as if Indians had been their servants

[keannu]

1. I wonder if this was written by a non-native. Does "as if Indians had been their servants" here make sense? If the writer intended a past perfect situation, it will, but I think it should be "were" to mean the same tense as the main clause of "the British treated". The idea wouldn't extend to their having being servants before.
2.What does this "with themselves" mean?
3. "Indian" seems a typo, does it make sense? It should be corrected to "India" IMO.

jo3-5
ex)Gandhi is very famous for fighting against the British with non-violence when India was ruled by Britain. Since 1858, when India became a part of the British Empire, the British treated Indians as if Indians had been their servants...In reality, some Indians struggled with themselves to stand against violence only to fail and meet with a tragic death...This non-violence example led many Indians to refuse to cooperate with the British. And, in the end, the British had to leave Indian and Indians got their peace back.

[Barb_D]

1. I agree that "were" is the better choice. I'm not 100% that "had been" is incorrect though.
2. I have no idea.
3. Yes, it's a typo, not an "error." That is, it's not a mistake someone would make because they didn't know the right way to say it.

[bhaisahab]

1. I wonder if this was written by a non-native. Does "as if Indians had been their servants" here make sense? If the writer intended a past perfect situation, it will, but I think it should be "were" to mean the same tense as the main clause of "the British treated". The idea wouldn't extend to their having being servants before.
2.What does this "with themselves" mean?
3. "Indian" seems a typo, does it make sense? It should be corrected to "India" IMO.

jo3-5
ex)Gandhi is very famous for fighting against the British with non-violence when India was ruled by Britain. Since 1858, when India became a part of the British Empire, the British treated Indians as if Indians had been their servants...In reality, some Indians struggled with themselves to stand against violence only to fail and meet with a tragic death...This non-violence example led many Indians to refuse to cooperate with the British. And, in the end, the British had to leave Indian and Indians got their peace back.

I would say it was probably written by a non-native. Is it the whole text?