Why did historian regard the history of modern period as the history of colonial period answer in detail?
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Answers
Ancient India ceased to exist in 1520 when the Mughals invaded from Afghanistan and occupied the entire country over the next 100 years.
Already, by then, the Portuguese had occupied Cochin and the Konkan including Goa, Bombay, Daman and Diu.
In 1662, Portugal ceded the seven Bombay islands to England as part of the marriage settlement between King Charles II and Princess Catherine of Braganza in Portugal.
In about 1690, the English East India Company opened trading posts and its main office in Calcutta.
In about 1732, the French East India Company opened trading posts along the Coromandel coast.
There followed similar trading "invasions" by the Dutch and the Danes.
However, India was never a colony within the British Empire.
From 1690 to 1857, India was a trading partner within the monopoly of the English and later the British East India Company. The Company set up trading posts all over India and created a private army to protect its interests against the Mughal empire, French colonists, Portuguese traders and so on. But India continued to be ruled by ancient and traditional families and puppet administrators.
After 1857, the Company was wound up compulsorily but India was not a colony. It had its own representation through the Minister of State for India, a Cabinet Minister, through the India Office of the Westminster Government in London.
Over the next 90 years, thousands of Indians were educated free of charge at top universities in Britain including London, Edinburgh, Durham, Oxford and Cambridge; so that an Indian Civil Service could be formed and maintained to European standards.
Also, over 100 separate Indian rulers continued to govern India under British control. These included the Kingdoms of Mysore, Hyderabad, Sikkim, Baroda, Bengal, Gwalior, and Assam; and others semi-independent states such as Pataudi, Oudh, Cochin.
In 1920, the Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal) was established by Royal Proclamation of King George V to provide a forum in which the Indian rulers could voice their opinions and aspirations to the India Office. The Chamber survived until Indian independence in 1947, when the status and roles of Princely States were abolished.
This was totally different from the approach in other British territories, which were simply colonies with English [later British] Government guarantees of political and military support.
The British Government had interest in India for only 90 years [1857-1947] whereas the Mughals occupied and "used" India for over 250 years [1520-1799] but this simple fact has been suppressed in Indian history books.
So India was a completely different case from the colonies but, for some reason, many Indians still blame Britain for their mismanagement before independence. Whereas, if fact, any political or managerial failure was mostly the fault of Indian rajas, nawabs, princes and kings. These rulers seemed often to hate each other and to be jealous of their statuses and authority; and were constantly jockeying for position within the Raj.
For example, Maharajas and rulers of the Princely States were entitled to a 21-gun salute at official ceremonies; others were entitled to only a 14-gun salute and some only to 10-guns. These things seemed very important during the 19th century and independence negotiations; which the British thought to be puerile and unimportant in the much bigger matter of independence.
Answers
Ancient India ceased to exist in 1520 when the Mughals invaded from Afghanistan and occupied the entire country over the next 100 years.
Already, by then, the Portuguese had occupied Cochin and the Konkan including Goa, Bombay, Daman and Diu.
In 1662, Portugal ceded the seven Bombay islands to England as part of the marriage settlement between King Charles II and Princess Catherine of Braganza in Portugal.
In about 1690, the English East India Company opened trading posts and its main office in Calcutta.
In about 1732, the French East India Company opened trading posts along the Coromandel coast.
There followed similar trading "invasions" by the Dutch and the Danes.
However, India was never a colony within the British Empire.
From 1690 to 1857, India was a trading partner within the monopoly of the English and later the British East India Company. The Company set up trading posts all over India and created a private army to protect its interests against the Mughal empire, French colonists, Portuguese traders and so on. But India continued to be ruled by ancient and traditional families and puppet administrators.
After 1857, the Company was wound up compulsorily but India was not a colony. It had its own representation through the Minister of State for India, a Cabinet Minister, through the India Office of the Westminster Government in London.
Over the next 90 years, thousands of Indians were educated free of charge at top universities in Britain including London, Edinburgh, Durham, Oxford and Cambridge; so that an Indian Civil Service could be formed and maintained to European standards.
Also, over 100 separate Indian rulers continued to govern India under British control. These included the Kingdoms of Mysore, Hyderabad, Sikkim, Baroda, Bengal, Gwalior, and Assam; and others semi-independent states such as Pataudi, Oudh, Cochin.
In 1920, the Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal) was established by Royal Proclamation of King George V to provide a forum in which the Indian rulers could voice their opinions and aspirations to the India Office. The Chamber survived until Indian independence in 1947, when the status and roles of Princely States were abolished.
This was totally different from the approach in other British territories, which were simply colonies with English [later British] Government guarantees of political and military support.
The British Government had interest in India for only 90 years [1857-1947] whereas the Mughals occupied and "used" India for over 250 years [1520-1799] but this simple fact has been suppressed in Indian history books.
So India was a completely different case from the colonies but, for some reason, many Indians still blame Britain for their mismanagement before independence. Whereas, if fact, any political or managerial failure was mostly the fault of Indian rajas, nawabs, princes and kings. These rulers seemed often to hate each other and to be jealous of their statuses and authority; and were constantly jockeying for position within the Raj.
For example, Maharajas and rulers of the Princely States were entitled to a 21-gun salute at official ceremonies; others were entitled to only a 14-gun salute and some only to 10-guns. These things seemed very important during the 19th century and independence negotiations; which the British thought to be puerile and unimportant in the much bigger matter of independence.