British Policy towards Indian Handicrafts
The
European companies began arriving on the Indian soil from 16th century. During
this period, they were constantly engaged in fierce competition to establish
their supremacy and monopoly over Indian trade. Not surprisingly, therefore,
initial objective of the English East India Company was to have flourishing
trade with India. Later, this objective was enlarged to acquire a monopoly over
this trade and obtain its entire profit. Although the trade monopoly thus
acquired by the Company in India was ended by the Charter Act of 1833, yet the
British Policy of exploiting the resources of India continued unabated. In this
respect, the nature of the British rule was different from the earlier rulers.
As far as
the traditional handicraft industry and the production of objects of art were
concerned, India was already far ahead of other countries in the world. The
textiles were the most important among the Indian industries. Its cotton, silk
and woolen products were sought after all over the world. Particularly, the
muslin of Dacca, carpets of Lahore, shawls of Kashmir, and the embroidery works
of Banaras were very famous. Ivory goods, wood works and jewellery were other
widely sought after Indian commodities.
Apart from Dacca, which was highly famous for
its muslins, the other important centres of textile production were
Krishnanagar, Chanderi, Arni and Banaras. Dhotis
and dupattas of Ahmedabad, Chikan of
Lucknow, and silk borders of Nagpur had earned a worldwide fame. For their silk
products some small towns of Bengal besides, Malda and Murshidabad were very
famous. Similarly, Kashmir, Punjab and western Rajasthan were famous for their
woolen garments.
Besides
textiles, India was also known widely for its shipping, leather and metal
industries. Indian fame as an industrial economy rested on cutting and
polishing of marble and other precious stones and carving of ivory and
sandalwood. Moradabad and Banaras were famous for brass, copper, bronze
utensils. Nasik, Poona, Hyderabad and Tanjore were famous for other metal
works. Kutch, Sind and Punjab were known for manufacturing arms. Kolhapur,
Satara, Gorakhpur, Agra, Chittor and Palaghat had likewise earned a reputation
for their glass industries. Making of gold, silver and diamond jewellery was
another important industrial activity in which many places in India
specialized. These entire handicrafts industry indicated a vibrant economy in
India.
Despite enjoying such fame in the world, the
Indian handicraft industry had begun to decline by the beginning of the 18th
century. There were many reasons for it. First, the policies followed by the
English East India Company proved to be highly detrimental to the Indian
handicrafts industry. The Indian market was flooded with the cheap finished
goods from Britain. It resulted in a steep decline in the sale of Indian
products both within and outside of the country. In 1769, the Company
encouraged the cultivation of raw silk in Bengal while imposing service
restrictions on the sale of its finished products. In 1813 strategies were
devised by the Company to enhance the consumption of finished goods from
Britain. In this respect the tariff and octroi policies were suitably modified
to suit the British commercial interests. To cite an example, in 1835 only a
minimal import of British duty of 2.5 per cent was imposed on the import of
British manufactured cotton cloth whereas a very high 15 per cent export duty
was charged on Indian cotton textiles as per the new maritime regulations.
Moreover,
goods from England could only be brought by the English cargo ships. As a
result of all these policies, the Indian textiles could not enter the British
market, whereas the Indian market was flooded with British goods.
Thus, with
the rise of British paramountcy in India, the process of decline in the power
and status of Indian rulers had set in. Thus, the demands for the domestic
luxury goods like royal attires, armory and objects of art by the Indian
royalty also reduced drastically.
So, with
the disappearance of the traditional dynasties, their nobility also passed into
oblivion. This led to a sharp decline in the demand for traditional luxury
goods.
Besides,
the Industrial revolution led to the invention of new machinery in Europe.
Power looms replaced handlooms. In India also the advent of machines led to the
decline of handicraft as now the machine-made products were available at cheaper
rate and more goods could be produced in much lesser time.
Finally, the new communication and transport facilities brought about a revolution in public life. Earlier, goods used to be transported either by bullock carts or by ships. Thus, during the rainy season, it was not always convenient to carry on with the normal transportation. But now conditions were changed with the introduction of railways and steamer services. Concrete roads were laid to connect the country's agricultural hinterland. The import of goods from England also increased with the simultaneous increase in exports of raw materials from India, leading to massive loss of jobs among Indian artisans and craftsman who lost their only means to livelihood.
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