Decline of Indian textiles, handicrafts and trade
Cheap machine-made British cloth and unfair duties turned India from an exporter of cloth into an exporter of raw cotton. Nationalists called this de-industrialisation.
How trade turned against India
Before British rule, Indian handloom cloth of cotton, silk, linen and wool sold in Europe, Asia and Africa. After the Industrial Revolution, British mills made cloth by machine, in huge amounts and at low cost. British manufacturers wanted Indian raw materials and Indian buyers. From 1793 to 1813 they campaigned against the Company's trade monopoly and its privileges. In 1813 the monopoly ended. India became an economic colony of industrial Britain: a supplier of raw materials and a market for British goods.
The chain of decline
- 1Machine-made British cloth floods Indian markets at a low price.
- 2British goods enter India without paying duty, while Indian handicrafts sent abroad are taxed heavily.
- 3Britain puts a protective tariff on Indian textiles entering Britain, to shield its own mills.
- 4The British control raw materials and buy them cheap; Indian weavers must buy them at very high prices.
- 5By 1813 Indian handicrafts lose both their home and foreign markets. Textile, metal, glass and paper work collapse.
- 6★Weavers lose their work and move to villages as farm labourers, adding to the pressure on land.
★ key step
Tax, duty and tariff
| Word | Meaning in simple words |
|---|---|
| Tax | Money a government collects from people's income, property or sales to pay for its work |
| Duty | A tax charged on goods when they are bought, sold or carried across a border |
| Tariff | An official list of the duties a government charges on imports or exports |
| Protective tariff | A high duty on foreign goods, so that home industries are shielded from cheaper imports |
The drain of wealth
- Money was taken from Indian rulers, merchants, zamindars and ordinary people.
- Profits from trade went to Britain.
- Salaries and pensions of British officials, and the cost of training military and civil staff, were paid from India's revenue.
- Had this wealth been invested in India, it could have developed the Indian economy.
- The policies served the Company first, and later the British Empire.
Case study: a weaving community then and now
In 2012 a newspaper described a small community of wool blanket weavers in eastern India who had almost stopped weaving. They could not match the cheap blankets sold in markets, and they could not easily reach town buyers.
- 1Note the weavers' problems today: cheaper factory blankets, little money to buy wool, and no easy route to town markets.
- 2Note the weavers' problems under British rule: cheap machine cloth, heavy duties and costly raw material.
- 3Mark what is the same (competition from machine goods) and what is different (there is no colonial ruler now, and the government can help).
- 4Suggest help: a cooperative, cheap loans, training in new designs, craft fairs and selling online.
- 5Write your comparison in about 80 words.
Handloom saris from Kanchipuram, Banaras and Pochampally carry India's weaving skill and hold Geographical Indication tags that protect their names. India marks National Handloom Day on 7 August, the day the Swadeshi movement began in 1905.
2 marks: “What is meant by de-industrialisation?” The decline of Indian handicraft industries, especially handloom weaving, under British rule, as cheap machine-made British goods took their markets. Indian nationalist leaders gave it this name.
3 marks: “Give three reasons why Indian handicrafts declined under British rule.” (1) Cheap machine-made British goods flooded India. (2) British goods paid no duty in India, while Indian goods paid heavy duties and a protective tariff in Britain. (3) The British controlled raw materials, so weavers paid very high prices for them.
6 marks: “Describe the impact of British rule on Indian industries and trade.” Opening line, then: cheap machine cloth; duty-free entry for British goods; heavy duties and tariffs on Indian goods; control of raw materials; loss of markets by 1813 (textile, metal, glass, paper); weavers turned farm labourers (de-industrialisation); drain of wealth.
Before: Indian cloth went out. After: raw cotton went out and British cloth came in.