What was the Economic Impact of British Rule ?
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Economic Impact of British Rule
Three Stages of British Colonialism
First phase-The Mercantile phase (1757-1813)
The East India Company used its political power to
monopolize trade and dictate terms to the traders of
Bengal.
Imposition of innated prices of goods led to buccaneering
capitalism whereby wealth flowed out of the barrel of
the British trader’s gun.
Revenues of Bengal were used to finance exports to
England.
Second phase-The Industrial phase (1813-1858)
India was exploited as a market for British goods.
Act of 1813 allowed one way trade for the British, as
a result the Indian markets flooded with cheap and
machine-made imports. Indian traders lost foreign as
well as home market.
Indians were forced to export raw materials and import
finished goods.
Heavy import duty on Indian products to England to
discourage them in the market.
Third phase-financial phase (1860 onwards)
The British consolidated their position in India and
made India a market for manufacturers and a supplier
of foodstuffs and raw materials.
Introduction of Railways (1853), Post and Telegraph
(1853), Banking System (Avadh Commercial Bank 1881).
would while w.” A’ the
oi zamindari
the parts
L’ milords In
settlement the
‘.vhwh m.iinta.n€•d to rm
or W’th Mahals. which were
Revenue •vas revised
The land settlements introduced market econth
did .qth eustomarv rights Cash
rev enuc encouraged mone’. act’vltv
sharpened Hitterentlanon The ru•h
to the to defend ‘her property
of crops Led
to grains at prlces and
stabihtv oi the Indian villages was shake
enure set up of the rural sooetv began to break
n•cr.n RH*.
Kheda
Maharashtra 1875
Maharashtra 1879 Vasudev gaiwmt
Andhra E
1918 Garuih@l and
1921 Ali and
1928 Vallabh Bhat
1946 Kamparan Singh
1946
194′, Kumar•iva ami
1624
Sidhu and Kanhu Oriti* Rule
k •a r, and Ratna Navak
Dham’
_ N “as 1882 Sambhuden
Birsa Munda
Installation o’ Bnosh
•nd kabout
and Rebgunu
Bri tish forests
t 022-24 Attun Sitaram Ra’u British Rule
.’nfl OOId1nbu directed
excess of Bfltlbh rule
led bv religious monks against
rum peasantry
bv Vira Pandva
nbornman agarnst imposition ot Brzhsh Suzerainty
led b’. Bakshi lagabandhu
Br1t1M1 occupation and revenue pohcv.
Brit’sh teons
led Veiu Thampi
bv Chmnama and
against Brutish interterencez in Kittur
Karam Shah
hv Bjrabhacira Rall’
bv I)adu Mian for
Hv l’honci Savant and
Bhagat Mal or Sian Saheb in
First phase-The Mercantile phase (1757-1813)
The East India Company used its political power to
monopolize trade and dictate terms to the traders of
Bengal.
Impositionofinflated prices of led to buccaneering
capitalism whereby wealth flowed out of the barrel of
the British trader’s gun.
Revenues of Bengal were used to finance exports to
England.
Heavy British investment in India and burden of
public debt increases.
Industries came into existence (Tata Iron and Steel in
1907).
Drain of Wealth
Dadabhai Naoroji cited it in his book ‘ ‘Poverty And
Un-British Rule in India” (1901). R.C Dutta in his
“Economic History of India” (Vol-1 1901, Vol-II 1903)
blamed British policies for Indian economic ills.
Drain of Wealth theory refers to a portion of national
product of India which was not available for
consumption to its people.
Constituents of drain were :
1.Extortion by company servants fortunes from rulers,
zamindars, merchants and common man and sending
them home.
2.Purchasing goods out of revenues of Bengal and
exporting them. This was called investment.
3• Duty free trade provided to the British gave them a
competitive edge over Indian traders. These subsidies
were financed from Indian treasury.
4, Remittances or salaries and other incomes by company
officials send to England.
5 Home charges or cost of salaries and pensions of
company officials in India were paid from the treasury
of India.
6, Hefty interests were paid to British investors.
Effects
It stunted the growth of Indian enterprise and checked
and retarded capital formation in India.
It financed capitalist development in Britain.
India was kept as a zone of free trade without allowing
it to develop the ability to compete.
Plantations, mines,jute mills, banking, shipping, export-
import concerns promoted a system of interlocking
capitalist firms managed by foreigners. It drained
resources from India.
Land Revenue Systems
Permanent Settlement/lstamarari (Sthayi) Bandobast
Introduced in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and districts of
Benaras and Northern districts of Madras by Lord
Cornwallis in 1793.
John Shore planned the Permanent Settlement.
> It declared zamindars as the owners of the land. Hence,
they could keep 1/ 11th of the revenue collected to
themselves while the British got a fixed share of 10 / 11th
of the revenue collected. The zamindars were free to
fix the rents.
> Assured of their ownership, many zamindars stayed in
towns (absenteelandlordism)and exploited their tenants.
Ryotwari System
It was introduced in Bombay and Madras in 1820.
Thomas Munro (GovernorofMadras)and Charles Reed
recommended it.
> In this, a direct settlement was made between the
government and the ryot (cultivator).
The revenue was fixed for a period not exceeding
years, on the basis of the quality of the soil and the nature
of the crop. It was based on the scientific rent theory
Ricardo.
> The position of the cultivator became more secure but
the rigid system of revenue collection often forced him
into the clutches of the moneylender.
Besides this, the government itself became a b
zamindar and retained the right to enhance revenue a
would while the cultivator was left at the mercy of
officers.
Mahalwari System
> Modified version of zamindari settlement introduc«
in the Ganges valley, NWFP, parts of Central India
Punjab.
Revenue settlement was to be made by villages
estates with landlords. In Western Uttar Pradesh,
settlement was made with the village communitie;
which maintained a form of common ownership known
as Bhaichare, or with Mahals, which were groups
villages.
Revenue was periodically revised.
Colonial Impact of Land Revenue Systems
L The land settlements introduced market economy
did away with customary rights. Cash payment
revenue encouraged money-lending activity.
2 It sharpened social differentiation. The rich had
to the courts to defend their property.
3. Forcible growing of commercial crops led the peasant
to buy food grains at high prices and sell cash
crops
low prices.
4• The stability of the Indian villages was shaken and
entire set up of the rural society began to break up.
Peasant Movements
Indigo Revolt Bengal
1859 Bishnu and Digambar Bisw.
Pabna
Bengal 1870 Ishwar Roy, Sabu Pal, Kh
Mollah
Deccan Riots Maharashtra 1875
Ramosi
Maharashtra 1879 Vasudev Balwant Phadke
Movement
Bijolia
Rajasthan 1913 Sitaram Das, Vijay PathikSin$
Champaran Bihar
Kheda
Gujarat
Moplah
Kerala
BordoIi/Borsad Gujarat
Tebhaga
Bengal
Punnapra-
Kerala
Waylar
Telengana Andhra P
Avadh Kisan UP
Sabha
Eka Movement Avadh
1917 Gandhiji
1918 Gandhiji and Vallabh BhaiPa$
1921 Sayyad Ali and Sayyid Fazl
1928 Vallabh Bhai Patel
1946 Kamparan Singh, NyamatAl
1946
1946 Kumaraiya and Sundaraiya I
1918 Indra Narayan Dwivedi
Gauri Shankar Mishra
1920 Baba Ramachandra
1921 Madari Pasi
ForestSatyagrahSouth India 1931 NV RamaNaidu,NGRanga
All India Kisan Lucknow 1936 Sahajanada Saraswati
Second phase-The Industrial phase (1813-1858)
India was exploited as a market for British goods.
Act of 1813 allowed one way trade for the British, as
a result the Indian markets flooded with cheap and
machine-made imports. Indian traders lost foreign as
well as home market.
> Indians were forced to export raw materials and import
finished goods.
Heavy import duty on Indian products to England to
discourage them in the market.
Third phase-Financial phase (1860 onwards)
The British consolidated their position in India and
made India a market for manufacturers and a supplier
of foodstuffs and raw materials.
> Introduction of Railways (1853), Post and Telegraph
(1853), Banking System (Avadh Commercial Bank 1881).
Tribal Revolts
1766-72 Raja Jagannath Excess Revenue
Chuar
Bhilis
os
Kolis
*hom
Khasi
Koi
Santhals
Naikda
1817
1820
demand, Bengal famine
Agrarian hardship
British occupation of
Singhbhum
1822 Chittur Singh, British Rule
Pratap
Singh,
Dattaraya Patkar
1824
1828-33 Gomadhar
Kunwar
1829-32 Tiruth Singh
1831-32 Buddhu Bhagat
1855-56 Sidhu and Kanhu
1858 Rup Singh
Bhuyan and 1867-68 Ratna Nayak
1891
Juang
Kacha Nagas 1882
Munda
(Ulgulan)
1899
1913
Dharni Nayak
Sambhuden
Birsa Munda
Govind Guru
Dismantle of forests
British occupation
British occupation
Land transfer to outsiders
British Rule
For Dharma Raj against
ban Joria Bhagat on
grazing and timber
Installation of British
protege on throne
British intervention
Land system, Missionary
activity and forced labour
A temperance and
purification movement
Oraons 1914
(Tana Bhagat)
Chenchus 1921-22
Jatra Bhagat and Religious Reason
other Bhagats
British control of forests
Koyas/
Rampas
Naga
1922-24 Alluri Sitaram Raju British Rule
1932 Jadunang (1905-31) A reformist movement
and Rani Gaidinliu later directed against
excess of British rule
Civil Revolts
Sanyasi (Bengal, 1780) : led by religious monks against
British restrictions and ruin of peasantry.
Kattabomman Revolt (1792-98) by Vira Pandya
Kattabomman against imposition of British Suzerainty.
Paik Revolt (Orissa, 1804-06) : led by BakshiJagabandhu
k against British occupation and revenue policy.
Velu Thampi (Travancore, 1805) led by Velu Thampi
against British extortions.
Kittur Revolt (Karnataka, 1824) . by Chinnama and
Ryappa against British interference in Kittur.
Pagal Panthis (Maimansinh, 1825-33) by Karam Shah
and Tipu. Religious nature.
Raju (Vizag, 1827) : by Birabhadra Raju.
Faraizi (1838) • by Haji Saraitullah and Dadu Mian for
cause of tenants.
Satavandi (Maharashtra, 1839) : by Phond Savant and
Anna Sahib against British rule.
Kuka (1840) by Bhagat Jawahar Mal or Sian Saheb in
Punjab.
Gadakari (1844) : against revenue policy in Kolhapur.
Poligar (Karnool, 1846) • by Narasimha Reddy