Assignment

Arrange a debate in the class room on the merits and demerits of the British rule in India.

Points for debates-

Merits-

a. Industrial revolution brought by the British in India.

b. Introduction of Railway eased the transportation to distant lands.

c. Introduction of means of communication brought people close to each other.

d. Improvement in the education system brought positive social changes in the society and helped in eradicating the social evils.

e. Introduction of English language helped them in getting in touch with the philosophies and ideas of Western reformers and thinkers.

f. They worked towards the reformation of Indian society and tried to eradicate the social evils.

g. Earlier the laws for different religions and communities varied but they codified the laws and made it uniform for everyone.

i. They started the concept of writing documents so they can be as evidence or reference for the future purpose in other words they gave impetus to the concept of archives.

Demerits-

a. The British exploited Indian peasants for earning maximum amount of revenue.

b. The British introduced various administrative systems in order to benefit themselves.

c. They tried to bring undue reforms in the society which led to disrespect to the religion and Indian culture.

d. The British treated Indians as inferiors and they exploited the land of people in order to grow the commercial crops which led to famines and droughts.

e. The Christian missionaries compelled the people to change their religion.

f. the English planters compelled the peasants to grow cash crops for their benefits.

g. They introduced English as a medium of education which deteriorated the education level as the English language was completely alien to the Indians.

h. They completely ruined the Indian markets of handicraft and textiles.

i. The British took every penny they earned from the Indian revenue to their home lands and completely drained the wealth of India making the country a poor one.