1. British Imperialism in
India
Historical Role Play Scenarios

2. Background Information
 The Mughal Empire (Muslim) in India is declining and there is a lot of
fighting between the Muslims and Hindus living in India.
 The collapse of the Mughal Empire occurred at the same time as the
British and French are attempting to establish control over India
(Pakistan & Bangladesh). Britain and France get into a war (Seven
Years War - 1763) in which the French and pushed out of India and
the British take control.
 The British created the British East India Company and they ruled
India through economic imperialism.
 In 1813 the British government took away some of the British East
India Company’s power, but they still remained a large part of
controlling life in India.

3. Economic Impacts on India (1)
 In order for the British East
India company to ensure they
were profitable they made it
illegal for India to produce
any finished goods (ex:
clothing).
 India was only allowed to
produce raw materials that
could be used by the British.
 India’s only option was to
purchase finished products
from the British.

4. Economic Impacts on India (2)
 The British also greatly
restricted India’s ability to
farm for food.
 India was forced to produce
cash crops for the British to
trade such as: tea, indigo (a
dye), coffee, cotton, and
opium.
 This policy caused issues with
famine in much of India.

5. Your Role
In this activity you are one of the following:
 A British citizen who works for the British East India Company
 A Muslim Sepoy – a Muslim Indian who is a soldier for the British East
India Company
 A Hindu Sepoy – a Hindu Indian who is a soldier for the British East
India Company
A sepoy is a soldier for the British East India Company. They are native
Indians who are recruited into serving the British East India Company.
Being a sepoy provided a decent income when the British eliminated
many of India’s industries and jobs.

6. Scenario 1 - 1856
A group of Christian missionaries arrive. They want to
set up schools in order to preach their religion to the
Indian people.
The Christian missionaries believe that the Indian
social caste systems are wrong, and that both Islam
(the religion of Muslims) and Hinduism are evil
religions.
What will you do?
If you are British, will you allow them to set up schools and preach to the sepoys?
If you are a sepoy how will you react? Consider, the conflicts and options this may present
to you.

7. What Actually Happened?
 Many Christian missionaries came
to India to spread their religion.
 The members of the British East
India Company were not concerned
with the social or religious customs
of India.
 Both Hindus and Muslims were
frequently offended by missionaries
racist and negative attitudes
towards their beliefs and rarely
converted or listened to them.

8. Scenario 2 – May 9, 1857
Rumor has spread that the cartridges for the
sepoys rifle are sealed with beef and pork fat. In
order to use the cartridges you must bite off the
seal.
If you are a Muslim you do not eat pork, if you are a
Hindu you do not eat beef. How will you handle this
rumor?
If you are British, how will you quell this rumor?

9. What Actually Happened?
The sepoys were furious
and many refused to
bite off the cartridges
and do their jobs even.
The British arrested any
sepoys who refused to
bite off the cartridges.

10. Scenario 3 – May 10, 1857
Rumors of what happened to the sepoys who refused
to bite off the cartridges spread around India rapidly.
Sepoys all over India are rebelling and marching to the
capital in Delhi to protest the British rule.
It looks as if a war could break out between the British
and the sepoy.
What will you do? Can this conflict be prevented?
How would a potential war impact your life?

11. What Actually Happened?
 The rebellion began in Delhi,
but quickly spread throughout
the India.
 This outbreak became known as
the Sepoy Mutiny, when the
sepoys rebelled against the
British East India Company.
 The British government sent in
additional troops to assist the
company in fighting the sepoys.

12. Scenario 4 – Summer 1857
Additional British troops have arrived to assist the East
India Company. The sepoys continue to fight, but there
are arguments between the Hindus and Muslims. If the
British are pushed out of India who will take charge?
The Muslim Mughal Empire that was disliked by the
Hindus? If the Hindus and Muslims are not able to unite
they will likely be defeated by the British. If the British
can win one of these groups over to their side they could
likely end the rebellion.
What should you do? What do you think your group
should do? Why?

13. What Actually Happened?
 The Hindus and the Muslims were not
able to come to an agreement and unite
to fight against the British.
 The Sikhs, a religious group that is native
to India and practices a peaceful religion,
disliked the Mughal Empire and
remained loyal to the British.
 With the Hindus and Muslims split and
the Sikhs siding with the British they
were able to put down the mutiny and
regain control.

14. Scenario 5 - 1858
Although the British East India company was able to get the mutiny
under control the British government is unhappy with them. As a result
the British government takes control over India. Indian’s refer to the
period the British controlled them as the Raj.
Local Indian princes still remain in control, but the British are really
pulling all the strings. The British in India take on very harsh attitudes
towards Muslims and Hindus as a result of the rebellion. Some people
believe that Muslims and Hindus need to unite and modify their beliefs
and practices, while others believe this may just cause the British to take
firmer control over India.
What will you do? What should your group do?

15. What Actually Happened?
 Ram Mohun Roy a native born well
educated Indian man began a
campaign advocating that India move
themselves away from some of their
traditional practices an ideas (such as
the caste system) and begin to
modernize.
 This began the first nationalist
movement in India to make changes to
the Raj and for Indian people to regain
pride in their country.

16. Scenario 6 - 1885
Ram Mohun Roy’s ideas and teachings have spread
throughout India. People are tired of being treated as
second class citizens under the Raj. Indians are not allowed
to hold high up government positions and are constantly
discriminated against by the British. For example a British
engineer makes 20x as much as an Indian engineer with the
same job and level of education.
Many people are calling for some kind of organization to be
created to resist British imperialism.
What should you do? Who should be allowed to be in this
organization and how should it work?

17. What Actually Happened?
 In 1885 the Indian National
Congress was created to address
some of these issues.
 In 1906 a separate group for
Muslims was created called the
Muslim League.
 Both groups wanted to be
independent of British rule, but
there was still conflict between
the Muslims and the Hindus.

18. 1905 - 1911
Despite these new organizations
forming the British still held control
over India. In 1905 they decided
the region of Bengal was too large
to rule over as one so they divided
it into a Hindu and Muslim region
to rule over separately.
Both Hindus and Muslims are angry
about this partition.
What should you do? How can this issue be
resolved, or how should it be resolved?

19. What Actually Happened?
 Due to the anger and the
terrorist attacks that
began to occur in the
region the British
reunited the Bengal
province.
 This issue helped Hindus
and Muslims to unite in
their anger and outrage
against British rule.

20. 1918 - 1919
Many Indian people served alongside
the British in World War I.
After World War I the Indians
believed the British would give them
more independence.
The British made no changes and
instead restricted Indian rights even
more.
When Indian groups began to protest
they were open fired upon by British
troops killed 400 people.

21. 1920
Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi an
educated Indian man promoted
unity and peace between all
religions in India and using nonviolent protest (civil disobedience)
to resist British rule.
Gandhi encouraged Indians to rebel
against the British by refusing to
buy their products, attend British
schools, or pay British taxes.

22. 1930
In 1930 Gandhi organized a
demonstration to defy the Salt Acts,
which said Indians could only buy salt
from the government and had to pay high
taxes.
To protest Indians marched to the sea
and began making their own salt. The
British came and beat and attacked
people.
This was witnessed by American
journalists and won support for India’s
independence movement.

23. 1935
In 1935 the British passed the
Government of India act, which
allowed India to form their own
government.
Even though India was no longer
under British rule tensions between
the Muslims and Hindus over the
type of government they would
have.
Unable to come to an agreement
this leads to splits between India,
Pakistan & Bangladesh.

24. Modern Day Problems & Tensions
 Issues with India and Pakistan still
exist today over the disputed
borders in a region called Kashmir.
 India still struggles with issues
overcoming the caste system and
systems the British put into place
during their imperialism.
 Since becoming independent India’s
economy has been rapidly growing.
It is predicted that within our
lifetimes India’s economy will
become bigger and stronger than
America’s.