The Sepoy Rebellion

British India, major producer and trader of spices and other material goods, is believed to have been one of the British Empire’s most valuable colonies, both for their abundance of valuable natural resources and large population. The British leaders who chose to take control of India certainly had multiple reasons to do so, most of those falling into the categories of exploitation of resources and propagation of European culture. These motivations are clearly seen in many actions taken or promoted by the British Raj, many of which still have an impact on India to this day.

As mentioned before, most of the British Raj’s motivations fall into one of two categories; expanding the influence of European culture and exploiting the natural resources …show more content…
This uprising was caused by the insatisfaction of sepoys, Bengal army soldiers, who felt that they were being mistreated by their commanders in the British East India Company. Low pay, limited opportunities, unfair assignments, and the reorganization of their native region, Awadh, led the sepoys to feel discriminated against. The introduction of the new Lee Enfield rifle, which forced soldiers to bite off ends of cartridges greased with pig and cow fat (substances that are offensive to both the Hindu and Muslim religions) only made things worse, pushing soldiers past their limit of tolerance, and they attacked multiple officers throughout India. The effects of colonialism were not all negative, since multiple advancements were made during this time period. One fantastic example of this is the Chennai Central Railway Station. Despite the fact that Britain’s motives for building this station may be questionable, the benefits that it brought are certain. This station greatly improved commerce and transportation for India, as well as acting as one of the administrative and commercial capitals of the British East India