Post Colonialism in Subcontinent.

Colonialism: Colonialism was presented as "the extension of Civilization", which

ideologically justified the self-ascribed superiority (racial and cultural) of the European
Western World over the non-Western world. This concept was espoused by Joseph-Ernest
Renan in La Rforme intellectuelle et morale (1871), whereby imperial stewardship was
thought to effect the intellectual and moral reformation of the colored peoples of the
lesser cultures of the world. That such a divinely established, natural harmony among the
human races of the world would be possible, because everyonecolonizer and colonized
has an assigned cultural identity, a social place, and an economic role within an
imperial colony.
British Rule of Subcontinent or the British Raj (meaning "rule"
in Hindi) was British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The term
can also refer to the period of dominion. The region under British controlcommonly
called Indiaincluded areas directly administered by the United Kingdom as well as
the princely states ruled by individual rulers under the paramountcy of the British Crown.
The region was less commonly also called British India or the Indian Empire. The
Empire of India was officially created by the Tory Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli for
Queen Victoria in 1876, so that she wouldn't feel upstaged by the Emperors of Germany
and of Russia. The British rule started in India through the East India Company.

The East India Company (EIC) was an English joint-stock company, formed to
pursue trade with the East Indies, but which ended up trading mainly with the Indian
subcontinent and Qing China.
English traders frequently engaged in hostilities with their Dutch and Portuguese counterparts in
the Indian Ocean. The company achieved a major victory over the Portuguese in the Battle of
Swally in 1612. The company decided to explore the feasibility of gaining a territorial foothold
in mainland India, with official sanction of both countries, and requested that the Crown launch a
diplomatic mission.
In 1612, James I instructed Sir Thomas Rae to visit the Mughal Emperor Nuruddin Salim to
arrange for a commercial treaty that would give the company exclusive rights to reside and build
factories in Surat and other areas. In return, the company offered to provide the Emperor with
goods and rarities from the European market.

Colonization occurs whenever there is a large-scale migration of any one or more

groups of people to a colonial area. The migrants, who can also be called colonizers, keep
"strong links" with their previous country, and thus obtain tremendous "privileges" over
other people living in the area being colonized. Of course, the prior country of such
settlers were often big Imperial powers. Even though large-scale migration is usually a
component of colonization, it is not a requirement; a strong enough military force is
sometimes sufficient.

British Colonization; Reasons and Purposes: In its first century and half, the
EIC used a few hundred soldiers as guards. The great expansion came after 1750, when it had
3000 regular troops. By 1763, it had 26,000; by 1778, it had 67,000. It recruited largely Indian
troops, and trained them along European lines. The company, fresh from a colossal victory, and
with the backing of its own private well-disciplined and experienced army, was able to assert its
interests in the Carnatic Region from its base at Madras and in Bengal from Calcutta, without
facing any further obstacles from other colonial powers. The company continued to experience
resistance from local rulers during its expansion.

The East India Company, which came first to India for trade purposes later, expanded its
clutches to take over the vast land. The subcontinent consisted of fertile lands, mines
enriched with minerals like Diamond, Gold, Silver, Coal, Marble and Gypsum being
among the many hundreds of others; its rich soil and vast variety of spices were their
main attractions.

Struggles against the British Expansions started in

the Mughal periods. At first the Muslims and Hindus (the followers of
two Major religions in subcontinent) fought side by side Pazhassi Rajas
struggles, Veerapandiya Kattabomman ( eighteenth century), Paik Rebellion (1817),
Vellore sepoy mutiny and the war of Independence (1857) also known as the
Indian-Muslim mutiny being of historical importance. The British gained the
Hindus favor by granting them high ranks and gifts resulting in their
abandonment of the Muslims and with that, the Muslim hold on Subcontinent
ended and it came under the direct control of the British Empire.

Aftermath of the Rebellion of 1857: Indian critiques, British

response:
Although the Great Uprising of 1857 had shaken the British enterprise in India, it had not
derailed it. After the rebellion, the British became more circumspect. Much thought was devoted
to the causes of the rebellion, and from it three main lessons were drawn. At a more practical
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level, it was felt that there needed to be more communication and camaraderie between the
British and Indiansnot just between British army officers and their Indian staff but in civilian
life as well. The Indian army was completely reorganized: units composed of the Muslims and
Brahmins of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, who had formed the core of the rebellion,
were disbanded. New regiments, like the Sikhs and Baluchis, composed of Indians who, in
British estimation, had demonstrated steadfastness, were formed. From then on, the Indian army
was to remain unchanged in its organization until 1947. The 1861 Census had revealed that the
English population in India was 125,945. Of these only about 41,862 were civilians as compared
with about 84,083 European officers and men of the Army. In 1880, the standing Indian Army
consisted of 66,000 British soldiers, 130,000 Natives, and 350,000 soldiers in the princely
armies. Many other reforms in the fields of education, politics, and the accessions of the princely
states also occurred.

Effects of Colonization on women: During British colonialism in India,

women were subjected to large amounts of oppression and injustice from their male
counterparts. Essentially, females were as powerless as the untouchables. They could not
vote they could not own property, they could not even be in charge of leading society;
their voice was unheard while men were the priests, warriors, and laborers.

The society in the Subcontinent was a patriarchal one. Much of Indian art and literature depict
the role that women had. In The Ramayana written by R. K. Narayan, the main character Rama
has a wife named Sita. They married not based on Sitas desire, but on her dads authority.
They were treated as lowlifes whose main purpose was to either pleasure the men by singing and
dancing or to sit on pedestal and let others compliment her patriarch upon her beauty and skills.
She was just a property to be owned, used and discarded by men as they pleased. The oppression
towards Indian women began during the British colonialism era. Western values were deeply
rooted on a paternal society and because the British were one of the most powerful groups at the
time, much of their philosophies were influential; thus India adopted the Western values and
incorporated it into their society.
One common practice that women were forced into was sati. If a man died, he would be
cremated, and his wife would be burned alive so as to be together eternally.
Before British colonialism, the rights of women appeared to be more liberal. They were capable
of re-marrying, divorcing, owning land, and having power. Hinduism, which was and still is the
most prominent religion in India, is based on millions of gods and goddesses. The female deities
were just as respected as the male gods, and men and women of the Hindu faith prayed to many
of them because of their power. The British needed a way to have full control over India which
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led to them not only creating gaps between each caste, but gaps between genders as well.
Therefore, they began to define and cultivate the roles of each caste, along with the roles of each
gender; and Indian society began to accept these customs.
Eventually, British feminists noticed the unfair treatment to Indian women and began to take a
stand and assisted them with fighting for rights and power. Reforms and revolution began to take
place, not only amongst women, but amongst men who wanted to rebel from British rule. These
events all triggered what was to be the end of British Colonialism.

The Struggle for independence:

After the British acquired the rule of

the subcontinent, there were many events that finally lead to its freedom.
The instigator being the division of people in 1870s1907 into Social reformers

moderates vs. extremists. The follow-ups being Partition of Bengal, formation of

Muslim League, Minto-Morley reforms, Lacknow pact and World War I afterwards
in the 1920s Non-Cooperation movement, the Khilafat movement, Jinnahs fourteen
points and Simon commission were important milestones.
Round Table Conferences, Muslim Leagues Lahore Resolution, Quit India Movement and
Cripps proposals were preemptive of World War II. The British negotiated with the Muslims
and the Hindus to Grant them independence in exchange of their support in the war. In 1945 the
cold war ended and the British announced to give up the Subcontinent until 1948.
The leaders during this reign included Gandhi, Jinnah, Iqbal (who was also a philosopher and
poet) Liaqat Ali Khan, Vikar-ul-Mulk, Motilal Nehru among others being of prominence. It
can be duly noted that during British Colonialism there isnt mentioned a single female leader or
public figure whatsoever.

Post Colonialism in the Subcontinent: Post colonialism or postcolonial

studies is an academic discipline featuring methods of intellectual discourse that analyze,
explain, and respond to the cultural legacies of colonialism and imperialism, to the
human consequences of controlling a country and establishing settlers for the economic
exploitation of the native people and their land.

The area which now comprises of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was part of the subcontinent
ruled by the British Crown. The British gave up the subcontinent in 1947 when it was divided
into India, East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The post colonization in the subcontinent resulted
in the emergence of Postcolonial feminism.

Postcolonial feminism is a form of feminism that developed as a response to the

fact that feminism seemed to focus solely on the experiences of women in Western
cultures. Postcolonial feminism seeks to account for the way that racism and the long4

lasting political, economic, and cultural effects of colonialism affect non-white, nonWestern women in the postcolonial world. Postcolonial feminism originated as a critique
of feminist theorists in developed countries. The critique points out the universalizing
tendencies of mainstream feminist ideas and argues that women living in non-Western
countries are misrepresented.
Postcolonial feminism argues that by using the term "woman" as a universal group, women are
then only defined by their gender and not by social class, race, ethnicity, or sexual
preference. Postcolonial feminists also work to incorporate the ideas of indigenous and
other Third World feminist movements into mainstream Western feminism. Third World
feminism stems from the idea that feminism in Third World countries is not imported from the
First World, but originates from internal ideologies and socio-cultural factors.

Imminent Female leaders of the Subcontinent:

Even though the

women were treated as repulsive creatures having no political, economic or social rights.
But with the changing times, leaders like Amrita Pritam, Sarojini Naidu, Indira
Gandhi, Deepa Mehta, Sheikh Hasina, Chandrika Bandaranaike, Benazir Bhutto,
Begum Khaleda Zia and Mossarat Qadeem have risen to fame and have fought for
womens right while exuding an air of confidence, power and socio-political awareness
that was not known in women of the subcontinent.

Conclusion/Sum up: The deprived women of the subcontinent gained political

and social rights that they had never known in the past. They were given the right to vote,
remarry and own property. They were freed from the patriarchal practice which was a
paramount in the subcontinent society and started participating in politics on different
crucial levels. At this stage, it is of great importance to mention that the women were
decapitated by the men in order for them to feel dominant and in control. Yet post
colonialism helped them to lose their crutches and stand up for their selves as they hold
half of the sky and are of great significance for any nations development and prosperity.
Furthermore it is important that I mention great females like Rani of Jhansi also known
as Lakshmibai, who was the first woman in the subcontinent to stand up for her rights
and defend her throne, Phoolandevi, Fatima Ali Jinnah and Begum Liaqat who all
played defining roles in the feminist movements so that the woman of today, whether she
be an Indian, Pakistani or a Bangladeshi could have rights at par with the woman of
the West.