IMPOVERISHMENT OF THE PEASANTRY & RISE OF NEW LANDLORDISM

IMPOVERISHMENT OF THE PEASANTRY

In permanently and temporarily settled zamindari a lot of the peasant was bad. He was left to the I the zamindars who raised rents to unbearable ~ condition of the cultivators in the Ryotwari and M areas was no better. Whenever the peasant faile land revenue, the Government put up his land fc collect the arrears of revenue. To avoid such a sitw peasant was forced to borrow money from the lenders. The money-lender charged a very high rate of interest which made things worse for the peasant.

RISE OF NEW LANDLORDISM

British economic policy favoured the rise of a new landlordism, as the high revenue demands forced traditional landowners to sell their land. Rich money-lenders and others bought this land and there was a spread of growth of subinfeudation or intermediaries. These intermediaries exploited the tenants who were little better than slaves. A harmful consequence of the rise and growth of zamindars and landlords was seen in the political arena during India’s freedom struggle. They, alongwith the princes of protected areas, became the main supporters of foreign rule and opposed the rising national movement.

IMPACT ON INDIAN ECONOMY

DRAIN OF WEALTH The systematic policy of ferring the economic resources of India to Britain i.J erished the country. The officials of the British I government were paid out of the Indian exchequel money went out of India. There was a heavy tax t on the Indian people because large sums had to b annually as interest on loans contracted by the Gove~ of India. UnemploY}llent increased in India. It was first time in India’s history that the balance of trade t unfavourable towards India.

DE-INDUSTRIALISATION The British caused 1 dous harm to the traditional handicraft industry decayed beyond recovery. Heavy customs dutiE imposed on Indian goods. The British officials ! preference for European goods. This provided an. to the demand for European goods and contribute decline of Indian handicrafts. The availability of n made goods in abundance at a comparatively low H greatly contributed to the decline of Indian handicri failure of the British Government to offer any protE indigenous industry also contributed to the de Indian handicrafts because they could not compt machine-made goods produced in bulk, and Consequently cheaper. With the subjugation of Indian princely 51 patronage to the handicraft industry ceased to exist.

RURALISATION Indian economy tended to more and more agricultural with the disintegratio traditional industries. The increase in the number 01 in agriculture. did not mean increase in agricultural tion but impoverishment of the rural masses; then industrial alternative. This accounted for the famines and increasing poverty in the 19th and quarter of the 20th century. India merely became a of raw material for industrial Britain.

CAUSES FOR THE ENGLISH SUCCESS

(I) The English Company was a private enterprise-this created a sense of self-confidence among the people; the French Company was state-owned;

(ii) the English navy was superior to the French navy-it helped to cut off the link between the French possessions in India and France;

(iii) the English held three important places, i.e. Calcutta, Bombay and Madras whereas the French had only Pondicherry;

(iv) the French subordi­nated their commercial interest to territorial ambition, which made the French Company short of funds.

PERIOD OF INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM (1813 to 1858)

By 1813, the East India Company had turned into a mere shadow of economic and political power. Now the
. British government wielded the real power in the interests of the British capitalist class as a whole. The interests of the industrialist capitalists, which emerged as a result of industrial revolution in England, were very different from those of the East India Company. The British industrialists needed foreign outlets for their ever-increasing output of manufactured goods. At the same time, the British indus tries needed raw materials and the British people needed food stuff, which had to imported. So, there was a constant pressure on the British government to turn India as a subordinate trading partner, as a market to be exploited, and as a dependent colony to supply raw materials and foodstuffs. The British Indian government set out, after 1813, to transform Indian administration, economy and society to achieve exactly these ends.

British capitalists were given free entry into India. Free trade (only for the British) was introduced, and India’s ports and markets were thrown open to British manufac turers. Tariff rates for the entry of British rule were very nominal. But the free trade imposed on India was one-sided. Indian products, particularly those having potential to give stiff competition to British goods, were subjected to heavy import duties in Britain.

The second phase of British exploitation resulted in a steep rise in the burden of taxation on the Indian peasant. It may be noted that the introduction of the new pattern of economic exploitation did not mean that the earlier forms of exploitation came to an end. In fact, they became more inhumane.

THREE STAGES OF BRITISH RULE IN INDIA

Many foreign powers arrived in India in the ancient and the medieval periods, but the nature of the English was entirely different from that of others. Other powers came to India either for a shorter period and left the country immediately after plundering it or they became an integral part of Indian society. But the English, during their long stay in the country, adopted the policy of exploitation. They established not only colonial rule but also colonial economy. The entire economic relations between the ruler and the ruled underwent drastic changes after the establishment of the colonial economy. Agriculture was commercialised, faulty revenue systems were introduced, transportation facilities were developed to serve the British purpose, irrational free trade policy was adopted, taxation became burdensome, industrial progress was halted, and the com­mon people were made the greatest victim of economic exploitation.

The British rule in India may be said to have started in 1757, after the East India company defeated the Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey. The 200-year British rule passed through the following three stages.