Question

The First War of Independence of 1857 was the culmination of peoples’ dissatisfaction with the British rule. In this context, discuss about the economic causes.

Answer 1

 Economic Causes: The British crippled Indian trade and created a high tariff wall in Britain against Indian goods and encouraged the imports of British goods to India. They purchased raw materials from India and manufactured goods were sent back to India making enormous profit. The demand for Indian goods were reduced and handloom industry was adversely affected. Thousands of craftsmen and artisans were thrown out of employment. The manufacturing units of Dacca, Murshidabad and Surat became desolate, even the Indian iron and smelting industry was practically stamped out by cheap imported iron and steel for railways. A new plantation system introduced in 1833 brought incalculable misery for the peasants. The hardest hit were the peasants of Indigo plantation in Bengal and Bihar. The new changes in the agrarian system and exorbitant land revenue impoverished the peasants. Unemployment among the people was widely revalent. Government took away tax free lands. Monopolization of jute, tea and coffee industry took place. Zamindars and Taluqdars were displaced.