i. Low Economic Development
Throughout the British rule, Indian economy experienced very low level of economic development. As per some researches, Indian economy grew at even less than two percent during 1900-50. The reason for such a low level of development was that the British government was more concerned with the promotion of economic interests of their home country. Consequently, the colonial rule transformed India’s agriculture sector to a mere supplier of raw materials for the British industries. This not only affected the production of the agricultural sector but also ruined the small manufacturing units like handicrafts and cotton industries. These manufacturing units faced a stiff competition from the British machine made textiles and handlooms.
ii. Backwardness of Indian Agriculture
Under the colonial rule, India was basically an agrarian economy employing nearly 85% of its population. Nevertheless, the growth of the agriculture sector was meager. This was due to the prevalence of various systems of Land Settlement, particularly Zamindari system. Under this system, the zamindars (owners of land) were required to pay very high revenue (lagaan) to the British government, which they used to collect from the peasants (landless labourers, who were actually cultivating). The zamindars were mainly concerned with extracting high revenues from the peasants but never took any steps to improve the productivity of the land. Moreover, in order to feed British industries with cheap raw materials, the Indian peasants were forced to grow cash crops (such as, indigo, cotton, etc.) instead of food crops (such as, rice and wheat). This commercialisation of agriculture not only increased the burden of high revenues on the poor peasants but also led India to face shortage of food grains. Therefore, Indian agriculture remained backward and primitive.
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Gaurav Seth 5 years, 1 month ago
i. Low Economic Development
Throughout the British rule, Indian economy experienced very low level of economic development. As per some researches, Indian economy grew at even less than two percent during 1900-50. The reason for such a low level of development was that the British government was more concerned with the promotion of economic interests of their home country. Consequently, the colonial rule transformed India’s agriculture sector to a mere supplier of raw materials for the British industries. This not only affected the production of the agricultural sector but also ruined the small manufacturing units like handicrafts and cotton industries. These manufacturing units faced a stiff competition from the British machine made textiles and handlooms.
ii. Backwardness of Indian Agriculture
Under the colonial rule, India was basically an agrarian economy employing nearly 85% of its population. Nevertheless, the growth of the agriculture sector was meager. This was due to the prevalence of various systems of Land Settlement, particularly Zamindari system. Under this system, the zamindars (owners of land) were required to pay very high revenue (lagaan) to the British government, which they used to collect from the peasants (landless labourers, who were actually cultivating). The zamindars were mainly concerned with extracting high revenues from the peasants but never took any steps to improve the productivity of the land. Moreover, in order to feed British industries with cheap raw materials, the Indian peasants were forced to grow cash crops (such as, indigo, cotton, etc.) instead of food crops (such as, rice and wheat). This commercialisation of agriculture not only increased the burden of high revenues on the poor peasants but also led India to face shortage of food grains. Therefore, Indian agriculture remained backward and primitive.
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