Chapter Notes

Structural Change

To understand India today, we must look at its past, especially its experience with colonialism. This period is significant not just because it introduced modern ideas and institutions, but because this introduction was often contradictory.

For example, Indians learned about Western ideas of liberalism and freedom while living under a colonial rule that denied them those very rights. This paradoxical experience has deeply shaped modern India's laws, politics, industry, and even daily life.

The impact of the English language is another example of this complex legacy.

• Advantage: Knowing English gives Indians an edge in the global market and has led to an impressive body of literature by Indian authors in English.
• Disadvantage: English often remains a mark of privilege, and not knowing it can be a disadvantage in the job market.
• Opportunity: For groups traditionally denied education, like the Dalits, learning English can open doors to new opportunities.

This chapter focuses on the major structural changes that colonialism brought about, specifically in industrialisation and urbanisation.

Understanding Colonialism

At its simplest, colonialism is the rule of one country over another. While India has been ruled by many groups throughout its history, British colonial rule was different because of the deep and far-reaching changes it caused.

The key difference lies in the economic system that drove it: capitalism.

• Pre-capitalist Conquerors: Earlier rulers mostly took a share of the wealth (tribute) from the lands they conquered but did not fundamentally interfere with the existing economic systems.
• British Capitalist Colonialism: The British, in contrast, directly interfered with India's economy to ensure maximum profit for British capitalism. Every policy was designed to strengthen and expand their own economic interests.

This interference took many forms:

• Land Laws: They changed laws about land ownership.
• Agriculture: They dictated which crops should be grown and which should not be, prioritizing crops that benefited British industries.
• Manufacturing: They altered how goods were produced and distributed, often to the detriment of local industries.
• Forests: They cleared forests to start tea plantations and introduced Forest Acts that restricted access for pastoralists who depended on these areas for their cattle.

Colonialism also caused a significant movement of people:

• Internal Migration: People from regions like present-day Jharkhand were moved to Assam to work on tea plantations.
• Professional Migration: A new middle class of government employees, doctors, and lawyers moved across the country.
• International Migration: Indians were transported to other colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas to work as indentured labourers, often under harsh conditions. Many never returned, and their descendants are now known as people of Indian origin.

Capitalism and the Nation-State

The structural changes of colonialism are linked to two major global developments: capitalism and the rise of the nation-state.

• Capitalism is an economic system where the means of production are privately owned and used to accumulate profit in a market system. It is dynamic, innovative, and global in nature. Western colonialism was directly tied to the growth of Western capitalism.
• A Nation-State is the dominant political form in the modern world. It is a state where a government has sovereign power over a defined territory, and the people are citizens of a single nation.

The ideas of nationalism—that a people have the right to be free and exercise sovereign power—are closely linked to the rise of nation-states and democratic ideas. This created a fundamental contradiction for colonial rule. Indian nationalist leaders pointed out this irony: if freedom and self-rule were important for the British, then they were also the birthright of Indians. They fought for swaraj, or freedom, in both a political and economic sense.

Urbanisation and Industrialisation

Industrialisation refers to the rise of machine-based production using power sources like steam or electricity. It typically leads to a shift where most people work in factories, offices, or shops instead of agriculture. Urbanisation, the growth of towns and cities, is often associated with industrialisation because that's where new jobs are created.

The Colonial Experience

The experience of industrialisation and urbanisation in India under British rule was very different from what happened in Britain.

• In Britain: Industrialisation led to massive urbanisation. Between 1800 and 1900, the percentage of people living in towns and cities grew from under 20% to 74%. London became the largest city in the world.
• In India: British industrialisation led to deindustrialisation in some sectors.
  • Decline of Indian Manufacturing: Traditional Indian exports of cotton and silk declined as they could not compete with cheaper, machine-made goods from Manchester, Britain.
  • Decline of Old Cities: As local rulers lost power and traditional industries faded, old urban centres like Surat, Masulipatnam, Thanjavur, Dhaka, and Murshidabad declined.
  • Rise of Colonial Cities: New coastal cities like Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai), and Calcutta (Kolkata) grew rapidly. These cities were crucial for the colonial economy, serving as ports to export raw materials (like cotton, jute, and coffee) to Britain and import manufactured goods.
  • Shift to Agriculture: Unlike in Britain, the initial impact of industrialisation in India caused more people to move into agriculture as village industries were destroyed. The Census of India Report of 1911 noted that many village artisans had to abandon their craft and take up farming.

The Tea Plantations

The tea industry in India, which began in 1851, is a clear example of how industrialisation was shaped by colonial interests.

• Labour Recruitment: Most tea gardens were in Assam, a sparsely populated region. To get workers, planters, with the help of the colonial government, used fraud and coercion. They were unwilling to offer proper financial incentives, so they persuaded the government to pass laws that helped them forcibly recruit and retain labourers, primarily from other provinces like Bihar.
• Life for Labourers vs. Planters: The system created a stark contrast in lifestyles.
  • Labourers worked under harsh conditions, in an unhealthy climate, governed by strict penal laws.
  • British planters and their families (mems) lived lives of extreme luxury in huge, sprawling bungalows with large lawns and an "army of liveried servants." They imported everything from food and furniture to bathtubs via steamers on the river.

This shows that the laws and administration in a colonised country were designed to benefit the colonisers, not to uphold the democratic norms that existed back in Britain.

Industrialisation in Independent India

After independence, Indian nationalists viewed rapid industrialisation as essential for economic growth and social justice, seeing it as the only way to overcome the poverty left by colonialism. The Swadeshi movement had already fostered a sense of loyalty to the national economy.

The government of independent India took an active role in promoting industrial growth with a focus on:

• Developing heavy and machine-making industries.
• Expanding the public sector.
• Supporting a large cooperative sector.

Urbanisation in Independent India

Urbanisation has continued to increase rapidly in independent India. Sociologist M.S.A. Rao identified three main ways that urban growth has impacted villages in the post-independence era:

1. Villages with Migrant Workers: Some villages have a large number of residents who work in faraway cities, both in India and overseas. These migrants send money home, which is used to build better houses, invest in land and industry, and fund local schools and trusts.
2. Villages Near Industrial Towns: When a new industrial town like Bhilai is established, nearby villages are deeply affected. Some are completely uprooted, while others have their land partially acquired. These villages often see an influx of immigrant workers, which creates new demands for housing and can lead to social tensions between original residents and newcomers.
3. Villages Absorbed by Metropolitan Growth: As large cities expand, they absorb surrounding villages. Sometimes the entire village becomes part of the city, while in other cases, only the agricultural land is used for urban development, leaving the inhabited area as a kind of "urban village."

Urban Population Trends:

• In 1951, about 17% of India's population lived in urban areas. By 2011, this figure had grown to over 31%.
• While the rate of urban population growth has fluctuated, the absolute number of people moving to cities continues to rise.
• For the first time since independence, the absolute increase in population is now greater in urban areas than in rural areas.

Conclusion

Colonialism was not just a historical event; its effects are woven into the fabric of modern India. The processes of industrialisation and urbanisation did not follow the Western pattern but were shaped by colonial priorities, leading to unique and often contradictory outcomes. These processes are not just about new technologies or denser populations; they represent a fundamental change in the "way of life" for millions of people in India.