Question

Many native Indians distrusted Enlightenment ideas about liberty and equality for all and therefore did not push for independence from Britain. What made these Indians wary of the Enlightenment ideals that may have inspired revolution?

Many in India had enjoyed great prosperity under British rule and did not want to see it end.

Many feared that if the British pulled out of India, they would take their technology with them.

Many Indians were not ready to to extend equal rights to women or to the members of the lower castes.

The idea of freedom was frightening to many Indians, since they who never experienced it before.

Answer 1

Correct answers: 1 and 3.

Explanation briefly:
- Many Indian elites, landholders, commercial interests and rulers of princely states had gained wealth, status, or administrative power under British rule and therefore resisted a change that might threaten their position.
- Deeply entrenched social hierarchies (caste and gender norms) meant large segments of Indian society and many leaders were unwilling to embrace full political and social equality for women and lower castes, so Enlightenment-style egalitarianism had limited appeal.

Why the others are wrong:
- 2 is unlikely: Indians did not generally fear the British would “take away” technology; colonial rule actually brought railways, telegraph, modern education and administration that many Indians used and benefited from.
- 4 is too simplistic and misleading: many Indians had experienced local self-rule and community autonomy historically; resistance to “freedom” was more about fear of social upheaval and loss of privilege than being frightened by the abstract idea of liberty.