NIHCR Webinar on Discourse of History on Indo-Pak History from Antiquity to Modernity XII: British Rule in India
ISLAMABAD
The very idea of the British rule over India seems inexplicable today; the keys seem to have been superior weaponry, economic power and Eurocentric confidence, said Prof Emeritus Aslam Syed here.
While addressing a Webinar on Discourse of History on Indo-Pak History from Antiquity to Modernity XII: British Rule in India here on Sunday, the guest speaker opined that India had a huge population and was much more developed than Britain in the 1600s when the British arrived in the garb of traders.
Prof. Emeritus Aslam Syed has been serving the Centre for Religious Studies, Ruhr Universität, Bochum, Germany. He remained Chairman, Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and also served the NIHCR as its Director.
Responding to a question, Prof Syed said that the British were able to take control of India mainly because India was not united. The British signed treaties and made military and trading alliances with many of the princely states that made up India.
The Webinar arranged online by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR), Centre of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, was attended by over 700 participants ranging from students, teachers and researchers to have greater insights into the valuable views of the guest speaker.
Replying a question, Prof Syed said that the British were very effective at infiltrating these states and gradually taking over control. They often left the local princes in charge of the various parts of India. These local princes were effective at maintaining British rule and gained much from being loyal to the British Raj.
It was the 31st consecutive session on the Discourse of History, a brainchild of the NIHCR Director Dr Sajid Mahmood Awan. This activity inculcates interest to learn more and more about history not only among students, scholars and historians as well as among ordinary people belonging to any field of life to know about nations’ ways of running their States in a journey from antiquity to modernity.
Responding to a question, Prof Syed said that Britain had been trading in India since about 1600, but it did not begin to seize large sections of land until 1757, after the Battle of Plassey.
This battle pitted 3,000 soldiers of the British East India Company against the 50,000-strong army of the young Nawab of Bengal, Sirajud Daulah, and his French East India Company allies. Heavy rain spoiled the Nawab’s cannon powder, leading to his defeat, he replied to a question.
Responding to another question, Prof Syed said that the East India Company was primarily interested in the trade of cotton, silk, tea, and opium, but following the Battle of Plassey, it functioned as the military authority in growing sections of India as well.
By 1770, Prof Syed said, heavy Company taxation and other policies had left millions of Bengalis impoverished. While British soldiers and traders made their fortunes, the Indians starved. Between 1770 and 1773, about 10 million people (one-third of the population) died of famine in Bengal, he said.
The NIHCR Senior Research Fellow Dr Rahat Zubair Malik conducted the Webinar by triggering a dialogue with Dr Syed for substantiating this discourse. This inclusive activity has been taken up every week for the benefit of students in general and capacity-building of the teachers and researchers in particular, she said.
