Quick Review Flashcards - Click to flip and test your knowledge!
Question
What is the standard definition of colonialism?
Answer
The practice where one country takes control of another region, establishing settlements and imposing its systems.
Question
During which historical period did the 'Age of Colonialism' primarily occur?
Answer
From the 15th century CE onwards.
Question
Which five European powers were the primary establishers of colonies across Africa, Asia, and the Americas?
Answer
Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, and the Netherlands.
Question
What were the three main economic motivations for European territorial expansion?
Answer
Access to natural resources, new markets, and new trade routes.
Question
Besides economic gain, what was a powerful religious motivation for European colonisers?
Answer
The desire to convert indigenous populations to Christianity.
Question
How did colonisers often 'demonise' indigenous peoples to justify their presence?
Answer
By falsely portraying them as 'savage', 'primitive', or 'barbaric'.
Question
According to economist Angus Maddison, what was India’s approximate contribution to the world GDP before the 16th century?
Answer
At least $\frac{1}{4}$ of the global total.
Question
Which other country held an economic standing similar to India's prior to European colonisation?
Answer
China.
Question
Name three highly sought-after Indian commodities in the Mediterranean world two millennia ago.
Answer
Spices, cotton textiles, and wootz steel.
Question
Who was the Portuguese explorer that arrived at Kappad near Kozhikode in May 1498?
Answer
Vasco da Gama.
Question
Which Indian city became the capital of the Portuguese colony in 1510?
Answer
Goa.
Question
What was the *cartaz* system implemented by the Portuguese navy?
Answer
A permit system requiring all ships in the Arabian Sea to pay for Portuguese navigation passes.
Question
Term: Inquisition
Answer
Definition: A tribunal set up by the Roman Catholic Church to judge and punish suspected heretics.
Question
When was the Goa Inquisition established, and in what year was it finally abolished?
Answer
It was established in 1560 and abolished in 1812.
Question
Which ruler of Ullal successfully thwarted Portuguese attempts to take over her port town in the 16th century?
Answer
Rani Abbakka I.
Question
What primary trade did the Dutch East India Company focus on upon their arrival in the 17th century?
Answer
The spice trade.
Question
At which 1741 battle did King Marthanda Varma of Travancore decisively defeat the Dutch forces?
Answer
The Battle of Colachel.
Question
Where did the French establish their first trading post in India in 1668?
Answer
Surat.
Question
Who served as the Governor-General of French India from 1742 to 1754 and pioneered the use of sepoys?
Answer
Dupleix.
Question
Term: Sepoy
Answer
Definition: An Indian soldier trained in European military techniques and infantry discipline.
Question
What colonial strategy involved installing puppet Indian rulers through interventions in local succession disputes?
Answer
Indirect rule.
Question
Which series of conflicts between 1746 and 1763 resulted in the French losing most of their Indian territory to the British?
Answer
The Carnatic Wars.
Question
What special power was granted to the English East India Company by Queen Elizabeth I's royal charter?
Answer
The power to raise a private army.
Question
Why did local Indian rulers initially welcome the establishment of British trading posts like Madras and Calcutta?
Answer
They generally welcomed foreign trade as a longstanding beneficial practice.
Question
What was the 'divide and rule' policy used by the British in India?
Answer
The strategy of exploiting existing political, religious, or social divisions to gain control.
Question
In what year did the Battle of Plassey take place?
Answer
1757.
Question
Who was the Nawab of Bengal defeated at the Battle of Plassey?
Answer
Siraj-ud-daulah.
Question
Which military commander's betrayal of the Nawab of Bengal ensured a British victory at Plassey?
Answer
Mir Jafar.
Question
Under the Doctrine of Lapse, what happened to a princely state if its ruler died without a natural male heir?
Answer
The state was annexed by the British.
Question
What was the function of a British 'Resident' under the system of subsidiary alliances?
Answer
To protect Indian rulers while effectively controlling their foreign relations and military.
Question
Which Indian ruler was among the first to enter a subsidiary alliance in 1798?
Answer
The ruler of Hyderabad.
Question
Approximately what percentage of the Indian Subcontinent was covered by princely states at the time of Independence?
Answer
40 per cent.
Question
How many people are estimated to have died in the Bengal famine of 1770–1772?
Answer
Nearly 10 million people, or one-third of the population.
Question
What British policy regarding land tax exacerbated the 1770 Bengal famine?
Answer
Maintaining and even increasing high revenue collection targets despite total crop failure.
Question
Why did the British administration continue to export grain during the Great Famine of 1876–1878?
Answer
Adherence to 'free market' principles that forbade government interference with food prices.
Question
What extravagant event did Lord Lytton organise in Delhi during the height of the 1877 famine?
Answer
A week-long durbar feast for 68,000 officials and maharajas.
Question
What is the estimated total number of human victims of famines during the entire period of British rule?
Answer
Between 50 and 100 million.
Question
What did historian Brooks Adams argue was at least partly funded by the 'Bengal plunder' starting in 1760?
Answer
The Industrial Revolution in Britain.
Question
Name the 1901 book by Dadabhai Naoroji that detailed the wealth drained from India.
Answer
*Poverty and Un-British Rule in India*.
Question
According to Utsa Patnaik, what is the estimated value of wealth drained from India between 1765 and 1938?
Answer
45 trillion U.S. dollars.
Question
How did British textile policy in the 19th century lead to the ruin of Indian artisans?
Answer
By imposing heavy duties on Indian imports to Britain while flooding India with cheap British manufactured goods.
Question
By the time of Independence, what had happened to India's share of the world GDP?
Answer
It had declined to hardly 5 per cent.
Question
What term did Charles Metcalfe use to describe the self-sufficient nature of traditional Indian village communities?
Answer
Little republics.
Question
Why did the British replace indigenous governance with a centralised bureaucracy?
Answer
To facilitate efficient tax collection and maintain colonial order.
Question
What was the stated objective of Thomas B. Macaulay’s 1835 'Minute on Indian Education'?
Answer
To create a class of Indians who were 'English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect'.
Question
Macaulay infamously claimed that a single shelf of a good European library was worth _____.
Answer
The whole native literature of India and Arabia.
Question
Term: Orientalist
Answer
Definition: A scholar (now called an Indologist) who studies the languages, literature, and cultures of the 'Orient'.
Question
What was the primary strategic purpose of the vast Indian railway network built by the British?
Answer
To move raw materials to ports for export and to move armies quickly to suppress rebellions.
Question
Who ultimately paid for the construction of the railways and telegraph network in British India?
Answer
The Indian taxpayers through colonial revenue.
Question
In the painting 'The East offering its riches to Britannia', what does the lion symbolise?
Answer
Power.
Question
In colonial symbolism, how was the god Mercury used to represent European interests?
Answer
As a symbol of commerce and travel.
Question
According to the text, what was the impact of the 'Industrial Revolution' on India's global economic standing?
Answer
India transitioned from a top global manufacturer to a poor supplier of raw materials for British industry.
Question
What was the significance of the Khasi Uprising that occurred between 1829 and 1833?
Answer
It represented early indigenous resistance to British authority in present-day Meghalaya.
Question
The _____ resulted in the annexation of Punjab by the East India Company in 1849.
Answer
Fall of the Sikh Empire
Question
What major event in 1858 marked the end of the East India Company's rule and the start of the British Raj?
Answer
The British Crown took direct control following the Great Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Question
How did British legal codes affect the relationship between ordinary Indians and the judicial system?
Answer
They alienated Indians by being expensive, time-consuming, and conducted in English.
Question
In the context of Indian textiles, what does it mean if a fabric is 'embossed'?
Answer
It has a design stamped onto the cloth in a way that creates a raised surface.
Question
What was the 'civilising mission' often claimed by colonisers?
Answer
The justification that they were bringing 'progress' and 'civilisation' to 'barbaric' native peoples.
Question
Which 18th-century Greek painter produced the work 'The East offering its riches to Britannia'?
Answer
Spiridione Roma.
Question
Why did the British 'divide and rule' policy target religious communities in India?
Answer
To encourage tensions that would prevent a united front against colonial rule.