Roadmap for Answer Writing

Introduction

• Briefly introduce the British East India Company’s role in shaping colonial policies.
• Mention the shift in focus from subsistence agriculture to cash crops as part of the commercializing strategy.
• State the primary aim of this commercialization, which was to extract maximum economic benefit from Indian agriculture for the British Empire.

Main Body

1. Motivation Behind Commercialization:
   • Explain how the British East India Company sought to extract resources from Indian agriculture to meet the demands of British industries (e.g., raw cotton for Lancashire textile mills, opium for trade with China, indigo for dye production).
   • Fact: “The revenue generated from Indian agriculture helped finance the costs of maintaining British colonial administration in India, including the salaries of British officials and the development of infrastructure like railways” (Source: History of British East India Company’s Colonial Policies).
2. Impoverishment of the Peasantry:
   • Discuss how the commercialization led to the exploitation of peasants through heavy taxation, land revenue policies, and forced cultivation of cash crops.
   • Fact: “Excessive taxation and high land revenue demands, such as in the zamindari, ryotwari, and mahalwari systems, caused widespread impoverishment of peasants” (Source: Economic Consequences of British Rule in India).
   • Fact: “The indigo cultivators were often forced into debt by the planters, who controlled credit and dictated the crops grown, leading to a vicious cycle of poverty” (Source: British Economic Exploitation of India).
3. Shift from Food Crops to Cash Crops:
   • Explain how the focus on commercial crops (such as cotton, opium, and indigo) led to a reduction in the production of food crops, making rural areas vulnerable to famine and food insecurity.
   • Fact: “Between 1893-94 and 1945-46, the production of commercial crops increased by 85%, while food crop production fell by 7%, resulting in frequent famines” (Source: Economic Impact of Commercialization in Colonial India).
4. Rural Indebtedness and Credit System:
   • Discuss the emergence of the money-lending class and the lack of financial freedom for peasants. Highlight how high-interest loans forced peasants into debt, further exacerbating poverty.
   • Fact: “The commercialization of agriculture led to the rise of a money-lending class, with peasants forced to borrow money at high interest rates, leading to rural indebtedness” (Source: British Economic Exploitation of India).
5. Impact on Self-Sufficiency and Agrarian Unrest:
   • Explain how commercialization undermined the self-sufficient agrarian economy, making rural India dependent on market conditions and leading to agrarian riots and unrest.
   • Fact: “In Western India, the focus on cotton cultivation during the American Civil War (1860s) caused a boom, but the collapse of demand afterward led to famine and agrarian riots in the 1870s” (Source: Economic Impact of British Colonial Policies).

Conclusion

• Summarize the negative effects of the commercialization of agriculture on the rural economy, highlighting poverty, indebtedness, loss of self-sufficiency, and social unrest.
• Mention how this commercialization served British interests at the expense of Indian peasants.
• Conclude by noting the long-term consequences of these policies for India’s agrarian sector.

Key Facts and Sources:

1. Revenue generation: “The revenue generated from Indian agriculture helped finance the costs of maintaining British colonial administration in India” (Source: History of British East India Company’s Colonial Policies).
2. Impoverishment of peasants: “Excessive taxation and high land revenue demands, such as in the zamindari, ryotwari, and mahalwari systems, caused widespread impoverishment” (Source: Economic Consequences of British Rule in India).
3. Commercial crops: “Between 1893-94 and 1945-46, the production of commercial crops increased by 85%, while food crop production fell by 7%” (Source: Economic Impact of Commercialization in Colonial India).
4. Rural indebtedness: “The commercialization of agriculture led to the rise of a money-lending class, with peasants forced to borrow money at high interest rates” (Source: British Economic Exploitation of India).
5. Agrarian unrest: “The focus on cotton cultivation during the American Civil War caused a boom, but the collapse of demand afterward led to famine and agrarian riots” (Source: Economic Impact of British Colonial Policies).