The British Raj: The Effect Of The British Rule In India

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The British Raj was the colonial and official rule of the British Empire in India between 1858 and 1947. The British rule had started unofficial when the East India Company ruled large parts of India with its private armies, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company rule in India began effectively in 1757 and lasted till 1858 when, following the Indian Rebellion (1857), the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of India in the form of the new British Raj. Hence, the effect of the British rule can be seen even before 1858. My main hypothesis is that the British rule had a direct impact on the culture, heritage and social issues of in India during their rule by introducing …show more content…
They introduced the western idea of everyone capable of achieving anything so long as they had the passion for it and were willing to put in effort in order to achieve their dreams. Whereas in India, there was the caste system believe in which it was considered that lower caste people did not deserve education, being married to someone of higher caste, job opportunities and even basic respect. There was a group of lower caste people called the ‘untouchables’ who were treated worse than animals. The British severely criticised the caste system and practice of untouchability. During that time frame, people were forbidden to marry anyone that was not the same caste as them and if anyone were to do anything of such sort, their family would never forgive them for it. Children and youth were brainwashed from young to only love and interact with people of the same caste that there were almost no inter-caste/inter-communal marriages. Furthermore, people dare not proceed with inter-caste marriage due to the fear of their family, friends and society. In 1872, a law was introduced that sanctioned inter-caste and inter-communal marriages. Even upon the passing of the law, the inter-caste marriages were not so popular till the early 2000s. Nowadays, the caste system is still prevalent in rural areas but in urbanised cities, people are given jobs based on their merit and ability and no longer based on their caste and

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