Question

Note how quickly Britain, the seat of the Industrial Revolution became an urban from a predominantly rural society. Was this process identical in India?

1810: 20 per cent of the population lived in towns and cities.

1910: 80 per cent of the population lived in towns and cities.

Significantly the impact of the same process was different in India, Urban centres did grow. But with the entry of British manufactured goods, more people moved into agriculture.

Answer 1

Based on the activity, the process of industrialization and urbanization was not identical in India and Britain.

Here is the sociological explanation of how the processes differed:

• The British Experience (Rapid Urbanization): Britain, being the seat of the Industrial Revolution, created massive employment in urban factories. This pulled the population from rural areas into cities, transforming the country from 20 per cent urban in 1810 to 80 per cent urban by 1910.
• The Indian Experience (Deindustrialization): Under colonial rule, the impact of the same process was fundamentally different. While some colonial urban centers did grow, India was largely used as a market for the British. The mass entry of cheap, machine-made British manufactured goods destroyed India's traditional urban handicraft, artisan, and textile industries.
• The Paradox of Ruralisation: Unlike in Britain, where displaced workers found jobs in new urban factories, India did not experience a simultaneous industrial boom to absorb its ruined artisans. Consequently, jobless weavers and craftsmen were forced to leave towns and move back to villages to survive off the land. Thus, paradoxically, the British Industrial Revolution led to more people in India moving into agriculture.