Why did Britain consider India the most important of its colonies?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Britain referred to India as the "Jewel in the Crown" and exerted tremendous influence on Indian home politics, national identity, and culture, and vice versa. There was a long-term economic investment in India with Britain's buildup of the British East India Company for several hundred years. England engaged in trading calico cloth, spices, and luxury items. To maintain this territory as something more than just an economic enterprise, Britain retained outposts with British administrators to ensure compliance with the British system. These local governors effectively became local absolutist rulers; however, British liberalism argued for the need to help the Indians achieve self-rule. Britain's approach became very paternalistic, deciding itself when the country was or wasn't ready to rule. This raised resentment about the British presence, and periodic rebellions took place. The Sepoy Rebellion in 1857 was a conflict in which Indian soldiers in the British service demonstrated over concerns about pay and whether they would be forced to convert to Christianity. A major blunder occurred when guns arrived that were lubricated with fat from both pigs and cows, which was religiously insulting and abhorrent to both Muslims and Hindus. The British responded with brutality in putting down this rebellion.