Question

write a note on the various stages of the colonial rule in india

Answer 1

Stages of British Rule in India:

The British interference in Indian politics and economy started from 1757 and since then, for roughly two centuries, she stood as the main base of the British Empire. The net outcome was the utter exploitation of India.

The history of the exploitative role of British-India can be conveniently grouped into three periods:

(i) The first is the period of ‘merchant capital’ dating from 1757 to 1813. This ‘mercantilist’ phase was marked by direct plunder and the EIC’s monopoly trade functioning through the investment of surplus revenues in the purchase of Indian finished goods for export to England and Europe.

(ii) The second is the period of ‘industrial capital’ dating from 1813 to 1858. This period saw the classic age of free trader industrial capitalist exploitation. The entire pattern of trade underwent a dramatic change under the mighty impact of England’s industrial revolution.

During this period, India was converted rapidly into a market for British textiles and a great source for raw materials. Traditional handicrafts were thrown out of gear—a period when the ‘homeland of cotton was inundated with cotton’ (Karl Marx).

(iii) The third period is the period of ‘finance capital’ starting from the closing years of the 19th century and continuing till independence. During this phase, finance-imperialism began to entrench itself through the managing agency firms, export-import firms, exchange banks, and some export of capital.

However, this sort of periodization of the colonial exploitation is somewhat arbitrary and over-schematic as Rajani Palme Dutt himself believed.

Immediately after the Battle of Plassey (1757), Britain started establishing her control over India to serve her own interests. At that time the Indian economy was basically feudal. R. P. Dutt and Pundit Nehru believed that the seeds of capitalist development that existed in India had been robbed by the Britishers. It is true that the British rule in India, at least in economic sphere, was essentially destructive rather than constructive in character.

The colonial form of exploitation started almost from 1757 when the East India Company, hitherto a corporation of merchants, made its appearance as a political power in India to promote the interests of the metropolis. The way this merchant class used its power in the second half of the 18th century stands out in history as a “particularly painful example of organised greed untrammeled by any moral norms.” The EIC’s ingenious methods of exploitation were of the following nature.

In the first place, the only aim of the EIC was to make a profit by establi­shing monopoly trade in the goods and products with India and the East Indies. The EIC intended to sell its products in the Indian market at high prices and purchase products of India and East Indies (especially spices, cotton goods, and silk goods) at low prices so that the largest profit can be netted in. But the problem was that Britain at that stage of development had almost nothing to offer to this country in exchange of goods it purchased.

However, the problem was initially solved by offering precious gold and silver bullion and their coins to buy Indian goods. But such a course of action did not please the merchants as: Involved a huge drainage of gold and silver from Britain to India as well as was painful and repugnant to the whole system of mercantile capitalism.