Traditional Industry in the Economy of Colonial India (Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society, Series Number 5)

The majority of workers in South Asia are employed in industries that rely on manual labour and craft skills. Some of these industries have existed for centuries and survived great changes in consumption and technology over the last 150 years. In earlier studies, historians of the region focused on mechanized rather than craft industries, arguing that traditional manufacturing was destroyed or devitalized during the colonial period, and that 'modern' industry is substantially different. Exploring new material from research into five traditional industries, Tirthankar Roy's book contests these notions, demonstrating that while traditional industry did evolve during the Industrial Revolution, these transformations had a positive rather than destructive effect on manufacturing generally. In fact, the book suggests, the major industries in post-independence India were shaped by such transformations. Tirthankar Roy's book offers penetrating insights into India's economic and social history. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 4 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Illustrations......Page 8 Maps......Page 9 Tables......Page 10 Dedication......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 12 The questions......Page 15 The proposal......Page 17 South Asia in context......Page 22 Plan of the book......Page 25 The received view and its critique......Page 26 Commercialization......Page 39 From custom to contract......Page 44 Forms of contract......Page 47 Factories......Page 55 Division of labour and technical change......Page 57 Relocation and clustering......Page 59 Europe......Page 62 East Asia......Page 66 India......Page 68 Differences......Page 69 3 Handloom weaving......Page 75 Images of inequality......Page 79 Locating decline......Page 91 Consumption......Page 100 Relocation and reorganization......Page 101 Import trade......Page 108 Conclusion......Page 111 4 Gold thread (jari)......Page 113 The product and its market......Page 114 Relocation......Page 123 Import-substitution......Page 126 Surat, Benares and technical change......Page 128 Contracts......Page 134 Conclusion......Page 140 Consumption......Page 142 Sites of production......Page 148 Quality of production......Page 153 Producers......Page 156 Conclusion......Page 167 6 Leather......Page 169 Tanning as it was......Page 172 New sites and migration......Page 180 Factories in cities......Page 189 Technical change......Page 197 Effects on leather manufactures......Page 201 Capitalists......Page 206 Conclusion......Page 209 7 Carpets......Page 211 Consumption......Page 212 Production......Page 222 Decline of auction......Page 223 Relocation......Page 225 New firms and new contracts......Page 233 Old roots of new organizations......Page 235 Conclusion......Page 243 8 Conclusion......Page 245 References......Page 250 Index......Page 264 "The majority of manufacturing workers in South Asia are employed in industries that rely on manual labour and craft skills. Some of these industries have existed for centuries and survived great changes in consumption and technology over the past 150 years. In earlier studies, historians of the region focused on mechanized rather than craft industries, arguing that traditional manufacturing was destroyed or devitalized during the colonial period, and that 'modern' industry is substantially different. Exploring new material from research into five traditional industries, Tirthankar Roy's book contests these notions, demonstrating that while traditional industry did evolve during the industrial revolution, these transformations had a positive rather than destructive effect on manufacturing generally. In fact, the book suggests several major industries in post-independence India were shaped by such transformations."--BOOK JACKET. Earlier historians of India's economic history have argued that traditional manufacturing in India was destroyed or devitalized during the colonial period, and that "modern industry" is substantially different. Exploring new material from research into five traditional industries, Tirthankar Roy's book contests these notions, demonstrating that while traditional industry did evolve during the industrial revolution, these transformations had a galvanizing rather than negative effect on manufacturing generally. The book offers new and penetrating insights into the study of India's economic and social history. Tirthankar Roy challenges the view that traditional industry was destroyed in the colonial period. Roy argues that while traditional industry did evolve during the industrial revolution, these transformations had a galvanizing effect on manufacturing generally and that the major industries in post-independence India were shaped by such transformations.

roy's Book Offers New And Penetrating Insights Into The Study Of India's Economic And Social History.

Two sets of problems motivated this study on traditional industry, or the artisans, in colonial India.