Question

what are the principal couses of backwardness the British Raj in India and colonial explaitationbof Indian economy​

Answer 1

Answer:

During the pre-British period the problem of stagnation, poverty and backwardness of the Indian economy was not so acute. But with the advent of British in India, the economic structure in India had to face a lot of change. Self-sufficient economy of the villages in India had to face a ruin and economic exploitation of the country was initiated with it.

During the first period of hundred years, i.e., from 1757 to 1857, British looted a huge amount of resources from India. During this period cottage industries in India were totally destroyed due to the colonial strategy followed by the British rulers.

Explanation:

Dadabhai Naoroji, a distinguished economist of India, in his famous paper the ‘Poverty in India’ (1876) analysed that the huge amount of drain of capital assets wealth from India which started after 1857 was mainly responsible for the economic backwardness in India. Even after the transfer of power of crown in 1858, the drain still continued and it was mostly in the form of Home Charges.

During early part of twentieth century about 10 per cent of the total national income of India was remitted to England. This led to a huge drain of economic surplus of a poor country like India which had resulted in further under-development of the country.

The spine of the Indian economy was badly injured during the two hundred years of British rule in the country. During the 16th and 17th century, Indian economy was considered as an industrially advanced country. But the British did not permit to modernize the industrial sector of the country during the 18th and 19th century.

World famous Indian handicrafts and cottage industries were totally destroyed by the advent of cheap British manufactures in India. In this way Indian economy was turned into an importer of British manufactured goods and exporter of tea, coffee, oil seeds, foodstuffs and other industrial raw materials which were considered essential for running British industries in England.