Summary

● Economic Impact of British Rule Deindustrialisation—ruin of artisans and handicraftsmen. Impoverishment of peasantry—ruralisation of India. Emergence of new land relations—ruin of old zamindars. Stagnation and deterioration of agriculture. Commercialisation of Indian agriculture.

Development of modern industry. Rise of Indian national bourgeoisie. Economic drain.

Famine and poverty.

● Nationalist Critique

India getting poorer due to colonial exploitation.

Problem of poverty—a national problem of raising productive capacities and energy.

Development equated with industrialisation, which should take place through Indian, not foreign capital.

British policies on trade, finance, infrastructure development, expenditure designed to serve imperialist interests.

Need for complete severance of India’s economic subservience to Britain and development of an independent economy.

Chapter 29

Development of Indian Press

James Augustus Hickey in 1780 started The Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser, the first newspaper in India, which was seized in 1872 because of its outspoken criticism of the Government. Later more newspapers/journals came up—The Bengal Journal, The Calcutta Chronicle, The Madras Courier, The Bombay Herald. The Company’s officers were worried that these newspapers might reach London and expose their misdeeds. Thus they saw the need for curbs on the press.