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The British Empire: India and Africa

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By 1900 the British Empire was the largest the world had seen. It brought wealth to Britain, but was built and held by force over millions of people.

The East India Company

The East India Company was founded in 1600 to trade with Asia.
In 1757 its army, led by Robert Clive, won the Battle of Plassey in Bengal. The Company began to rule large parts of India and collect taxes.
It had its own army, mostly of Indian soldiers called sepoys.

1857 and the Raj

In 1857 many sepoys and others rose against Company rule. This is often called the Indian Rebellion (British writers at the time called it the 'Mutiny'; some Indian historians call it the First War of Independence). It was crushed with great violence on both sides.
In 1858 the British government took over from the Company. British rule in India was known as the Raj. In 1876 Queen Victoria was given the title Empress of India.

Africa and the size of the empire

In the 1880s European powers rushed to take African land: the Scramble for Africa. At the Berlin Conference (1884 to 1885) they set rules for dividing Africa, with no Africans present.
By the early 1900s the British Empire covered around a quarter of the world's land.
Supporters claimed the empire spread trade and progress. Critics point to conquest, famine, racism and the loss of independence for colonised peoples.
Worked example

How did the British government come to rule India directly?

  1. The East India Company gained power through trade and battles such as Plassey (1757).
  2. The rebellion of 1857 shocked the British.
  3. In 1858 the government took control from the Company, starting the Raj.

Answer: Company rule grew from 1757, but after the 1857 rebellion the government took over in 1858.

Key idea

East India Company (1600); Plassey (1757). Rebellion of 1857; British government rule (the Raj) from 1858; Victoria Empress of India (1876). Scramble for Africa and the Berlin Conference (1884 to 1885). By the early 1900s the empire covered about a quarter of the world's land.

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