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One of the defining features of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, is though it clearly struck a chord with many, the rebels acted more like a mob than revolutionaries, with expulsion of the British equated to destroying debt books instead of communication lines and the actual infrastructure of British rule. So here’s my scenario- in 1820, Lord Elphinstone was convinced that the upper classes needed to be educated in the western style, to let them help more in colonial rule and make them more loyal. What if, he actually decides to take that idea one step further and send Mirza Mughal, Nana Sahib and a few other princes of the main states to England to receive a proper western education. Otl, it was the western educated elite that drove the 20th century’s independence campaign, so let’s say that this clique of western educated princes take a tour of Europe and take the trouble to learn some more about the political systems in the west. When the time for the rebellion actually comes around, one or other of them is actually able to draft an idea of what they want the revolution to achieve that aims for a federal state as in America and thus are able to win more elites and moneylenders to their side as they have a coherent plan, and once they’ve established them selves they strike up a deal with Russia or the french for arms. The revolution ends with an independent federal Mughal empire on the Westphalian model that consists of the Rajputana, Bihar, UP, the Central provinces, Hyderabad Subah, Gujarat and some of Bombay, with designs on bringing the rest of the old core Maratha domains into the fold under Nana Sahib, with constitutions of each state a hybrid between the British and American. What im essentially asking for is a Meiji for the Mughals but I don’t want to put it that way because everyone loves going “well actually-there are specific reasons Japan could pull a meiji and the idea that just about any country could do it really needs to stop”

What are the consequences for Britain? Could revolutionary sentiment spread to the rest of India? Is this state likely to expand much? Is it already too late for this to have any effect on China? How does this affect late imperialism? The scramble for Africa?
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