Question

what led to the decline of cities in lndia during the 19th century

Answer 1

They had not grown politically.

Answer 2

• In the late eighteenth century; Calcutta, Bombay and Madras rose in importance as they became the Presidency cities.
• These three cities became the centers of British power in different regions of India.
• Around the same time, many smaller cities declined in importance.
• Many towns which were important manufacturing centers declined in importance because of a drop in the demand for what they produced.
• When the flow of trade moved to new center, old trading centers and ports could not survive.When the local rulers were defeated by the British, many earlier centers of regional power collapsed and new centers of administration emerged.
• This process is usually called DE-urbanization. Machination, Surat and Seringapatam were some of the cities which were urbanized during the nineteenth century.
• By the early twentieth century, only 11 per cent of Indians were living in cities.