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A History of British India
12 hours 11 mins
No era is more pertinent to understanding how present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh evolved than the nearly 200 years of British rule. This colonial period was a time of deep change and transformation - for India and for the world. These 24 engrossing lectures offer you new perspectives on the history of European imperialism, on world economic history, on the features of British colonialism, and on the rich cultures of the Indian subcontinent.
Over the course of this remarkable saga you'll explore:
-How the English East India Company, a commercial trading entity, established a presence in India and took the reins of power in one of the strangest political transformations in world history
-How the monumental Mughal Empire, builders of the Taj Mahal and longstanding Muslim rulers in India, gradually came apart in the face of British conquest
-How Britain extended its rule across the subcontinent, built a huge economic machine in India, and ultimately exacted a heavy price from the Indian people
-How India finally achieved independence in 1947, through one of humanity's most noteworthy examples of resourceful and philosophically sophisticated leadership
You'll trace the economic motives that brought the British and other Westerners to India, like how the emergence of the English as a stereotypically tea-drinking society was directly related to the Indian colonial economy. You will also take stock of the incredibly lavish lifestyles of India's maharajahs and how the British leveraged alliances with them. And you'll grasp the fundamental moral contradiction of the Raj, the conflict between Britain's economic interests and the human needs of the empire's Indian subjects, and more. In A History of British India, you'll relive a crucial era in international relations, one with deep and lasting implications for our contemporary world.
No era is more pertinent to understanding how present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh evolved than the nearly 200 years of British rule. This colonial period was a time of deep change and transformation - for India and for the world. These 24 engrossing lectures offer you new perspectives on the history of European imperialism, on world economic history, on the features of British colonialism, and on the rich cultures of the Indian subcontinent.
Over the course of this remarkable saga you'll explore:
-How the English East India Company, a commercial trading entity, established a presence in India and took the reins of power in one of the strangest political transformations in world history
-How the monumental Mughal Empire, builders of the Taj Mahal and longstanding Muslim rulers in India, gradually came apart in the face of British conquest
-How Britain extended its rule across the subcontinent, built a huge economic machine in India, and ultimately exacted a heavy price from the Indian people
-How India finally achieved independence in 1947, through one of humanity's most noteworthy examples of resourceful and philosophically sophisticated leadership
You'll trace the economic motives that brought the British and other Westerners to India, like how the emergence of the English as a stereotypically tea-drinking society was directly related to the Indian colonial economy. You will also take stock of the incredibly lavish lifestyles of India's maharajahs and how the British leveraged alliances with them. And you'll grasp the fundamental moral contradiction of the Raj, the conflict between Britain's economic interests and the human needs of the empire's Indian subjects, and more. In A History of British India, you'll relive a crucial era in international relations, one with deep and lasting implications for our contemporary world.
24 pages, Audible Audio
First published January 6, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 27, 2023
Как обычно в Great Courses, информация ровно на такую глубину, чтобы интересно было и тому, кто совсем ничего не знает о теме, и тому, кто знает довольно много, но не специалист. Лектор обаятельный и с хорошим, на мой непросвещенный взгляд, произношением в хинди :)
December 31, 2025
If all you know about the British interventions in India can be summed up in the words Plassey, Sepoy Mutiny, and Ghandi, you’ll want to read this Great Courses book. It offers a fascinating look at how the British influenced the subcontinent and its people in both positive and negative ways, and how British policy changed over time. It also shows the birth of modern India and Pakistan as opposition to British rule grew. All in all, this is a quick, fascinating look at one of the archetypal imperial states.
The first time I read this I gave it three stars but on the second review, I think I was being stingy and have improved the rating to four stars.
The first time I read this I gave it three stars but on the second review, I think I was being stingy and have improved the rating to four stars.
October 17, 2022
A History of British India by Prof. Hayden Bellenoit is an interesting, if not entirely gripping, survey of the history of British Raj. You will learn a lot about the time period from this course, including some things I didn't know - the role of Indian Hindu merchants in the rise of the British East India Company, the role of British rulers in solidifying the Caste system and the Hindu faith, the deurbanization of British Raj, the tension between the Raj's princes and the burgeoning Congress Party, etc. There's plenty to like here. Bellenoit is familiar with the material, and he does try to be fair. Even so, there were moments where I felt like he was sometimes uncharitable, and sometimes going out of the way to argue against a bugbear of his.
Take a look at this one if you want to know more about South Asia, India, Britain's Empire, or the emergence of the Hindu religion.
Take a look at this one if you want to know more about South Asia, India, Britain's Empire, or the emergence of the Hindu religion.
September 23, 2021
A pretty good overview. I definitely want to dive deeper into each aspect and time period mentioned, though.
June 19, 2020
Unfortunately pretty mediocre. I get that there are space constraints for what they can include (& colonial history of ALL of India is huge) but this is lame bordering on malpractice.
First, some interesting tidbits
* Argument that major Indian commercial families were a key component (not just a component) of EIC colonial success [they were upset with local rulers & benefited under the British]
* Argument that Britain's desire to formalize legal systems led to an increase in rigidity & harshness. This didn't come from nothing -- the formal bits were exactly this harsh. But in practice they weren't applied for many people and local custom dictated the application. Custom is hard to formalize / write down so most of this was lost. This bit is particularly well done as it's backed up by numerous examples & detail.
But, that's about it. Even the first point is mostly an interesting assertion, there's no real argument backing it up save for the fact that these families did back the EIC (but how key was this?). The rest of the piece is really very skeletal and doesn't have deeper insights. Gandhi is painted as an exceptional moralist, though later offhandedly details his belief that women should remain in the home. Celibacy tests not mentioned.
Omissions are also quite stark. BR Ambedkar is mentioned super offhandedly & mostly just to say he went to Columbia!
I get that there are space constraints but I sort of think your options here are either to double the length of the course & put in some real content or just not have it.
First, some interesting tidbits
* Argument that major Indian commercial families were a key component (not just a component) of EIC colonial success [they were upset with local rulers & benefited under the British]
* Argument that Britain's desire to formalize legal systems led to an increase in rigidity & harshness. This didn't come from nothing -- the formal bits were exactly this harsh. But in practice they weren't applied for many people and local custom dictated the application. Custom is hard to formalize / write down so most of this was lost. This bit is particularly well done as it's backed up by numerous examples & detail.
But, that's about it. Even the first point is mostly an interesting assertion, there's no real argument backing it up save for the fact that these families did back the EIC (but how key was this?). The rest of the piece is really very skeletal and doesn't have deeper insights. Gandhi is painted as an exceptional moralist, though later offhandedly details his belief that women should remain in the home. Celibacy tests not mentioned.
Omissions are also quite stark. BR Ambedkar is mentioned super offhandedly & mostly just to say he went to Columbia!
I get that there are space constraints but I sort of think your options here are either to double the length of the course & put in some real content or just not have it.
February 19, 2024
The lecture series starts off by providing a background of what India was prior to Mughal and British rule - the underlying societal norms, religious customs, traditions, caste system, varna system and so on. This built a foundation on which understanding the way Indians behaved under the various rulers right from Mughals, British and princely states. It also personally helped me answer the question as to how a group of 1000+ Britishers who ran a trading company took over a nation of millions. The inflow of missionaries into India helped shed light on how Christianity found roots in India and how the economic exploitation catalysed it. The lectures provide an objective of why the British had to codify the Sharia law for ease of governance, which eventually made it staunch and inflexible. The lectures also dissect how the world war and its aftermath left Britian no choice but to eventually relinquish the Raj. However, while trying to extend their time in India, they finally sowed the seeds of Divide and Rule that eventually led to the partition and fueled communal violence.
The sad part of going through the lecture series was that despite there being live examples of how colonial era left countries in shambles, the world still continues to have petty wars which have catastrophic impact on the world.
The sad part of going through the lecture series was that despite there being live examples of how colonial era left countries in shambles, the world still continues to have petty wars which have catastrophic impact on the world.
October 10, 2022
Wonderful beginner's guide to the history of British India, with a focus on culture and economics. Lots of in-depth treatment of ideas that I had only passing familiarity with: Mughal and pre-Mughal Indian culture, linguistic connections in proto-Indo-European, etc. Key takeaway of course was that the British Raj was strikingly more exploitative and ruthless even than the already-quite-ruthless Mughal rulers. Some points I hadn't known: East India Company created massive de-industrialization, as policies prioritized agricultural production and shifted finished good production to the UK; lots of additional discussion on how the profit motive of the EIC and its kleptocratic approach to government (e.g. seizing princely states without heirs, minimizing public spending to focus on army spending and debt service) triggered many avoidable famines; and lots of discussion of how 19th century orientalist, racist theories were used to justify abuses.
February 7, 2024
I took my time listening to this but thoroughly enjoyed it. There were many aspects where the author didn't really go into as much detail as I would have liked but I still understood a lot more than I did about the life in British India and various economic and cultural implications of a colonial state. Perhaps due to my inherent bias, I felt that the author left out many aspects of the British raj that affected the common people in the southern states.
The audiobook narration was quite gripping too and I would recommend this as a sort of brief history of British India.
The audiobook narration was quite gripping too and I would recommend this as a sort of brief history of British India.
February 16, 2024
While I found this informative, I thought it was largely one-sided and looked at events from the British perspective. How various events and actions were perceived or experienced by the Indian population was only briefly touched upon in different chapters. Only when recounting pre-Independence events in the 20th century did the author present the perspectives of the Indian Congress, the Arya Samaj or the Muslim League more fully. Overall, I felt the author could have been more critical in his analysis of British actions.
August 10, 2024
Good. It felt like we didn't cover as much early history as we did modern history, but in reviewing the lecture list, I'm wrong. The course is broadly chronological, but several lectures are more thematic, so you lose that sense of moving forward in time. Interesting lecture style... and the lecturer offers his personal evaluation of whether the British Raj was a good thing, and I don't know what I think about that--I tend to prefer more distancing from a historian (NOT that I think objectivity in history is possible, just that personal evaluations are little awkward, but maybe I should embrace that a little more). Anyway, I certainly learned a few things...
August 11, 2024
The book is by 'Great Courses', I found it different from books on British India and my own school textbooks. Because it's structured as a lecture series it explains the why behind various historic incidents and makes global connections. It also seemed to have an unbiased view of history.
It starts with explaining Indian society before the Mughals, the Mughal period and how the East India Company came to rule vast portions of India within a 100 years and the rule of the crown afterwards until Independence.
The books ends with the British leaving in a hurry in a self-congratulatory manner and the partition of India. The book also reveals who may have played a greater role in the partition of India.
It starts with explaining Indian society before the Mughals, the Mughal period and how the East India Company came to rule vast portions of India within a 100 years and the rule of the crown afterwards until Independence.
The books ends with the British leaving in a hurry in a self-congratulatory manner and the partition of India. The book also reveals who may have played a greater role in the partition of India.
December 24, 2020
I watched this Great Course on Kanopy, 24 half-hour lectures. I followed it fairly well through the 18th and 19th centuries, but found politics in 20th century India to be quite complex. And the course was almost entirely politics -- very little background on personalities, literature, art/architecture, etc.
I'd have to read or watch more on this subject to really feel I have a grasp on it.
I'd have to read or watch more on this subject to really feel I have a grasp on it.
July 13, 2017
This was an excellent education in the period of British India. I have traveled to India a couple of times, and visited some of the historic sites, but didn't really understand the role that the British played in how the country has developed to its current status.
May 22, 2024
i really enjoyed listening to this book and the stories around the circumstances that led to India being ruled by the British and then how we fought back and took control. Very gripping and often heart rending.
Read
June 13, 2024each of these lectures felt like it would have to be developed into its own seperate course in order to do the material the justice it deserves. a very quick introductory gloss/ jumping off point for more study.
did-not-finish
June 10, 2025Compared to some of the other Great Courses, this one seemed to focus a lot of bureaucracy and governance, much more than than the personalities that shaped events or how the people responded. I found the subject matter interesting, but the narration had me drifting off (even at increased speed).
September 5, 2022
Very educational. A foreigner's perspective about India under British Raj, was very refreshing. I personally felt privileged to have the freedom and the rights I have today.
April 12, 2023
Good overview of modern Indian history, leading upto independence.
July 26, 2023
Very, very interesting.
February 4, 2024
Excellent
October 7, 2025
Perfectly exposed history of huge part of our planet last five hundred years. Lecturer have a very pleasant voice
January 21, 2023
Great starting point for driving into modern Indian politics and culture. Interesting to learn the violent and nonviolent actions of Indian movement. And much more
February 20, 2025
Didnt realise that India in 1700 accounted for a quarter of all trade, but this plummeted under the British seems like when youre only concerned with squeezing value out of somewhere theres not enough long term development going on?
A whistle stop tour of the British in India, from Clive of India being paid in rights to collect tax (terrible use of sovereignty) the author says "The company did what all regional indian states were doing (Military fiscalism) but they did it better" which tends to be a problem with industrialising any process without allowing for human exceptions. Akey example of this was British assumptions that there was a single code of law for Muslims and one for Hindus was incorrect as law was often decided by customs not religion. E.g. in religious law women could not inherit but in practice they could. Codifying the law with upper caste Brahmans would be like using the bible to right codes of law, and didn't allow the flexibility that custom allowed. This would have prevented some abuse of the law as well but as written it was too rigid. The Company outlawed Sati (burning of widows alive) in 1829, even if they didn't practice it they objected to the interference. This was not thought to be a common practice.
The 1857 uprising, scattered and with lots of complex issues coming to a head, forms a lot of anti british hatred with the rumours that cwtridges had been greased with pork and beef (likely was linseed oil) and gave the liberal adminsitration a black eye and led to more military presence.
Sunni clerics weren't happy with the Shia Muslkm dynasty restoration and didn't know if they should start a Jihad against the British or the Indians on their side. 1857 uprising changed the constitutional relationship and the East India East India Company rule was abolished in 1858 and became the British Raj who promised not to expand its influence and surprisingly kept its word.
The high level of admijsitration and burercrary meant English education gave government jobs, Muslims resisted this and home schooled many
The English separated Muslims from state sponsorship of their buildings. The author sees this as a bad thing but seems to be a progressive policy, it might be more the actions of the British are less important than the intention to take as much money as possible.
Contradiction with Indirect Rule (soft power) Britain supported feudal states whilst trying to modernise. English speaking connected regions of India allowing for cross region alliances and planning.
Hilafat movement started ti run out of steam and did what most religious movements do, doubling down in religion. They tried to argue that anything attacking the ottoman empire was an attack on Muslims everywhere. Some thought the breakuo of the empire into Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia creation was thought to be dividing of Muslims, but had been done on Arab wishes.
Pakistan (Punjab, Afghan States, Kashmir Sindh and baluchaSTAN Acronym which also means land of the pure) Muslim idea that India wasn't a nation but a collection of cultures. All states where Muslims had a majority.
Extraction of wealth from India, pound went off the gold standard, rupee was pegged to pound and with gold not being weighed down by the pound gold prices went up 20%. This caused debtors to need to sell their gold jewels to pay back debts that made their way to London.
Muslim league voted for partition, would not budge from demanding protections. Confress party fearing an independent decentralised state would be gobbled up by Iran, America or China. They'd rather lop off part if the country.
Lord Mountbatten called partition the greatest administrative operation in history.
2-3 million Indians died during partition with 15-20 million displaced by borders that were not released until 2 days after they came into force.
Poor rural parts of Pakistan were culturally nothing like the rest of the country and wasn't solved untill 1971 Bangladesh partition
Why did Hindus and Muslims who had lived together for hundreds of years in peace kill each other in partition? They were angry at the decisions made without consultation and barely any representation.
Choice Notes
EM Forster "Indians like gods and British like playing gods"
Looking at the impact of British rule and how Ondia became the most successful democracy from a European Colony. (USA?)
Ghandi "poverty is the worst form of violence" he tried to reform the existing government rather than overthrow it initially.
A whistle stop tour of the British in India, from Clive of India being paid in rights to collect tax (terrible use of sovereignty) the author says "The company did what all regional indian states were doing (Military fiscalism) but they did it better" which tends to be a problem with industrialising any process without allowing for human exceptions. Akey example of this was British assumptions that there was a single code of law for Muslims and one for Hindus was incorrect as law was often decided by customs not religion. E.g. in religious law women could not inherit but in practice they could. Codifying the law with upper caste Brahmans would be like using the bible to right codes of law, and didn't allow the flexibility that custom allowed. This would have prevented some abuse of the law as well but as written it was too rigid. The Company outlawed Sati (burning of widows alive) in 1829, even if they didn't practice it they objected to the interference. This was not thought to be a common practice.
The 1857 uprising, scattered and with lots of complex issues coming to a head, forms a lot of anti british hatred with the rumours that cwtridges had been greased with pork and beef (likely was linseed oil) and gave the liberal adminsitration a black eye and led to more military presence.
Sunni clerics weren't happy with the Shia Muslkm dynasty restoration and didn't know if they should start a Jihad against the British or the Indians on their side. 1857 uprising changed the constitutional relationship and the East India East India Company rule was abolished in 1858 and became the British Raj who promised not to expand its influence and surprisingly kept its word.
The high level of admijsitration and burercrary meant English education gave government jobs, Muslims resisted this and home schooled many
The English separated Muslims from state sponsorship of their buildings. The author sees this as a bad thing but seems to be a progressive policy, it might be more the actions of the British are less important than the intention to take as much money as possible.
Contradiction with Indirect Rule (soft power) Britain supported feudal states whilst trying to modernise. English speaking connected regions of India allowing for cross region alliances and planning.
Hilafat movement started ti run out of steam and did what most religious movements do, doubling down in religion. They tried to argue that anything attacking the ottoman empire was an attack on Muslims everywhere. Some thought the breakuo of the empire into Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia creation was thought to be dividing of Muslims, but had been done on Arab wishes.
Pakistan (Punjab, Afghan States, Kashmir Sindh and baluchaSTAN Acronym which also means land of the pure) Muslim idea that India wasn't a nation but a collection of cultures. All states where Muslims had a majority.
Extraction of wealth from India, pound went off the gold standard, rupee was pegged to pound and with gold not being weighed down by the pound gold prices went up 20%. This caused debtors to need to sell their gold jewels to pay back debts that made their way to London.
Muslim league voted for partition, would not budge from demanding protections. Confress party fearing an independent decentralised state would be gobbled up by Iran, America or China. They'd rather lop off part if the country.
Lord Mountbatten called partition the greatest administrative operation in history.
2-3 million Indians died during partition with 15-20 million displaced by borders that were not released until 2 days after they came into force.
Poor rural parts of Pakistan were culturally nothing like the rest of the country and wasn't solved untill 1971 Bangladesh partition
Why did Hindus and Muslims who had lived together for hundreds of years in peace kill each other in partition? They were angry at the decisions made without consultation and barely any representation.
Choice Notes
EM Forster "Indians like gods and British like playing gods"
Looking at the impact of British rule and how Ondia became the most successful democracy from a European Colony. (USA?)
Ghandi "poverty is the worst form of violence" he tried to reform the existing government rather than overthrow it initially.
July 6, 2024
Chapter 3 - Indian and British economic interest
February 3, 2017
This is a well read and interesting audiobook. However, I couldn't help getting incredibly frustrated with it and by about halfway through I just wanted it to be over.
The issue was the massive bias that the author clearly has. I'm neutral in this and certainly don't believe that the British were justified in what they did in India or that they were in any way "the good guys". They took over another country and sought to make as much money as possible. However, the author can't seem to see anything good in anything the British did. For example:
* Increased education only lead to alienate the Muslims.
* Building railways was terrible as it didn't use local materials.
* Codifying and clarifying laws only served to remove local practises and traditions.
* Trying to remove traditions such as child marriage and Sati were unwise, basically just because it was change.
* Providing cheap clothing was not good as it reduced the demand for craftsmen's work
I agree that there were bad results for some people from the above items but it would be hard not to see the benefits as well. Essentially the author keeps saying "things changed under British rule, therefore British rule was bad". Since the majority of it WAS bad there was no need to exaggerate everything. Just stick to the facts.
While he does speak well and has a good presentation style, the fact that he can't pronounce the word "Britain" (kind of important in a book about British India) was really grating.
The issue was the massive bias that the author clearly has. I'm neutral in this and certainly don't believe that the British were justified in what they did in India or that they were in any way "the good guys". They took over another country and sought to make as much money as possible. However, the author can't seem to see anything good in anything the British did. For example:
* Increased education only lead to alienate the Muslims.
* Building railways was terrible as it didn't use local materials.
* Codifying and clarifying laws only served to remove local practises and traditions.
* Trying to remove traditions such as child marriage and Sati were unwise, basically just because it was change.
* Providing cheap clothing was not good as it reduced the demand for craftsmen's work
I agree that there were bad results for some people from the above items but it would be hard not to see the benefits as well. Essentially the author keeps saying "things changed under British rule, therefore British rule was bad". Since the majority of it WAS bad there was no need to exaggerate everything. Just stick to the facts.
While he does speak well and has a good presentation style, the fact that he can't pronounce the word "Britain" (kind of important in a book about British India) was really grating.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews