Definitions [1]
Definition: Foreign Trade
According to Wasserman and Hultman, “International Trade consists of transaction between residents of different countries.”
Key Points
Key Points: Low Level of Economic Development Under the Colonial Rule
India before British rule had a diversified economy with prosperous handicraft industries (cotton and silk textiles, metal and precious stone work) that enjoyed a worldwide market.
- Colonial economic policies mainly served Britain, turning India into a supplier of raw materials and a buyer of British finished goods, which damaged indigenous industries.
- Under colonial rule, real output grew by less than 2% per year and per capita income by only about 0.5% annually in the first half of the 20th century, showing very low economic development.
Key Points: Agricultural Sector in India
Under British rule, India remained a predominantly agrarian economy, but agriculture was stagnant and peasants were highly exploited.
- Around 85% of the population lived in villages and depended on agriculture, yet productivity stayed low; output rose mainly by expanding cultivated area, not by better yields.
- Land revenue systems, especially zamindari in Bengal Presidency, diverted surplus to zamindars who only collected rent and rarely invested in land or farmers, causing misery and social tension.
- Low technology, poor irrigation, negligible fertiliser use, and lack of investment in terracing, flood control and drainage further depressed productivity.
- Commercialisation led some farmers to shift from food crops to cash crops for British industries, but most small tenants and sharecroppers lacked resources or incentives, so their economic condition did not improve.
Key Points: Industrial Sector
- British policies deliberately deindustrialised India, destroying handicraft industries and making India mainly export raw materials and import cheap British manufactures.
- Modern industry (cotton and jute mills, later iron and steel like TISCO, and a few sugar, cement, paper units) grew slowly, without a strong capital goods base, and the public sector was limited to railways, power, ports and communications.
Key Points: Demographic Condition
- Literacy was below 16%, with female literacy only about 7%.
- Health facilities were scarce; infant mortality was about 218 per 1,000 births and life expectancy only around 32 years, with widespread poverty worsening these outcomes.
Key Points: Occupational Structure
- Around 70–75% of workers were in agriculture, only about 10% in manufacturing and 15–20% in services, showing very little diversification.
- Some regions (Madras Presidency, Bombay, Bengal) saw a gradual shift from agriculture to industry and services, while others (Orissa, Rajasthan, Punjab) saw rising dependence on agriculture, increasing regional imbalance.
Key Points: Infrastructure
- Railways, ports, some roads, waterways, posts and telegraphs were built largely to move troops and export raw materials, while many rural areas still lacked all‑weather roads.
- Railways expanded exports and commercialised agriculture, but most economic gains went to Britain; by independence, infrastructure needed major upgradation and re‑orientation toward public welfare.
Important Questions [7]
- What was the two-fold motive behind the systematic deindustrialisation effected by the British in pre-independent India?
- During the British rule in India, Indian agricultural output witnessed stagnation due to ______.
- Choose the incorrect pair: Column-I Column-II A. Introduction of railways in India (i) 1850 B. Incorporation of TISCO (ii) 1807 C. First official census of India (iii) 1881 D. Opening of suez canal
- Highlight the salient features of India’s pre independence occupational structure.
- Read paragraph and answer the questions - The centre's PM Gati Shakti Scheme will give much needed push to infrastructure development and logistic across India. 1. State the meaning of infrastructure.
- 'Infrastructure facilities boost production.' Do you agree? Explain.
- State and explain any two main causes behind infrastructural development by British rule.
