the East India Company

Indian trade links with Europe started in through sea route only after the arrival of Vasco da Gama in Calicut, India on May 20, 1498. The Portuguese had traded in Goa as early as 1510, and later founded three other colonies on the west coast in Diu, Bassein, and Mangalore. In 1601 the East India Company was chartered, and the English began their first inroads into the Indian Ocean. At first they were little interested in India, but rather, like the Portuguese and Dutch before them, with the Spice Islands. But the English were unable to dislodge the Dutch from ... Read more

Urban Indian economy after 1858 During this period, the Indian economy essentially remained stagnant, growing at the same rate (1.2%) as the population.  India also experienced deindustrialization during this period. Compared to the Mughal era, India during the British colonial era had a lower per-capita income, a large decline in the secondary sector, and lower levels of urbanization. India’s share of the world economy and share of global industrial output declined significantly during British rule. Some of the important features of Indian urban economy during this period are as follows: Deindustrialization In the seventeenth century, India was a relatively urbanised ... Read more

Decline of handicrafts during British period India’s traditional village economy was characterised by the “blending of agriculture and handicrafts”.  But this internal balance of the village economy had been systematically slaughtered by the British Government. In the process, traditional handicraft industries slipped away, from its pre-eminence and its decline started at the turn of the 18th century and proceeded rapidly almost to the beginning of the 19th century.  This process came to be known as ‘de-industrialisation’—a term opposite to industrialisation. The use of the word ‘de-industrialisation’ could be traced to 1940. Its dictionary meaning is ‘the reduction or destruction of ... Read more

Development of Railway, Industralization and constitutional development during British period   Railway The British created the Indian Railways. They envisioned it, planned it, engineered it and instructed poor Indian laborers how to build it. There is a common misconception that the British “gifted” India the Railways. Nothing could be more wrong. The British did not build the Railways out of love for India or seeing the need to “prosperify” vast masses of poor Indians. They couldn’t have cared less. In order to govern this huge, disconnected and diverse country efficiently, they needed stuff to be moved around the country quickly, ... Read more

Revolt of 1857 in Chattisgarh:— The revolt of 1857 is known by so many names, including the Indian Mutiny, the Sepoy Mutiny, the Revolt of 1857, the Great Rebellion, the Indian Insurrection, and First war of Indian Independence. By the first half of the 19th century, the East India Company had brought major portions of India under its control. One hundred years after the Battle of Plassey, anger against the unjust and oppressive British Government took the form of a revolt that shook the very foundations of British rule in India. While British historians called it the Sepoy Mutiny, Indian ... Read more