Introduction
The structure of India’s present day when India was under British rule, economy has its roots steeped In history, particularly in the period
The sole purpose of the British colonial rule in India was to reduce the economy for Great` Britain’s country to being a feeder Britain’s own rapidly expanding modern industrial base.
An understanding of the exploitative nature of this relationship is essential for any assessment kind and level of development which the Indian economy of the decades has been able to attain over the last six
LOW LEVEL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UNDER THE COLONIAL RULE
Agriculture was the main source of livelihood (85%).
The country’s economy was characterized by various kinds of manufacturing activities.
India was particularly well known for its handicraft industries in the fields of cotton and silk textiles, metal and precious stone works etc.
These products enjoyed a worldwide market based on the reputation of the fine quality of material used and the high standards of craftsmanship seen in all imports from India.
Textile Industry in Bengal
Muslin is a type of cotton textile which had its origin in Bengal, particularly, places in and around Dhako. Doccoi Muslin’ had gained worldwide fame as an exquisite type of cotton textile. The finest variety of muslin was called malmal Sometimes, foreign travelers also used to refer to it of malmal shahi or malmal khas implying that it was worn by, or fit for, the royalty.
Low level ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The economic policies of the British Were concerned more with the protection and promotion of the economic interests of their home country.
It transformed the country into a net supplier of raw materials and consumer of finished industrial products from Britain.
The colonial government never made any sincere attempt to estimate India’s national and per capita income.
Some individual attempts which were made to measure such incomes yielded conflicting and inconsistent results.
Among the notable estimators Dadabhai Naoroji, V.K.R.V. Rao and RC. Desai it was Rao whose estimates of the national and per capita incomes during the colonial period were considered very significant.
The country’s growth of aggregate real output during the first half of the twentieth century was less than two per cent coupled with a meager half per cent growth In per “ca-pita output per year.
AGRICULTURE DURING PRE-BRITISH INDIA
It exports, in abundance, cottons and silks,rice, sugar and butter. It produces amply for its own consumption wheat, vegetables,grains, fowls, ducks and geese.
It has immense herds of pigs and flocks of sheep and goats. Fish of every kind it has in profusion.
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
Agricultural productivity became incrementally low though, in absolute terms, the sector experienced some growth due to the expansion of the aggregate area under cultivation.
Agricultural productivity became incrementally low though, in absolute terms, the sector experienced some growth due to the expansion of the aggregate area under cultivation.
This stagnation in the agricultural sector was caused mainly because of the various systems of land settlement that were introduced by the colonial government. Particularly, under the zamindan’system.
However, a considerable number of zamindars, and not just the colonial government, did nothing to improve the condition of agriculture.
To a very great extent, the terms of the revenue settlement were also responsible for he zamindars adopting such an attitude; dates for depositing specified sums of revenue were fixed, failing which the zamindars were to lose their rights.
Low levels of technology, lack of irrigation facilities and negligible use of fertilisers, all added up to aggravate the plight of the farmers.
There was relatively higher yield of cash crops in certain areas of the country clue to commercialization of agriculture.
INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
India could not develop a sound industrial base under the colonial rule.
The country’s world famous handicraft industries declined and no modern industrial base was developed. The colonial government’s policy of systematically deindustrializing India was two-fold.
A. To reduce India to the status of a mere exporter of important raw materials for the upcoming modern industries in Britain.
B. To turn India into a sprawling market for the finished products.
The decline of the indigenous handicraft industries created massive unemployment and a new demand in the Indian consumer market, which was now deprived of the supply of locally made goods.
This demand was profitably met by the increasing imports of cheap manufactured goods from Britain.
The new industrial sector was the very limited area of operation of the public sector Modem industry began to take root in India but its progress remained very slow.
- Cotton textile mills Maharashtra and Gujarat
- Jute mills Bengal
- The iron and steel industries began coming up in the beginning of the twentieth century The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was incorporated in 1907
- Sugar, cement, paper etc. came up after the Second World War. There was hardly any capital goods industry to help promote further industrialisation in India
The establishment of a few manufacturing units were no substitute to the near wholesale displacement of the country’s traditional handicraft industries.
The growth rate of the new industrial sector and its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remained very small.
FOREIGN TRADE
India has been an important trading nation since ancient times. But the restrictive policies of commodity production, trade and tariff pursued by the colonial government adversely affected India’s foreign trade.
India became an exporter of primary products such as raw silk, cotton, wool, sugar, indigo, jute etc. and an importer of finished consumer goods like cotton, silk and woolen clothes and capital goods like light machinery produced in the factories of Britain.
For all practical purposes, Britain maintained a monopoly control over India’s exports and imports.
As a result, more than half of India’s foreign trade was restricted to Britain while the rest was allowed with a few other countries like China, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Persia (Iran).
The opening of the Suez Canal further intensified British control over India’s foreign trade.
• The most important characteristic of India’s foreign trade throughout the colonial period was the generation of a large export surplus.
• But this surplus came at a huge cost to the country’s economy. Several essential commodities-food grains, clothes, kerosene etc. became conspicuous by their acute scarcity in the domestic market.
• Furthermore, this export surplus did not result in any flow of gold or silver into India. ‘ Rather, this was used to make payments for the expenses incurred by Britain.
Trade Through The Suez Canal
Suez Canal is an artificial waterway running ‘ from north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in north-eastern Egypt.
It connects Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea With the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea.
The canal provides a direct trade route for ships operating between European or American ports and ports located in South Asia, East Africa and Oceania by doing away with the need to sail around Africa.
Strategically and economically, it is one of the most important waterways in the world.
Its opening in 1869 reduced the cost of transportation and made access to the Indian market easier.
Demographic Condition
1″ Census 1881.
It revealed the unevenness in India’s population growth. Subsequently, every ten years such census operations were carried out.
Before 1921 1st Stage of demographic transition. and After 1921 2″ Stage of demographic transition.
However, neither the total population of India nor the rate of population growth at this stage was very high.
Overall literacy level was less than 16 per cent. Out of this, the female literacy level was at a negligible low of about 7 per cent.
Public health facilities were either unavailable to large chunks of population or, When available, were highly inadequate. Consequently, water and air-borne diseases were rampant and took a huge toll on life.
Overall Mortality rate was very high and in that, particularly, the infant mortality rate was quite alarming-about 218 per thousand in contrast to the present infant mortality rate of 40 per thousand.
Life expectancy 44 years in contrast to the present 68 years. On the eve of Independence both birth rate and death rate were high BR-48 And DR-40
OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE
During the colonial period, the occupational structure of India showed little sign of change.
- Agricultural sector 70-75 %
- Manufacturing 10%
- Services sectors 15-20 %
Another striking aspect was the growing regional variation.
Parts of the then Madras Presidency, Maharashtra and West Bengal witnessed a decline in the dependence of the workforce on the agricultural sector.
There had been an increase in the share of workforce in agriculture during the same time in states such as Orissa, Rajasthan and Punjab.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Under the colonial regime, basic infrastructure such as railways, ports, water transport, posts and telegraphs did develop.
However, the real motive behind this development was not to provide basic amenities to the people but to sub serve various colonial interests.
Roads constructed in India prior to the advent of the British rule were not fit for modern transport.
There always remained an acute shortage of all weather roads to reach out to the rural areas during the rainy season.
Naturally, therefore, people mostly living in these areas suffered grievously during natural calamities and famines.
The British introduced the railways in India in 1850 and it is considered as one of their most important contributions.
The railways affected the structure of the Indian economy in two important ways
- It enabled people to undertake long distance travel and thereby break geographical and cultural barriers
- It fostered commercialization of Indian agriculture which adversely affected the comparative self sufficiency of the village economies in India.
The volume of India’s export trade undoubtedly expanded but its benefits rarely accrued to the Indian people.