NCERT Textbook: The Colonial Era in India | Social Science Class 8 - New NCERT PDF Download

 Page 1


83
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
CHAPTER
The Colonial Era in India
4
Nearly two centuries ago the early Britons in Bengal and the sister 
Presidencies regarded the land and the people as fair game for 
plunder . … Under the later Britons, as administrators … the plunder 
is proceeding far more outrageously today than at any preceding 
period. … Modern England has been made great by Indian wealth, … 
wealth always taken by the might and skill of the stronger .
— William Digby (1901)
Fig. 4.1.  A painting entitled ‘The East offering its riches 
to Britannia’, by a Greek painter , Spiridione Roma, 1778. 
(The painting is discussed later in the chapter .)
1. What is colonialism?
2. What drew European 
powers to India? 
3. What was India’s 
economic and 
geopolitical standing 
before and during 
the colonial period?
4. How did the British 
colonial domination 
of India impact the 
country?
The Big
Questions
Chapter 4.indd   83 05-07-2025   17:14:34
Page 2


83
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
CHAPTER
The Colonial Era in India
4
Nearly two centuries ago the early Britons in Bengal and the sister 
Presidencies regarded the land and the people as fair game for 
plunder . … Under the later Britons, as administrators … the plunder 
is proceeding far more outrageously today than at any preceding 
period. … Modern England has been made great by Indian wealth, … 
wealth always taken by the might and skill of the stronger .
— William Digby (1901)
Fig. 4.1.  A painting entitled ‘The East offering its riches 
to Britannia’, by a Greek painter , Spiridione Roma, 1778. 
(The painting is discussed later in the chapter .)
1. What is colonialism?
2. What drew European 
powers to India? 
3. What was India’s 
economic and 
geopolitical standing 
before and during 
the colonial period?
4. How did the British 
colonial domination 
of India impact the 
country?
The Big
Questions
Chapter 4.indd   83 05-07-2025   17:14:34
84
Exploring Society: India and Beyond | Grade 8 Part 1
In the previous chapter, we saw the Marathas considerably 
weaken the Mughal Empire, before they themselves succumbed 
to the British forces early in the 19
th
 century. And yet, military 
campaigns were only one factor in India becoming the ‘jewel in 
the Crown’ of the British Empire — indeed, the empire’s largest 
colony. 
The Age of Colonialism
Before we get there, we must step back a little in time and 
consider the phenomenon of colonialism. Its usual definition 
is the practice where one country takes control of another 
region, establishing settlements there, and imposing its political, 
economic, and cultural systems. This is not a recent occurrence: 
colonialism can be traced to the time of the great empires in 
the 1
st
 millennium BCE; in the 1
st
 millennium CE, the spread 
of Christianity and Islam also involved the colonisation of the 
territories converted to the new faiths.
1440 1490 1540 1590 1640
1498: Vasco da 
Gama’s arrival at 
Calicut (Kozhikode)
1560: Establishment 
of the Inquisition 
at Goa
1612-1690: The 
English East India 
Company establishes 
trading posts at Surat, 
Madras, Bombay and 
Calcutta
Fig. 4.2.
Chapter 4.indd   84 05-07-2025   17:14:35
Page 3


83
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
CHAPTER
The Colonial Era in India
4
Nearly two centuries ago the early Britons in Bengal and the sister 
Presidencies regarded the land and the people as fair game for 
plunder . … Under the later Britons, as administrators … the plunder 
is proceeding far more outrageously today than at any preceding 
period. … Modern England has been made great by Indian wealth, … 
wealth always taken by the might and skill of the stronger .
— William Digby (1901)
Fig. 4.1.  A painting entitled ‘The East offering its riches 
to Britannia’, by a Greek painter , Spiridione Roma, 1778. 
(The painting is discussed later in the chapter .)
1. What is colonialism?
2. What drew European 
powers to India? 
3. What was India’s 
economic and 
geopolitical standing 
before and during 
the colonial period?
4. How did the British 
colonial domination 
of India impact the 
country?
The Big
Questions
Chapter 4.indd   83 05-07-2025   17:14:34
84
Exploring Society: India and Beyond | Grade 8 Part 1
In the previous chapter, we saw the Marathas considerably 
weaken the Mughal Empire, before they themselves succumbed 
to the British forces early in the 19
th
 century. And yet, military 
campaigns were only one factor in India becoming the ‘jewel in 
the Crown’ of the British Empire — indeed, the empire’s largest 
colony. 
The Age of Colonialism
Before we get there, we must step back a little in time and 
consider the phenomenon of colonialism. Its usual definition 
is the practice where one country takes control of another 
region, establishing settlements there, and imposing its political, 
economic, and cultural systems. This is not a recent occurrence: 
colonialism can be traced to the time of the great empires in 
the 1
st
 millennium BCE; in the 1
st
 millennium CE, the spread 
of Christianity and Islam also involved the colonisation of the 
territories converted to the new faiths.
1440 1490 1540 1590 1640
1498: Vasco da 
Gama’s arrival at 
Calicut (Kozhikode)
1560: Establishment 
of the Inquisition 
at Goa
1612-1690: The 
English East India 
Company establishes 
trading posts at Surat, 
Madras, Bombay and 
Calcutta
Fig. 4.2.
Chapter 4.indd   84 05-07-2025   17:14:35
85
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
But the ‘Age of Colonialism’ usually refers to Europe’s expansion 
from the 15
th
 century onward, which, within a few centuries, 
extended to large parts of the world. As you will discover in 
higher grades, European powers — in particular , Spain, Portugal, 
Britain, France, and Netherlands — established colonies across 
Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia and many Pacific islands, 
after conquering large parts of those regions of the world.
Often, the conquests were achieved through military campaigns 
that involved the massacre or enslavement of native populations. 
What impelled those nations to undertake such campaigns? 
Political competition between European powers created a 
race for territorial expansion and global influence. Territorial 
expansion had obvious economic advantages: access to new 
natural resources, new markets and new trade routes — and, 
often, plunder, as we will see. Converting indigenous popu-
lations to Christianity was another powerful motivation. A lesser 
one, but significant nonetheless, was scientific inquiry — the 
Enslavement: 
Turning 
someone into 
a slave.
1690 1740 1790 1840 1890
1674: The French East India 
Company sets up a trading 
post at Pondicherry
1757: British 
victory in the 
Battle of Plassey
1741: Defeat 
of the Dutch 
at the Battle 
of Colachel
1746-1763: 
The Carnatic 
Wars between 
the British and 
the French
1770-1772: First 
great famine in 
Bengal
1848-49: Fall of the Sikh 
Empire; the East India 
Company annexes Punjab
1818: Third 
Anglo-Maratha 
war ends 
Maratha power
1829-1833: The 
Khasi Uprising 
(in present-day 
Meghalaya)
1835: Macaulay’s 
Minute on 
Indian Education
1858: The British 
Crown ends the rule 
of the East India 
Company; start 
of the British Raj
1857: The Great 
Indian Rebellion
Chapter 4.indd   85 05-07-2025   17:14:36
Page 4


83
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
CHAPTER
The Colonial Era in India
4
Nearly two centuries ago the early Britons in Bengal and the sister 
Presidencies regarded the land and the people as fair game for 
plunder . … Under the later Britons, as administrators … the plunder 
is proceeding far more outrageously today than at any preceding 
period. … Modern England has been made great by Indian wealth, … 
wealth always taken by the might and skill of the stronger .
— William Digby (1901)
Fig. 4.1.  A painting entitled ‘The East offering its riches 
to Britannia’, by a Greek painter , Spiridione Roma, 1778. 
(The painting is discussed later in the chapter .)
1. What is colonialism?
2. What drew European 
powers to India? 
3. What was India’s 
economic and 
geopolitical standing 
before and during 
the colonial period?
4. How did the British 
colonial domination 
of India impact the 
country?
The Big
Questions
Chapter 4.indd   83 05-07-2025   17:14:34
84
Exploring Society: India and Beyond | Grade 8 Part 1
In the previous chapter, we saw the Marathas considerably 
weaken the Mughal Empire, before they themselves succumbed 
to the British forces early in the 19
th
 century. And yet, military 
campaigns were only one factor in India becoming the ‘jewel in 
the Crown’ of the British Empire — indeed, the empire’s largest 
colony. 
The Age of Colonialism
Before we get there, we must step back a little in time and 
consider the phenomenon of colonialism. Its usual definition 
is the practice where one country takes control of another 
region, establishing settlements there, and imposing its political, 
economic, and cultural systems. This is not a recent occurrence: 
colonialism can be traced to the time of the great empires in 
the 1
st
 millennium BCE; in the 1
st
 millennium CE, the spread 
of Christianity and Islam also involved the colonisation of the 
territories converted to the new faiths.
1440 1490 1540 1590 1640
1498: Vasco da 
Gama’s arrival at 
Calicut (Kozhikode)
1560: Establishment 
of the Inquisition 
at Goa
1612-1690: The 
English East India 
Company establishes 
trading posts at Surat, 
Madras, Bombay and 
Calcutta
Fig. 4.2.
Chapter 4.indd   84 05-07-2025   17:14:35
85
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
But the ‘Age of Colonialism’ usually refers to Europe’s expansion 
from the 15
th
 century onward, which, within a few centuries, 
extended to large parts of the world. As you will discover in 
higher grades, European powers — in particular , Spain, Portugal, 
Britain, France, and Netherlands — established colonies across 
Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia and many Pacific islands, 
after conquering large parts of those regions of the world.
Often, the conquests were achieved through military campaigns 
that involved the massacre or enslavement of native populations. 
What impelled those nations to undertake such campaigns? 
Political competition between European powers created a 
race for territorial expansion and global influence. Territorial 
expansion had obvious economic advantages: access to new 
natural resources, new markets and new trade routes — and, 
often, plunder, as we will see. Converting indigenous popu-
lations to Christianity was another powerful motivation. A lesser 
one, but significant nonetheless, was scientific inquiry — the 
Enslavement: 
Turning 
someone into 
a slave.
1690 1740 1790 1840 1890
1674: The French East India 
Company sets up a trading 
post at Pondicherry
1757: British 
victory in the 
Battle of Plassey
1741: Defeat 
of the Dutch 
at the Battle 
of Colachel
1746-1763: 
The Carnatic 
Wars between 
the British and 
the French
1770-1772: First 
great famine in 
Bengal
1848-49: Fall of the Sikh 
Empire; the East India 
Company annexes Punjab
1818: Third 
Anglo-Maratha 
war ends 
Maratha power
1829-1833: The 
Khasi Uprising 
(in present-day 
Meghalaya)
1835: Macaulay’s 
Minute on 
Indian Education
1858: The British 
Crown ends the rule 
of the East India 
Company; start 
of the British Raj
1857: The Great 
Indian Rebellion
Chapter 4.indd   85 05-07-2025   17:14:36
86
Exploring Society: India and Beyond | Grade 8 Part 1
desire to explore unknown lands so as to accumulate knowledge 
of the planet’s geography and natural history.
While colonisers often claimed they had the ‘civilising mission’ 
of bringing ‘progress’ to the colonised peoples, who were often 
demonised as ‘savage’, ‘primitive’ or ‘barbaric’, the reality was 
very different: loss of independence, exploitation of resources 
Demonise:
To falsely 
portray an 
individual 
or a group 
of people 
in a very 
negative 
light. 
Fig. 4.3. A cartoon depicting a British business magnate straddling 
Africa while he holds a telegraph wire (Edward Linley Sambourne in 
Punch magazine, London, 1892).
by the colonisers, the destruction of traditional ways of life, 
and the imposition of foreign cultural values. It is true that the 
colonial age brought the world together, saw a rapid growth of 
economies and technologies, but the benefits were mostly for 
the colonisers; many historical studies have documented the 
immense hardships that the colonised people had to endure.
Chapter 4.indd   86 05-07-2025   17:14:36
Page 5


83
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
CHAPTER
The Colonial Era in India
4
Nearly two centuries ago the early Britons in Bengal and the sister 
Presidencies regarded the land and the people as fair game for 
plunder . … Under the later Britons, as administrators … the plunder 
is proceeding far more outrageously today than at any preceding 
period. … Modern England has been made great by Indian wealth, … 
wealth always taken by the might and skill of the stronger .
— William Digby (1901)
Fig. 4.1.  A painting entitled ‘The East offering its riches 
to Britannia’, by a Greek painter , Spiridione Roma, 1778. 
(The painting is discussed later in the chapter .)
1. What is colonialism?
2. What drew European 
powers to India? 
3. What was India’s 
economic and 
geopolitical standing 
before and during 
the colonial period?
4. How did the British 
colonial domination 
of India impact the 
country?
The Big
Questions
Chapter 4.indd   83 05-07-2025   17:14:34
84
Exploring Society: India and Beyond | Grade 8 Part 1
In the previous chapter, we saw the Marathas considerably 
weaken the Mughal Empire, before they themselves succumbed 
to the British forces early in the 19
th
 century. And yet, military 
campaigns were only one factor in India becoming the ‘jewel in 
the Crown’ of the British Empire — indeed, the empire’s largest 
colony. 
The Age of Colonialism
Before we get there, we must step back a little in time and 
consider the phenomenon of colonialism. Its usual definition 
is the practice where one country takes control of another 
region, establishing settlements there, and imposing its political, 
economic, and cultural systems. This is not a recent occurrence: 
colonialism can be traced to the time of the great empires in 
the 1
st
 millennium BCE; in the 1
st
 millennium CE, the spread 
of Christianity and Islam also involved the colonisation of the 
territories converted to the new faiths.
1440 1490 1540 1590 1640
1498: Vasco da 
Gama’s arrival at 
Calicut (Kozhikode)
1560: Establishment 
of the Inquisition 
at Goa
1612-1690: The 
English East India 
Company establishes 
trading posts at Surat, 
Madras, Bombay and 
Calcutta
Fig. 4.2.
Chapter 4.indd   84 05-07-2025   17:14:35
85
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
But the ‘Age of Colonialism’ usually refers to Europe’s expansion 
from the 15
th
 century onward, which, within a few centuries, 
extended to large parts of the world. As you will discover in 
higher grades, European powers — in particular , Spain, Portugal, 
Britain, France, and Netherlands — established colonies across 
Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia and many Pacific islands, 
after conquering large parts of those regions of the world.
Often, the conquests were achieved through military campaigns 
that involved the massacre or enslavement of native populations. 
What impelled those nations to undertake such campaigns? 
Political competition between European powers created a 
race for territorial expansion and global influence. Territorial 
expansion had obvious economic advantages: access to new 
natural resources, new markets and new trade routes — and, 
often, plunder, as we will see. Converting indigenous popu-
lations to Christianity was another powerful motivation. A lesser 
one, but significant nonetheless, was scientific inquiry — the 
Enslavement: 
Turning 
someone into 
a slave.
1690 1740 1790 1840 1890
1674: The French East India 
Company sets up a trading 
post at Pondicherry
1757: British 
victory in the 
Battle of Plassey
1741: Defeat 
of the Dutch 
at the Battle 
of Colachel
1746-1763: 
The Carnatic 
Wars between 
the British and 
the French
1770-1772: First 
great famine in 
Bengal
1848-49: Fall of the Sikh 
Empire; the East India 
Company annexes Punjab
1818: Third 
Anglo-Maratha 
war ends 
Maratha power
1829-1833: The 
Khasi Uprising 
(in present-day 
Meghalaya)
1835: Macaulay’s 
Minute on 
Indian Education
1858: The British 
Crown ends the rule 
of the East India 
Company; start 
of the British Raj
1857: The Great 
Indian Rebellion
Chapter 4.indd   85 05-07-2025   17:14:36
86
Exploring Society: India and Beyond | Grade 8 Part 1
desire to explore unknown lands so as to accumulate knowledge 
of the planet’s geography and natural history.
While colonisers often claimed they had the ‘civilising mission’ 
of bringing ‘progress’ to the colonised peoples, who were often 
demonised as ‘savage’, ‘primitive’ or ‘barbaric’, the reality was 
very different: loss of independence, exploitation of resources 
Demonise:
To falsely 
portray an 
individual 
or a group 
of people 
in a very 
negative 
light. 
Fig. 4.3. A cartoon depicting a British business magnate straddling 
Africa while he holds a telegraph wire (Edward Linley Sambourne in 
Punch magazine, London, 1892).
by the colonisers, the destruction of traditional ways of life, 
and the imposition of foreign cultural values. It is true that the 
colonial age brought the world together, saw a rapid growth of 
economies and technologies, but the benefits were mostly for 
the colonisers; many historical studies have documented the 
immense hardships that the colonised people had to endure.
Chapter 4.indd   86 05-07-2025   17:14:36
87
Tapestry of the Past 
4 – The Colonial Era in India 
LET’S EXPLORE
What do you think the cartoon (Fig. 4.3) is trying to express? 
(Keep in mind that the telegraph, which permitted instant 
communications for the first time, was then a recent 
invention.) Analyse different elements of the drawing.
In many of the colonised regions, resistance built up against 
the colonisers. The phenomenon of colonialism declined in the 
mid-20
th
 century, especially after World War II; many factors 
contributed to rapid worldwide decolonisation, with most 
colonised countries attaining independence. Here, however, we 
will focus on the special case of India.
Europeans in India
India traded with the Greeks and the Romans over two 
millennia ago. Indian goods — spices, cotton, ivory, gems, 
sandalwood, teakwood, wootz steel, among other commodities 
— were highly sought after in the Mediterranean world. Until 
the 16
th
 century CE, when European powers began sailing 
to the Indian Subcontinent, India was a vibrant economic 
and cultural powerhouse. Historical estimates (by economist 
Angus Maddison, in particular) suggest that India contributed 
at least one-fourth of the world GDP during this whole period, 
making it one of the two largest economies globally alongside 
China (whose contribution was of the same order). It is 
remarkable that from the 16
th
 century onward, many European 
travellers to India described her as ‘flourishing’ and noted her 
manufacturing capabilities, diverse agricultural output, and 
extensive internal as well as external trading networks. However , 
this economic prosperity also made India an attractive target for 
European colonial ambitions.
Let us survey Europe’s first colonial powers in India. 
The Portuguese: commerce and atrocities 
The Portuguese explorer and navigator Vasco da Gama’s arrival 
at Kappad (near Kozhikode in Kerala) in May 1498 paved the 
way for the beginning of European colonisation in India. 
GDP:
Abbreviation 
of ‘gross 
domestic 
product’, a 
measure of 
the value of 
goods and 
services a 
country (or 
the world, 
in this case) 
produces in 
one year.
Chapter 4.indd   87 05-07-2025   17:14:36