Varieties of Colonialism

Abstract

British colonialism in India was prolonged and deep. By contrast, British rule in Africa, including in Nigeria, was relatively short and superficial. This chapter analyzes the motives, mechanisms, and impact of British colonialism by comparing these two experiences. The economic importance of India to Britain was far greater than that of Nigeria. Crown rule over India was established with brutal force and sustained via despotic institutions of rule. The Scramble for Africa was sparked by growing competition among European powers, but the economic context was also important. The British left behind moderately well-functioning state institutions in India but an impoverished economy, in which the life expectancy of an average Indian was thirty-two years. In Nigeria both the state and the economy that the British left behind were seriously underdeveloped.