Synopsis
In this programme we discover how a few thousand British people ruled over India, a country of more than 250 million people and the centre point of the whole British empire.
- Programme: Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
- Episode: 4: Heaven's Breed
- Channel: Channel 4
- Broadcast year: 2003
- History
Licence: ERA Licence required
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
1: Why Britain? | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
1: Why Britain? | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
In this programme we learn about the origins of the British empire in the 17th century and how its foundations we...
2: White Plague | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
2: White Plague | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
The concept of 'plantation' is explored in this programme, referring not to crops but the settlement of British p...
3: The Mission | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
3: The Mission | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
Following the religious revival that started in the late 18th century, missionaries began working in Africa and In...
5: Maxim Force | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
5: Maxim Force | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
The 'scramble for Africa' by competing European nations during the last years of Queen Victoria's reign is the com...
6: Empire for Sale | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
6: Empire for Sale | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
The fall of the British empire is usually attributed to nationalist groups fighting for independence, yet as N...
More resources about The British empire
1: Martial Races | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
1: Martial Races | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga challenges our perceptions of the First World War with the stories of the millions of Indian, ...
1: The Atlantic Slave Trade | History File
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The development of the triangular trade is described from its ancient origins, through the European involvement in the 16th and 17...
Chinese Labour Corps | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
Chinese Labour Corps | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the experiences of the Chinese labour corp in WW1.
The Indian Corps and trench warfare | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
The Indian Corps and trench warfare | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the Indian corp experiences of industrialised trench warfare.
7: Soldiers of Empire | Not Forgotten
7: Soldiers of Empire | Not Forgotten
In this special edition of Not Forgotten, Ian Hislop uncovers the overlooked stories of soldiers from across the British Empire who fou...
5: Shot at Dawn | Not Forgotten
5: Shot at Dawn | Not Forgotten
In this special edition of Not Forgotten, Ian Hislop uncovers the powerful stories of First World War soldiers from across the British Empire...
Episode 1 | The Birth of Empire: The East India Company
Episode 1 | The Birth of Empire: The East India Company
Dan Snow travels through India in the footsteps of the company that revolutionised British lifestyles and laid the fo...
Episode 2 | The Birth of Empire: The East India Company
Episode 2 | The Birth of Empire: The East India Company
Dan Snow traces the rise and fall of the East India Company, and reveals how the British government controlled the Ea...
Indian soldiers in Marseille | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
Indian soldiers in Marseille | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the experiences of the Indian soldiers arriving in Marseille at the begi...
2: Foreign Legions | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
2: Foreign Legions | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
In part two, historian David Olusoga explains how the First World War spread far beyond the mud and trench...
6: Age of Empire | Seven Ages of Britain
6: Age of Empire | Seven Ages of Britain
David Dimbleby travels through Britain, America and India, tracing the British Empire from 1750 to 1900.
Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners
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In 1834 Britain abolished slavery, a defining and celebrated moment in our national history. What has been largely forgotten is that aboliti...
1: Home from Home | Lost World of the Raj
1: Home from Home | Lost World of the Raj
The first episode recreates the era of the 1930s, when British expatriates attempted to create an idyllic version of English life i...
3: The Mission | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
3: The Mission | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World
Following the religious revival that started in the late 18th century, missionaries began working in Africa and In...
3: War | Suez: A Very British Crisis
3: War | Suez: A Very British Crisis
How the invasion of Egypt caused an international outcry and the end of Eden's career.
6: Freedom | Michael Wood: The Story of India
6: Freedom | Michael Wood: The Story of India
Michael Wood examines the British Raj and traces the events that led to the Partition of India in 1947.
Amritsar 1919: Remembering a British Massacre
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A century on, historian Dr Zareer Masani reappraises the events and context of the Amritsar massacre in which hundreds of India...
Episode 2 | My Family, Partition and Me: India 1947
Episode 2 | My Family, Partition and Me: India 1947
Anita Rani and her mother Lucky become the first members of their family to return to what is now Pakistan since the Part...
French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga investigates the WW1 experiences of French troops from Sub-Saharan W...
1: A Taste of Power | Empire
1: A Taste of Power | Empire
Jeremy Paxman begins by asking how such a small country got such a big head and came to rule a quarter of the world.