English Colonialism and Imperialism in India

Abstract

This paper traces dominancy of English language in India which was under the direct influence of British empires. India was the most powerful state and was colonized so far by the British Empire. Its imprints can be seen still now, especially the language imperialism. English was encouraged for the purpose of business and trade earlier, than it became the superior language of India. Later on it became the way to escape from social class system and was mostly learnt by the upper class. This study answers the questions: Does English language be praised or condemned? How Indians have responded to English language? What efforts were made by British missionaries to incorporate English language in the universities and colleges of India?In order to estimate the extensive impacts of colonialism a distinction needs to be made between the direct and indirect impacts and instrumentation. The article also presents the characteristics of language imperialism following the same blueprint as industrialist economic supremacy.

Keywords: British, India, Colonialism, Imperialism