Volume 20: SOUTH ASIA 1800-1950
Preface
British Conquest of the Marathas 1800-18
Sikhs and North India 1800-18
British Expansion 1818-28
Bentinck's Reforms 1828-35
Rammohun Roy and Social Reform
British Invasion of Afghanistan and Sind
Sikhs and the Punjab 1839-48
Dalhousie's Annexations 1848-56
Mutiny and Revolt 1857-58
Reconstruction of British India 1858-76
Famine and a Second Afghan War 1876-81
Bankim Chandra Chatterji's Novels
Reforms in India 1881-99
Curzon's Viceroyalty 1899-1905
Ramakrishna and Vivekananda
Theosophy and Blavatsky 1875-88
Besant and Theosophy 1889-1905
Indian National Congress 1885-1905
India's Boycott 1905-07
British Repression of India 1907-10
India in an Imperial War 1911-18
Besant, Krishnamurti, and Bhagavan Das
Aurobindo's Spiritual Evolution
Tagore's Spiritual Expressions
Gandhi's Soul Force and Nonviolence
Gandhi's Nonviolent Campaigns 1919-22
India's Struggle 1922-29
Premchand's Realistic Fiction
Iqbal's Islamic Poetry
India's Civil Disobedience 1930-33
Indian Politics 1934-39
India during World War II
India Divided 1945-47
Indian Independence 1947-48
India and Pakistan 1948-50
Tibet 1800-1905
Tibet 1905-33
Tibet 1934-50
Nepal 1800-77
Nepal 1877-1950
Ceylon 1800-75
Ceylon 1875-1931
Ceylon 1931-50
Burma 1800-85
Burma under the British 1886-1929
Burma under the British 1930-41
Burma Invaded 1942-45
Burma Liberated 1945-50
Malaya and the British 1800-96
Malaya and the British 1896-1941
Malaya Invaded and in Conflict 1941-50
Siam's Monarchy 1800-1910
Siam's Monarchy 1910-32
Siam Becomes Thailand 1932-39
Thailand 1940-50
Cambodia 1800-1904
Cambodia 1904-50
Laos 1800-1940
Laos 1940-50
Vietnam's Monarchy 1800-57
French Conquest of Vietnam 1858-85
Vietnamese Resistance and Doumer 1885-1902
Vietnamese Nationalists 1902-08
Vietnam under the French 1909-28
Vietnamese Revolutionaries 1928-39
Vietnam during World War II
Vietnam's August 1945 Revolution
French-Vietnam War 1946-50
Netherlands East Indies 1800-40
Netherlands East Indies 1840-1900
Indonesia under the Dutch 1900-08
Indonesian Nationalism 1908-27
Indonesia under Dutch Repression 1927-41
Japanese Occupation of Indonesia 1942-45
Indonesia Liberated 1945
Indonesian Revolution 1946-50
Australia as a British Penal Colony 1788-1823
Australia in Transition 1823-50
Maconochie's Penal Reforms
Australia Gold and Democracy 1851-75
Australia Reforms 1875-87
Australian Unions and Federation 1887-1900
White Australia United 1901-14
Australia in the Great War 1914-19
Australia Between Wars 1920-39
Australia and World War II 1939-49
Maoris and New Zealand to 1841
New Zealand and Maoris 1841-70
New Zealand Democracy 1870-1914
New Zealand's Reforms 1914-41
New Zealand and World War II 1939-49
British India 1800-1905
India's Freedom Struggle 1905-41
Tibet, Nepal, and Ceylon
Burma, Malaya, and Siam
Indochina
Indonesia
Australia and New Zealand
Evaluating South Asia 1800-1950
The history of southern Asia and the southwest Pacific
(Australia and New Zealand)
from 1800 to 1950 tells us much about European imperialism.
The British, the French, and the Dutch brought modern technology
and advanced education with their trade that gave them military
advantages, administrative skill, and capitalist leverage to exploit
the natural resources, cheap labor, and populous markets of Asia.
The Asians had ancient and sophisticated spiritual traditions in
Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Islam, but they were challenged
by Christian missionaries and a more materialistic life-style.
After much colonial exploitation in the 19th century, in the first half
of the twentieth century liberation movements gradually developed.
After a second great war broke out in Europe, imperial and modernized
apan moved aggressively into Southeast Asia and mercilessly exploited
their people and resources by military force.
After Japan’s defeat in 1945 these growing liberation movements
struggled for independence as the Europeans tried to re-assert
control over their previously held colonies.
Thus these histories reveal the morally mixed influence of the
Europeans and the development and modernization of southern Asia
so that they could stand up to European domination and regain
self-government in a more democratic way.
By 1800 the British were well on their way to taking
control over the entire subcontinent of India.
The British East India Company was using the British military to
dominate various states in India and would annex many more
before the great mutiny erupted in 1857.
After that revolt was subdued, Queen Victoria proclaimed English
sovereignty in India with some reforms.
An Indian renaissance led to the founding of the
Indian National Congress in 1885, a political movement
that would lead the effort for self-government.
When Viceroy Curzon partitioned the province of Bengal
in 1905, the revolution began.
Using primarily nonviolent methods, India’s struggle for freedom
eventually gained complete independence in 1947.
The story of Mahatma Gandhi leading India’s nonviolent movement
for liberation is one of the most inspiring and important episodes
in the history of the world, for it offers an increasingly violent world
a better method for resolving conflicts in the modern age.
The 13th Dalai Lama (r. 1895-1933) helped Buddhist Tibet
stave off encroachments from the Chinese, who took over Tibet in 1950.
The Hindu kingdom of Nepal maintained an alliance with the British
without losing their independence.
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was a colony of the British, but it also gained
its independence after World War II.
The history of Southeast Asia during this era
is a study of European colonialism.
Buddhist Burma was taken over by the British in three stages in
1826, 1852, and 1885, and Malaya was also under the British.
Only Siam managed to maintain an independent kingdom.
Its monarchy was replaced by the socialism of Pridi in 1932
and was renamed Thailand in 1939, but it slid into a
military regime despite Pridi’s efforts.
Cambodia and Laos were caught between Siam and Vietnam
and became a part of French Indochina.
Vietnam had Confucian kings in the first half of the 19th century,
but the French conquered all of Vietnam by 1885.
Freedom fighters continued to resist, and a more intellectually
led revolution began in 1907.
Ho Chih Minh and the Communist party challenged the
exploitation of the French capitalists.
Japan invaded Vietnam in July 1941 and let the Vichy French
govern until March 1945.
In August the Viet Minh declared independence,
and in 1946 the long Vietnam War began against French colonialism.
The Netherlands East Indies was exploited by the Dutch, who,
like the British in India and the French in Vietnam,
took immense amounts of wealth back to Europe by their
economic policy of mercantilism.
Once again as people became more educated, an independence
movement developed; but in 1933 Sukarno
was sent into exile for nine years.
The Dutch were interned by the Japanese in 1942,
and after the war the Indonesians led by Sukarno attained
complete independence in a revolution against Dutch colonial rule.
Sparsely populated Australia was used as a British penal colony;
but after the gold rush began in 1851 it developed into a thriving
democracy within the British empire.
“White Australia” neglected the rights of the Aborigines
and excluded Asians but prospered economically.
The British also conquered the Maoris in New Zealand,
which gradually became one of the most progressive nations
in the world with its liberal policies.
In our current global culture I hope that readers will want
to learn more about the history and ethics of these countries
in an era of dramatic conflicts and social development.
This chapter has been published in the book SOUTH ASIA 1800-1950.
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