Colonial India's Deindustrialization

 

During the first half of the nineteenth century, colonial India under British administration underwent a deindustrialization process. The advantages of the industrial revolution greatly hurt India. Deindustrialization is the phenomenon of a country's or regions industrial capacity being gradually reduced or degraded. It is a sort of economic change where, for a number of political or economic causes, manufacturing sector employment falls. The phrase "Indian Economic Deindustrialization" describes a reduction in industrial-based activities in the Indian economy that lasted from 1757 to 1947. Traditional handcraft industries saw a sharp decrease starting in the 18th century that didn't stop until the start of the 19th. 

 

•    In order to secure affordable raw materials for British enterprises and to take advantage of an eager Indian market for British industrially manufactured goods, the British kept it predominantly agrarian. The entire process has been referred to as deindustrialization.

 

•    Indigenous courts that frequently hired artisans and supported handicrafts have vanished. Deindustrialization significantly harmed the Indian handicraft sector. Ruins of handicrafts caused industries to collapse, which in turn caused terrible poverty and unemployment in the nation.

 

•    The country's deindustrialization and greater reliance on agriculture were consequences of the British takeover.

 

•    The percentage of the population that was dependent on agriculture rose from 63.7 percent in 1901 to 70 percent in 1941, while there is no data for the prior time period.

 

•    The increasing pressure on agriculture during British rule was one of the main factors contributing to India's terrible poverty.

 

•    In actuality, India was now an industrial nation controlled by Britain, which relied on it for the raw resources for its industries. The cotton textile sector was the one sector where the transition was the most obvious.

 

•    India used to be the biggest supplier of cotton items in the world, but it was now an importer of British cotton goods. 

 

•    After the Charter Act of 1813, which permitted one-way free commerce for British people, the Indian market was inundated with low-cost, machine-made goods.

 

•    The recently built train system made it easier for European goods to get to the most rural areas of the nation. India's net exports decreased while its net imports increased.

 

•    The Indian market was flooded with cheap apparel made in Britain.

 

•    Indian exports were essentially prohibited from reaching European markets after 1820.

 

•    Indian textiles were subject to tariffs of around 80%, rendering them unaffordable.

 

•    On the other hand, it became more and more challenging for Indian goods to sell in Europe.

 

•    In contrast to other fast-industrializing nations at the time, India's loss of traditional livelihoods did not coincide with an industrialization process.

 

•    As a result of the loss of patronage from monarchs and aristocracy who were now affected by new Western tastes and ideals, Indian artists and handicraftsmen were already feeling the pressure at the time this happened.

 

•    At a time when Europe was going through a fresh Industrial Revolution, this led to India's deindustrialization.

 

•    Deindustrialization also contributed to India's ruralization process and the demise of several cities.

 

•    Due to declining returns and oppressive practices (artisans under the Company's reign in Bengal were paid meagre pay and were compelled to sell their wares at low prices), many artisans gave up their professions, relocated to villages, and began working in agriculture.

 

•    The demand on the land increased as a result.

 

•    The overworked agricultural industry was a significant contributor to poverty during British administration, upending the village's economic structure.

 

•    Following the arrival of cheaper machine-made items on the Indian subcontinent, the traditional textile sector in India has declined.

 

•    Due to the British government's protectionist tariff policy for products created in the country, the handicraft industry has declined.

 

•    In terms of supply or demand propagation in international trade marketplaces, the manually skilled laborers and traders of the colonies were at the whim of the international commerce merchants.

 

•    India is not an industrialized nation in the traditional or contemporary sense of the word. However, prior to the entrance of Europeans, throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, India was the world's "industrial workshop."

 

•    In addition, India's traditional village economy was characterized by the "blending of agriculture and handicrafts".

 

•    The internal equilibrium of the village economy was gradually destroyed by the British government.

 

•    As a result, traditional handcraft industries lost their dominance, their collapse started at the turn of the 18th century and accelerated practically to the start of the 19th.

 

•    Deindustrialization was the word used to describe the "process of destruction of Indian handicraft industries by competition from British manufactured products during the nineteenth century."

 

•    The main markets for these craftsmen' goods were the royal courts and urban nobles. One source of demand for these crafts' wares was destroyed when the royal court was abolished, and the artisans progressively shut down their karkhanas.

 

•    After the collapse of noble courts and almost eliminated demand for the business, the sector yearned for a new source of demand from European officials and visitors, as well as from "baboos" and so called black Indian "sahibs."

 

•    Traditional handicrafts' demise was exacerbated by the technical revolution that advanced throughout the nineteenth century as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

 

•    Making paper, making glass, smelting iron (particularly Mysore, Chhota Nagpur, and the Central Provinces), making pottery, and other artistic enterprises were just a few of those that were unable to adapt in time to face the brutal onslaught of foreign goods.

 

•    After the Charter Act of 1813 allowed for one-way free trade for British Citizens, low-cost and machine-made imports flooded the Indian market.

 

•    On the other side, Indian goods found it increasingly challenging to get traction in the European markets.

 

•    Indian textiles now face tariffs of about 80%, making it impossible for Indian material to be affordable. European markets were essentially closed to Indian exports after 1820.

 

•    Some contend that defects in the industrial structure can also be linked to the collapse of the handicraft industries.

 

•    To begin with, no attempts were made to pinpoint potential product markets.

 

•    India's overseas trade was under foreign control. This meant that when it came to sales or demand propagation in international markets, Indian artisans and producers were at the whim of foreign merchants.

•    It caused India to become more rural and to completely destroy its handcraft industry.

 

•    By destroying the spinning wheel and dismantling the Indian handloom, the British put an end to the "blending of agriculture and handicrafts".

 

•    The internal equilibrium of the village economy was destroyed. Because they had no other options, craftspeople were forced out of their customary jobs and onto agriculture.

 

•    Overpopulation affected the effectiveness of agriculture. Subdivision, fragmentation of landholdings, and over-cultivation, which are present issues, have led to underemployment and hidden unemployment.

 

•    Due to this deindustrialization, there was an imbalance in the occupational structure that led to rural unemployment and underemployment.

 

•    The ratio of exports to GDP decreased, and the composition of the domestic economy was altered by foreign trade. India became a significant consumer market for British-made cotton yarns and fabrics as well as a significant grain supplier.

 

Deindustrialization on a large scale had far-reaching economic effects, including the disappearance of the traditional economy, which was once believed to be a combination of agriculture and handicrafts. Deindustrialization in India has been a major factor in the nation's underdevelopment and rising poverty. As a result, millions of individuals found the deindustrialization process to be a catastrophe.