Page 9 - SST Class 08

SOURCE B : Castle, Peterhoff house, and Gaiety Theatre
From ‘Tea Tales of Assam’, written by a tea
planter who lived in India until 1926; this was
published after his return to Britain.
“The British in India in those days expected and
received a certain standard of courtesy and
politeness. There were certain rules of polite
procedure shown towards both the British and
upper-class Indians such as closing an umbrella,
which was being used as a sunshade when
speaking to or passing a European. If riding a
pony, an Indian was expected to dismount and
lead the pony, when passing on the road.”
SOURCE C :
From an interview with an Englishwoman who
spent thirty-five years in India until independ-
ence. This interview was conducted in 1975.
“I can honestly say that at the time when we
were living and working in India, there was
absolutely no feeling of exploitation, no feeling of
being wicked imperialists. In fact, in those days,
we did not think imperialists were necessarily
wicked. We thought, we were bringing enlighten-
ment to the backward parts of the world.”
2. New Towns and Cities
Many new towns and cities were established
by the British in India. Shimla was discov-
ered by the British in 1819 after the Gurkha
War.
By the latter half of the 19th century (1864),
Shimla had become the summer capital of
the British Raj. British soldiers, merchants,
and civil servants moved here each year to
escape from the heat during summer in the
Indo-Gangetic plain. The Kalka-Shimla 4. Press and Newspapers
railway line, constructed in 1906, added to
its accessibility and popularity.
Pre-independence structures such as the
Viceregal Lodge, Auckland House, Gorton
Social Science-8
are reminders of British rule in India.
3. Coins
Numismatics is the study of coins. Coins
yield information on the condition of
country. The coins made of gold, silver and
copper speak of the economic situation of
that place in the period. Coins gives us
chronological information. It also gives us
knowledge about the extent of influence of
that a particular ruler or kingdom and its
relation with the distant areas. Roman coins
discovered in India gives us an idea about
the existence of contacts with the Roman
empire. Coins are the only source of idea
knowledge of the Bactarian; Indo-Greeks
and Indo-Parthian dynasties. The coins of
this period brings to light an improvement in
the coin artistry of India. Portraits and
figures, Hellenistic art and dates on the
coins of the western straps of Saurashtra are
remarkable sources for reconstructing this
period. The Puranic accounts of the
Satavahanas is ascertained from the
Jogalthambi hoard of coins.
European Coins
The circulation of coins made of gold and
silver during the Gupta empire imparts an
idea of the healthy economic condition
during the rule of the Guptas.
In 1876, there were 62 vernacular newspa-
pers in Bombay (Mumbai), about 60 in
N.W.F.P., (North west Frontier Province),
Oudh and Central Province, 28 in Bengal
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