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The 19th century saw the greatest expansion of each Empire. Each of whose goals was some sort of dominance over the world, whether it was by military force or Trade. Russia had by this time only one way to advance and that was east, and southeast. As Russia expanded east it headed in the direction of the “Greatest Jewel in England’s Empire, India” (Miller 32). At the time of Russia’s land grab the British were expanding in all directions in all continents. India was no exception. Although by 1835 expansion to the east, (and the acquisition as colonies, protectorates or spheres of Influence, of Nepal, Burma, Bhutan) had for the most part ceased, western expansion was in its hey-day. The North West Frontier and the great beyond of the Indus River, Afghanistan and Central Asia were at the time the least known and most in accessible parts of the Continent. In the last sixty years of the 19th century these areas became the battle ground for the two Super Powers of the century. From 1815 to 1907 British territorial expansion was motivated by ambitions to round off the empire, forestall Russian aggressionin Asia and pride in British superiority. The British had since the early 17th century an interest in the Indian subcontinent. Yet at first for many decades that interest was in trade. Britain came to India to trade, it set up trading posts, “factories” not colonies and forts. The English at the time set up different factories and trading posts along the coast, what led to the conquest of territory more inland was competition with the French. At the same time that the English first set up its station in India the French, and to a lesser extent the Dutch, were setting up its own post as well. During the 17th and 18th century France and England fought wars almost every other decade and the fighting inadvertently spilled over to there colonies and trading posts. Now at the time the English were not government servants or military men but an independently charted company given the crowns blessing. The East Indian Company ruled as if it were its own sovereign state, which for the most part it was. (Miller 60) As the years passed and the wars between the French and English backed companies get more ferrous the local princes and lords jockeyed for position along onside or another trying to use these European outsiders to there own advantage. Hence from the beginning of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th, as more and more Indians took a greater part in the French and British, the French and British got more involved with the local lords. They started to exert influence over the potentates when it was to there advantage, and the entire time trying to secure there own ends, (Trade). When the smoke cleared and the Napoleonic war was over, a period of total British ascendancy shrouded the globe. By 1815 Britain was not only the sole European power on the sub-contient1 it was also the dominate power, even more powerful then the decadent Mogul Emperor. Whether it was through direct Company rule or the allegiance of local lords2 the British now controlled a swath of land who limit to the north was Nepal and Tiber, to the East the Burmese Empire and in the West Sind, the Punjab and ever looming Ganges River. 1. Portugal controlled GAO, and France held Pondiherry, but neither was armed and capable of any actions on the sub continents. 2. India, under the Mogul Empire was broken into 535 principalities, of varying size and strength. From 1815 until 1839 the British expansion in all directions was motivated by local goals. No longer in competition with other European powers there was no chance of the English being driven from the sub-continent, yet states on the fringe could prove local problems, and it was not a policy of the Company to allow independent states to snub or insult Britannica. The Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816) reduced the country to its current size, but left Nepal with its nominal independence, yet closely allied to the British in foreign policy3. Britain was using its strong armies in India to expand into Southeast Asia. “The Burmese had expanded the borders of Burma (now Myanmar) greatly, until they began to bump up against British India”( Miller 123). Attempted Burmese incursions into India resulted in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826), in which the Burmese were overpowered by the British and were forced to cede several coastal areas to them. The inaccessibility of Tibet, and Chinese claims to the region precluded any more of an advance to the north. The use of Burma as a buffer with China and an “expanding French presence in Southeast Asia”(Miller 126) meant that further advances to the east where out of the question. By 1815 the British Empire had ceased to be interested in trade alone. Britain is an isle; it is dependant on its massive navy to defend its shores. The isles lack of natural resources and income made it dependant on foreign markets as its source of revenue and resources. Trade is the countries life blood and the search for new markets has been the reason why the British people set out on the high seas in search of new lands, at first. 3. After the Nepalese war, Nepal supplied British armies with Gurkha soldier’s, some of the most loyal and fierce troops in British service. . Since India was secure and its great markets wide open to Britain there was no reason to expand trade any further. Central Asia was a market ready to be tapped, yet at the time it was so far and unknown it was impossible for the British to establish a presence beyond the Ganges. The advance to the North West was undertaken for different reasons. The 1830’s ushered in the “hotter parts” of the Great Game between Russia and Britain. At this time the Russians started advancing into Central Asia and the British started to worry. The once and future allies had been wary of one another since then end of the Napoleonic war. Even before it ended England had mistrusted Russia design on India, seeing in the great Bear a foe who could role on inexhaustibly, never slacking in speed or lacking in numbers. Cossacks crossing the Indus was not a thought British authority’s looked at with much joy. To better secure India proper a better defense would be needed. Securing the northwestern frontier was easier said then done. Between Central Asia and India lay Afghanistan, Sind and the Punjab (the last two making up part of modern Pakistan).
Approximate Word count = 4403
Approximate Pages = 17.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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