Siam's Influence In India

Although Britain had already participated in informal trade with India prior to the 19th Century, India did not actually become an official British colony till 1858. There has therefore been a strong British presence in India over this period of time. As a result India became formally colonial state. In contrast Siam had no European presence prior to the 19th Century, Siam’s main trade was with China and its other surrounding neighbours. Siam is argued by Wyatt to be an independent state that defended itself against imperial powers. On the other hand Marxists point out that Siam was heavily influenced by western imperial powers and so in this sense it was semi-colonised. I believe that although there was a great deal of western influences upon

The British wanted access to spices that were not controlled by the Dutch and so found their own ports in India. Although the initial British interest in India was spices, they soon found other products to trade. In Siam early trade was done with China, natural produce being their goods, one of the main produce being rice. Chinese traders were very interested in Siam’s rice and “by 1735 the rice trade between China and Siam was well established” (Ingram, J. 1971, p.23). Although rice was a major export of Siam, others include; sugar, raw cotton, hides, and horns. In India foreign trade expanded as traders slowly moved inland and took control of small states offering them protection. To fund journeys the British East India company, that dealt with British Indian trade, began to tax Indian farmers by creating a tax policy. Over time due to superior technology, British traders offered to train Indian armies, in this way they also took over control of the army in a way. Siam kings had wanted to keep westerners out of the country however with the conquest of Burma nearby and thus the threat of annexation they were left to comprise via the Burney Treaty. The Burney Treaty

Indian industry developed after the British had found stability and good footing in their own industry. British rulers made sure that the possible Indian industry would not undermine that of Britain. When the British did decide to industrialise India the textile industry was heavily invested in as it could provide cheap light alternatives to the heavy cloth produced in England. Many of the cotton mills built were based on Lancashire and Manchester designs. The British administration in India also affected other areas of society as knowing the English language well and having the ability to socialise with British officials became the best way to increase social ranking and move to the top of society. The way to introduce English language was education. The General Committee on Public Instruction was divided in their view of how education should be addressed. Some took the ‘Orientalist’ view that traditional language and culture should be taught with the addition of English language and a few ideas, while others took the ‘Anglicist’ view that Indians should be completely re-educated in Western culture with English language, with idea to create “a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour,