The Making and Breaking of the British Indian Empire

[Indus Pakistan]

There is a common misconception that exists amongst Pakistanis and it is reinforced by Indians that we "broke" off them - that is Ganga India. In this narrative it is also assumed that a "natural India" existed which we in 1947 artificially carved up.

The truth is there was no "India" anymore than there is Balkans, Iberia, Scandanavia or even Europe. India was just a geographic region and like any geographic region it was composed of various entities which kept on morphing into new entities.

The entity that existed a day before 14th of August was called British India or the British Raj. This had been made by British East India Company in name of greed and profit. The entire reason for creation of British India was British greed. Everybody questions why Pakistan was created but when was the last time somebody asked -

Question - "Why was British India created for?"
Answer - "British greed and profit."

The making of British India was artificial, cruel and involved the killing of South Asians. Our ancestors did NOT want to be part of India. Which is why every entity and every part of South Asia fought the British to prevent being part of British India. They only became part of British India when they were defeated on the battlefield whether that was at Battle of Plassey in 1757 when Bengal earned the privilage of becoming "British India". Over the next century plus the British fought and conquered other South Asian people to create their British India.

What is today Pakistan was made British India relatively late. In 1843 Mir of Talpur's Sindh was defeated at Battle of Miani and Sindh was made "British India". It is worthwhile mentioning here the Mir of Talpur's army fought valiant fight against General Napier British forces. Most of Talpur's army was killed fighting in order NOT to me made into British India.

In 1848 a Sikh army faced the British in Battle of Gujrat (near modern day Gujrat city in Pakistan) and despite fighting desperately they lost with the battlefield red with blood and the screams of the dying on both sides and thus Punjab was created as "British India".

Yet a false construct called British India made by killing South Asians into submission for the sake of British greed and profit is regarded as natural but the 1947 "unmaking" of British India which was by choice as opposed to be enforced on the battlefield is regarded as artificial. Just to recap the entity Britain made was "British India" ran by British officials ruled British crown and flying the British flag.

It's important to note that British Indian Empire was huge and what is often overlooked (the Indians would have you believe that they are the India) is that British created the Raj first by conquering Bengal, then Oudh, UP. Madras then spread to Burma, then to Sindh, then to Punjab and they kept spreading. The result was the Raj was huge and the infographic above shows the successor states or those states that today have bits of what was the Raj before. Not many people know that Aden in Yemen or Dubai or Burma (Myanmar) were also part of the Raj. The distorted narrative that has been peddled and largely accepted by Pakistanis is that there was India and it was carved to make Pakistan. Period. Indians bizzarely believe that they owned British India. This is false. The infographic below addresses this canard.

The Ganga Indians would have you believe that the following (below) is summation of what happened. This makes it appear that British India was dis-established which then became Bharat India ( Ganga). Then along came Jinnah who after sharpening his knife cruelly carved up Mata India. This is absolute fabrication. Truth is it was British India (made by British guns) that was dis-established from which various successor states came into existence - all equal in their successive rights as heirs to the British Raj notwithstanding that one had similar name. But then my name is Ali but I don't ever harbour illusions of being Ali the boxer just because of a name.

Here below is a video that shows the making and unmaking of the British Raj and begins from 1750. It has the borders of modern entities - Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan superimposed on the dynamic map. You can see how things change, evolve and reach where we are today including the piece by piece making of British India. What this video does not show though is how as at every point in making of British India the bloodshed and battles that were fought - all because we South Asians did not want to be "Make British India". And many of us died fighting to stop this unification of the sub-continent by force. The good thing with this video is you can look at the spot where you come from in South Asia and see how it evolved to the present day. I would ask Pak members to please to take time and watch the video and understand the previous evolution of our region.

Ps. The video is not perfect and does have some minor flaws but on the whole it does a good job of charting the history of South Asia from 1750 onwards. All credits @Ollie Bye

 

[Indus Pakistan]

What exavtly was the status of us living in the British colony? Well we all were British subjects prior to 14th August 1947. For example passports were issued by the provnces of British India. so there was a passport office in Karachi, Sindh, A passport office in Lahore, Punjab etc. Any person from any part of the huge worldwide British Empire could walk into the Lahore passport office and apply for British Indian Passport. Let me say this again. A person from Montreal in Canada, a Jamaican from Kingstown, a Nigerian from Lagos, a South African from Cape Town, a Australian from Sydney, a New Zealander, a Fijian, a Yorkshireman from Leeds, a Welsh from Cardiff, a Scot from Glasgow, a Greek Cypriot from Cyprus, a Maltese from Malta, a Chinese from Hong Kong. Any person from any part of the British Empire could get the British Indian Passport. All they had tp prove was they were British subjects.

This underlines the simple fact that what existed before 1947 was a British entity. It was not some private property of Ganga Indian's like so many of them think today. It was a vast British empire made up of yellow, brown, black, white and evrery shade in between. Note it has the British Crown insignia on the face. In 1947 the holders of this passport could apply for Pakistan or Indian passports as they became independant countries.

British Crown insignia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Indian_passport

@Chinese Bamboo @Chinese-Dragon @ChineseTiger1986 @Pangu @Sher Shah Awan @PAKISTANFOREVER @Irfan Baloch @MastanKhan @KediKesenFare

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

There is a common misconception that exists amongst Pakistanis and it is reinforced by Indians that we "broke" off them - that is Ganga India. In this narrative it is also assumed that a "natural India" existed which we in 1947 artificially carved up.

The truth is there was no "India" anymore than there is Balkans, Iberia, Scandanavia or even Europe. India was just a geographic region and like any geographic region it was composed of various entities which kept on morphing into new entities.

The entity that existed a day before 14th of August was called British India or the British Raj. This had been made by British East India Company in name of greed and profit. The entire reason for creation of British India was British greed. Everybody questions why Pakistan was created but when was the last time somebody asked -

Question - "Why was British India created for?"
Answer - "British greed and profit."

The making of British India was artificial, crual and involved the killing of Soth Asians. Our ancestors did NOT want to be part of British. Which is why every entity and every part of South Asia fought the British to prevent being part of British India. They only became part of British India when they were defeated on the battlefield whether that was at Battle of Plassey in 1757 when Bengal earned the privilage of becoming "British India". Over the next century plus the British fought and conquered other South Asia people to create their British India.

What is today Pakistan was made British India relatively late. In 1843 Mir of Talpur's Sindh was defeated at Battle of Miani and Sindh was made "British India". It is worthwhile mentioning here the Mir of Talpur's army fought valiant fight against General Napier British forces. Most of Talpur's army was killed fighting in order NOT to me made into British India.

In 1848 a Sikh army faced the British in Battle of Gujrat (near modern day Gujrat city in Pakistan) and despite fighting desperately they lost with the battlefield red with blood and the screams of the dying on both sides and thus Punjab was created as "British India".

Yet a false construct called British India made by killing South Asians into submission for the sake of British greed and profit is regarded as natural but the 1947 "unmaking" of British India which was by choice as opposed to be enforced on the battlefield is regarded as artificial. Just to recap the entity Britain made was "British India" ran by British officials ruled British crown and flying the British flag.

It's important to note that British Indian Empire was huge and what is often overlooked (the Indians would have you believe that they are the India) is that British created the Raj first by conquering Bengal, then Oudh, UP. Madras then spread to Burma, then to Sindh, then to Punjab and they kept spreading. The result was the Raj was huge and the infographic above shows the successor states or those states that today have bits of what was the Raj before. Not many people know that Aden in Yemen or Dubai or Burma (Myanmar) were also part of the Raj. The distorted narrative that has been peddled and largely accepted by Pakistanis is that there was India and it was carved to make Pakistan. Period. This is false. The infographic below addresses this canard.

The Ganga Indians would have you believe that the following (below) is summation of what happened. This makes it lokok like British India was dis-established which then became Bharat India ( Ganga). The along came Jinnah who after sharpening his knife cruelly carved up Mata India. This is absolute fabrication. Truth is it was British India that was dis-established from which various successor states came into existence - all equal in their successive rights as heirs to the British Raj notwithstanding that one had similar name. But then my name is Ali but I don't ever harbour illusions of being Ali the boxer just because of a name.

Here below is a video that shows the making and unmaking of the British Raj and begins from 1750. It has the borders of modern entities - Mynamar, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan superimposed on the dynamic map. You can see how thing change, evolve and reach where we are today including the piece by by making of British India. What this video does not show though is how as at every point in making of British India the bloodshed and battles that were fought - all because we South Asians did not want to be "Make British India". And many of us die fighting to stop this unification of the sub-continent by force. The good thing with this video is you can look at the spot where you come from in South Asia and see how it evolved to the present day. I would ask Pak members to please to take time and watch the video and understand the previous evolution of our region.

Ps. The video is not perfect and does have some minor flaws but on the whole it does a good job of charting the history of South Asia from 1750 onwards. All credits @Ollie Bye

An excellent read and one of the best threads I have ever seen on PDF. It explains a lot of ground realities. It explains why Pakistanis are so racially different to indians and bengalis. It explains that the narrative indians have of a united india pre 1947 is completely false. It finally lays waste to the false and ridiculous notion that there is a so-called "South Asian" community with a "shared heritage".

Keep up the excellent work.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

@PAKISTANFOREVER Thank you. I really appreciate when my fellow Paks show approval. Please support me by making sure you spread the contents of this thread in particular the infographics I have made to destroy the false narratives peddled by our neighbours. They are designed to be sharp, to the point to rebut the rubbish Gangas peddle eveywhere and which sadly many of our people have even accepted as truth.

 

[H!TchHiker]

Interesting indeed very interesting...Never knew some of the things before..good read for me i must say clarified some of the things ..Have to read more of pre-partition ..and establishment of british raj..
Introduction para is what most of us used to believe including myself due to ignorant of historic events..

 

[Pangu]

Very interesting. Decades ago I saw a movie regarding this India/Pakistan split, one scene still fresh in my memory was 2 column of people across a desert, one going to India & the other Pakistan. It was apparent to me that India & Pakistan was dissected at the same time from British control due to religion.

Didn't know there is another narrative out there that Pakistan gained Independence from India itself.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

@PAKISTANFOREVER Thank you. I really appreciate when my fellow Paks show approval. Please support me by making sure you spread the contents of this thread in particular the infographics I have made to destroy the false narratives peddled by our neighbours. They are designed to be sharp, to the point to rebut the rubbish Gangas peddle eveywhere and which sadly many of our people have even accepted as truth.

Will do. Going to pass it around to my family members, friends, acquaintances and work colleagues who have Pakistani heritage. We need to destroy the falsehoods and propaganda propagated about us by non-Pakistanis.