What is the difference between INDIGO PLANTERS and INDIGO CULTIVATORS?
Answers
Answer:Besides collecting farm revenues, the British realised that they could use Indian villages to grow crops like opium and indigo which were in big demand at Europe.
They also forced farmers to produce jute in Bengal, tea in Assam, sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh, wheat in Punjab, cotton in Maharashtra and Punjab, and rice in Madras.
This image above is of a floral cotton print designed and produced by Willian Marris, the famous British poet and artist. The rich blue colour in it is known as indigo, because it was produced from a plant called indigo.
In the 19th century, India was the biggest supplier of high-quality indigo in the world, but Italy, France, and Britain had been the major buyers and exporters of Indian indigo for hundreds of years before that.
Why the Demand for Indian Indigo?
Indigo plants need a tropical climate to grow in, making India the ideal place to grow indigo.
In Europe, Indian indigo was available in limited quantities and at high prices. The European plant called woad also produces a violet and blue dye, so European producers of woad pressurised their governments to ban the import of Indian indigo so they can sell woad without competition.
But the colour from woad was not as rich as that from the Indian indigo, and woad also gave out a terrible smell. So by the 17th-century industrial revolution, European cloth makers convinced their governments to allow more imports of indigo, while France, Portugal, Spain, and North America also started growing indigo other parts of the world such as South America.
Britain Turns to India
The Company tried many methods to increase indigo cultivation in India to meet its demand in Europe.
By the end of the 18th century, Bengal indigo came to dominate the world market. In 1788 only about 30% of the Indigo imported into Britain was from India, but by 1810 it went up to 95%.
Attracted by the prospect of high profits, numerous Scotsmen and Englishmen came to India and became indigo planters; those who had no money to produce indigo could get loans from the Company.
How Was Indigo Cultivated?
Indigo cultivation was done mainly under one of the two systems known as ‘nij’ and ‘ryoti’. The main difference between these two was that under nij cultivation, the planter grew indigo only in the land which he directly controlled.
The Problem With Nij Cultivation
It was difficult to expand area under nij cultivation, because indigo could be cultivated only on fertile land, and almost all fertile lands were occupied with food grains and other crops that Indians needed. So the planters tried to remove peasants from the areas near indigo factories, which naturally led to tension and conflicts.
Another problem was of labour availability; huge indigo plantations needed many labourers, and that too in the same season when peasants were busy cultivating rice, their staple diet.
Lastly, cultivating indigo also needed a large number of ploughs and bullocks, which either the poor farmers didn't have, or were busy in the rice fields.
The main difference between these two was that under nij cultivation, the planter grew indigo only in the land which he directly controlled.
Hope this will help you.
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