Farmers and agriculture during British rule
After gaining civil power in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, the British got a vast area to increase their revenue. They started collecting more and more revenue at the expense of the peasantry and agriculture. As a result, the peasantry was ruined. Many times, farmers could not pay the revenue even by selling their household ornaments. As a result, their land was sold. Many of the farmers' land was drowned in debt. Some farmers became victims of the heavy interest rate of the moneylenders and became ruined.
Agriculture collapsed. In this, a severe famine occurred in Bengal in 1770 AD. Millions of people died due to starvation. The Governor General named Cornwallis implemented a revenue system called permanent indentured servitude.
According to this system, the company fixed the land revenue for each year. The permanent rights of the land were given to the landlords, that is, the company created a landlord class that would stand by its side by making its income certain. On the other hand, the farmers worked hard, endured the heat and cold, cultivated the land and produced crops, and were exploited.
Social life felt eclipsed
During the time of Warren Hastings, the person entrusted with the task of collecting revenue was called a collector. He also worked as a judge. With such administration of the British state, the ancient system of village self-government in our country was destroyed. In the old days, every village was like a small republic. The Gram Panchayat handled all the administration of the village.
It was the institution of village self-government like the backbone of the country. Even during the time of external invasions and the Sultanate regime, our village self-government institutions stood firm. This new system of governance started by the British destroyed that institution.
The method of social reform adopted by the Company Government created fear among the people. People felt that the Company Government was deliberately trying to destroy the religion and culture of India by converting people to Christianity. The belief arose among the people that the social order of India was being repeatedly ignored in the Railways and the army. An edict was issued in Agra that every Indian should salute the British. Failure to do so would be punishable by fine or imprisonment. As a result, resentment and hatred arose in the hearts of the Indians towards the British.
Destruction of Indian trade and industry:
Indian handlooms supplied all the textiles needed by Europe and Asia. Western merchants came here to buy goods. Linen, wool, silk and cotton fabrics made in India were in demand abroad. The soft, fine muslin of Dhaka was in great demand in the world. In addition to textiles, goods such as salt, sugar, etc. were exported, in return for which India imported a large amount of gold and silver.
With the help of raw materials produced in India and the money collected from India, the British started developing industries in England. Their factories started booming. Goods produced in England came to India duty-free; while a duty of up to eighty percent was imposed on Indian cloth; as a result, goods produced in India started becoming expensive in India itself! Indian handicrafts and industries could not survive in this competition. Due to this British policy, many of our handicraft industries like making cloth, metals, glass, paper, shipbuilding etc. were destroyed. Lakhs of artisans became unemployed. Gradually, the poverty of rural artisans in India started increasing.
Skepticism towards reforms
When William Bentinck came to India as Governor General, liberal thinking was gradually spreading in England. Some of the impact of this change reached India. The British rulers started taking an interest in the lives of the people. William Bentinck gained a relatively high reputation by making a few beneficial reforms.
Bentinck gave Indians a place in the company's administration. Those who came to seek justice in the courts were allowed to use their mother tongue. Raja Rammohan Roy and other reformers had been trying for a long time to stop the monstrous custom of Sati, Bentinck requested these reformers A law prohibiting the practice of sati was enacted in 1829. During Bentick's time, British officials were trying to prevent practices that the Indian reformers wanted. These reforms began to be viewed with suspicion by conservative Indian people.
The company government had decided to spend one lakh rupees every year on education; but it was not being implemented. Finally, during the time of Bentick, an Education Committee was formed. In 1834, an English lawyer named Macaulay came up with the idea of English education. The education system started by Macaulay did not benefit the Indian youth as much as they wanted. Indians started losing the benefit of learning the ancient sciences developed by their ancestors.
English education started in the country. This education system was opposed. Mahatma Gandhi called it the education of slavery. Then in 1857, universities were established. The British started getting the educated employees they needed through English education; nevertheless, Indians started getting that education and from it, a nationalist mindset for independence started to develop.
Due to the industrial revolution, new machines were invented to keep factories running and to meet the demand for transportation and communication for the movement of goods. If it is used in India too, our trade will benefit and military control can also be maintained, for this purpose, railways were started in India.
Know this much
The first railway in India was started between Mumbai and Thane in 1853.
As it was necessary to keep a close eye on every part of a vast country like India and to convey messages to foreign states, the modern system of postal and telegraphic communication was adopted from 1854 AD. Simultaneously, the prevalence of printing presses and newspapers started increasing in the country.
Thus, the reforms of British rule were for the benefit of the British; yet for the purpose of nationalism they became a blessing for the Indians. The English-educated class became aware of the trends of the world, which played a very important role in the work of social reform and national awareness in the country. Newspapers, telegraphs, post and railways brought the people of India closer to each other.
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