Most of European colonialism succeeded due to numerical superiority of the source country, which supplied professional soldiers with resources. The exception was in India, where India's population rivaled Europe but was still conquered. Why exactly India was so easily conquered may have to do with the fact that it was dominated by foreign powers for much of its history -- Muslims, Mongols, Mughals, etc -- which suppressed nationalism and engendered a defeatist and submissive attitude, i.e., obsequiousness.
Hypothesis: the caste system meant that 80% of the population was used to having a ruling caste above them and they accepted that as a fact of life. Being inferior to a higher caste was part of their socialization. When the British came, they only had to dominate the top dogs, the Brahman caste, and life was normal again. Perhaps the 80% relished that the top dogs were taken down a peg or two.
Good post. FYI some claim Nigeria's population is inflated: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/824rsHCXuqTmBb8se/nigeria-s-missing-50-million-people
Oh true; I'll edit the post to mention that
Good read!
Spotted a typo:
> Today, Europe has 750,000 people while Africa has 1.5 billion.
Most of European colonialism succeeded due to numerical superiority of the source country, which supplied professional soldiers with resources. The exception was in India, where India's population rivaled Europe but was still conquered. Why exactly India was so easily conquered may have to do with the fact that it was dominated by foreign powers for much of its history -- Muslims, Mongols, Mughals, etc -- which suppressed nationalism and engendered a defeatist and submissive attitude, i.e., obsequiousness.
Hypothesis: the caste system meant that 80% of the population was used to having a ruling caste above them and they accepted that as a fact of life. Being inferior to a higher caste was part of their socialization. When the British came, they only had to dominate the top dogs, the Brahman caste, and life was normal again. Perhaps the 80% relished that the top dogs were taken down a peg or two.