The rise of the British Empire in India was not the achievement of the English alone. A large share of the labour, military muscle, finance, and administration that kept the Raj running came from Scotland. Although Scotland was a small country with difficult agriculture, limited land, and harsh economic conditions, its citizens found vast opportunities in the East. For many young Scots, India was a land of escape from poverty, a place where one could earn status, land, pensions, and military reputation. What is often called the “British” Empire in India was, to a great extent, a Scottish-run enterprise.
The Scottish link with India began in the late 17th and early 18th century, when the East India Company was rapidly expanding its territorial and commercial authority. Soon, Scottish merchants, bankers, doctors, missionaries, and soldiers began arriving in large numbers. By 1780, nearly one-third of the officers of the Bengal Army were Scottish. Their reputation for strict discipline, courage, engineering skill, and military endurance made them highly valued.
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| India freedom fighters blowing up with cannons quora.com |
Above image: Here's a copy of an engraving depicting the British blowing up some India freedom fighters with cannons so that you don' fall into the Liberal trap ........
Scots formed the backbone of several famous regiments of the East India Company and later the Crown. From the Sepoy Wars to the North-West Frontier, Scottish officers and sepoy regiments commanded by Scots gained notoriety for their ferocity. Sir Colin Campbell, later the 1st Baron Clyde, became famous for suppressing the Indian Revolt of 1857.
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| India freedom fighters blowing up with cannons quora.com |
Above image: Here's a copy of an engraving depicting the British blowing up some India freedom fighters with cannons so that you don' fall into the Liberal trap ........
Sir Hugh Rose, remembered for the brutal campaign that captured Jhansi, forced the surrender of Rani Lakshmi Bai’s forces. remembered for the brutal campaign that captured Jhansi, forced the surrender of Rani Lakshmi Bai’s forces. Many Scots became household names within colonial military circles, and legends were created around Highland courage and ruthlessness.
Scottish administrators entered the civil services as well. After the Charter Act of 1853 introduced competitive exams for the Indian Civil Service (ICS), Scots excelled. Historian Sir Thomas Munro and statesman Lord Dalhousie—both Scottish—shaped major aspects of the British Raj. Dalhousie’s infamous Doctrine of Lapse annexed Indian princely states like Jhansi and Satara, creating enormous resentment that contributed to the uprising of 1857. As Governor-General, he pushed aggressive railway expansion, telegraph lines, and modern postal service, all remembered today as signs of modernization but built on harsh revenue extraction.
The Scots also dominated trade and finance. Many of India’s oldest banking and shipping houses—such as Jardine Matheson, Mackinnon Mackenzie, Graham & Co., and Martin Burn—were founded or controlled by Scots. Calcutta and Bombay became centers of Scottish commercial power, where tea, jute, opium, shipping, insurance, coal and railways brought huge fortunes. Indian labour and taxes created wealth that flowed to Glasgow, Dundee, and Edinburgh. The jute mills of Dundee, for example, survived on raw material supplied from Bengal plantations.
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| W. Jardine and Matheson |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jardine_Matheson_%26_Co.
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| Civil Engineer John Pennycuick |
The statue of Colonel John Pennycuick - donated by southern Tamil Nadu state - will be unveiled on 10 September at a public park in Camberley, 50km (31 miles) from London. Pennycuick is a revered figure in Tamil Nadu for designing and building the Mullaiperiyar dam, which provides water for drinking and irrigation to five districts in the state. The 127-year-old dam has long been a source of tension between Tamil Nadu and neighboring Kerala state, which has often called for its demolition.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62816672
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| Equestrian statue of Thomas Monroe |
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| Honest Scottish officer Sir Thomas Monroe instagram.com |
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| Alexander Duff, founder Scottish college Kolkata, en.wikipedia.org |
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| Scottish Church College, Kolkata 1830 ,en.wikipedia.org |
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| Wilson college,Mumbai1893 en.wikipedia.org |
Above image: The Wilson College was founded by the Scottish missionary Rev. John Wilson, in 1832. Beginning as Ambroli English School in Girgaum, Mumbai...........
Missionaries formed another Scottish presence. Schools, colleges, and churches set up by Scottish Presbyterians rose across India. Institutions such as the Scottish Church College (Calcutta, 1830), Duff College, and Wilson College in Bombay were founded by Scots. While these colleges spread English-medium education and modern science, they also served the colonial aim of cultural domination and Christian conversion. Some missionaries genuinely worked for education and social reform, while others viewed Indians as subjects needing discipline and moral “improvement.”
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| LordDalhousie Facebook.com |
Above image: Lord Dalhousie Introduced tricky Doctrine to annex Indian lands. His administration marked the expansion of British Indian territories and the introduction of reforms and constructive activities. Dalhousie fought the second Sikh War (1848-49) and took over the Punjab. He annexed a portion of Sikkim in 1850 and towards the end of 1852 his army fought the Second Burmese War and conquered lower Burma. During his tenure on April 16th, 1853, history was made in India with the first train journey on Indian soil. The train ran from Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) to Thane, covering a distance of 34 kilometers ...........
The Scottish reputation in India was mixed. Some administrators gained respect for honest governance, infrastructure building and famine relief. Yet the military image of the Scots was one of severity, especially on the frontier and during rebellions. Highland regiments, marching in kilts with bagpipes, became symbols of imperial intimidation. Scottish officers like Dalhousie and Campbell were remembered not as liberators but as agents of annexation, taxation, and harsh suppression of dissent. George Yule – Former President of the Indian National Congress He encouraged Indian Nationalists to demand freedom. Alexander Cunningham was the founder of Archaeological Survey of India
By the 20th century, Scots continued to hold powerful posts in the army, ICS, railways, and trade. Even at the end of the Raj in 1947, Scotland’s influence was visible in India’s bureaucracy, legal system, tea industry, plantation economy, and educational institutions. Yet, much like the Irish, the Scots left behind a complicated legacy—one of enterprise and engineering on one side, and imperial violence, annexation, and economic exploitation on the other.
