What if the British never invaded India?

Question

India in the mid-1600s, before the establishment of the British Empire, was one of the richest nations on the planet. It controlled approx 25% of world wealth , and an equal share of world trade. When the British left in 1947, they left the country in a dilapitated state: A country whose share of world trade fell to 3%. What if the British never invaded India? Would India have become a Superpower by now? If so, what implications would that have had on America's aspirations for becoming another superpower?

Answer 1

No. When the British conquered India, it was actually a number of different small kingdoms. It was not a united country. Different rulers were actually using the French and the English, and their animosity to try and gain advantages over their neighbors. But when you play with fire, you'll get burned. If the English hadn't won the Napoleanic Wars, then India probably would have become a French Colony or set of colonies, and France would have remained a world dominating super power for a lot longer than it did. However, the result for India, in the long run, probably would have been the same.

Answer 2

In order to answer this question, it would be important to know why Britain would not take possession of India. There wasn't a single invasion, but a number of incremental steps involved in creating the British raj, many of which never required military force from Britain.

Britain presence in India was created by the formation of markets on the sub-continent. The thing is that other European powers were engaged in similar activities, including the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French. One major aspect of the Seven Years War of the 1750's involved whether it would be Britain or France that was be dominant in India. Given that Britain was the premier sea-faring nation at the time, it would be hard to imagine them not tapping into India's riches.

Nevertheless, there are some direct results that can be analysed from a British absence, with all other factors being equal.

● India would be divided into a number of ethnic states, probably several dozen, divided generally by language.
● The Suez Canal would not have been built, at least not by the British.
● Britain and Japan might not have clashed in World War II, meaning that a US oil embargo that resulted in Pearl Harbour might have been very different.

If it weren't the British establishing a raj in India, most likely another European power, probably France, would have at least tried. The presence of India within a French Empire might have changed the nature of the French Revolution, or perhaps the American Revolution as French commitment to American independence might not have been strong given the defence of India. Without a specific point of divergence, it's difficult to tell what would have happened.

Answer 3

If the British hadn t invaded India, we would not be seeing the poverty, wealth gaps and problems we see today in India. The British robbed about 9 trillion pounds from India. India would have eventually been united and India did not contain little kingdoms in those times. Most of India was occupied by the Maratha Empire after the Mughal Empire had been defeated by them. So the India we would see today without being colonised would be like the USA is today; a superpower. However, India would be called India but would consist of present day India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Answer 4

inida was a country with lot of wealth, culture, ideas, etc. but it was lacking unity. Even majority was un united hindus the united minor muslim was conquring india and inida might turn to another islamic country. Even the French and the dutch might have the chance to built colories.
English brough western education and the used indian wealth and manpower for there national build up. Now india is using the western eduction that the british given to them.

Answer 5

i think india becoming a superpower is still very much a reality, because of its of its enormous manpower and abundance of natural resources but india becoming a superpower by now is one of the posibilities as precolonial india was might strong economically.

And roostermanfo, starfox is quite correct in stating in statting india's economic prowess. In actuality, he was really underestimating the numbers. According to Wikipedia, and not a corn flake packet as u so half-wittedly suggest, India was the largest economy in the world from the 1st to the 15th century. Dont u feel like quite the fool?

Answer 6

In accordance to the answers before this stating the poor condition of India i would like to remind you of some facts about india:

have these people forgotten that why great travelers like vasco-da-gama,columbus,etc have started from their homes and in discovering what? why the spanish,the french, the british and the portuguese invested large amounts and risked their lives above all to the only mission of finding INDIA even though the are not sure if the earth was flat or round????? even the west indies and the american states indiana got their names when these travelers discovered them an mistook them to be India.

have these people forgotten that when the world around the mid centuaries of the second millineum(1400AD-1600SD) is still quabling over the roundness of the globe. the indian mathematitian and astronomer ARYA BHATTA had already given the answer to the question way back in 1000BC. he also calculated the time of a day and a year exactly to 4 decimal places?

have these people forgotten that it is India that gave the '0'-zero
to the number system which has indeed changed every principal in mathematics,which is indeed the life and breath of every equation and exception in Sciene and computers?Indeed there is no computer without a zero and no internet and no yahoo!Answers tooo!!!

have these people forgotten that the so called communal riots between muslims and hindus never existed in this holy motherland of mine before the british stepped in india.during the rule of akbar the great religions florished this land and unity between the hindu and islam brothers was tight. it was the cowardly british that rose the difference between us,brothers b'coz they were afraid that our strong will might effect their plan to rule over india.?

have these people forgotten the truth that todays modern medicine is no more based on latest science but on our ayurvedic science that indian chemists of ancient india had given out in our holy inscriptions like the upanishads and vedas.?

have these people forgotten that the sex bible that every sexologist in this world follows is the kamasutra which indeed is a cretion of indian scholar vatsayana.his work today has helped a few million bonds of love and marriage from breaking apart.

we spread the knowledge,the love and the wisdom. And thus we are looked down upon. If we have reserved our selves to our own limits this whole world would have still been in renaissance period.

Answer 7

India would have invaded China and deep into africa dn the middle eat. it could have been one of the strongest empires in the world but they fell since thei weapons could not compare to European (british specifically) weapons. It would have had a strong impact on America because Britian would most likely not have spent as much time on exploration as they did anf thus the 13 colonies would not have formed. the present day US would have been under Spanish control.

Answer 8

where did you get this info from(corn flakes packet perhaps)25%0f worlds wealth? i dont think so,the british left the country in a much better state than it was before they were there,there was mass starvation,tuggies roaming the country murdering thousands,muslims and hindu's killing each other by the tens of thousand,the british did not invade india they were invited by the various leaders around the country so that they could bring law and order to a country that was in the state of anarchy,tens of millions of pounds worth of farming equipment went to rust because the average indian had no interest in farm work or any form of hard labour,just as they do now they work either buses,trains,no manual work..as a super power ,i dont think so..mind you if the british had concentrated on america then the usa would not have existed as the british military might would have been a thousand times more powerfull than that small force they used in the american revolution.so no usa.

Answer 9

The French or Dutch would have and the end result would have been pretty much the same, except neither the French nor the Dutch were very good at relinquishing colonialism.

Answer 10

For this question i wish to ask you to go to this link, whose authors have researched on this subject and are giving lectures. The link is
http://www.bharathgyan.com/index.php/plu...

They give lectures with powerpoint presentation. A specific book is available, i think. You may very well contact them.