Tynesider

"The only thing that the Britishers ever managed to achieve in India which I shall say was an important achievement..."

I quote prominent Indian historian and authority on Mughal India, Abraham Eraly:

"Nearly everything that is modern in India today was initiated by the British -- modernisation of the economy, education, transportation and communication systems, judicial system, and so on. They introduced us to parliamentary democracy. And they gave India political and administrative unity. But for the British rule, the subcontinent today would have been in all probability fragmented into a large number of small states. All this was recognised and gratefully acknowledged by our great leaders, particularly Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore."

Then again, perhaps some of these things aren't important achievements...

Rosi

Well if it werent the Brits, it would have been someone else. It was only a matter of time; India would have gotten that "modern" stuff sooner or later. Point is, colonisation for a few hundred years was way too high a price to pay for the abovementioned. To look for good in the days under the British rule is like consoling oneself with the old standby "It could have been worse." Who are we kidding?

Himanil

Indeed I wholeheartedly acknowledge that and am grateful to the British for

'Initiating modern developments'

However how do the British justify the fact that they made India one of the poorest countries in the world from the richest one.

Guy Montag

You're a history buff? Read this!

The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men Who Discovered India's Lost Religion

http://www.azbookreviews.com/id/0719...ddhaandthe.htm

Belisarius

The point is, it WAS the British, like it or not, that's history. Maybe you would have preferred the French, or the Germans, or the Japanese? Or, you might have got really lucky and got the Belgians.

Rosi

Easy. My point was that if it weren't the Brits, someone else would have helped India "modernise". It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Himanil

Cheez Guy Montag, Buddhisms almost dead in India, the fleeing immigrants are the only ones who practice it. We really wouldn't care if anyone that Buddhism was India's religion, because it never was, an exception being Ashoka who briefly attempted to spread Buddhism all over the world.

Himanil

It would appear that the value of the Indians was considered no more than that of a dog in British Imperial India-

Earlier (and even today) all the hill stations used to have a main road (call it trendy in this case) called 'mal road' which was where everything new and all the 'in' things would be there. Ever since the British came, apart from a guarded fence all about it, everywhere there would be boards reading- 'No Dogs and Indians allowed.'

Guy Montag

Almost, eh?

Well, that's a whole lot better than the sad state it was in until its re-discovery by British archeologists some 200 years ago.


http://www.azbookreviews.com/id/0719...ddhaandthe.htm

Fleeing immigrants? Huh?

Are you referring to the large numbers of lower-caste indians who've recently been converting?

ASHOKA

Tynesider

Royal Avenger, so apart from the nation's unity, 'modern developments' (Parliamentary democracy, a codified justice system, communication, transport, education, a modern economy), the rediscovery of Buddhism, and if you refer to the very early part of this thread, cures for cholera, malaria and Bubonic plague, the Indian (formerly Imperial) College of Agricultural Research which begat the Green Revolution and the end of famine, WHAT HAVE THE BRITISH EVER DONE FOR INDIA?