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1. the form of rule in british india

britain's initial colonial activities in india were completed through the east india company. founded in 1600, the east india company relied on a charter issued by queen elizabeth to monopolize the oriental trade. this charter gave it some rights beyond commercial activities, such as concluding treaties with oriental princes, recruiting troops and building castles, declaring war and making peace, organizing the lives of the people in the expanded areas, issuing rules and regulations and levying taxes, exercising judicial jurisdiction over the expanded areas and the high seas, minting coins for local use, etc. with the deepening of expansion, the nature of the company has gradually changed. after more than a hundred years of development and expansion, by the mid-eighteenth century, the company finally turned india into a british colony. according to the charter granted by the king of england, the company ruled india on behalf of the king of england. in this way, the british east india company was transformed from a merchant organization into a colonial regime, becoming an institution that integrates commerce and administration, engaging in both commercial trade and colonial rule.

after the east india company established its ruling regime in india, it began to carry out organized administration to exercise its colonial power and consolidate and expand its interests in india. the company's leading body, the shareholders' meeting and the board of directors elected by it, are the highest authority of the east india company and dominate a huge bureaucracy. according to the original regulations: anyone who holds 50 pounds of stock is a shareholder; the shareholders' meeting elects the board of directors, with 24 directors elected once a year. the north act of 1773 amended the company's articles of association, increasing the amount of shareholders' shares to 1,000 pounds, and the election of the board of directors was changed to every four years.

east india company headquarters

in the first 20 to 30 years of its rule over india, the east india company was in a transitional period from a commercial organization to a ruling organization. it was weak and inexperienced and could not completely abandon the old indian bureaucracy and bureaucrats. the company's method was to use the original administrative system and some officials of the mughal empire to serve its own rule. the east india company allowed the original rulers of the areas under their government to continue their administrative work, while they themselves controlled from the highest level.

in this dual government system, the east india company recognized the administrative power of the mughal emperor and the nawabs of bengal, bihar, orissa and other regions, while the company had the privilege of "diwan" (financial management). in this system, the nawabs were nominally in charge of the government, but because the local finances were controlled by the east india company, the nawabs' income was often not enough to cover their daily expenses, let alone resist the british.

nawab shuja, who served under the british after surrendering

the additional tasks of the east india company's staff in bengal were only to "manage the collection of taxes, accept the money in the nawab's treasury, and send it to the east india company's treasury and london. more than 200 years after the mughal monarchy thought was deeply rooted in the minds of the indian people, clive also realized that it would be beneficial for the company to initially rule under the authority of the mughal dynasty. as long as the taxation power is firmly controlled in the hands of the company, the company actually has the right to rule this region. the company also pointed out with satisfaction: "we can take the current situation as our spring, and quietly make this huge "government machine" operate under the cover of the name of the nawab." in india, which is deeply influenced by feudal culture, using the name of the mughal nawab and the emperor can also bring legitimacy to the company and will not be resisted by the grassroots in india. another reason is that the company's employees do not have enough knowledge and experience to deal with indian administrative issues. they do not understand indian customs and language, and maintain authentic merchant characteristics. it is impossible for them to become competent administrative officials all at once. obviously, in this environment, it is wise for the company not to bear all administrative responsibilities.

east india company shareholders meeting

among the administrative officials of the east india company, the most important were the tax collectors. they were not only responsible for taxation, but also for administrative and judicial affairs. in addition, the company also set up justices of the peace and police stations to maintain social order. these officials were originally employees of the company engaged in commercial activities. before they became administrative officials of the company, they were a "business group with no other ambitions and responsibilities except business." however, these people did not lose their business identity. while engaging in commercial trade, they also carried out administrative management and held several positions. the appointment of officials was controlled by the board of directors. each director had the right to recommend, that is, he could recommend his own people to various positions. the governors of each district had to select officials from the people they recommended. officials elected by relying on powerful personnel relationships were mostly children of aristocratic families, impoverished aristocrats, and relatives and friends of prominent figures in the company. civil servants who entered the company had to work as clerks for three years before being promoted to official officials. after taking office, these officials took a lot of bribes, and even openly extorted and robbed. when they returned to britain, they all returned with a lot of money. "the directors of the company made huge income by selling official positions, but also brought great disaster to the indian people.

east india company clerk

after the subordinates of the east india company gained control of the administrative power, they obviously preferred the identity of merchants to that of officials, and they tried to squeeze more money out of the indian people. they exhausted the pond to catch fish in bengal, competed with the people for profits, engaged in favoritism and fraud in trade, forced sales, and engaged in intrigue in the officialdom. at the same time that the local administrative officials of the company committed atrocities against the indian people, they encountered a drought that happened once in a century, and millions of people starved to death, causing the tragedy of the bengal famine.

the bengal famine also seriously affected the income of the east india company. the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and was forced to seek help from the british government and the bank of england. british prime minister north agreed to loan 1.4 million pounds to the company, but it had to accept the regulatory bill, namely the north act of 1773. the governor of bengal was promoted to the governor-general of india, appointed by parliament and the king, assisted by the governor-general's council, with jurisdiction over bombay and other places, and monitored the power of the company. in 1784, after the independence of the united states, the british government began to further restrict the illegal activities of the company. parliament promulgated the pitt act, and the government further intervened in the affairs of the company and india. the king appointed a parliamentary supervisory bureau to supervise the civil, military and tax affairs of the east india company. in addition, because the first governor-general hastings had been restrained by his colleagues and could not fully exercise his power, pitt also strengthened the power of the governor-general of india.

warren hastings, the first governor-general of india, carried out drastic reforms after taking office, trying to introduce the british bureaucracy into india. hastings' primary goal was to separate the administrative and commercial functions of the company. hastings divided the company's employees into two categories: commercial employees and administrative employees. one person could not hold two positions at the same time. administrative employees became officials responsible for taxation, justice, and administration, and were promoted step by step according to their qualifications. employees signed a contract with the company, so it was also called the "contractual civil service system." company employees were not allowed to use administrative power to engage in commercial trade, which would undermine the fairness and freedom of trade. acts of robbery were prohibited; administrative employees were not allowed to accept gifts from anyone; people engaged in taxation and judicial work and those engaged in company trade were prohibited from engaging in private trade. the differentiation of the duties of administrative and commercial employees marked the beginning of india's modern civil service system. in addition, hastings deprived company employees of their grassroots tax collection rights and transferred them to tax collectors who were native indians. the next level up was the provincial tax committee, and the tax items were ultimately directly controlled by the governor. in addition, hastings required the company's administrative staff to communicate with the grassroots people of india every day, set up petition boxes, and read the letters in them. in addition, administrative staff must learn various indian languages ​​and understand india's social system and customs in order to better govern indian affairs. when hastings was forced to resign due to edmund burke's impeachment, bengal had already emerged from the shadow of famine and transformed itself into the richest region in india.

warren hastings

hastings' successor cornwallis increased the salaries of administrative staff to reduce corruption and took measures to europeanize the civil service. in 1793, a privilege bill was passed, which stipulated that "no person who is not a contracted employee of the east india company shall hold any position, status or profession for more than three years, which pays more than five hundred pounds a year in salary and allowances". since no indian could become a contracted member of the company, all indians could not hold such positions. this bill established the principle of excluding indians. cornwallis sneered at indian officials: "the positions of senior indian civil servants must be held by british people. because only they have the knowledge of governing the country, psychological qualities and personality charm required for these positions due to their inherited personal qualities and education." the british used this as an excuse to exclude indians from the administrative system. in addition, cornwallis also took similar measures in the army, keeping military power firmly in the hands of the british. as britain's sphere of influence continued to expand and society was in a state of war for a long time, a large number of bandit gangs, robbers and other criminals were waiting for opportunities, and civil servants often felt unable to handle administrative work. when social unrest was severe, the lives of civil servants could not be guaranteed. therefore, cornwallis incorporated some military personnel into the civil service and let them perform administrative functions such as tax collection, fighting bandits, and maintaining public order. in general, during the period of cornwallis and hastings, the way of british rule in india had begun to emerge.

william cornwallis

in the process of conquering india, the british east india company took the original three commercial districts, namely bengal, bombay and madras, as its basis. after acquiring the territory, it established three provinces, namely bengal, bombay and madras. the original governors and councils of each district became provincial governments. after the north act upgraded the governor of bengal to the governor-general of india, the governor-general and his council became the central government. this constituted the central and provincial governments of british india. the governor-general's council and the provincial governor's council initially had four members each. later, the british commander-in-chief and the commanders of each district joined the governor-general's council and the provincial governor's council as their members. the council has several secretaries who are responsible for the work of some departments. these departments later gradually developed into central ministries and provincial government offices. the officials of the county-level government are mainly tax collectors, who are responsible for taxation, administration and judicial affairs. the magistrate is responsible for maintaining social order and has a police station to assist him in his work. in this way, the east india company, which had previously only played the role of a tax collector for the mughal emperor, actually became the ruler of india, thus laying the foundation for britain's direct management of india in the future.

due to the vast territory of india, the east india company knew that it would be difficult to effectively rule india on its own. therefore, after conquering india, the east india company created two forms of rule: directly owned colonies and indirectly ruled dependencies. in this way, india was divided into two parts under british rule: "british india" which was directly ruled by the company and established provinces in these areas; and the other were numerous dependencies, called "indian princely states", which were indirectly ruled by the company through resident officers. the company adopted a method of collusion with the princes and nobles of the indian princely states, using india's own feudal forces to rule india violently, and collecting taxes on behalf of indian landlords in order to achieve the goal of permanent colonial occupation of india. the provinces of british india are mainly divided into three types of provincial administrative divisions: provinces governed by provincial governors (where the governor-general of india also served as the governor of bengal), provinces governed by deputy provincial governors, and provinces governed by commissioners. . the province governed by the deputy governor has a lower status than that governed by the governor), and there is no council. all major issues are decided by the governor's council. the provincial status of the special commissioner is even lower, and the special commissioner is only a central representative sent by the governor. the purpose of dividing the levels in this way is to allow the central government to assume more management responsibilities when the conditions are not mature at the beginning of the establishment of the new province. since the newly annexed princely states have a strong centrifugal force, the british also need to exercise stricter control in these places. therefore, in these places, the proportion of government officials who are also military officers will be greater, and the power of local commissioners will be greater, involving all aspects of administration, taxation, and justice.

since the enactment of the statute of north, the british government has been gradually reducing the influence of the east india company, and parliament has attempted to exercise direct control over india, which reached its climax in the 19th century.

as a product of mercantilism, the east india company has completed its historical mission. since pitt the younger, the economic policy of the british government has been more inclined towards liberal economy. the east india company, a product of the old era, no longer needs to exist. the charter act of 1813 announced the abolition of the east india company's monopoly on trade with india. in addition to retaining the company's monopoly on tea trade and trade with china, commercial trade was opened to all british people. the company began to transform from a commercial organization to an administrative organization, but still retained the right to commercial trade. in 1833, parliament completely abolished the company's trade activities in india and required the company to stop the existence of trade organizations in india. all british people could freely engage in various trades and occupations in india from then on. in this way, the east india company became a pure administrative organization under the king of england. the 24 directors of the east india company formed the finance committee, the political and military committee, and the taxation and judicial committee. as the power of the company was gradually restricted, the authority of the governor-general of india was gradually expanded, and the governor-general's council of india also became the real central government of british india.

the indian rebellion of 1857 completely squeezed the east india company out of the indian political power. the east india company tried to deny the inheritance rights of the descendants of the princes of the princely states and directly merge the land of the princely states into british india under the pretext of poor governance. this aroused the resistance of the indian princes. after suppressing the uprising, the british government realized that the way india was ruled must be changed. in november 1858, queen victoria was crowned the queen of india and completely abolished the administrative power of the east india company. the land and army belonging to it were completely handed over to the british government. the british government set up a secretary of state for indian affairs to specifically govern india, assisted by a 15-member indian affairs advisory committee, most of whose members needed more than 10 years of living experience in india; the governor-general of india represented the queen and was directly appointed by the queen, called the "vice-king", and the governor-general was under the command of the secretary of state for indian affairs. the governor-general was the supreme ruler of india; in addition, the governors of madras and bombay were also appointed by the king, and the deputy governors were appointed by the governor-general. through these methods, the british government monopolized the appointment and removal of senior officials in india.

canning

in order to avoid further trouble caused by infringing on the interests of the princes of the princely states, the british government agreed to the continued existence of the princely states. so the british colonists began to adopt a conciliatory policy towards the princely states. after the indian national uprising was suppressed, queen victoria declared that britain would no longer annex the princely states. even for those princely states that were poorly governed, britain only exerted pressure to promote their reforms. at the same time, under the condition of ensuring the original social system of the princely states, the princely states were obedient to and cooperated with the british indian government, thereby consolidating britain's rule in these areas. the various princely states were also ruled in different ways. important princely states such as punjab and bengal were directly ruled, while other 500 states such as hyderabad were indirectly ruled. under the new policy of controlling the galata and even asylum implemented by the british government, the princes were almost without exception loyal to britain, and the princely states became the basic pillars of british india's rule. in addition, british india was divided into 7 provinces and 250 districts. the provinces directly managed by britain were still divided into three types: provinces governed by provincial governors, provinces governed by deputy provincial governors, and provinces governed by chief commissioners. the governor governed the province with the assistance of the council. the province governed by the deputy governor did not have a council until 1910. the province governed by the chief commissioner did not have a council, and was jointly led by a bureau composed of several commissioners. in 1861, britain promulgated the indian council act, allowing indians to enter the legislative council for the first time. at the same time, the government implemented a division of functions, established the departments of internal affairs, foreign affairs, taxation and finance, and law to form a ministerial system to improve administrative efficiency. britain used this method of combining direct and indirect rule to put india in a state of divide and rule.

in order to appease the indians, the british also agreed to allow local indians to participate in part of the country's management. in 1833, the british wrote in a decree: "indians cannot be prohibited from holding positions in the east india company because of religion, birthplace, ancestry or skin color." this broke cornwallis's ban on indians participating in the management of british india. bentinck, the then governor-general of india, established the position of deputy tax officer below the county level specifically for indians. in 1843, the governor-general lord columbine established the position of deputy sheriff.

interestingly, india was one step ahead of the colonial power in civil service reform. the indian act of 1853 introduced reforms to the recruitment of contract civil servants. this allowed indians to enter the upper echelons of the civil service. victoria's government of india act of 1858 declared that "all my subjects, regardless of race or creed, shall have free and fair access to secure positions." indians could now compete openly in the british indian civil service examination and enter politics.

the british naturally would not allow indians to become a powerful political force through legitimate means. therefore, they also set up many obstacles in the exam. although competitive exams are a relatively fair and just way of recruiting, it is still very difficult for indians to pass the exams and become civil servants: first, the location of the exam was set in london, england. on the one hand, few families could afford the cost of their children traveling across the ocean. on the other hand, even if they could afford it, it was a taboo in hinduism. when gandhi went to england to study, he was blocked by his family and clan. in the end, the patriarch even announced that "this young man is no longer a member of this caste from today on." second, the exam was in english, and competing with british students in the same class was obviously not conducive to indians; third, the age limit for candidates was not more than 19 years old. therefore, indian youths must complete english teaching and other civil service knowledge learning before the age of 19, which is as difficult as climbing to the sky. after the bill was enacted, the first indian civil servant did not appear until 1864. among senior indian civil servants, indians accounted for only 2%. in 1887, the british government established a provincial civil service system in india, which allowed indians to enter the civil service through recommendation. by directly appointing educated indian middle-class people and lawyers, the british successfully won over the indian elite.

legally, during the east india company period, the company allowed multiple laws to coexist and used the britishized "anglo-hinduism" and "anglo-islamic law" to govern india. because britain's colonial legal system in india originated from the mughal empire, it was necessary to maintain the changes in "ruling personnel" by keeping the "ruling culture and rules" unchanged. tyranny and despotism follow the requirements of indian customary law and customs. "the locals have long been accustomed to submitting to despotic rule without complaint." the british have "fulfilled their responsibilities to india by providing it with good rulers." after the 1857 uprising, the british government completely abandoned the mughal empire and began to forcibly transplant british law in india, promoting the unification of indian law.

ii. land system and agricultural taxation in british india

zamindar first appeared in the 14th century ad. it was originally used to refer to indigenous tribal chiefs and hindu princes. when the east india company invaded india, they had actually become synonymous with landlords. in fact, during the mughal period, zamindar had also become a tax farmer for the indian government.

during the mughal period, the property of the zamindar was permanent and inheritable. according to the tradition of the mughal empire, as long as the zamindar had an heir, the government could not interfere with his property. if the zamindar died without an heir, his property would be confiscated by the government. the zamindar could transfer or sell his land. the finances of the zamindar were reliably protected during the mughal empire. even if the zamindar could not pay the taxes, the government would send officials to the land area of ​​the zamindar, conduct an assessment, and then take away the property that could offset the difference in land tax. if there were not enough items there, the zamindar would be abolished. but in any case, his land would not be confiscated by the government. usually, the zamindar would rent the land to the lait (farmer) for cultivation, and the land rented by the lait could be inherited.

however, after the battle of plassey, the east india company took control of bengal. the staff of the east india company knew nothing about the land ownership and land tax system in bengal. they could not tell who was the landowner and who should pay the land tax. the british abandoned the zamindars of bengal and began to auction the land tax. most of the auctioned land fell into the hands of speculators. because the tax was too high, the speculators who rented the land fled one after another, and the british did not collect the full amount of land tax.

amir was a tax collector in the mughal empire. his status was lower than that of zamindar, and he was the tax collector of a county or a region. however, because the tax targets set by the british were too high, amir often had to make up for the shortfall with his own property. the british believed that amir's work efficiency was very low, so they abolished this position in 1770 and set up supervisors to perform tax collection tasks in 1772.

after the governor-general of india, warren hastings, took office, he believed that the ancient system of india was also feasible at present. they believed that the hereditary zamindars could communicate better with the grassroots farmers than the british. in addition, since the hereditary zamindars would not leave their land, they were obviously more reliable than speculators. they would also increase the output of the land through means such as technological transformation. in short, hastings believed that the zamindars were a good partner in agricultural taxation. in the eyes of the british, the best way was to contract the land to the zamindars for management. the british gave priority to renting the land to the zamindars, renting it out once a year, and the zamindars collected taxes on their own land. however, due to the continued impact of the bengal famine and the high taxes set by the british, it was difficult for the zamindars to receive enough taxes. therefore, the british confiscated the land of these zamindars and sublet it to others. moreover, since speculators were still allowed to compete with the zamindars for the right to farm taxes, this "five-year rectification" ultimately failed. after the failure of this land consolidation, the east india company's board of directors once again allowed short-term leasing of land through auction. this method seriously damaged the economy of bengal after the battle of plassey. this method obviously hit bengal's agriculture again.

chaidamin, india

in 1793, cornwallis once again carried out reforms, namely "permanent consolidation". cornwallis's means were: first, to assess the taxes paid by each piece of land and determine the period for which the land could be held. for the assessment of the tax amount, the average amount collected in previous years was adopted. however, it only stipulated that the amount of taxes levied on the zamindar remained unchanged, and there was no provision that the rent collected by the zamindar from the lai te remained fixed, that is, the zamindar could increase taxes on the lai te. second, legal status was given to those who were responsible for paying the land tax to protect them. in other words, the identity of the zamindar as a tax farmer was legally recognized and protected. third, cornwallis required that the increase in taxes on lai te by the zamindar could not be unlimited, which was also a kind of protection for the working peasants. cornwallis' reform brought stability to the land tax in bengal. the results and impacts of this permanent consolidation were manifested in many aspects. for the british colonists, the permanent consolidation strengthened britain's rule and control over the rural areas of bengal politically; economically, the increased and fixed taxes enabled the british to gain great capital benefits in bengal. the zamindars were legally recognized and protected. they actively engaged in real estate business, and the laiters were also protected to a certain extent. excessively harsh taxes were abolished. the rural society in bengal showed a stable development.

however, as the indian war continued, the drawbacks of cornwallis' reforms also emerged. the fixed tax rate lacked flexibility, and when the east india company's government encountered financial difficulties, it was unable to collect taxes in time to make up for the deficit. therefore, the british implemented the ratwal system in the mysore region conquered after bombay and madras. according to the provisions of the ratwal system, each registered landowner was recognized by the government and was the de facto owner of the land, and he paid taxes directly to the government. he had the right to control the land and could freely sublease his land, or give away, sell or mortgage his land. the only certainty was to pay a fixed levy, and other than that, he could increase or decrease the land he occupied or give up the land completely without worry. however, the ratwal system did not have a fixed tax rate, and the british colonial government could exploit the indian people by levying high land taxes-in 1822, the tax rate once reached a terrifying 88%.

indian wright

in some areas, the british implemented the "mahawar system" in 1822 in accordance with local customs. under this system, the land was collectively owned and the collective paid taxes to the british. the tax amount was not fixed and changed every 25-30 years.

the land and taxation system of british india was basically fixed at this time. except for the tax rate change, which was gradually reduced from 82% to 66%, there was basically no major change. of course, under the heavy taxation, indian farmers lived in dire straits and often went bankrupt and fled.

3. agricultural products of british india

in 1780, europeans began to advocate tea planting in india. that year, the shipowner of the british east india company transported a small amount of tea seeds from guangzhou to kolkata. governor hastings and officer kate became the pioneers of tea planting in india. in 1793, several british scientists accompanied macartney to china, bought tea seeds from china, sent them to kolkata, and planted them in the royal botanical gardens. at this time, there was no real tea industry in india. in 1833, the east india company's trade monopoly was abolished, and britain stepped up tea planting in india, starting the initial stage of the tea industry. in 1835, gordon sneaked into the chinese tea area and managed to secretly purchase a large number of wuyi tea seeds, which were shipped to kolkata in three batches. at the same time, he hired tea masters from yazhou, sichuan to go to india to teach tea planting and tea making methods. in 1838, the east india company received 12 small boxes of 480 pounds of carefully made tea, which caused a sensation. "it is unanimous that if it is handled more carefully, it will be proved that assam tea will be equal to china if not better", which greatly stimulated the british indian government's tea planting craze. from the 1850s to the early 1870s, the area of ​​indian tea plantations continued to expand, and assam tea varieties gradually replaced chinese tea varieties. the number of tea planting companies increased day by day, and there were more than 30 in 1858. indian tea production grew steadily and gradually became an important industry. in 1852, 232,000 pounds of indian tea were exported to britain, and in 1859, it exceeded the million-pound mark. in 1863, it increased by more than 1 times compared with four years ago. in 1871, indian tea exports to britain reached 15.3516 million pounds, an increase of 660 times compared with 20 years ago. by 1869, "indian tea was famous in the world", "since the trial, it has achieved results, and the tea collected is not inferior to that of china". the rise of indian tea has won a large number of jobs for indians. however, the treatment of indian workers in many tea gardens is comparable to that of slaves. in the recruitment of tea garden workers, deception, kidnapping, rape and other phenomena often occur. in 1837, due to lower coffee production in the west indies, tariff protection for british plantations, and rising coffee prices, india began to grow coffee. in 1847, indian coffee production rose from 2,500 tons in 1838 to 12,482 tons.

assam tea plantations map

during the mughal empire, indian cotton fabrics were already well-known in the world. however, during this period, indian cotton had more impurities and greater loss than american cotton. due to the competition from american cotton, the export of indian cotton has been greatly reduced. some british factory owners believe that "indian cotton is the worst cotton on the british market. the price difference with american cotton is generally 10% to 15%, and some even reach 20%. in 1844, the british government completely exempted indian cotton tariffs, but because the east india company refused to reduce the field tax on cotton fields, the cost of cotton cultivation was too high, so it was quite difficult to expand the area of ​​cotton fields or improve technology. the british industrial revolution brought about an increase in cotton cloth production, supplemented by the high quality brought by the cheap and good american cotton, so british cotton cloth was dumped in india.

in bengal, it was illegal to grow poppies privately. planting was allowed only when the poppies were sold to the british indian government. the east india company and the subsequent british indian government sent the collected poppies to factories in patna and benares, and then to calcutta for auction. the difference between the cost of the british indian government and the price of the chinese opium dealers was the government's income. in addition, when opium was sold, the british indian government could also collect a transit tax. however, the indian people were extremely dissatisfied with the official monopoly on opium and believed that the government should stop interfering in poppy cultivation so that ordinary indians could also profit from the opium trade.

opium warehouses in british india

the british indian government also monopolized salt and imposed heavy taxes on salt imported from foreign countries (including britain). although major british capitalists were extremely dissatisfied with this, the british indian government did not lift the ban and protected the local salt industry in india: because the east india company and the subsequent british indian government could make huge profits from this internal monopoly.

4. textile industry in british india

until the beginning of the 19th century, much of the indian population was still engaged in many handicrafts, with millions of women weaving to supplement their household incomes, and dyeing, leather and metal processing industries were also relatively developed.

the east india company also encouraged silk production in india, but the silk industry was still damaged. the east india company issued an order requiring silk workers to work in the east india company's trading house. india's silk industry and cotton textile industry began to decline. india, which had previously exported silk and cotton cloth to europe and the united states, began to import foreign textiles.

value of cotton cloth exported by britain to the far east (mainly india)

in the first half of the 19th century, bengal and bombay suffered from many famines, and india's industry was severely hit. however, the east india company was not interested in restoring the local economy of india, but instead hoped to dump more goods into india. because in the early 19th century, the quality of british textiles was not as good as that of india, and due to india's self-sufficient economy, ordinary indians did not need to buy british goods. the sales of british goods were still limited.

due to the low cost of indian silk and cotton products, "indian products can still make a profit in the uk even if they are sold at 60-70% below the market price", which was not conducive to the development of the british textile industry. in 1813, britain imposed a heavy tax of 66% on indian silk and cotton products. in addition, the many high-quality products produced by machine products brought about by the british industrial revolution basically squeezed out indian silk and cotton products in the uk. the east india company forced local handicrafts in india to hand over their products to the company, thereby monopolizing the foreign trade of the indian textile industry.

the implementation of free trade reduced the tax rate on indian exports to britain. in 1840, the tariff on indian cotton and silk products had been reduced to 20%, but at the same time, the import tax rate on british cotton was only 2%, and the indian textile industry was still struggling. the previously exquisite cotton fabrics had basically disappeared from the indian market, leaving only coarse cloth, and most indians used high-quality and cheap british goods.

comparison of cotton cloth trade between britain and india

changes in export tax rates for some indian products

rates of duty on british goods imported into india in 1852

after queen victoria ascended the throne in 1858, the export tax on indian goods was greatly reduced, and the import tax on british goods was increased. this played a certain protective role for the local manufacturing industry in india. coupled with the extensive use of machines in british india, the indian textile industry began to develop again.

some import and export duties in british india in 1871

v. foreign trade of british india

in 1834, the decree stipulated that the east india company's territorial debts and other debts were to be repaid by taxes from indian territories. in fact, this was completely unnecessary. the east india company's previous conquests relied on taxes paid by indians in places such as bengal. the british conquered the indians with indian money.

the total tax revenue of india from 1813 to 1828 was 311,083,300 pounds, of which "british domestic expenditure" reached 1.7 million pounds. in other words, 1.7 million pounds of wealth flowed from india to britain in these 15 years. the east india company used india's tax revenue to buy goods in britain and sell them to india. the cost of this method accounted for about 15% of india's total tax revenue. due to the decline of india's textile industry, indians paid more taxes with grain.

the trade between british india and britain showed great inequality. in 1834-35, india's trade deficit with britain was 2 million pounds, and in 1849-1850 it reached 4.5-5 million pounds.

india's trade with great britain accounts for more than half of its total trade. for example, between 1841 and 1855, india's total imports amounted to between £10 million and £17 million, while imports from the united kingdom alone amounted to between £5 million and £10 million. in the last three years, 1856 to 1858, total imports increased to between £25 million and £31 million, while imports from the united kingdom amounted to between £14 million and £18 million. great britain's share of india's total exports was not so large. between 1841 and 1855, india's total exports amounted to between £13 million and £21 million, while exports to great britain amounted to between £5 million and £8 million; in the next three years, india's exports to the united kingdom increased to £10 million, while india's total exports amounted to between £23 million and £28 million.

in the two years after the uprising, india's imports exceeded its exports, and in the next two years, imports and exports were roughly equal. this state of balance did not last long; by the end of the first fiscal year (april 1863), india's exports exceeded its imports by nearly 6 million pounds, and in 1864 the surplus increased to more than 16 million pounds, and in 1865 the surplus increased to 20 million pounds. in the next five years, the surplus decreased; but after 1870, the annual surplus was still roughly between 15 million and 20 million pounds.

within twelve years of the transfer of indian rule, the outflow of wealth from india increased fourfold. india suffered from such an increasing outflow of wealth that famines were particularly frequent and widespread in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. this is the inevitable economic consequence of the outflow of wealth that no country can tolerate.

india was suffering, and britain as a nation was not benefiting. great britain was made up of factory owners and workers. if india grew rich and prosperous, great britain would have made more profit from increasing trade with india. however, poor people were also poor consumers of foreign goods. the indian people did not have the wealth to buy british products. the total amount of goods imported into india from all over the world increased only slightly, from 36 million pounds in 1868 to 37.5 million pounds in 1877. more than half of this was british goods. in ten years, trade with india increased by only one million pounds, and the indian economy was on the verge of collapse.

6. railways and water conservancy

the british were confused about whether to give priority to water transport or railways. because the cost of developing canals and railways is similar, and the role they play is similar, because they can promote trade between british merchants and inland india. although digging canals can also develop water conservancy and benefit agricultural development---the british can naturally collect more taxes, but because laying railways is relatively simple and easy to form, british merchants instigated parliament to advocate the importance of railways, so the british indian government was forced to invest a large amount of money in railways. during the entire period of its rule in india, the british indian government invested 225 million pounds in railways and only 25 million pounds in canals. it was immediately clear which one was more important.

railway map of british india (1871)

in 1815, with the support of the governor-general lord hastings, the british indian government began to build water conservancy projects in india, first of all to restore the east-west river of the jumuna river, with a total length of 600 miles. this river, which had been cut off for half a century, came to delhi again. at the same time, the british indian government invested two million pounds to start the ganges canal project, which was finally completed in 1856 after decades of efforts. at the suggestion of arthur cotton, the ruins of the mughal reservoir in madras were restored and put back into use. in the first half of the 19th century, the british also built water conservancy projects in some other princely states and provinces, such as the kolilong water conservancy project and the godavari project.

the east india company and the british indian government believed that the water conservancy project could pay for itself during its construction, but british factory owners were eager to export their goods, and both the east india company and the subsequent british indian government went against their conscience under tremendous pressure from parliament.

in 1845, the east india railway company and the great indian peninsula railway company were established. however, due to the lack of funds for these two companies, the east india company was forced to agree under the pressure of parliament that if the railway profit was less than 5%, the east india company would be forced to compensate the company with indian taxes, and if the profit exceeded 5%, the profit would be shared equally between the railway company and the east india company. before the indian rebellion, these companies built a total of three railways with a total length of about 288 miles. whether it was ordinary indian people, princes, the east india company, or the later british indian government, they all criticized the construction of railways as full of corruption, not in line with india's national conditions, and a wasteful act. the british indian government represented by arthur cotton strongly advocated that taxes should be invested in canals and water conservancy projects that were beneficial to both agriculture and commerce, but the parliament and the cabinet turned a deaf ear to the opposition at the instigation of capitalists.

in any case, the length of india's railways was growing rapidly. in 1867, the length of indian railways was 3,936 miles, in 1877 it was 7,322 miles, and when the clock struck the 20th century, a long line of 24,760 miles was lying on the land of south asia.

vii. education and culture

the east india company was not willing to develop education in india because "we established secondary schools and colleges in the united states, but the united states abandoned us. we cannot let this happen again in india." therefore, for a period of time, the only schools officially established in india were the banaras brahma college and the mohammedan college in calcutta. however, these schools only taught law. it was not until 1813 that the british parliament first allocated 10,000 pounds to develop education.

in 1832, ten years after the british parliament issued a £10,000 education subsidy, the bengal government formed a "school education committee". this committee set up a mohammedan college in agra and delhi, with sanskrit classes attached. at the same time, they also started to print sanskrit and arabic works on a large scale and translated western scientific works into these languages. this committee subsidized the calcutta college, which was established six years ago, with an annual amount of funds to ensure the operation of the college.

in 1835, the british governor-general lord pentinck ordered english to be the official language of india and organized a school education committee. however, it was lord hardinge who played the greatest role in indian education. during his tenure, hundreds of schools were established in bengal to provide education in indian languages, and it was stipulated that some indian civil servants would be elected from these schools. the british tried to achieve "a school in every village" in india, but due to funding issues, this idea was never realized.

canning issued a proclamation in 1854, which allowed the establishment of universities in india. "the time has now come for universities in india. in order to promote regular higher education, the universities have established degrees to certify the attainments in the arts and sciences, and also to establish honorary degrees for students to compete for honorary titles. in the proposal we mentioned above, the education committee advocated that indian universities should be modeled on the university of london. we agree with their opinion that the organization, management and functions of the university of london (attached with the university of london charter and regulations 203 for reference) are most suitable for india's needs and can be imitated, although some details should be changed as appropriate." the government also helped mass education in local languages ​​with subsidies and other means. the government also encouraged local enlightenment schools. therefore, lord canning founded the university of calcutta, the university of madras and the university of bombay. india has been following the education system stipulated in this famous education circular until now. later, the government established universities in allahabad and lahore. at the end of queen victoria's reign, the number of students in british india was about 4 million. but the purpose of the british education in india was only to create "a class of interpreters between us and the millions whom we rule, a class indian in blood and color, but english in tastes, opinions, morals, and knowledge."

calcutta university

judging from the number of students enrolled, female education cannot catch up with male education. indian girls generally get married between the ages of ten and fourteen. in the past, they rarely went to school, and even fewer did during the british raj. female education was mainly provided by tutors. indian universities imitated the university of london in granting degrees to women. female university graduates obtained their degrees in calcutta, madras and bombay. primary schools are often coeducational. at the end of queen victoria's reign, the total number of female students in british india was less than 500,000. however, although most girls from ordinary families could not go to school, they were not illiterate. they were influenced by religion, morality and national literature at home. in general, the education level of indian women has generally caught up with that of europe.

anglo-indian women

of course, the british also banned some traditional customs in india through administrative and legal means, such as widows dying for their husbands, drowning girls, and child marriage, directly declaring war on the feudal patriarchal system. but in general, the influence of the british in developing education in india on indian culture is much greater than this kind of coercive means.

8. summary: the impact of british rule on india

edmund burke's theory of the british empire is divided into two parts: the imperial charter and the colonial trusteeship. the british empire has implemented the former very well, as evidenced by the existence of the commonwealth today, the prosperity of the former dominions, australia, new zealand, canada, and south africa. but britain has implemented the latter very poorly. the governors-general of british india, from warren hastings, lord pendinck to canning, worked diligently on indian affairs. they were also close to the local people, from reforms to reduce land taxes to asking the french parliament to reduce india's export tariffs, to improve india's political and economic environment without seriously damaging the interests of the british empire. however, in the context of capital accumulation and commodity dumping in the british empire, their achievements were very limited. the parliamentary committee consulted them not to improve india's situation, but to fleece india as much as possible without causing large-scale civil unrest.

the economic oppression of britain dealt a heavy blow to india's handicraft industry, especially the textile industry that india was proud of. under the exploitation of the colonists, india's textile industry declined, a large number of handicraftsmen went bankrupt, and the bones of textile workers were scattered all over the south asian subcontinent. but as marx said, although "british steam and science destroyed the combination of agriculture and handicrafts throughout india", the laying of railways, the construction of water conservancy, and the establishment of factories made india bid farewell to the era of handicraft production. in fact, britain's colonial rule in india, while destroying india's original social and economic structure, also changed the direction of india's historical development. as marx said: "british steam and british science completely destroyed the combination of agriculture and handicrafts throughout hindustan." the laying of railways, the construction of water conservancy, and the establishment of factories have brought about a qualitative change in the development of india's economy. india has bid farewell to the era of manual production and started modern large-scale production. but "as long as you apply machinery to the transportation of a country with coal and iron, you cannot prevent the country from making these machines itself. if you want to maintain a railway network in a vast country, you have to establish various production processes that are urgently needed for daily railway transportation in this country. in this way, you must also apply machinery in industrial sectors that are not directly related to railways. modern industry generated by railways will inevitably disintegrate the traditional division of labor on which the indian caste system relies, and the caste system is the biggest obstacle to india's progress and prosperity."

in a sense, without the british colonial rule, india would not exist. the british unified india for the first time. the mughal empire had long occupied only the indus and ganges river basins. during the reign of emperor aurangzeb, the mughal's rule had covered most of the south asian subcontinent, but that was only a brief moment. it was not until the british came here that india achieved political unification for the first time. the british formed a unified indian market in india and the economic british-indian empire. the british also used their railways, telegraphs, and postal facilities to break down the independent regional barriers in various parts of india. in addition, the british also gave indians of all ethnic groups and tribes a unified language - english. the british forged a tangible unity, an india under one government, british laws, unified tariffs, and a unified language.

britain formed a new political system in india and introduced a new political system. as british colonists allowed indigenous indians to participate in political affairs, a large number of indians participated in legislation and administration, gradually learned the knowledge needed to manage a modern country, and were exposed to new european science and technology. the british established education and taught bourgeois concepts to indians in schools. indians also learned about bourgeois ideas such as the sovereignty of the people. they demanded a higher status in politics and advocated that india should also have a higher status in the british empire. the british assimilated indians and eventually stabbed themselves.