Victoria, Empress of India
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the relationship between India and Britain during Victorian times.
Key learning points
- During Victorian times, the British Empire controlled many countries around the world including India.
- Britain had gradually taken control of more and more territory of India before and during Victoria's reign.
- In 1876, Victoria was given the special title 'Empress of India'.
- Later in Victoria's life, one of her most faithful servants was called Abdul Karim, who was from India.
- Some of Victoria's other household servants were angered by Abdul and did not want to treat him as an equal.
Keywords
India - India is a country in southern Asia surrounded on three sides by the Indian Ocean
Empress - the female leader of an empire is called an empress
Servants - a person who has a job working in someone else's home is a servant
Household - a ruler's household includes all the people who support a ruler and live in the same building as them or very near to them
Common misconception
Pupils may think that Britain still rules over or controls India today.
Britain does not rule India today. Britain ruled India and much of the surrounding land for over 300 years, but this ended in 1947 when the territory was partitioned into two separate independent countries which became India and Pakistan.
Teacher tip
The British Empire lead to the development of the Commonwealth of Nations, which includes 56 countries around the world. Pupils could investigate the commonwealth and its history and see how the aims of this organisaiton are to promote prosperity and peace, and equality for all nations.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In South Africa, many people worked as ...
Q2.Who set up a group to help the miners and change the conditions they were working in?
Q3.The largest diamond in the world was found in England.
Q4.Queen Victoria ruled over lots of countries in the British .
Q5.Alice Kinloch came to to explain that African miners were not treated fairly.
Q6.Select the ways that miners in South Africa were treated.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords to the definitions.
a person who works in someone else's home
the female leader of an empire
Q2. Britain still rules over India today. True or false?
Q3.Victoria was given the title 'Empress of India' in ...
Q4.Which country was Abdul Karim born in?
Q5. Abdul Karim taught Queen Victoria how to speak ...
Q6.The royal included many servants who did jobs for the queen.
To help you plan your 2 history lesson on: Victoria, Empress of India, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 history lesson on: Victoria, Empress of India, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 history lessons from the Queen Victoria: how did Britain change during her lifetime? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.