What Factors Led to Growing Numbers of Indians to Become

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The Answer is Students should recognize that the British thought of themselves as benevolent rulers and developers of India, but that Indians did not see them in the same light. In some ways, British administration did benefit India as a whole, developing certain types of infrastructure, establishing English as a lingua franca for an otherwise linguistically diverse population, and introducing the Western-style education that shaped many of the early leaders of the Indian independence movement.  At the same time, however, the British made racist assumptions about the innate inferiority of brown-skinned people, and governed India with that basic framework in mind, excluding Indians from the highest ranks of the Civil Service, country clubs, and the military officer corps. This condescension went along with a focus on developing only that infrastructure that stood to benefit Britain, such as railways to transport raw materials, rather than infrastructure that would build up India's economy as an independent force, such as steel mills.  Increasingly after World War I, the rhetoric of British concern for Indian welfare clashed with the reality of British economic exploitation and oppression.  Mohandas Gandhi made this clear by staging non-violent protests that provoked disproportionately brutal, violent responses from the British, such as the Salt March of 1929.  In doing so, he forced the British to confront the hypocrisy of their sense of their own altruistic devotion to Indian well-being. Specific factors that led to dissatisfaction with the British presence included the viceroy system; British repression of Indian industry; and the transfer of the capital to Delhi, the former capital of the Mughal Empire, which was seen as insensitive. The British were supported during World War I by Indian troops and nationalists, who expected in return political concessions and respect. While Britain promised eventual self-government, its details were vague and unsatisfactory. Indians incurred a high population loss from starvation during the war, as well as losses in the influenza epidemic, and it was felt that the British did nothing to assist them. Finally, the General Dyer affair created considerable resentment (Dyer ordered soldiers to fire into a crowd of demonstrators in Punjab; later, the British lords not only delayed an investigation but ultimately rewarded Dyer for his service).

What Factors Led to Growing Numbers of Indians to Become

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