RESISTANCE AND REBELLION
Subjugated peoples rise up against the Crown
The mid-nineteenth century marked a turning point in the colonial histories of India and Canada, due to the outbreak of popular uprisings: the rebellions in Lower Canada and Upper Canada in 1837 and 1838 and the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. But the reactions of the British Empire to these independence movements differed: While Britain loosened its control over Canada, it tightened its grip on India.
Under the Constitution Act of 1791, Upper Canada and Lower Canada each had a limited form of parliamentary democracy, with an elected legislative assembly, that was largely powerless, subordinated to an appointed legislative council and lieutenant-governor. Parliamentary reformers like Patriote leader Louis-Joseph Papineau in Lower Canada and William Lyon Mackenzie in Upper Canada clamoured for peaceful democratic reform, but the British rulers of the colonies refused to grant their demands. One of these rulers — who, along with his son, enforced British power in both Canada and India — was George Ramsay, 9th earl of Dalhousie, better known as Lord Dalhousie.
A Scottish aristocrat and an officer in the British military, Dalhousie served from 1816 to 1820 as the lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, where he founded Dalhousie University. He was then promoted to governor of Lower Canada and Governor General of British North America. It was in this role that Dalhousie, a staunch monarchist, came into conflict with the elected representatives in Lower Canada’s legislative assembly, particularly Papineau. Their years-long standoff contributed to frustrations among the people of Lower Canada toward their British rulers. Dalhousie left Canada in 1828 to become commander-in-chief of the army of the East India Company, but the situation between Canadian reformers and their British rulers remained unresolved.
Finally, in 1837 and 1838, militants in the Canadas took up arms against the British in a series of skirmishes that left hundreds dead and many homes burned to the ground. The British, along with Loyalist colonial troops, easily put down the insurrections.
Two rebel leaders were executed in Upper Canada, and twelve in Lower Canada, while the rest either fled to the United States, served jail sentences, or were sent into exile. The rebellions prompted the British government to appoint Lord Durham to look into the causes of the trouble, and his Durham Report recommended both that the two provinces be
unified (with the aim of assimilating the French) and that the resulting unified colony be granted responsible government.
As responsible government became a reality in the 1840s, the British North American colonies embarked on the path toward democracy and self-government. Britain conferred Dominion status on Canada at Confederation in 1867 and, through its deal with the Hudson’s Bay Company, transferred Rupert’s Land to Canada in 1870. It should be noted that these reforms favoured Canada’s European settlers, while Indigenous people found themselves deprived of their traditional lands, denied voting rights, and subjected to forced assimilation under the Canadian governments that gradually took over from British rule.
Meanwhile, in India, the year of 1857 was marked by the outbreak of the First War of Indian Independence, during the rule of Governor General Charles Canning. This historic uprising was the outcome of changing conditions that were born out of interwoven political, military, economic, social, and religious events following the rapid expansion and consolidation of the East India Company’s domination in the subcontinent.
As Governor General of India from 1848 to 1856, Lord Dalhousie’s son — James Andrew Broun Ramsay, Marquess and 10th earl of Dalhousie — played a key role in enforcing British colonial rule in the years leading to the uprising.
Dalhousie’s reign was notable for the tremendous expansion of EIC territory at the expense of the Indian states, due in large part to Dalhousie’s annexation policy, known as the Doctrine of Lapse. This doctrine — which allowed the EIC to confiscate princely kingdoms in the absence of a male heir to succeed to the throne — generated discontent among the Indian royal families. Simultaneously, the EIC’s repressive land reforms and tax systems milked Indians dry by squeezing out resources and fortunes from India.
Dalhousie’s name has a special place in the British colonial expansion in India for his victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, by which the kingdom of Punjab came under the sovereign control of the EIC. Dalhousie forced the defeated king, ten-year-old Duleep Singh, to give up the renowned Koh-i-Noor Diamond — a huge gem that had been worn by Indian rulers for centuries — which then left India forever and became a British royal possession. It now sits in the crown of the queen consort, among the royal jewels in the Tower of London.
In addition to these irritants, the replacement of centuries-old Indian socio-cultural practices with European-style traditions brought by British and Christian missionaries disturbed the nation’s social fabric. Further, growing flames of discontent surged among the sepoys — as the EIC soldiers were called — because of the inadequate compensation they received after a series of successful armed engagements in Afghanistan, in Burma (now Myanmar), and within India, which led to considerable territorial gains for the EIC. The most immediate cause of the rebellion, however, was the introduction of Enfield rifles to sepoy troops, who believed that the rifles’ cartridges were greased with cow or pig fat, considered offensive to both Hindus and Muslims for religious reasons.
The consequence was the spreading of revolt in several parts of India, with several Europeans tortured and killed as reprisals. The revolt was violently crushed by EIC commanders. The Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II was deported to Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar), ending Mughal rule in India. His family members were shot, and the mutineers were tortured and executed. British-led troops looted and vandalized the Mughal capital of Delhi as vengeance and mercilessly slaughtered civilians. With the eventual surrender of the sepoys, India experienced a greater entrenchment of British supremacy, as governance was transferred from the EIC to the British Crown, and Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India.
Discontent with the British rulers remained an undercurrent in India after the failed war of independence. The actions
and attitudes of British officials who served in both Canada and India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries reflected the different situations in the two countries.
A case in point was Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th earl of Minto, who served as the Governor General of Canada from 1898 to 1905 and was subsequently appointed Governor General of India from 1905 to 1910.
In Canada, Minto was best known as an ardent sport enthusiast who, together with his wife, founded the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa and created the Minto Cup, which is now awarded annually to the champion junior men’s box lacrosse team in Canada.
In India, by contrast, Minto enacted strict punitive measures to suppress nationalist movements and underground revolutionary activities. These activities were prompted, in part, by the decision of the previous viceroy, Lord Curzon, to partition the province of Bengal. Several notable revolutionaries who stood against the partition were arrested. While some were later acquitted, others were sentenced to imprisonment in the notorious Andaman Cellular Jail, and still others were executed.
With his Secretary of State for India, John Morley, Minto passed the Morley-Minto Reforms Act of 1909 that introduced certain political reforms and served as the background for the later formulation of the Constitution of India. The act expanded the number of seats for Indians in the central and provincial legislative councils but prevented them from debating foreign affairs, defence, and other national policy matters. The act introduced separate electoral representation for Hindus and Muslims, which acted as a precursor to communal destabilization in India.