The Burma Delta:Economic Development and Social Change on an Asian Rice Frontier, 1852-1941: Economic Development and Social Change on an Asian Rice Frontier, 1852-1941

In the decades following its annexation to the Indian Empire in 1852, Lower Burma (the Irrawaddy-Sittang delta region) was transformed from an underdeveloped and sparsely populated backwater of the Konbaung Empire into the world's largest exporter of rice. This seminal and far-reaching work focuses on two major aspects of that transformation: the growth of the agrarian sector of the rice industry of Lower Burma and the history of the plural society that evolved largely in response to rapid economic expansion. Frontmatter List of Maps (page ix) List of Tables (page xi) Acknowledgments (page xiii) Citation of Selected Government Reports (page xv) Introduction (page 3) I. THE FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 1 The Delta Rice Frontier under Konbaung and Early British Rule (page 15) II. THE EARLY PHASE OF GROWTH, 1852-1907 2 Internal Migration in the Last Half of the Nineteenth Century (page 41) 3 Agrarian Development of the Advancing Rice Frontier (page 58) 4 Indian Immigration to Lower Burma in the First Phase of Development (page 83) 5 The Genesis of the Plural Society in Lower Burma: The Era of Symbiosis (page 103) III. THE DECADES OF TRANSITION, 1908-30 6 The Closing Rice Frontier and New Patterns of Agrarian Development (page 127) 7 Changing Migration Patterns and the Rise of Competition in the Mature Plural Society (page 154) IV. THE YEARS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CRISES, 1931-41 8 The Depression and Burma's Time of Troubles: Communal Violence and Agrarian Rebellion (page 185) Conclusion (page 209) Glossary (page 227) Appendix (page 231) Bibliography (page 235) Index (page 253) In the decades following its annexation to the Indian Empire in 1852, Lower Burma (the Irrawaddy-Sittang delta region) was transformed from an underdeveloped and sparsely populated backwater of the Konbaung Empire into the world's largest exporter of rice. This work focuses on two major aspects of that transformation: the growth of the agrarian sector of the rice industry of Lower Burma and the history of the plural society that evolved largely in response to rapid economic expansion. --From publisher's description Monograph on the historical occurence of rapid agricultural development and social change in the rice-growing Myanmar delta region from 1852 to 1941 - covers the impact of colonialism on economic development, nationalism, migration, the rural population, etc. Bibliography pp. 235 to 251, maps and references