Lesson video

Hello and welcome to History in the Oak National Academy.

My name is Mr. Arscott and today you're going to start a brand new inquiry on the British Empire in India.

Now, this inquiry is going to have quite a difficult sounding inquiry question and it's bit of a mouthful to say.

I'll have a go at saying it now.

Why does it matter what we call the 1857 conflict in India? And that's what we're going to try to think about across the next four lessons.

Now, for today, you're going to need a piece of paper and a pen.

I'm going to ask you to get those things.

If you can stop the video while you're getting them, do that now.

Then once you're ready, I want you to write down today's title: East India Company to Raj.

And once you've done all of that and you've got rid of any possible distractions, then you're ready to start the lesson, and I'll get my head out the way and we can begin.

Now, I'm going to ask you to start by having a look at this image.

And I'm just going to think about one question.

What can you see? Or you might want to have a bit of a look about if you can notice about how many of the men are standing.

Or you might want to have a bit of a look about what machines you can see in the middle and in the background.

So just pause the video for 30 seconds now whilst you have have a look at the picture and then un-pause it once you've got an answer about what you can see.

Welcome back.

So what you can see is a dramatically violent event.

Now, this image shows an execution which took place in India in the mid 19th century.

Now the people in green are British soldiers and the people in orange are Indian men who have been tied up and they were about to be executed.

Surprisingly, the way that these men are being executed is they are being tied to cannons.

And then the cannon is being shot and their body are being exploded into lots of small pieces.

And the artist is trying to depict that in what I've circled in orange on this slide.

Now you might be thinking, "Why is this happening?" Why would British soldiers be killing Indian men in the mid 19th century in India? Well, one reason was that British soldiers wanted to control India and believed they had a right to control India.

And the reason why they executed these men is because these men have tried to challenge British rule.

And in order to punish them, they're being executed in this way.

But in order to scare other Indians from doing it, they're using such a shocking and violent method of execution.

Right.

Now I want you to have a go at trying to answer this for yourself.

So what can you see? Now on the screen I put two sentences to start to help you: in this picture I can see; and this was done because.

So have a go at trying to answer these questions.

What can you see? Pause the video, what you're doing and un-pause it when you're done.

Welcome back.

Right.

Let's have a think about what you might've put.

So this is something I wrote earlier.

In this picture I can see Indian men being tied to cannons and killed by British soldiers.

This was done because the British wants to use a terrifying form of execution.

Now you might not have written something like that.

You might have written something very different.

You still might have the right answer.

Now, if you've got something very, very different though, have a read at what I wrote.

And if you think it could be useful, add it to your own answer, just so you've got a really nice, clear description of what you can see.

Now, before we start looking into our inquiry question and finding out a bit more about why that event happened, I want to give you a big timeline so we got a big-picture understanding of what's going on.

So this is the rough period that we're going to be looking at, period from 1600 to the present day.

And I've put on the screen some famous events that you might have heard about before, might have studied before, which happened in this period.

Now the key event that we're interested in is a conflict which happened in India in 1857.

And our guiding question is: Why does it matter what we call this conflict? Now I've put an orange flash on the timeline around the rough point when this conflict would have happened.

Now, in order to answer this, we need to think a bit more about what was happening in India.

So in this time timeline, I can show you some of the key events that we're going to be learning about in today's lesson, in the next few lessons.

So in 1600, a company was created called the East India Company.

And around this time, the empire that controlled India, which was called the Mughal empire, this is a period of Mughal control.

Later on, there's going to be a period where the Mughal Empire is kind of weak and the East India Company starts controlling parts of India.

Then after this 1857 conflict, the British government takes direct control of large parts of India.

Later on in 1947, India becomes an independent country.

And when that happens and from the period afterwards, what used to be British-controlled India becomes the States of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, which we still have today.

So let's find out about some of these organisations which controlled India.

At the beginning of the period we were exploring India was controlled by the Mughal Empire.

And let's start by having a look at this map on the right.

And this map shows the Indian subcontinent sometimes referred to as South Asia.

Now the lands in green were controlled by a group called the Mughals.

And we call the period when the Mughals controlled the Indian subcontinent Mughal Empire.

Now it's worth saying, at this point, whenever I say or you read India, we must be aware we're using a generalisation.

The Indian lands controlled by the Mughal Empire are not identical to the modern day state of India.

The Mughal Empire force contained lands which are now part of modern-day Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

So when I say or we say India or Indian, we must be aware we're using a generalisation that may not capture the full complexity of the past.

Now one nice example of this, is that the rulers of the Mughal Empire were Muslims, however, the majority of the people who lived under the Mughals followed other religions.

Now the Mughals were really effective warriors, but perhaps they're most famous for the mark they mad on Indian architecture.

And some of the most famous Indian buildings, which are still famous to this day, were constructed under the Mughal Empire.

So that includes the Red Fort in Delhi or New Delhi, which we can see here on the left.

And also perhaps the most famous building in the world, the Taj Mahal, which is in the city of Agra.

Now, as we said earlier, it's important to remember that there is lots of diversity under the Mughal empire.

This means that there are lots of different types of people.

Now, one way the Mughal Empire was diverse was that there were different religions followed.

For example, there's Hinduism, there's Islam, there were Buddhists, there were Sikhs there were Jains, and there were Parsees.

And this picture on the right actually shows one of the most famous Mughal emperors, Akbar, is holding a meeting with representatives of different religions.

So the Mughal emperors were Muslims, but they accepted that in their empire there'd be lots of different religions.

There's also diversity in language.

So different people living under the Mughals spoke different languages.

Right, let's check your understanding.

So which of the following is an accurate sentence? I'm going to ask you to pause the video and then read through these four options.

Choose which one you think is true, then un-pause it when you're done.

Welcome back.

Well done if you chose option one.

The Mughals were Muslims who controlled an empire containing lots of religions.

Now for hundreds of years Indian spices and fabrics had been bought by Europeans.

Now these luxuries had been traded over land on a route called silk road.

You've gone from India all the way through central Asia in the middle East, and then transported across to other European cities, including in England.

But in the 15th and 16th century, more and more Europeans had managed to find a way to travel to India by sea.

And the route in blue you can see are some of the routes that Europeans took.

Now, the Portuguese were the first to do it.

And once Portuguese traders started going to India they started making lots and lots of money from selling Indian spice and fabrics back in Europe.

Now, understandably, other Europeans started competing and wanted to make this money too.

Now one of those other European countries that wanted to get in on the trade was England.

And in the 1600s, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted permission for a new company to be created, and it was called the East India Company.

And the East India Company would organise the trade between India and Britain, or England at the time in what would later become Britain.

Now at the start, the East India Company was only interested in trade and it based itself in several Indian ports on the Indian coast.

And in those ports, company ships could load up goods and sail back to Britain.

Now gradually the company became very wealthy and there are more and more East India Company employees living in India.

And we can see an example of one of those in the picture on the right.

It's a picture of an Indian style, but we can see an East India Company employee who is living a luxurious, wealthy life in India.

Now, as the company became more wealthy, it became more powerful.

Now at the same time that the company was becoming wealthier, the Mughal Empire was actually becoming weaker, and this is because the Mughal emperors are facing problems with people in different regions of India fighting for independence and resisting Mughal rule.

Now because the Mughal emperors couldn't control all of India, the company started taking control of land around the ports.

And gradually over time, the East India Company started getting more and more powers and taking over more and more land from the Mughal emperor.

So across the 1800s, or across the 1700s, or in the 18th century, the East India company started to control more and more of India.

Now, if we stop and we're looking at the map on the left, the red shows lands controlled by the Mughal emperors.

And then the yellow shows the land controlled by the East India Company.

Now over time, the East Indian Company took over more and more land.

So by the end of the 18th century, the East India Company actually controlled more land than the Mughal emperors and was the most powerful organisation in India.

Now that's quite complicated and quite a weird story to tell that a company became more powerful.

So what I'm going to ask you to do is read through these sentences and put them in the correct order.

So pause the video whilst doing it, then write them out in the correct order and un-pause it when you think you're done, and we'll check through the answer.

Please pause the video now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you've got them in the right order.

So firstly Mughal rule begins.

Then the East India Company was established.

And then the Mughal Empire weakens.

And then the East India Company starts to rule more and more of India.

Now, how would a company actually control a huge land like India? Well when it took over the bit of land it would start taxing the people that lived there and use that to fund the company.

It then used its money to do some things that a government would normally do.

Now, one of the crucial things that government would do was maintain law and order.

In order to do that, the East India Company started to build up its own army.

And the army was made up of officers who were trained in Britain and Indian soldiers who were known as sepoys.

And you see two pictures of sepoys, a picture of two sepoys on the right.

Now, this term's going to be really important.

We're going to come across it over and over again.

So I'm going to ask you to write it down in your notes now.

So sepoy is an Indian soldiers serving in the British Indian army.

And un-pause it once you've copied that down.

Now, once the East India Company's become more powerful, some people in Britain thought that Eastern Company shouldn't just be making money from India, but should actually be trying to change India.

And in 1813, the East India Company started allowing Christian missionaries to start coming to India and trying to convert people to Christianity.

So a missionary is someone who wants to change people's religion.

Now this is part of a bigger idea, which is that people in Britain thought they should try to civilise India.

Now what they meant by that was to change something to try to make it more advanced.

But of course for Indians, they found this very offensive that the British or the East India Company were trying to interfere in traditional Indian ways of life.

Now, this is one of the crucial reasons why in 1857, some of the sepoys, some of the Indian soldiers who fought in the East India Company, rebelled against their officers.

Now after 1857, the East India Company lost control of India and Britain took control instead because they thought the East India company had governed so badly.

Right.

You're now in a really good position to try to answer some comprehension questions.

Now, in order to do that, I'm going to ask you to shortly pause the video, go to the next page, and read through the worksheet slides.

Have a go at answering the questions, then come back to the video once you've had a go and then we'll go through your answers.

Now, before you do that, I'm just going to read out the questions so they're as clear as possible.

Question one, how did British soldiers execute some Indian men in 1857? Two, what was the name of the empire that ruled India before the East India Company gradually took over? Three, what was the name of the Indian soldiers who fought for the East India Company's army? Four, what was the consequence of the 1857 conflict for the East India Company? And five, Why was it dangerous for the East India Company to try to civilise India? Right, and now we're going to ask you to pause the video, go to the next page, read through the worksheet slides, answer the questions, and then come back to the video to check your answers.

Welcome back.

Let's go through your answers.

So question one, how did the British soldiers execute some Indian men in 1857? So an acceptable answer could be tied to a cannon, and a good answer, which is in a full sentence, is: In 1857, British soldiers executed some Indian men by tying them to a cannon and then firing the cannon.

Now if you haven't got exactly the same wording as me, don't worry.

Look for common language and give yourself a tick if you've got something roughly similar.

Now it's always a good idea in these questions to try to answer in a full sentence like I've done in the good answer.

So in this, in future lessons, try to always push yourself to do that.

Right, question two, what was the name of the empire that ruled India before the East India Company gradually took over? Acceptable answer would be the Mughal Empire.

But a good answer would be: The Mughal Empire ruled India before the East India Company gradually took over.

Question three.

What was the name of the Indian soldiers who fought for the East India Company's army? Acceptable answer is going to be sepoy.

Good answer: Sepoys were Indian soldiers who fought for the East India Company's, army.

The Army's officers were British-born, so the sepoys served under them.

Question four.

What was the consequence of the 1857 conflict for the East India Company? An acceptable answer is it stopped ruling India.

A good answer in a full sentence: After 1857, the East India Company stopped ruling India and the British government took direct responsibility for governing the country.

Question five, the challenge question.

Why was it dangerous for the East India Company to try to civilise India? Acceptable answer could be: Some Indians did not want to be changed.

A good answer: Firstly, some Indians did not like the idea of the East India Company becoming involved in how people lived their lives.

Secondly, Indian society was complex and diverse so different groups might react in different ways to changes.

Okay, well done for having a go at those answers.

If there's anything you got wrong or you thought that you didn't get a full answer right, you might want to pause video now and go back through and add to your notes.

Now you might want to now have a go at our extension activity, which is going to develop your thinking a bit further.

And our extension activity is answering this question: How did the British relationship with India change between 1600 and 1858? Now, before we have a go at trying to answer that it's worth us having another look at our timeline.

So this shows how the relationship between Britain and India changed.

So the start of our period, the Mughal Empire is in control and gradually during the 18th century, the Mughal Empire became weaker.

And as Mughal Empire became weaker, the East India Company trying to take over more and more land within India.

By the 1850s, the East India Company effectively did control India.

But then in 1857, the company was shocked by the conflict which happened.

And after that, the British government did not allow the company to retake control of India, and instead the British government took control itself.

So you and I are in a good position to have a go at trying to answer the question.

How did the British relationship with India change between 1600 and 1858? Now I'm going to help you answer that.

I've given you a few sentence starters.

Now you want to make sure you talk about what the situation was like at the beginning of 1600, then talk about how it changed, and then talk about the final change we've looked at in 1857.

Now I've put some key words to help you.

You might want to put them in your, at the end of your sentences in order to finish them off.

And if you manage to use all those key words, you'll have probably written a really nice and detailed answer.

So have a go doing that.

And once you've finished it, I want you to take a picture of your work and send it to your class teacher so they can see what brilliant work you've done.

Alright, well done for your hard work today.

We've started a new inquiry and learned lots of new things about something that might be very unfamiliar to you.

So what I want you to do is stop the video now and then have a go at the end-of-lesson quiz.