Colonial encounters in Asia and Africa

Europe was the supreme authority of the world. Their colonization had long lasting effects on the regions they conquered: Asia and Africa. Europeans changed the demographic, economy, and political structure of foreign lands through bringing their own ideologies. Some ideologies they brought were: Christianity, western education, slavery, and economical structure. The lands Europe conquered either embraced or heavily rejected them. The latter was expressed through rebellions. Secondary effects from colonization were progression of women's rights, immigration, and new racial identity (Strayer 911).With colonists coming into the foreign land, there was mixing between colonists and locals which created new races of Eurasian or European/African mix. Europe empires had distinct features, such as "centralized tax-collecting bureaucracies, new means of communication and transportation, imposed changes in landholding patterns, integration of colonial economies into a global network of exchange, public health and sanitation measures and the activities of missionaries," (Strayer 891). The primary documents in this chapter are some of the recorded responses to European colonization. Some embraced it in India like Prince Feroze Shah's declaration The Azamgarh Proclamation where he praises British ruling (Strayer 918). Others in India like Mahatma Gandhi eloquently spoke against British rule calling colonization or "civilization" as something that turns Indians away from God and their own traditions, losing themselves (Strayer 920). Colonization has profoundly impacted and changed history with various types of responses both positive and negative.