A History of British India

Overview

Explore the transformative 200-year era of British colonial rule that shaped modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in this 24-lecture course.

Course No. 8431

From the East India Company’s rise to Gandhi’s independence movement, discover how British imperialism reshaped subcontinental politics, economics, and culture while forging new national identities.

Course Content

Foundations of Colonial Rule

1. Mughal India on the Eve of Conquest (33 min)
   • The splendor and vulnerabilities of India’s last great empire

2. East India Company Takeover (29 min)
   • How a trading firm became an imperial power (1757-1820)

3. The Great Uprising of 1857 (28 min)
   • Rebellion that ended Company rule and established the British Raj

Colonial Society & Economy

4. Caste Under British Rule (29 min)
   • How colonial policies rigidified social hierarchies

5. Raj Economics: Wealth Extraction (30 min)
   • Tax systems, deindustrialization, and famine policies

6. Princely States: Indirect Rule (30 min)
   • Britain’s alliance with maharajas and nawabs

Nationalism & Resistance

7. Birth of Indian Nationalism (32 min)
   • Early reformers and the Indian National Congress

8. Gandhi’s Revolution (30 min)
   • Satyagraha and the Noncooperation Movement

9. Road to Partition (31 min)
   • Rising Hindu-Muslim tensions and the Pakistan movement

Legacy & Independence

10. World War II’s Impact (31 min)
    • Quit India Movement and colonial collapse

11. Partition Violence (31 min)
    • The human tragedy of 1947’s border divisions

12. Postcolonial Reflections (31 min)
    • How British rule shaped modern South Asia