s sexual and reproductive organs, forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced prostitution, being compelled to exchange sexual favors for essential items or services, being compelled to exchange sexual favors for the return of children, being involved in trafficking in women, forced sexual slavery, being the subject of pornography and forced cohabitation/marriages.
This gender violence is reminiscent of the Yangzhou massacre in China in 1645. During this event the Manchu army raided the Ming Dynasty and suffered significant loss of life in doing so. To appease his army Prince Dodo allowed his army five days to do whatever they wanted with the remaining population of the Ming Dynasty. While men and babies were slaughtered the women were raped and roped tightly together to travel north where they were enslaved. Many of these women had lost everything, had seen their children murdered and were forced to live the remainder of their lives in sexual and menial servitude to their captors.
Modern Religion and the Mughal Empire
An interesting article which discusses religion in today’s society is one written by self proclaimed Wiccan, Melanie Miller, titled Religion in Today's Society . Ms. Miller’s views on religion, while somewhat simplistic, is reflective of a commonly tolerant religious position in modern society. The idea that individual belief is a right that must be tolerated in a multicultural and multi denominational world is promulgated. In her article Miller describes her personal philosophy, and also the commonly held precept, that while it is acceptable to observe and even honor the religious practices of various religions, it is not necessary to adopt the tenets of those religions as part of your own life.
Although there are many examples of religious intolerance in contemporary society, Ms. Miller’s views would be widely supported my many majorities around the world regardless of country or culture. While this type of tolerant thinking is common around the world today, it is not a new position in terms of history. Religion in today’s society can easily be compared with Mughal rule in India during the Mughal Empire of the 1500 and 1600s. Religion was extremely important to the Mughals who were Muslim in religious practice. The Mughal’s governed a primarily Hindu nation but were tolerant of other religious beliefs including Hinduism. They did not favor Muslims for high ranking positions and generally ran the country in a manner that supported and encouraged religious tolerance. It is fair to say that the Mughal Empire was, like today’s society, a sophisticated culture based on religious tolerance. It was a mixture of Persian, Mongol and Indian cultures.
Modern India in the aftermath of British Rule
The British Come to Rule India and the Return of Indian Sovereignty is an article by Sudheer Birodkar that presents the factual history of British rule in India during the 1700s and 1800s, but it also presents a modern perspective on the affects that continue to ripple through India because of those years of colonization. The perspective is objective and wide in scope. The writer presents a valid impression of pre-colonial India, the positives and negatives of British rule in India and the contemporary situation as it relates to the colonial era.
Pre-colonial India
Pre-colonial India is described as a feudal nation ruled by Mogul lords. Slavery exists and the caste system is practiced. The arrival of the British mid seventeenth century is described as the beginning of the end of feudal rule, although a transition period in which Marathas ruled along with Mogul lords is presented. Although the British are credited for this transition to some extent, the author offers arguments which suggest that high taxes, abuse and racial inequality were also critical components and drivers of change.
India under British Rule
In this article the British are described as seizing parts (and ultimately all) of India from Maratha control in 1757 under the banner of the East India Trading Company. Despite the end of feudalism under British rule the author talks about the uprising against the British beginning early to mid-1800s and, according to the author, it is initially an uprising of the feudal upper classes against the British although the movement transformed to become the freedom movement of the next century.
Modern India
British rule brought with it capitalist and democratic structures which remain in place today. To show this the author discusses older Indian systems in comparison to the modern systems of India. While the author credits the British influence for India’s modern industrial economy he describes complex systems of influence and power which influenced and formed the often difficult road to transition.
Modern Imperialism in Africa/Russian Imperialism in the 1800s
Imperialism and Africa is an article written by Adam Booth which describes modern Africa in respect of imperialism across the whole African continent. In the opening passages the author describes imperialism in a Marxist context which suggests that this interpretation of imperialism may be different to a commonly held view of what imperialism means. Regardless of the interpretation of the meaning, the article discusses modern African unrest as a direct result of imperialistic ideals and artificial boundaries imposed upon a previously peaceful landscape, for capitalist motives. The article then describes the domination of the British in Africa and the move from military imperialism and control to economic imperialism, promulgated through the complete alteration of the economy, farming methods and traditional trade. This modern day imperialism is represented in the article with examples of enforcement by bodies like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank which impose regulations and requirements on Africa within their structural adjustment programs.
This form of described imperialism through westernization is reminiscent of Russia in the 1800s. At the time Russia was ruled by the Tsar who had absolute power, but that power was difficult to enforce because of the geographical size of the nation and the fact that many people were unreachable. The Tsar saw westernization as a way to implement a different type of leadership and to boost the economy by adapting western capitalist style reforms. To this end the Tsar of the time, Alexander II, attempted reform by adopting industrialist policies, creating elected district assemblies called zemstvos, and emancipating the serfs. Just as in Africa, this shifted the economy from farming based income to more global trade income and created political and socio economic fragmentation. The shift did result in the successful move for Russia, to an industrial economy.
Gay Rights and Social Justice
Human Rights, Social Justice and 'Gay' Spin is an article written by Linda Harvey in Mission America . The article is interesting because it describes the gay rights and the struggle for social justice in the context of religious doctrine. The article articulates God’s word and states that all homosexuality is a sin. The article encourages the reader not to confuse human rights and social injustice with the gay cause. It suggests that our children may be taught within our schools that gay rights should fall under the umbrella of social justice but that it does not, because it is unnatural; homosexuality destroys families and fractures communities. She further alludes to an association between homosexuality and promiscuity and describes homosexuality as degrading. The anti Christian-ness theme of homosexuality is repeated throughout the article.
Finally, in her article Ms. Harvey discusses issues facing American schools which include failing grades, violence and disobedience of young people today. She questions why in this environment we would choose to teach children about gay rights as a solution to failing schools. She describes the effort of schools to do so as “fine tuning rage against traditional values.” She says to do so is a recipe for failure.
Ms. Harvey’s sentiments are strikingly similar to the opposing voices of feminism in the late 1800s early 1900s when women were asking for the right to be recognized as equals. The exact same arguments were promulgated; the sanctity of marriage and the role of women as wife and mother were sacred to the church and feminist women were promiscuous. Traditional values were being threatened and would surely be compromised if women could vote or divorce their husbands. Women’s rights were the sure recipe for failure of community and family values. Then too there was intense opposition to women’s rights, women’s education and the idea of teaching any social ethos that involved placing women’s equality as an important moral issue.
Reformation and Revolution
The cause and results of the reformation, written by Dr. Jack L Arnold, discusses protestant reformation from the early days of discontent with the Catholic Church to the modern day. Specifically the article covers such topics as the cause of the reformation, the men of the reformation, the doctrinal unity of the reformers, and the results of the reformation. Dr. Arnold discusses how the reformation has affected every aspect of modern life without exception including our modern views of law and politics, because prior to reformation the church controlled the whole show, government, politics, law, religion and the economy. In addition science was controlled by the Catholic Church who, Arnold contends, directed science favorably toward ideas that support Christianity and that purportedly covered up scientific discovery and experimentation that would have been controversial in term of religious doctrine. Dr. Arnold makes the point that some have compared the reformation to a revolution because much of the reformation greatly altered the political and economic landscape of Europe.
In the latter respect the protestant reformation was similar to the early industrial revolution of the late 1700s and early 1800s. With scientific discovery available to the masses after reformation the world now had access to the information required to advance technology and further interests of a broader population, both economically and politically. The industrial revolution is characterized by the freeing of technological advance which led to rapid growth and expansion. The same can be said of the reformation. While there are some similarities between the reformation and the revolution in terms of rapid and extreme change it is fair to say that while the reformation bridged class, economic and social gaps, the industrial revolution created opportunities but widened the distances between rich and poor and have and have-nots.
The Egyptian Revolution
The article This is Egypt's revolution, not ours: All we in the Muslim Brotherhood want is for President Mubarak to go and real democracy to prevail, written by Mohammed Mursi discusses the events, the oppression, the poverty, desperation and rage that led to the Egyptian revolution. These precursors to the revolution are, according to the article, the direct result of 30 years of a corrupt political regime, a stagnating economy and gross prejudice and human injustices on the part of the ruling government. The article points out that it is the youth of the nation that drove this campaign, under an ideological banner for change.
Like the American Revolution the Egyptian revolution was, and is, about young people demanding a less oppressive and more tolerant society. In other words the American Revolution was a rejection of the oligarchic systems of Europe, of a class society which was not equal and of a socio economic hierarchy that favored a few. The American Revolution, like the Egyptian revolution, was a quest for more liberal values within a democratic framework. Just as in the American Revolution, the Egyptian revolution was preceded by an underground ideological movement.
The same can be said about the French revolution as the Egyptian and American revolutions. It was preceded by an underground ideological movement, caused significant political and social upheaval and defeated the oppressive ruling monarchy in favor of a more fair and democratic system by groups armed only with protest and ideology. In each case the ultimate goal of revolution was a democratic republican state. The word enlightenment is often used in reference to the ideological changes in the American and French revolutions and it would not be surprising if that term is applied in history to the Egyptian revolution as well.
Gender Violence
Women, War and Darfur: Implementing and Expanding Gender Violence Justice written by Mary Deutsch Schneider is a compelling look at gender violence in hostile environments. The hostile environments described by Schneider include war, rebellion, dictatorship and all forms of uprising. She cites nearly 50 locations that are presently in conflict and where atrocities against women are occurring. While Schneider acknowledges that trauma is inflicted upon men in conflicted areas as well, she points out a significant number of atrocities that are experienced exclusively by women, usually civilian women. These atrocities include all of the atrocities that men must endure including torture, murder and humiliation but as Schneider points out, these events are often, in the case of women, accompanied by rape or a number of other forms of violence which she states may include; forced sexual intercourse or other sexual acts with family members, forced impregnation, forced pregnancy, sexual mutilation, sexual humiliation, medical experimentation on women’s sexual and reproductive organs, forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced prostitution, being compelled to exchange sexual favors for essential items or services, being compelled to exchange sexual favors for the return of children, being involved in trafficking in women, forced sexual slavery, being the subject of pornography and forced cohabitation/marriages.
This gender violence is reminiscent of the Yangzhou massacre in China in 1645. During this event the Manchu army raided the Ming Dynasty and suffered significant loss of life in doing so. To appease his army Prince Dodo allowed his army five days to do whatever they wanted with the remaining population of the Ming Dynasty. While men and babies were slaughtered the women were raped and roped tightly together to travel north where they were enslaved. Many of these women had lost everything, had seen their children murdered and were forced to live the remainder of their lives in sexual and menial servitude to their captors.
Modern Religion and the Mughal Empire
An interesting article which discusses religion in today’s society is one written by self proclaimed Wiccan, Melanie Miller, titled Religion in Today's Society . Ms. Miller’s views on religion, while somewhat simplistic, is reflective of a commonly tolerant religious position in modern society. The idea that individual belief is a right that must be tolerated in a multicultural and multi denominational world is promulgated. In her article Miller describes her personal philosophy, and also the commonly held precept, that while it is acceptable to observe and even honor the religious practices of various religions, it is not necessary to adopt the tenets of those religions as part of your own life.
Although there are many examples of religious intolerance in contemporary society, Ms. Miller’s views would be widely supported my many majorities around the world regardless of country or culture. While this type of tolerant thinking is common around the world today, it is not a new position in terms of history. Religion in today’s society can easily be compared with Mughal rule in India during the Mughal Empire of the 1500 and 1600s. Religion was extremely important to the Mughals who were Muslim in religious practice. The Mughal’s governed a primarily Hindu nation but were tolerant of other religious beliefs including Hinduism. They did not favor Muslims for high ranking positions and generally ran the country in a manner that supported and encouraged religious tolerance. It is fair to say that the Mughal Empire was, like today’s society, a sophisticated culture based on religious tolerance. It was a mixture of Persian, Mongol and Indian cultures.