How the British and Indians viewed each other
INDIANRammohun Roy was a man born into a devout high-caste Hindu family and was working in the British East India Company (the highest administrative rank possible for an Indian). He opposed the plan of Britain sponsoring and building more schools in India, as the plan was to only educate the Natives on their own culture and language. Instead, he wanted the British to build schools in India that would provide Western education, which includes math and science. Roy and India as a whole thought that the founding of schools would be useless unless the schools provide Western education.
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BRITISHThough this letter does not specifically say anything to do with the Europeans’ views, it is implicated that the British thought themselves to be superior to the Indians and did not think that the Indians deserved Wester education.
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The Indians were treated like low-life creatures as they were tortured however the British wanted them to be. Although this source does not state the exact views of the Indians, it does imply that they viewed the British to be malicious, cruel and unforgiving. They believed that they deserved the rights equal to that of a British man, as demonstrated in Wheeler's writing about the Indians' first attempts at rebelling against the British, which ultimately frustrated/angered the British and led to the massacre of Indians (burning and burying them alive, etc).
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In the "British Historical Narrative of the Great Indian Mutiny", an excerpt by W. Lee Wheeler, the British were described to have had [Indian] "...men being shot of hacked to pieces before the eyes of their wives and children...they were butchered and mutilated, their bodies being thrown into a well..." (quote from article: http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Sepoy.html)
From the excerpt, readers can clearly understand how the British viewed the Sepoys to be worthless, not even human, since they freely killed the Indians at their own satisfaction. On the other hand, the writer himself also describes the English Queen, who later declared "all her Indian subjects should be protected in the exercise of their religious observances..." to be a Queen of gratitude and solace towards other's convictions. All in all, the British thought themselves to be superior to the Indians and that they are a well-educated people with respect (but oh, the irony). |
The source is mainly about how others viewed the British, and did not exactly mention what the Indians' views were. However, it is rather obvious that the Indians thought themselves to be absolute victims that did not deserve to suffer the taunts and tortures of the British, for it says in the article that "The English soldiery then committed abominations for the mere fun of it; their passions being neither sanctified by religious fanaticism or exacerbated by hatred against an overbearing and conquering race, nor provoked by the stern resistance of a heroic enemy."
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In an article written by Karl Marx in the New-York Tribune of 1857, titled "The Indian Revolt", the British were described to be "clad, fed, petted, fatted and pampered by them [Indians/sepoys]... it would be an unmitigated mistake to suppose that all cruelty is on the side of the Sepoys, and all the milk of human kindness flows on the side of the English... the British officers are redolent of malignity." The above quote shows how the British were viewed to be lazy and spoiled, in sense - all they do is sit there and order the Indians around, taking advantage of them and misusing their service. This point can be further proven when, quote, a British officer said: "We have power of life and death in our hands, and we assure you we spare not. We hold court-martials on horseback, and every nigger we meet with we either string up or shoot." The British are viewed to be violent, cruel: "...the cruelties of the English are related as acts of martial vigor..." as the passage continues to describe the unfair treatment towards the Indians.
Source: newspaper article by Karl Marx http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1857/09/16.htm |
In the "Petition by a native of Allahabad, re: Belief that the British Government intended forcibly to convert people of India to Christianity, May 1858":
This petition is written by an Indian, who stated his views of the British people - "It is well known to all that in this age the people of Hindustan are being ruined under the tyranny and oppression of the treacherous and infidel English." The Indians thought the British to be their utmost enemies, who forced them into their Westernized ways, ways that contradicted with their culture, traditions and religion. They believed the British to have monopolized their trade which consisted of valuable merchandise, taking away their precious indigo and cloth in exchange for filthy, pork-greased rifles. The writer described the British to be "pregnant with all sorts of crooked dealings" because the British taxed the Indians with subscriptions for schools, hospitals, roads, etc, and never shared their profits - according to the writer. They had "little respect, low pay, and no manner of influence and all the posts of dignity and emolument in both the departments are exclusively bestowed upon Englishmen." The Indians thought that they devoted their entire lives to military service and got mistreatment in return. Source: http://www.csas.ed.ac.uk/mutiny/Texts-Part2.html |
This source was titled as an "Indian Response", hence a British perspective was not mentioned.
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In this particular source, the Indian servant did not show any hatred towards his master, the author; this is probably because he himself was not a Sepoy. This Indian was the complete opposite; he did not share their views or hatred towards the Europeans. Instead, when the Sepoys went to attack the author's house, the servant faithfully went up to the Sepoys and tricked them into thinking he was one of them in order to save the family. He risked his own life in order to save the European family. "He boldly went up to them, won their confidence by declaring himself of their faith, and willing to give us up into their hands... Golab Khan's life was now almost as much at risk as our own; but he happily escaped."
However, this source also demonstrates and proves that the Sepoys truly despised the Europeans, according to the destruction they had managed to inflict. |
The woman, who was the author, did not seem to have anything against all of the Indians in general. She seemed to have an appreciative attitude towards her servant; there was no cruel behavior whatsoever. She merely showed fear towards the Sepoys, as well as despair when she learned about the damage he Sepoys had caused. "We had been utterly cut off from all communication through the night, and sad was the tale of murder and bloodshed we now heard, and terrible the anxiety for those at Delhi, when it was found that the telegraph wires had been destroyed by the Sepoys, before any knowledge of what was occurring had transpired. The mutineers got away during the night, and pursuit was useless. The morrow confirmed our worst fears; but of that hideous massacre all has been made known."
On the other hand, the source mentions that there were Europeans who would not accept and tolerate the harm that the Sepoys were inflicting upon them. According to the source, these Europeans formed an army. "Active preparations at the same time went on in organising a field force. At length all was in readiness, and the order for the march was hailed with delight; sanguine were our hopes that a fortnight, or at the most three weeks, would see our gallant little army on its victorious return. With many and oft-repeated good wishes and prayers, we saw them depart. On the night of the 27th May they marched away." |
How did these views lead to conflict?
The entire conflict, the Sepoy Mutiny, originated from the way that the British had treated the Indians. A number of Indians were tortured and looked down upon, mistreated, given low pay, limited opportunities for advancement, etc. The superiority of the Europeans was demonstrated in many unreasonable ways; the British did not only oppress them physically and verbally, they also tried to slowly and gradually diminish and eliminate the Indians' culture and traditions. This, of course, would inevitably cause the Indians to hold a grudge against them, to revolt in order to save their traditional practices, which was considered a form of respect to their ancestors. It is understandable that the Indians would feel insulted as they were being discriminated against when in their own home. Perhaps the British should have seen it coming; they could've prevented it if not for their attitude towards the Indians. On top of all the mistreatment, the British forced the Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle on the sepoys, which was the last straw for the Indians. To use this rifle, a pre-greased paper cartridge must be bitten off, and it just so happens that the grease on the cartridge was either beef or pork oil. Having the Hindu and Muslims bite off the "unholy" cartridge was not the wisest choice the British made, for beef and pork were considered filthy animals in the religion's perspective. The Indians automatically assumed that the British were trying to rid them of the only hope in life they have left, the faith in their god, and therefore were infuriated by said actions of the British. This was the final spark that led to the forest fire; this was what stimulated the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.