25. 1850-1950 Women’s Lives Under Imperialism
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During the imperial era, women were both active agents and survivors of colonialism. European women spread imperial ideas, participated as missionaries, and also served as important anti-imperialists. Colonized women also had diverse responses to colonialism, which varied depending on location, class, and local customs.
This section has some heavy moments, so trigger warning for sexual assault. |
"Civilization" Propaganda, Public Domain
In 1899, Rudyard Kipling looked back on four centuries of British imperialism and encouraged the rising American empire to do the same. He wrote:
“Take up the White Man’s burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go send your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need”
His use of masculine pronouns is misleading, as women both took part in and were affected by imperialism.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, a few European powers came to dominate and control large swathes of the Earth including most of Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Siberia, and more. The British empire, for example, ruled one quarter of the world’s land. Such imperialism transformed forever the countries and cultures which were murdered and controlled in their own lands. However, while the conquering and “civilizing” of people of color was labeled by Kipling a “Man’s Burden,” imperialism also transformed the lives of women across the world.
“Take up the White Man’s burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go send your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need”
His use of masculine pronouns is misleading, as women both took part in and were affected by imperialism.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, a few European powers came to dominate and control large swathes of the Earth including most of Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Siberia, and more. The British empire, for example, ruled one quarter of the world’s land. Such imperialism transformed forever the countries and cultures which were murdered and controlled in their own lands. However, while the conquering and “civilizing” of people of color was labeled by Kipling a “Man’s Burden,” imperialism also transformed the lives of women across the world.
Depiction of Sati, Public Domain
The British in India: The lives of women under imperialism differed drastically across the world, and we must be wary of generalizing the experiences of both colonizer and colonized women. India became known as “the jewel in the crown” of the British Empire. Thus, India became the archetypical imperial nation, and one whose freedom had particularly harsh consequences for women. How were women affected by imperialism?
Several European nations had tried to colonize India in earlier centuries, but the dominant force that came to replace the weak Mughal Empire by the mid-19th century was the East India Company - a private joint stock company that was chartered by the Queen of England: Elizabeth I.
One way the British justified their colonizing across the globe, but especially in India, was by propagating the idea that they were saving native women from oppression and subjugation that they suffered at the hands of native men. They claimed that by converting native populations to Christianity and teaching them the British ways of life, they would drastically improve the lives of women. In India, they emphasized certain practices, including child marriage and sati as examples of these barbaric patriarchal traditions. Sati refers to the act of a widow voluntarily (or not, as the British claimed) throwing herself onto her late husband’s funeral pyre and being cremated alongside him. Sati was not widely practiced across India, or condoned by all Hindus, but the British exaggerated its prominence and brought in laws banning the practice in an attempt to prove their defense of native women. They also passed laws against child marriage and raised the age of consent in India from 12 to 16. In South India, the British also put an end to the devadasi tradition, in which young girls were donated to a temple to serve as servants of the Goddess - although often ended up serving as prostitutes for the priests and men of their villages.
While many of these laws may seem progressive, they fed into the British colonial propaganda that Indians were evil savages and that colonialism was necessary to civilize them and save their souls. Thus, British officials and missionaries purposefully exaggerated or misconstrued the purpose and prevalence of such traditions for their own political ends. Shady.
The British also ignored the hypocrisy of such laws. In Victorian Britain, laws such as the Contagious Diseases Act (which was also passed in India) demonized prostitutes and blamed women for the prevalence of sexual diseases amongst British soldiers across the globe. (Odd-unless these women were stealthily stabbing syphilis syringes into strangers, I’m pretty sure that it takes two to tango as they say.) Anyway, working class British girls were forced to work from the age of seven or eight, or risk facing the poor house.
Several European nations had tried to colonize India in earlier centuries, but the dominant force that came to replace the weak Mughal Empire by the mid-19th century was the East India Company - a private joint stock company that was chartered by the Queen of England: Elizabeth I.
One way the British justified their colonizing across the globe, but especially in India, was by propagating the idea that they were saving native women from oppression and subjugation that they suffered at the hands of native men. They claimed that by converting native populations to Christianity and teaching them the British ways of life, they would drastically improve the lives of women. In India, they emphasized certain practices, including child marriage and sati as examples of these barbaric patriarchal traditions. Sati refers to the act of a widow voluntarily (or not, as the British claimed) throwing herself onto her late husband’s funeral pyre and being cremated alongside him. Sati was not widely practiced across India, or condoned by all Hindus, but the British exaggerated its prominence and brought in laws banning the practice in an attempt to prove their defense of native women. They also passed laws against child marriage and raised the age of consent in India from 12 to 16. In South India, the British also put an end to the devadasi tradition, in which young girls were donated to a temple to serve as servants of the Goddess - although often ended up serving as prostitutes for the priests and men of their villages.
While many of these laws may seem progressive, they fed into the British colonial propaganda that Indians were evil savages and that colonialism was necessary to civilize them and save their souls. Thus, British officials and missionaries purposefully exaggerated or misconstrued the purpose and prevalence of such traditions for their own political ends. Shady.
The British also ignored the hypocrisy of such laws. In Victorian Britain, laws such as the Contagious Diseases Act (which was also passed in India) demonized prostitutes and blamed women for the prevalence of sexual diseases amongst British soldiers across the globe. (Odd-unless these women were stealthily stabbing syphilis syringes into strangers, I’m pretty sure that it takes two to tango as they say.) Anyway, working class British girls were forced to work from the age of seven or eight, or risk facing the poor house.
Queen Victoria, Wikimedia Commons
Upper class women were encouraged to serve only as mothers and wives and were discouraged from receiving an education beyond Bible study. While waging wars in the name of protecting Indian women, Britain attacked suffragettes and force fed them in British prisons for daring to ask for the right to vote. British women were considered property of their husbands and had limited legal rights of any kind, including custody of their children.
Thus, even as they were attempting to ‘uplift’ and ‘liberate’ Hindu and Muslim women in India, British women felt little control or power over their own lives as citizens of the Empire. This is ironic because one of the most powerful people in the world, Queen Victoria, sat on the throne of England between 1837-1901, for 63 years!
By 1877, Queen Victoria became Empress of India, sending a clear message to the world that women had a key part in the expansion of the British Empire – the empire upon which the sun never set!
Thus, even as they were attempting to ‘uplift’ and ‘liberate’ Hindu and Muslim women in India, British women felt little control or power over their own lives as citizens of the Empire. This is ironic because one of the most powerful people in the world, Queen Victoria, sat on the throne of England between 1837-1901, for 63 years!
By 1877, Queen Victoria became Empress of India, sending a clear message to the world that women had a key part in the expansion of the British Empire – the empire upon which the sun never set!
Lin Zexu, Wikimedia Commons
Imperialism in China: If India wasn’t enough, the British also had their eyes on carving up China and they intended to use India to get it. China remained one of the only parts of the world untouched by imperialism. The Chinese had a vast market for Industrial goods and tea that the British economy greatly desired. They were a largely self-sufficient society, forcing foreign nations to come to them for trade and doing little to engage beyond their borders. This equal balance of trade led to Britain pumping opium from India into China at their one open port in Canton. The Chinese population was growing increasingly addicted to opium, and Chinese authorities were frustrated with Britain for their illegal smuggling. In 1839, the emperor's own son died of an opium overdose. He sent commissioner Lin Zexu’s to Canton to negotiate with the British East India trading company. He wrote a pleading letter to Queen Victoria, “By what right do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people? … Let us ask, where is your conscience? I have heard that the smoking of opium is very strictly forbidden by your country; that is because the harm caused by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm to your own country, then even less should you let it be passed on to the harm of other countries -- how much less to China!”
It is unclear whether Queen Victoria ever even read this letter. The Chinese lost decisively, and were forced to sign an unequal treaty. They attempted to fight again but Britain was joined by other imperial nations and the conflict had an even more devastating impact on the Chinese.
Europeans who traveled to China were often single men who had left families behind. European women who were there were often missionary wives coming to spread Christianity. Missionary societies set up schools for young British women to provide education to the local Chinese women. To Europeans, Confusion ideals which permeated Chinese society were oppressive and they began converting them to Christianity in hopes of “civilizing” them. The type of education they provided reinforced gender divisions and was heavily influenced by Victorian ideals back in Britain.
It is unclear whether Queen Victoria ever even read this letter. The Chinese lost decisively, and were forced to sign an unequal treaty. They attempted to fight again but Britain was joined by other imperial nations and the conflict had an even more devastating impact on the Chinese.
Europeans who traveled to China were often single men who had left families behind. European women who were there were often missionary wives coming to spread Christianity. Missionary societies set up schools for young British women to provide education to the local Chinese women. To Europeans, Confusion ideals which permeated Chinese society were oppressive and they began converting them to Christianity in hopes of “civilizing” them. The type of education they provided reinforced gender divisions and was heavily influenced by Victorian ideals back in Britain.
Empress Cixi, Wikimedia Commons
In the new British colony of Hong Kong, one of the major goals was to abolish the Mui Tsai system, which the British saw as a form of slavery– supposedly abolished throughout the empire. Mui tsai translates to “little sisters.” These little sisters were bondservants from poor families who were sold by their parents to richer homes where they worked their entire lives, sometimes loved like sisters, but other times taken advantage of and neglected. Of course sexual abuse was common. By adulthood they would sometimes be married off to poor men, and other times sold by their new owners into prostitution.
The British had promised elites they wouldn’t interfere with traditions in Hong Kong, and so authorities were reluctant to do anything about this so-called sister tradition. The main argument in favor of this system was the well established practice of female infanticide, or the killing of female babies. The Mui Tsai system at least would ensure female babies survived, although perhaps horribly, to adulthood. British women and a few Chinese converts of course were appalled and began campaigning against it in the 1870s. Often when white women try to “save” other women, they unintentionally misinterpret different cultures. There is also layers of unconscious racism and belittling present in their writings and ideas. Unfortunately, they rarely saw how poverty was a root cause of many of the issues that faced women.
Imperialism in China helped create the rise and fall of China’s second Empress, the last of the Chinese empire. Like the only other female Empress in China, Cixi came to power as the favored concubine of the emperor. When he died in 1861, Cixi's five-year-old son was his only male heir and became the emperor, making her regent as the “empress dowager.” Her son ruled independently for only two years before he died and Cixi became regent again for her three-year-old nephew.
The British had promised elites they wouldn’t interfere with traditions in Hong Kong, and so authorities were reluctant to do anything about this so-called sister tradition. The main argument in favor of this system was the well established practice of female infanticide, or the killing of female babies. The Mui Tsai system at least would ensure female babies survived, although perhaps horribly, to adulthood. British women and a few Chinese converts of course were appalled and began campaigning against it in the 1870s. Often when white women try to “save” other women, they unintentionally misinterpret different cultures. There is also layers of unconscious racism and belittling present in their writings and ideas. Unfortunately, they rarely saw how poverty was a root cause of many of the issues that faced women.
Imperialism in China helped create the rise and fall of China’s second Empress, the last of the Chinese empire. Like the only other female Empress in China, Cixi came to power as the favored concubine of the emperor. When he died in 1861, Cixi's five-year-old son was his only male heir and became the emperor, making her regent as the “empress dowager.” Her son ruled independently for only two years before he died and Cixi became regent again for her three-year-old nephew.
Red Lanterns, Wikimedia Commons
Like every other powerful female empress and regent of China, Cixi was marred in controversy. She was pained by some as the wicked witch of the east, murdering and whoring to keep her power. But most modern scholars see her as a complicated woman who had to navigate the challenges of female power all while the empire was being attacked by imperial nations all around. Missionaries in China stood out and seemed to be everywhere. Some laws and taxes didn’t apply to them, which created animosity. They preached fundamentalist Christianity to a mostly hostile Chinese population. Their own records show that after 35 years they had secured only 13,000 converts. With so much tension, when the still young emperor defied Cixi to introduce some ill-advised reforms; she quickly deposed him and, with the support of elites, took power.
In 1900, rebels known as “Boxers” murdered two German priests. Queen Victoria’s son-in-law Kaiser Wilhelm II, sent German troops to China which exacerbated the problem. Boxers began rebelling against European imperial influence in China in a widespread movement. It began in rural areas and gradually moved toward trading capitals. Girls who joined the movement were called “Shining Red Lanterns” because of the bright red outfits that they wore. They trained at night to avoid being seen and sang songs against missionary imperialism. One went, “Learn to be a Boxer, Study Red Lantern. Kill all the foreign devils and make churches burn.” Pretty straightforward lyrics.
Christian families, including the women and children, in China were murdered as the Boxers swept through the countryside. Western armies moved quickly to defend the Europeans trapped in China. Cixi held a losing hand but played her political cards expertly. At first she sent the Chinese armies to fight the Boxers; when they closed in on Westerners in Peking, she switched sides incorporating the Boxers into the armed forces. Very slick, Cixi. Eight imperial nations held out against the Chinese siege for two months until eventually they were reinforced and pushed through and swept to the Capital, raping Chinese women as they went. Cixi fled the palace disguised as a peasant with bullets flying around her. She was forced into humiliating terms that divided China into Spheres of Influence between imperial nations. She died of a stroke in 1908, claiming at the end of her life that she had never had a day without anxiety. She ruled China for almost 50 years, a formidable woman whose skills held together a bankrupt and declining empire. With her passing, imperial China fell apart.
In 1900, rebels known as “Boxers” murdered two German priests. Queen Victoria’s son-in-law Kaiser Wilhelm II, sent German troops to China which exacerbated the problem. Boxers began rebelling against European imperial influence in China in a widespread movement. It began in rural areas and gradually moved toward trading capitals. Girls who joined the movement were called “Shining Red Lanterns” because of the bright red outfits that they wore. They trained at night to avoid being seen and sang songs against missionary imperialism. One went, “Learn to be a Boxer, Study Red Lantern. Kill all the foreign devils and make churches burn.” Pretty straightforward lyrics.
Christian families, including the women and children, in China were murdered as the Boxers swept through the countryside. Western armies moved quickly to defend the Europeans trapped in China. Cixi held a losing hand but played her political cards expertly. At first she sent the Chinese armies to fight the Boxers; when they closed in on Westerners in Peking, she switched sides incorporating the Boxers into the armed forces. Very slick, Cixi. Eight imperial nations held out against the Chinese siege for two months until eventually they were reinforced and pushed through and swept to the Capital, raping Chinese women as they went. Cixi fled the palace disguised as a peasant with bullets flying around her. She was forced into humiliating terms that divided China into Spheres of Influence between imperial nations. She died of a stroke in 1908, claiming at the end of her life that she had never had a day without anxiety. She ruled China for almost 50 years, a formidable woman whose skills held together a bankrupt and declining empire. With her passing, imperial China fell apart.
Maimed Woman in Congo, Wikimedia Commons
Imperialism in Africa: In 1884, not a single African leader was invited to a conference in Berlin where Europeans sat around and decided how to carve up Africa between them. Only two of them had even been to the continent, and none of them were women. What could possibly go wrong?
Industrialized Europe against non-industrialized African nations resulted in devastating victories for Europeans. They mindlessly and inhumanely plundered African lands for resources which had long term environmental impacts, all the while massacring African people.
Traditionally, African women farmed their own fields, were homemakers, had economic independence, and were involved in local trade. Under colonial rule African men were moved into wage labor or cash-crop agriculture. Men and women began to live separate lives and develop different cultures: men working for a wage, women for sustenance. Women became heads of households.
Perhaps the most gruesome example of European treatment of African people was Queen Victoria’s cousin, King Leopold II of Belgium’s, treatment of the Congolese. He used slave labor to extract rubber and other resources from the Congo. Failure to produce resulted in bodily mutilation or death for those enslaved. An estimated 10 million Congolese perished under his rule.
Industrialized Europe against non-industrialized African nations resulted in devastating victories for Europeans. They mindlessly and inhumanely plundered African lands for resources which had long term environmental impacts, all the while massacring African people.
Traditionally, African women farmed their own fields, were homemakers, had economic independence, and were involved in local trade. Under colonial rule African men were moved into wage labor or cash-crop agriculture. Men and women began to live separate lives and develop different cultures: men working for a wage, women for sustenance. Women became heads of households.
Perhaps the most gruesome example of European treatment of African people was Queen Victoria’s cousin, King Leopold II of Belgium’s, treatment of the Congolese. He used slave labor to extract rubber and other resources from the Congo. Failure to produce resulted in bodily mutilation or death for those enslaved. An estimated 10 million Congolese perished under his rule.
Alice Seeley and Congolese, Public Domain
An English Missionary named Alice Seeley bravely took photos to document the atrocities, and she distributed her photos within anti-slavery publications. The political fall out resulted in Leopold relinquishing personal control over the situation. Way to take down Queen Victoria’s cruel cousin with a camera, Alice.
Missionaries in India: Women played a key role in the colonization in practical ways, too, as missionaries, wives of merchants, mercenaries and civil servants. Back in India, in 1911, there were 1,236 European women in religious work throughout India, compared to 1,943 men.
After the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, a notable increase of Western women migrants and visitors to the subcontinent changed the nature of colonization itself as more white male colonizers took fewer local indigenous women as wives and as more white women entered into the private domestic sphere (as mistresses of native servants and as missionaries/teachers in the Indian spaces). Scholars have noted this may have led to an increase in racial tensions – as the fear of social mixing between Indian natives and foreign colonizers became more transparent. As in other colonial contexts in other parts of the globe, white imperialists’ racist fears were fueled by worries about miscegenation (interracial mixing) and the collapse of racial hierarchies in governance, commerce and social status. White supremacists needed to maintain the false notions of racial superiority to maintain the social, political and economic stratification that imperialism thrived upon.
British women often promoted and perpetuated imperialist propaganda that stated Indian women needed their help and liberation. Such women mobilized resources and networks to raise funds, spread literature about the benefits of expanding their empire, and gave special lectures on the “oppressed women of India” in England to concerned subjects of the Empire.
Missionaries in India: Women played a key role in the colonization in practical ways, too, as missionaries, wives of merchants, mercenaries and civil servants. Back in India, in 1911, there were 1,236 European women in religious work throughout India, compared to 1,943 men.
After the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, a notable increase of Western women migrants and visitors to the subcontinent changed the nature of colonization itself as more white male colonizers took fewer local indigenous women as wives and as more white women entered into the private domestic sphere (as mistresses of native servants and as missionaries/teachers in the Indian spaces). Scholars have noted this may have led to an increase in racial tensions – as the fear of social mixing between Indian natives and foreign colonizers became more transparent. As in other colonial contexts in other parts of the globe, white imperialists’ racist fears were fueled by worries about miscegenation (interracial mixing) and the collapse of racial hierarchies in governance, commerce and social status. White supremacists needed to maintain the false notions of racial superiority to maintain the social, political and economic stratification that imperialism thrived upon.
British women often promoted and perpetuated imperialist propaganda that stated Indian women needed their help and liberation. Such women mobilized resources and networks to raise funds, spread literature about the benefits of expanding their empire, and gave special lectures on the “oppressed women of India” in England to concerned subjects of the Empire.
Notice Indian woman caring for the British baby in the background, New York Times
British women also traveled abroad, in limited numbers, to do social work in India. Although, initially, many went to India to accompany their husbands who were posted overseas, increasingly, British women went independently in the late 19th and early 20th century to work as nurses, teachers, social workers or missionaries.
These women often held strong cultural and racial prejudices against the people of India and devoted themselves not only to evangelizing, converting, and civilizing native women, but also committed themselves to Westernizing Indian women – encouraging them to dress, speak, cook, eat, keep house, and carry themselves like ‘proper’ Victorian ladies. Some missionaries went as far as to hold motherhood camps, so Indians could learn to bathe, feed, and diaper their babies like British mothers did! Apparently mom-shaming existed well before social media made it even easier to do.
British Women had limited access to the public sphere where men held control of commerce, governance and formal education of native Indians. They had limited access to Indian homes, and most of their contact with native people was with servants who raised their children, cleaned their houses and cooked their meals. Religious prejudices that deemed Islam and Hinduism as inferior faith practices also caused British to be less tolerant. As such, they rarely learned Indian languages, went into Indian spaces (markets, mosques, temples, weddings or festivals) or befriended native people.
Victorian women in India were held to high standards by the social rules of etiquette and the cultural norm of the day. Despite oppressive heat and humidity, Brits were expected to dress formally (changing several times a day!) and wear restricting corsets and heavy dresses which made the heat and humidity of India unbearable. P U !
It’s not surprising that many journals and letters from British women in this period seem full of resentments and hostility towards a foreign and strange country, its people, customs and culture. Often British women describe India as a dangerous country and its people as completely alien and incomprehensible.
Even women who tried their best to improve the lot of Indian women were often conservative in their approach to imperialism. For example, Josephine Butler, who worked tirelessly to repeal the Contagious Diseases Act in India and fight for women’s suffrage and education, did not join her friends in speaking out against British imperialism. She wrote that because of the work Britain had undertaken in making slavery illegal, "[w]ith all her faults, looked at from God's point of view, England is the best, and the least guilty of the nations.”
These women often held strong cultural and racial prejudices against the people of India and devoted themselves not only to evangelizing, converting, and civilizing native women, but also committed themselves to Westernizing Indian women – encouraging them to dress, speak, cook, eat, keep house, and carry themselves like ‘proper’ Victorian ladies. Some missionaries went as far as to hold motherhood camps, so Indians could learn to bathe, feed, and diaper their babies like British mothers did! Apparently mom-shaming existed well before social media made it even easier to do.
British Women had limited access to the public sphere where men held control of commerce, governance and formal education of native Indians. They had limited access to Indian homes, and most of their contact with native people was with servants who raised their children, cleaned their houses and cooked their meals. Religious prejudices that deemed Islam and Hinduism as inferior faith practices also caused British to be less tolerant. As such, they rarely learned Indian languages, went into Indian spaces (markets, mosques, temples, weddings or festivals) or befriended native people.
Victorian women in India were held to high standards by the social rules of etiquette and the cultural norm of the day. Despite oppressive heat and humidity, Brits were expected to dress formally (changing several times a day!) and wear restricting corsets and heavy dresses which made the heat and humidity of India unbearable. P U !
It’s not surprising that many journals and letters from British women in this period seem full of resentments and hostility towards a foreign and strange country, its people, customs and culture. Often British women describe India as a dangerous country and its people as completely alien and incomprehensible.
Even women who tried their best to improve the lot of Indian women were often conservative in their approach to imperialism. For example, Josephine Butler, who worked tirelessly to repeal the Contagious Diseases Act in India and fight for women’s suffrage and education, did not join her friends in speaking out against British imperialism. She wrote that because of the work Britain had undertaken in making slavery illegal, "[w]ith all her faults, looked at from God's point of view, England is the best, and the least guilty of the nations.”
Jind Kaur, Wikimedia Commons
Active Participants: It is important not to see colonized women merely as victims. Some women were active participants in imperialism, as well as subject to exploitation by colonial regimes of power. At other times, women were collaborators or beneficiaries. Some scholars have noted that elite women in colonial contexts sometimes benefitted from new educational models which promoted literacy, collectivization and engagement with men. Women were often able to use new skills to write petitions, create journals, publish opinions and challenge authorities (both native and foreign). Elite colonial women sometimes took opportunities afforded to them by foreign intervention to organize political committees, social affinity groups, and/or auxiliaries of male organizations – even though they could not vote or run for office, they could mobilize, organize and educate one another as they sought solidarity and influence in their respective arenas. For many traditional women, the experience of having a voice in the public sphere – where male power was consolidated in commerce and formal politics – was revolutionary.
In India and Britain, women played a huge part in the nationalist movement and fought alongside their male counterparts for India’s freedom. From the earliest days of imperialism, Indian women such as Gulab Kaur led armies against invading forces. Jind Kaur, mother of the last Sikh emperor, became so troublesome for the British that they had her imprisoned. Her granddaughter Sophia Duleep Singh, who despite being raised in Britain at the court of Queen Victoria, spent her life fighting for Indian independence and the rights of women both in Britain and in India. In India, women such as Sarojini Naidu and Ismat Chughtai wrote pamphlets and poems advocating for an end to British rule. Others, such as Ruttie Jinnah and Kasturba Gandhi took to the political sphere (despite not being allowed to vote) to influence the eventual freedom that their husbands would get all the credit for.
Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, was a leader in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In just her twenties, she was a widow to the late ruler and used her position to support the rebellion. The British overlords decided to annex her state and attempted to bribe her to leave with a chest of money. She joined and then led the Indian rebels. Lakshmibai's troops massacred a garrison full of British soldiers, their wives, and children. She fought for two years dressed as a man and weilding a saber, but her rebellion was defeated in 1858. She died in battle. After her death, her body was burned in a huge ceremony, and she is remembered as a hero of India.
In India and Britain, women played a huge part in the nationalist movement and fought alongside their male counterparts for India’s freedom. From the earliest days of imperialism, Indian women such as Gulab Kaur led armies against invading forces. Jind Kaur, mother of the last Sikh emperor, became so troublesome for the British that they had her imprisoned. Her granddaughter Sophia Duleep Singh, who despite being raised in Britain at the court of Queen Victoria, spent her life fighting for Indian independence and the rights of women both in Britain and in India. In India, women such as Sarojini Naidu and Ismat Chughtai wrote pamphlets and poems advocating for an end to British rule. Others, such as Ruttie Jinnah and Kasturba Gandhi took to the political sphere (despite not being allowed to vote) to influence the eventual freedom that their husbands would get all the credit for.
Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, was a leader in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In just her twenties, she was a widow to the late ruler and used her position to support the rebellion. The British overlords decided to annex her state and attempted to bribe her to leave with a chest of money. She joined and then led the Indian rebels. Lakshmibai's troops massacred a garrison full of British soldiers, their wives, and children. She fought for two years dressed as a man and weilding a saber, but her rebellion was defeated in 1858. She died in battle. After her death, her body was burned in a huge ceremony, and she is remembered as a hero of India.
Rani of Jhansi, Public Domain
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Annie Besant, Wikimedia Commons
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In addition to these ladies, white British women traveled to India to provide support and solidarity to those fighting for independence. Perhaps the most well known of these was Annie Besant, who helped launch the Home Rule League to campaign for democracy in India and dominion status within the British Empire. This led to her election as president of the Indian National Congress in late 1917. However, while this was not common, she was not the only British woman to side with India against the Empire. Freida Bedi moved to India with her Indian husband and dedicated her life to writing and protesting against British rule - even being arrested several times for anti-English agitation. Madeline Slade, who became known as Merabehn, left her home in England to live and work alongside Mahatma Gandhi, and has since been lost in his shadow along with the myriad of other female freedom fighters.
Independence: Despite the best efforts of those fighting for Home Rule, India did not gain its independence until 1947. The Partition of India and creation of Pakistan in that year resulted in the colony being divided and the population of India split into two countries, organized broadly into Hindu and Muslim groups.
This resulted in one of the biggest forced migration in human history, with over 10 million people moving between India and Pakistan. In this process, 1.5 million people died from inter-religious violence, disease, starvation, and exhaustion. However, women bore the brunt of partition. Tens of thousands of women from all religious communities were kidnapped, murdered, mutilated and raped by “enemy” communities. Many, including children, were forced into marriages and many committed suicide rather than face the prospect of rape or mutilation at the hands of men. The British released a campaign to “recover” these stolen women, but women were not consulted and many did not wish to return to communities that were likely to reject them if their honor had been compromised or if they had made a new home in their new country. Today, the plight of South Asian women during Partition remains virtually unknown beyond the Indian subcontinent, despite being one of the darkest examples of women’s lives under imperialism.
By the end of this era, so much remained in question. How would women in these colonial societies respond? And what role would they play in colonial resistance?
Independence: Despite the best efforts of those fighting for Home Rule, India did not gain its independence until 1947. The Partition of India and creation of Pakistan in that year resulted in the colony being divided and the population of India split into two countries, organized broadly into Hindu and Muslim groups.
This resulted in one of the biggest forced migration in human history, with over 10 million people moving between India and Pakistan. In this process, 1.5 million people died from inter-religious violence, disease, starvation, and exhaustion. However, women bore the brunt of partition. Tens of thousands of women from all religious communities were kidnapped, murdered, mutilated and raped by “enemy” communities. Many, including children, were forced into marriages and many committed suicide rather than face the prospect of rape or mutilation at the hands of men. The British released a campaign to “recover” these stolen women, but women were not consulted and many did not wish to return to communities that were likely to reject them if their honor had been compromised or if they had made a new home in their new country. Today, the plight of South Asian women during Partition remains virtually unknown beyond the Indian subcontinent, despite being one of the darkest examples of women’s lives under imperialism.
By the end of this era, so much remained in question. How would women in these colonial societies respond? And what role would they play in colonial resistance?
Draw your own conclusions
Dahomey Amazons, Public Domain
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Were the Dahomey Amazons powerful?
In this visually driven inquiry, students examine primary accounts and visual depictions of the Dahomey women warriors who fought against colonial powers in Europe. Were they powerful? This historic event has recently been made into a feature film and a documentary. Consider showing these films before or after having student explore the sources. Film 1: The Woman King (2022) (PG-13) feature film. Retrievable at https://youtu.be/3RDaPV_rJ1Y Film 2: Warrior Women With Lupita Nyong’o (2019) Smithsonian Documentary. Retrievable at https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/special/warrior-women-with-lupita-nyongo 
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Empress Cixi, Public Domain
Red Lanterns, Public Domain
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Who was the real Empress Cixi?
In this inquiry, students explore the rise of Empress Cixi, only the second Chinese empress to rule outright in Chinese history.
How did Chinese women engage and lead in the Boxer Rebellion?
In this inquiry, students explore primary material about the role of women in the Boxer Rebellion.
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Queen Victoria, Wikimedia Commons
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Were white women willing participants or collateral damage in imperialism?
White women are often looked over in imperial efforts by Europeans abroad in Africa, South and East Asia to point blame at their husbands in positions of power, yet women were also a part of the imperial aims, heck Queen Victoria held the top job during Britains century of power. So how much heat should they take?
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Lesson Plans from Other Organizations
- This website, Women in World History has primary source based lesson plans on women's history in a whole range of topics. Some are free while others have a cost.
- The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media has produced recommendations for teaching women's history with primary sources and provided a collection of sources for world history. Check them out!
- The Stanford History Education Group has a number of lesson plans about women in World History.
Bibliography
Anand, Anita. Sophia: Princess, Suffragette and Revolutionary. 2015. Bloomsbury.
Das, Veena. Life and Words: Violence and the Descent into the Ordinary. 2007. University of California Press.
Forbes, Geraldine. Women in Modern India. 2004. Cambridge University Press.
Hajara, Nisid. Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition. 2017. Amberly.
Jackson S, Ho PSY. Interconnected Histories: Locating Women’s Lives in Time and Space. Women Doing Intimacy. 2020 Jun 12:47–86. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-28991-9_3. PMCID: PMC7286840.
Keay, John. India: A History. 2004. Harper Press.
Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2017. Yale University Press.
MacMillan, Margaret. Women of the Raj: The Mothers, Wives and Daughters of the British Empire in India. 2018. Thames and Hudson.
"Qing Dynasty: Social Classes, Laws & Economy." Study.com. November 26, 2017. https://study.com/academy/lesson/qing-dynasty-social-classes-laws-economy.html.
Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. 2016. Penguin History.
Strayer, R. and Nelson, E., Ways Of The World. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.
Wigington, Patti. "7 Female Warriors and Queens You Should Know." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/female-warriors-4685556 (accessed November 19, 2022).
Das, Veena. Life and Words: Violence and the Descent into the Ordinary. 2007. University of California Press.
Forbes, Geraldine. Women in Modern India. 2004. Cambridge University Press.
Hajara, Nisid. Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition. 2017. Amberly.
Jackson S, Ho PSY. Interconnected Histories: Locating Women’s Lives in Time and Space. Women Doing Intimacy. 2020 Jun 12:47–86. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-28991-9_3. PMCID: PMC7286840.
Keay, John. India: A History. 2004. Harper Press.
Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2017. Yale University Press.
MacMillan, Margaret. Women of the Raj: The Mothers, Wives and Daughters of the British Empire in India. 2018. Thames and Hudson.
"Qing Dynasty: Social Classes, Laws & Economy." Study.com. November 26, 2017. https://study.com/academy/lesson/qing-dynasty-social-classes-laws-economy.html.
Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. 2016. Penguin History.
Strayer, R. and Nelson, E., Ways Of The World. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.
Wigington, Patti. "7 Female Warriors and Queens You Should Know." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/female-warriors-4685556 (accessed November 19, 2022).
Primary AUTHOR: |
Chloe Gardner
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Primary Reviewer |
Kelsie Brook Eckert
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Consulting Team |
Editors |
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Kelsie Brook Eckert, Project Director
Coordinator of Social Studies Education at Plymouth State University Dr. Nancy Locklin-Sofer, Consultant Professor of History at Maryville College. Chloe Gardner, Consultant PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University Dr. Whitney Howarth, Consultant Former Professor of History at Plymouth State University Jacqui Nelson, Consultant Teaching Lecturer of Military History at Plymouth State University Maria Concepcion Marquez Sandoval PhD Candidate in History at Arizona University |
Amy Flanders
Humanities Teacher, Moultonborough Academy ReviewersAncient:
Dr. Kristin Heineman Professor of History at Colorado State University Dr. Bonnie Rock-McCutcheon Professor of History at Wilson College Sarah Stone PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University Medieval: Dr. Katherine Koh Professor of History at La Sierra University Dr. Jonathan Couser Professor of History at Plymouth State University Dr. Shahla Haeri Professor of History at Boston University Lauren Cole PhD Candidate in History at Northwestern University |
Remedial Herstory Editors. "25. 1850-1950 WOMEN’S LIVES UNDER IMPERIALISM." The Remedial Herstory Project. November 1, 2022. www.remedialherstory.com.
