The British ruled India for a very long period of time (1858-1947) as a company called British East India Company. The company founded by John Watts and Thomas Smythe was established for the purpose of trade with South and South-East Asian Nations. They first stepped into the port of Surat on 24 August 1608 for the trade of spices. Apart from the spices, they also trade in silk, cotton, opium, indigo dye, and tea. After they started the trade, India became the centre of attraction all over the world. The British East India Company didn’t directly connect with the British government.
The primary owner of its share was the British merchants and aristocrats. Britishers were more powerful than Indians in terms of weapons. Thus, with the help of their modern weapons, they took control of Indian sub-continents and started ruling India and the Indians.
After seven years, in 1608, The British India Company started getting orders to establish their factories in India. They established their first factory on 24 August 1608, Surat, under the leadership of Sir Thomas Roe (Ambassador of James I).
After establishing several trade factories, Britishers saw a broad expansion of their trading operations in India. In the 1750s, the Britishers started interfering in the Indian political system, and with the help of their advanced weapons, they made a plan to rule all over India. Britishers got their first success in their plan of ruling India when Robert Clive (a British military official) defeated the forces of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah, at the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
Introduction To the British Tax System in India
The origin of the British tax system dates back to 1757; after winning a battle with the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Britishers started making their taxation policies in India. But till 1855, the common people were exempt from the taxation system enforced by the British government. The common man of India started facing problems in 1856 due to the British rule of taxes.
The British government tried to cover their losses (due to military revolts) by creating tax policies. They divided the taxation policies into four parts, i.e., Income from landed property, Income from professions and trades, Income from Securities, Income from Salaries, and pensions.
The British government decided to take 2% of the income from the below who earn below 500 in a year and 4% from the people who earned above it. They excluded the people who earn less than Rs 200 a year. There were many other tax policies that were making people stressed during the British rule in India.
The tax system is generally used for maximum social welfare, but the British government was collecting huge taxes from the Indian citizen to cover their losses. Salt Tax was one most problematic taxes for Indian citizens.
Salt Tax
Salt production and distribution were the major sources of income for many people in India. After watching all the revenues generated from the salt in India, the British government made police for selling and distributing salt. In 1882, the British government banned the production and distribution of salt. Instead, they asked Indian citizens to buy salt from the government at a high price. They put heavy taxes on salts.
Due to this law, many poor and common people got affected. Thus, it resulted in the protests. Indians started protesting against the salt tax in the 19th century. In the early 1930s, Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Freedom Fighter) was a non-violent protest against the Britishers. This protest is also known as the Dandi March or the Salt Satyagrah. He started this non-violent protest with 78 Indians. Thousands of people joined Gandhi Ji’s Salt protest and stopped in every village to spread patriotism among Indians.
On 5 April 1930, Gandhi Ji reached the Dandi village after travelling 385 kilometers. The next morning on 6 April 1930, Gandhi Ji and his followers broke the salt law made by the British government by producing the salt. The British government didn’t make any arrests that day, and Gandhi continued his non-violent protest against the British government.
In late April, the British government arrested Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi in May for breaking the salt law made by British rulers. On 21st May 1930, Sarojini Naidu led this non-violent movement with 60 thousand followers. In this protest, the British government started Lathi Charge, in which many people got injured, and two people died following the movement. The Britishers were shaken by this non-violent movement.
Thus, as a result, in 1931, the British government released Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and their followers. Lord Irwin (British Officer) was forced to put an end to salt law, and he allowed Indians to produce salt for domestic use.
Conclusion
India got freedom from the Britishers in 1947. Till that time, Indians faced several issues due to British laws and the taxation system. Each Indian thanks to the freedom fighters, due to which now we are living in a secular, democratic country with freedom. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhagat Singh, and Subhas Chandra Bose were some of the famous freedom fighters who helped India to become an independent country.
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References
http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/AlvaredoBergeronCassan2017Appendix.pdf
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