british imperial railways in 19th century india

8/12/2019 British Imperial Railways in 19th Century India

1/10

British Imperial Railways in Nineteenth Century South AsiaAuthor(s): Laxman D. SatyaSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 47 (Nov. 22 - 28, 2008), pp. 69-77Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40278213.

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2/10

British

mperial

Railways

in

Nineteenth

Century

outh Asia

LAXMAN

D

SATYA

The

massive

redatory

nd

exploitative

ature

f

he

imperial ailway roject

nder

he

facade

ofBritain's

benevolence

o

the

people

of ndia ould nothave

been

furtherrom he

reality

f he material ondition

of he masses

under

olonial

hegemony.

his

paper

undertakes

comprehensivenalysis

f he

British

imperial

ailways

uring

he second

half f he 19th

century.uch related spectsas thedevelopment

of hecolonial

conomy,

he

role f

finance

apital,

the

comparativepread

ffect,

ritish

onopoly

nd

colonisation

f

he

ndian

conomy,

abour

n the

railway rojects,

olonial

orestry,

amine nd

disease,

etc,

re

dealtwith

t some

length.

Laxman

Satya [email protected])

s at

the

Department

f

History,

ock

Haven

University

f

Pennsylvania,

S.

1846,

the revenue

commissioner f

Bombay,

homas

Williamsonwrote

to the chairmanof

the Great

ndian

Peninsular

ailway

ompany

n

London

tating

hat,

The

great

runk-line,

unning

y

he

Malseje

Ghaut n

thedirectionf

Nagptir,

ould be mostdirectwhich ould

possibly

e selected o

connect

ombay

o

Calcutta.

Commercially,

t

wouldbe bestfor he

cotton f

Berar,

whilefor

he first 20 milesfrom

ombay

e

would

proceed

n the

mmediate irection

f he

military

tations

f

Ahmed-

nuggur,

aulna

nd

Aurangabad.1

Nothingouldbe more bvious han he win urpose f olo-

nial

railways

tated o

early

nd so

clearly

bove,

e,

commercial

and

military.

hese two

objectives

et the

tone

for he

mperial

railway roject

ntil he end

of

the

British

aj.

Four

years

ater,

the

same

company

ndertook he

constructionf

he

very

irst

20-24

miles

railway

ine

from

ombay

o Thana

completed

nd

opened

n

April

853.

By

1900,

over

4,000

miles

f racks ad

been

aid.3

his normous

roject

as financed

ntirelyy

British

private

nvestment

apital.

1

Imperial

Finance and

the

Colonial

Railway

Project

Private

ritish

ompanies

with

he

trong acking

f

he

govern-

ment

f

ndia

not

nly

uilt

ailways

ut lso

owned

hem.

here

were n

average

,405

milesunder onstructionvery ear ntil

the end

of

the

century.4

ome

150

million

ounds-sterling

as

invested

n ndian

railways

y

the

end

of he

19th

entury.

his

became

he

ingle

argest

nvestment

n

the

British

mpire.

he

government

f ndia

became

he

guarantor

o

the

railway

hare-

holders

ho

were

mostly

ritish.

rivate

ompanies

ould

uild

and

operate

heir

espective

ines

n different

egions

f

he ub-

continent

ith

guaranteed

per

cent

return

n

their

tock-

holders'

nvestment

ssured

y

he

ndian

evenues

f

he

mpire.

And

between

1869

and

early

1880s,

the

government

f ndia

itself

uilt

ailroads

or

rivate

ritish

ompanies.

ifty

million

pounds-sterling

rom

ndian

revenues

were set aside

by

the

colonial state to meet

the

guaranteeirrespective

f

the

company

osses.5

The

guarantee

ystem

romised

ts

hareholders

hat

f

he

companies

erformed

oorly,

he

taxpayers

f

ndia

would

pay

for

he oss.

Thus

he

ntire

rofit

ent

o the

railway ompanies

and

their

nglish

hareholders

hile

he

oss

was

borne

y

the

Indian

eople.

imply

ut,

his

was a

heads-I-win,

ails

you-loose

proposition .6

he

deployment

f

British

apital

n

uch

manner

was

an

example

f

private

nvestment

t

public

isk .

y

1870s,

theoutflow

f

interest

ctually

xceeded

the

inflow

f

fresh

capital

nto

ndia.7

And

by

he

end

of

he

19th entury,

he

otal

69

Economic

Political

weekly

H5EQ

November

22,

2008

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3/10

SPECIAL

ARTICLE

- - - - - ~~=~ -

-

- -=

cost f ndian

ailways

mounted

o

350

million

ounds-sterling,

the

argest

utlet

or he

xport

f

British

apital.8

Under he

guarantee

ystem,

ll

contracts ere

given nly

o

British

ompanies.9

he

government

f ndia

provided

ree and

and

otherfacilities

ncluding

ecruitmentf

cheap

labour.10

Almost

ll

privateapital pent

n ndian

ailroads

as

raised

n

Britain.

he

railway

hares for ndian

investmentsould be

traded nlynLondontockmarkets. pparently,Itwasthepol-

icy

f herailroad

ompanies,

he East ndia

Company,

nd the

British

overnment

o hire

contractorsnd

discourage

ndian

enterprise .11

he

absolutely

isk

ree ature f he

Britishnvest-

mentmeant

hat,

The

ailway

rofits,

hich

ouldhavefinanced

India's wn

development,

ent

nstead

nto

he

pockets

f nves-

tors

n

Britain .12he annual

ribute

f

ndia o Britain

mounted

to about

5

million

ounds-sterling

nd

Britain's

mpire

n ndia

became

great

sset o the

rown.13 ith reliable

ebt

ervice,

the

railway

apital

marketn London

hrived

lthough

nvest-

ment n

rrigation

ould

havebeenfarmore

roductive

han his

kind

f

ailway

xpansion.14

The

guarantee ystem

ontributed

ubstantially

o

the

drain

offundsfrom he subcontinent.t naturally romptedmore

spending

n construction

er

trackkilometrehan ocal

condi-

tionswarranted.t

also created

profitable

onditions or

ven

wastefulonstructionhat

urther

ncreased he

ubsidy

nd the

drain.

The

unprofitable

ines

depended

or

heir

ery

xistence

upon

the

guarantee,

hich

ncreased

he drain.Had the drain

not

xisted,

t

s

unlikely

hat

rivate apital

n

such

large

cale

would have

ever

been invested

n Indian

railway

roject.

he

money

aid

out f ndian ax

revenues o

British

nvestors

n

ub-

sidieswas

substantial.t

is

estimated hat

between

1849

and

1900,

total f

Rs

568

million

as

paid

out.15

Recurring

rade

surpluses

forwhich the

people

of India

received

no return

marked he

steady

ncrease

n the

drain

throughout

he

19th

century.

or

example,,ust

forthe

year

1882-83,

he

balance

of

payment

based

on

railways

lone

amountedo

4.14

per

ent

f

he

ndiannational

ncome.

What

appens

o

country

hich

ear

n and

year

ut

oses

uch

sizeable

art

f ts np o

nother,

s ndia

id

uring

he

ntire

eriod

1858-98

and,

n

fact,

ight

rom

757)?

he act hatndia

ad ohave

a rate

f

aving

f

per

ent f tsnational

ncome

ust

o

pay

he

tribute....

uch

ontinuousoss f

avings

ad

crippling

ffectn he

economy.

herewould

nvestmentsomefrom o

stimulate

ny

expansion

f

he

conomy,

hen

he

ulk

f he

ossibleavings

as

annually

ost.16

India was

a

captive

economy

made to

serve Britain's

economic

eeds.

2

Colonial

Economy

nd

Railways

The

foundationsf his olonial

conomy

ere aid

well before

the

ntroduction

f

railways.

he

railway nly

trengthened

his

foundation.If

we

can

cheapen arriage,

e

may

reatly

ncrease

the

mports

f

foreign

rticles

nto

he

nterior;

nd

in

a

corre-

sponding egree,

xport

otton nd

other

gricultural

roduce. 17

Thisobservation

ade

by

n

East ndia

Company gent

n mid-

18405

aptly

ums

up

the

fundamentalharacteristicf

the

colonial

conomy

f

ndia n

the

19th

entury.

t

s

not

urprising

that

he

cotton aronsof

Lancashire

were

the

most

vehement

supporters

f

the ndian

railway roject.18hey

had

a

double

objective: irstly,

osell their

heap

machinemade cloth o the

millions f ndianmasses nd

secondly,

o ecure more eliable

source

f. aw

cotton

han

he United

tates.Karl

Marx

n

1853

prophesied,

. the

nglishmillocracy

ntendoendowndiawith

railways

with the exclusive

iew

of

extracting

t

diminished

expenses

the cotton and other raw materials for their

manufactures .19

The

railways

ushed

ndia nto n era of

lassical olonialism.

This was characterised

y

Indian

exports

f

agricultural

aw

materials

nd

imports

fBritishmanufactured

roducts.

ndia's

economy

was twisted to fit this

classical

colonial

pattern.

Throughout

he

19th

entury,

ritain

njoyed

trade

urplus

with ndia.But thad a

growing

eficit

n

ts

verall

nternational

tradewith ther

ations,

hichwereoffset

y

ubstantialndian

export

urpluses.

hese

exports rimarily

onstituted

gricul-

turalraw

materials uch as

cotton,

ute,

tea,

coffee, heat,

il

seeds,

pium, ugarcane,

obacco, tc,

while

mports

ere

made

up

of

mostly

lothefrom

nglish

mills,20

ailway

nd

military

hardware.Thus Indian

economy

xclusively

erviced

British

economicnterest.

The

British evised rather lever

way

o transfer

uge

ums

of

money

rom ndia to

England.

Each

year

fundswere trans-

ferred

o

pay

ff ebt n

secure

nd

profitableapital

nvestments

on the

railways.21

utthiswas

just

the

tip

of the

ceberg.

he

colonial

ystem equired

he

annual transferf funds rom he

colony

o the

metropolis

o

meet

n

array

f home

harges .22

These were funnelled

hrough

ndia's

rising xport

urplus.

Home

charges

ncluded he costofthe

ecretary

f

tate's ndia

officen

London,

osts f

wars

at

home nd

abroad,

urchase

f

military

tores,

ensions

or

ritish

ilitary

nd

civilian fficials

and for

ervicing

he

guarantee ystem. y

the

end of

the

19th

century,

hevisible ome

harges nnually

mounted

obetween

17

nd18million

ounds sterling.

hechief tems nthebill n

order f

magnitude

ere

guaranteed ailway

nterest,

ilitary

expenses,

nterest

n

ndia

debt,

urchases

f

government

tores

and

pensions.

n

addition o

this,

herewere

private

emittances

made

by

British

fficials

erving

n ndia nd

transfersf

profity

British

erchants

nd

invisible

harges

or

ervices,

ncluding

shipping,anking

nd

nsurance.23llof his

was extractedrom

the ndian

peasants hrough

eavy

axationntheform f and

revenue,

aking

way

resources

hat

therwise ouldhavebeen

used

for nvestmentn

the conomic

evelopment

ithin

ndia.24

During

he same

period

by

contrast,

eiji

Japan egistered

re-

mendous

conomic

rowth

nd ts ailroads ere ll

ndigenously

financednd served heeconomic nterestyhelpingobuild

modern

ation.25

onsequently,

he ndiannationalist ritersf

the

19th

entury

ike

Dadabhai

Naoroji,

C

Dutt,

G V

Joshi nd

others efused o believe hat

ndia

could

not

be

industrialised

without

oreign

apital.26

3

Comparative

Spread

Effect f

Railways

By

he ndof

he

19th

entury,

ndia

had become he

hief

xport

market or ritish

oods ncluding

extiles,

ron

nd steel

goods,

and other

roducts

eflecting

ritain'sndustrial

trength.

ndia

in

return

upplied

Britainwith raw

materials n the form

f

70

November

22,

2008

E3329

EconomicPolitical

eekly



4/10

-

- -

-

-

=

-

-

SPECIALARTICLE

unprocessedgriculturaloods.

The

economy rimarily

ecame

agrarian

s the

proportion

fthose

dependent

n

agriculture

grew

o over

0

per

cent.And he

government

f ndia ensured

that the British usiness nterests

enefited rom avourable

arrangements

orand nd

capital

n

ndia.

Commercial

griculture

as made

possible

by

the

transportation

infrastructure

rovided

bove all

by

the

railway.

y

the

end of the

centuryndiapossessed hefifthongest ailway ystem

n theworld.

The

pre-eminence

fBritish

xport

nterests as clear

n

ayout

hat

focused nroutes

o

the

ports

nd

a

rate

tructure

hat

isadvantaged

inla'nd

ransportation.27

The railroads lso

became

a

captive

nd

publicly

ubsidised

market

or

nglish

teel-makers

nd ocomotive

uilders.

ritish

obsession

nd

priority

orrailroads

neglected

ll other

public

works

rojects.

he

railroad

ystem

onsumed

3

times s

much

investment

s

all

hydraulic

orks

p

to 1880.

During

877-78

famine,

he

pro-irrigation

obbyists

ir

Arthur

Cottonand

Florence

ightingale

aised

heir oices

gainst

he

utter

orth-

lessness

f

railways

n

relieving

istress,

hile

t

cost

he

poor

f

India 160

million

rupees.

n the

20th

century

Gandhi

also

denouncedhe railroadss themainkiller ftraditionalndian

handicrafts

nd

depleting

ood

tocks

rom

he

ountryside.

mpe-

rial nvestment

n

irrigation

omplemented

he

railways

n

pro-

moting

ommercial

rops

or

xports

ather

han

rain

rops.28

The

government

f ndiadid

ittle

o

aid or timulate

he

devel-

opment

f

heavy

ndustry

r

management

kills

within

ndia.

The

colonial

tate

nd

the

railway

ompanies

ollowed

olicies

from

which

British

ndustry

nd financial

nstitutions

ere

the

primary

eneficiaries.

ndeed,

he

government

f

ndia

urged

he

railway ompanies

o

buy

British .

ndia

also

failed

o

reap

he

benefits

f

the

spread

effects

o

industry

hich

would

have

occurred.

nstead,

he

spread

effects

timulated

he

British

economy. 29

or

example,

fter he

railways

ad

depleted

he

reserves

fwood omake

harcoal,

oalbecame hemajor ource

of

nergy

sed

torun

he

railways.

he

needs

of

railways

timu-

lated

oal

production

ut

did

not ead

to

the

development

f oal

industry

ike

t did

in

England

nd

otfter

ountries.

xpensive

transport

osts

kept

the

delivered

price

of

coal

very high.

Consequently,

he

pread

ffects

rom

he

ncreased

roduction

of

oal

remained

imited.30

his

hindered

he ndustrialisation

f

the

conomy.

Any

ocal

ndustry

sing

oal

as

a

major

ource

f

nergy

ound

itself

mmediately

andicapped.

ndian

oal

became

very

xpen-

sive,

notbecause

of

the

costs

of

coal

production

ut

because

of

the

East

Indian

Railway

company's

monopoly

ver

access

to

major oalfields.hecompanymade t o expensiveotransport

coal

by

rail

hat

mports

rom

ritain

ould

ompete

with

ndian

coal

in ndian

market.

he

high

price

f

coal

had

a

dampening

effect

n

the

expansion

f

industries

ince

so

many

of

them

required

t

s

a

source

f

nergy.31

his

was more

articularly

o

n

the ase

of

ron

nd

steel

ndustries.

n

Britain,

he

railways

rig-

gered

he

development

f

heavy

ndustries

uch

s iron

nd

steel.

But

n

ndia,

his

id

not

happen

ecause

he

railways

ecame

n

instrument

f

xtracting

aw

material

ather

han

riggering

ndus-

trialisation.32

o

the

major

project

ike

the

railways

nstead

f

becoming

he

eading

ector

ailed

o

generate

he

multiplier

effect

eeded for ndia's ndustrialisation.he

layout

f the

track

upported

he

extractive

nd

market ocus f

British

co-

nomic

nterests,

inking

hehinterlando the

olonial

ort

ities

and those

cities

o

each other. he classic

hape

of

a

colonial

economy

as

only ossible

y

he

way

theBritish uilt

ailways

in India.33ndia's oss from

he

purchasing olicies

f the rail-

ways

blocked

ts

progress

n

developing eavy

ndustries.

he

spreadeffect

f

the railways

nstead stimulated he British

economy.

he British fficial

olicy

lso did

not

support

he

development

f

ndustry

n ndia nd the

ailways

ailed o

act s

a stimulant or

heavy

nd

machine-building

ndustries

s

they

didelsewhere

n theworld.34

Unlike

n

Europe

nd United

tates,

he

colonial

ailways

n

India

did not ead to the

growth

f

urban

entres.

he

railways

just

redistributed

he

urban

population

eading

o thedecline f

oldcities

nd commercial

entres.

or

xample,

he

major

Mughal

trading

ity

f

Mirzapur

n the

Ganges

eclined

nd the

popula-

tion

imply

oved ocolonial

ort

ities

utting

ll the raditional

industries

ocated

n such

inland

centres

t

a

disadvantage.35

The

railways

n

particular

rought

boutthis

new

process

f

de-urbanisationn the19th entury.36

The

British

ndustrial

conomy

ominated

very

acet f the

Indian

colonial

conomy utting

he atter

n

a

disadvantaged

position.

lanned

nd constructed

o serve

he

trategic

nd

eco-

nomic

eeds

of he

metropolis,

he

railways

acilitated

he

move-

ment

f

roops,

ispersal

fBritish

anufactured

oods,

nd

the

extraction

f

raw

materials

rom

interlands

o

port

ities.

he

railways

ailed

o

stimulate

he

growth

f

other

ncillary

ndus-

tries ecause

most

f he

quipment

nd hardware

as

mported

from

ritain.37

olid

rails,

bridge

irders

nd

work

ngine

were

all

bought

nd

brought

rom

ritain.38

ocomotives,

olling

tock,

and

other

ron

oods

were

lso

mported

rom

ritain.39

India.

became

pre-eminently

he land

of

large

iron

railway-bridges

whose ironworkswere] argelyprefabricatedn Britain nd

then ssembled

nd erected

t the

ndian

bridge

ites.

This,

f

course,

imited

he

technology

nd economic

benefits

ndia

received

rom

ailway

onstruction. 40

ot

ust

bridges,

more

then

20

per

cent

of

all

British-made

ocomotive

ngines

were

exported

o India.41

n addition

o

railway

machinery,latelay-

ers,

fishplates,

oints,

ails,

nd

sleepers,

he colonial

tate

lso

invited

British

killed

abour,

management,

quipment,

nd

financial

apital.42

Two

fifths

f

the

capital

aised

for

he

rail-

roads

were

pent

n

Britain.

killed

workers,

oremen

nd

engi-

neers

were

brought

rom

ritain

nd

paid

twice

he

home

rate,

plus

free

assage,

medical

are

and

allowances. 43

he

planning

and

overseeing

he

xecution

f

railway

onstruction

n ndia

was

entrusted

lmost

xclusively

o

British

ivil

nd

military

ngineers.

This

gave

he

ndian

ailways

colonial

haracter.44

hus,

ndian

railways

enerated

mployment

nd

industry

or

Britain

ather

than

or

ndia.

ndian

eople

paid

for

hese

olonial

ailways

ith

their

axes

while

he

profits

enefited

he

English.

4

Monopoly

over

Railways

Indian

ailways

id

not

xperience

ny

erious

ompetition

rom

alternative

odes

of

ransport.

either

he

government

f

ndia

nor

private

ompanies

howed

much

nterest

n

building

anals,

Economic

Political

eekly

13321

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22,

2008



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- :

roads,

iver hannels or

teamers,

oatsorcarts. o the

ailways

had

a

virtual

monopoly

n

pricing

nd rates.There

was no

gov-

ernment

egulation

f the

railway

ompanies.

ach

company

operated

s a

profit-maximising

ntity.45

he totalrail business

was

controlled

y

ust

five

ompanies,

whichwereall British.

Therewas

virtually

o

competition

mong

hem.

he

companies

held

erritorial

onopoly

n ines.Customers

ad

to

do business

with hecompany hat dominated heirregion.This allowed

customers

ew

options

as their demand for services

were

severely

urtailed.

he

needs of

potential

ustomers ere dis-

regarded

s

priority

as

accorded

o the

military

nd

commerce.

Cotton

rowing

istricts

ere

the

first o be connected

y

the

railway

etwork. he

government

f

ndia,

n

fact,

ncouraged

cooperation

ather

han

competition mong

these

monopoly

British

ompanies.

The

companies

divided traffic

mong

themselves

nd

established

pheres

f nfluence.46The

railways

of

he

raj,

t

must

ot

be

forgotten,

ere

builtwith nd

through

the

lose nvolvementf hecolonial

overnment

f ndiawhich

was not

a

neutral,

uninterested

artystanding

bove the

construction

rocess. 47

The railway ompanies lso chargeddifferentialatesto

maximise

rofit.

ower

ateswere

charged

or

hipments

rom

the

ports

o the

nterior

han for

hipments

f similar istance

between

wo

nland

oints.

imilarly,

ostswerereduced or he

transport

fraw

materials

nd finished

roducts.48 ailways

clearly

ncouraged

lassic olonialism

n ndia.The

ayout

f he

lines avoured

hipment

o

the

ports

ather han

ncourage

nter-

nal

trade.

imilarly,

t

favoured

awmaterial

xport

nd finished

goods imports.

t also favoured

griculture

o

industry.

ts

colonial tatus

eprived

ndian

conomy

f

ny

protective

ariffs,

but

gave

the

advantage

f ow

transportation

osts

to

foreign

producers

naddition o low

sea-rates o

and

from ndia.49

he

British

mperial

tructureried o

keep

India

agrarian

or he

most

art

nd hemannernwhich he

ailways

ere onstructed

and

operated

ncreasedndia's

ependence

n

agriculture.50

nd

agriculture

ailed o

prove

obe a

growth

ector.t failed o

tim-

ulate other

ectors f the

economy.

t failed

to create

large

enough

emand or

nputs

rom ther

ectors.ncreases

n

output

camenot o

much rom

ncreases

n

productivity

ut

argely

rom

the

extension f

acreage.

The colonial

government

howedno

interest

n

any

kind

f and reforms.

arge-scale

bsentee and-

lordismontinuedo flourish

ntil he

end

of he British

ule

n

India.

Insufficient

inkages

were

t

theroot f

griculture's

ail-

ure

o

encourage

he

growth

f ndustrieshat

ould ervice

t. 51

Subjugated

y

the first ndustrial

ation

n

the

world,

he

Indian conomyffered classic ase of hecolonial emolding

of

pre-modern

conomy.52

n

fact,

ndia's

conomy

as

twisted

tofit

classical olonial

attern.53

he British

mpire

was built

and maintained

s a

collaboration

roject

etween he tate nd

private apitalism.54

his was

slightly

ifferentrom

apitalism

in

Britain,

here

he

parliament

rovided

rotection

o

British

commercend

ndustry.

n

ndia,

however,

he

mperial

tate

id

not

provide

ny

uch

protection.

nstead,

t

worked

owards he

advancement f

British

conomy.

Development

tself was

intended

olely

s

a

means

f

providing

ondonwith n

uninter-

rupted

flowof

dividend returnson

capital

investment. 55

Steamboats

nd

railways

were

argely

nitiated nd financed

y

private

merchantsor he

expansion

f trade.And

during

al-

housie's

eign

1850s)

heBritish

ilitary

nd

economic

oldwas

strengthened,

he colonial tate

was

advantaged

s

huge roop

movementould

be

accomplished

n a

very

hort ime.

hiswas

shown

learly

n

quelling

he

1857

ebellion

hereby

he

epoys

lacked he

dvantage

f

ailways.56

5 Colonisation

of

ndian

Economy

In one

sense,

he

railway

onstruction

f

he

econd

half

f he

19th

enturyompleted

he colonisation

f he ndian

conomy

pulling

ll ts rstwhilesolated

egments

nside

he

net

fBritish

free rade

mperialism.57

his new

phase

of British

mperialism

actually egan

with he

riumph

f

ailways

n

England

n

1840s.

But n

the

ndian

context,

his

free

rade

tage

of colonisation

began

mmediately

s

the

physical onquest

was

completed

n

1850s.

Railway

was the

kingpin

f hisnew

free

rade

egime.58

Farfrom

ndustrialising

he ndian

conomy,

t ed to a

depend-

ence on

British

ndustry.

n the

process,many

f ndia's radi-

tionalhandicrafts ithered

way.

The craftsmenhus

deprived

of heir mploymenteganto flood hecities,where ew ndus-

trieswere

growing

o

give

work o

the

unemployed.59

utmore

importantly,

he

railways

ereused for

he

progressiveubjuga-

tion fthe ndianmarket or

nglishndustry.

irst,

heBritish

destroyed

ndia's worldwide

xports

n handloom

extiles

nd

then nvaded

country's

wn

home market nd

destroyed

he

domestic

ndustry.

This

dual

economic

ssault

pon

ndiamarks

the econd

tage

f

British

olonialism

n

ndia,

et

by

he

rogress

of ndustrialisationn

England. 60

In

1882,

the Lancashire

obby

n Britain

ucceeded

n

com-

pletely

bolishing

ustoms

uties n British

oods ntering

ndia,

while

ondon

lapped

ountervailing

xcise

duty

n ndianman-

ufactured extiles. his

deprived

rotective

ariffso

the mar-

ginal

nfantextile

ndustry

entring

n

Bombay

ndAhmeda-

bad.

This

lso stunted

he

ndustrialisation

rocess

n ndia nd

prevented

he rise of

a

factory-based

extile

ndustry

t

a

time

when the artisanal

ndustry

ad

already

uffered

erious et-

backs.61hus n

a

colonial

etting,

he

railways

unctioneds

an

imperial echnology

erving

he

raj

s

a

symbol

nd

...as an essential

trategic,

efensive,

ubjugators

nd dministrative

'tool'....

t

anwell e

argued

hat he ormal

mperial

exus,

ithts

associatedocationnLondonf he

ontrolling

oards f irectorsf

the

private

ailway

ompanies

nd their nfluential

onsulting

Engineers,

swell s the ndiaOffice'stores

epartment,

tifledhe

emergence

f

truly

national'

echnology.62

6 Indian Labouron

Railway Projects

Rapid

ommercialisationf

griculture

rought

bout

y

olonial

railways

onverted

arge

numbers f

peasants

nto

andless

gri-

cultural

abourers.63ndia remained

redominantly

n

agricul-

tural

ountry.

he

percentage

f

he

otalworkforce

mployed

n

the

railway ndustry

emained mall nd did not ncrease. ince

the

railways

aused

a

decline

n

handloom

ndustryymaking

imported

actory

loth vailable

t

prices

ower

han

ocal weav-

ers ould

ffer,

he

proportion

f

workersn

agriculture

nd non-

agriculture

id not lter

ignificantly

ecause ndiawas reduced

72

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22,

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-

-

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=

-

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-

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toan

agriculturalountry.

oss of

obs

as

a

result f decline n

alternative odeof

ransportation64

dded

furthero the and-

less

griculturalabouringopulation.

However,

his

apital-intensiveechnology

id not

hange

he

basic structure

f abour

process.

ndian

railway roject

was a

good

example

f colonial

apitalism

whereby

roductivity

as

raised

withoutmechanisation

nd a

capitalist

abour market

developed n a pre-capitalistabour relations f organisation

involving

ndian

gangers,

irdars,muccumdums, istris,

tc.65

Littlemechanisation

as

employed

xcept

basic

earth

moving

and

tone

hatteringrocesses

ike he

pick

nd

head-basket

ith

rail

dumping

ruck.66 bundant

abour

vailability

ecame an

excuse

o

keep

he evel

f

echnology

ow

so

cheap

abour

ould

be

profitably

xploited.

Majority

f

the

workers

remained

unskilled s

manual

abourers,

iggers

nd movers.

ndianrail-

ways

until he nd

of he

raj

remained

heavily

abour-intensive

operation

n which

men,women,

nd children

old their

abour

power.

he

organisation

f

arge

bodies

of workers

nto

gangs

was a

central

eature

f he

mperial

ailway

onstruction

roject.

The

gang-labour

ystem

as

in fact

ecruited

nd

controlled

y

Indian abour ontractorsn a classiccolonialpolicy f divide

and control.67

Often

ntire

amilies ere

mployed

ith hildren

s

old as

10

years.

Work

as

divided

longgender

ineswithwomen

arrying

earth,

ricks,

ocks nd men

doing

heavy

work

f

aying

ails,

hauling

imber,

tc.

Neither

he

ailway

ompanies

or

uropean

contractors

ook

ny esponsibility

or

aking

are

of

workers

nd

their

families.

he

government

f

India

also

did

not bother

because t

protected

he nterest

f

railway ompanies

nd

Euro-

pean

contractors

ather

han

that of

abourers.68

ost

abour

came

from

ural reas

and

from

andless

gricultural

abouring

and

marginal easant

lasses.

There

were lso

many

navvies'

r

families

who

specialised

n

construction

abour.

Chief

mong

them

were the

'waddars'

who

specialised

n

digging

arth

('mannu

waddar')

nd

moving

tones

'kallu

waddar').

Waddars

became

n

important

ource

f

railway

onstruction

abour

nd

the

railway

ompanies

sed

them

heavily,

ften

moving

heir

entire

amilies,

ver

ong

distances.

t

was

primarily

labour-

driven

apitalism

hereby

bundant

abour-served

he

needsof

capital

n situation

f

ow

echnological

nitiative.69

Often

he

ailway

ork

was

extremely

angerous

nd

ccident-

prone.

Construction

ccidents

were

common

nd

led to

many

deaths.

Working

n cliffs

o drill nd

blast

nto

ocks

ften

ent

workers

own

with

uspension

hat ashed

nto

ocks r

napped

taking

ife.

lasting

ith

owder

esulted

n

considerable

oss of

lifefrom lyingocks, lips, ave-ins, tc.DeathsofEuropeans

was

reported

n

great

detail

and

greatly

mourned.

ut

when

Indian

abourers

ied,

twas

either

gnored

r

merely

mentioned

as

a

cold

statistical

igure.70

ometimes

uropean

upervisory

staff

hysically

ssaulted

ndian

workers

riven

y

heir

osition

of

power

nd

racial

hatred.

n such

a

situation

he

labourers

hardly ot

ustice

fromhe

colonial

egal

system

nd

all white

juries

who

freelycquitted

he

English.71

In

the

bsence

f

redress

rom

he

mperial

egal

system,

he

labourers

truck

ork

when

Europeans

erpetrated

iolence

n

them.

However,

most

of

the labour

resistance

was directed

againstoppressiveworking

onditions nd low

wages.

Condi-

tions

n

railway

worksites

ere

brutal

nd

exploitative.

n aver-

age

180,601

to

221,253

personsper

annum were

employed

between

859

nd

1900

with126 to

155

persons

er

mile.72he

labour

emand

ften

evolved round

etter

orking

onditions

and

wages.

Strikes ccurred

n

this

ssue.

Demand

for

higher

wages

was

coupled

with emand

or reedomo eave ndresume

worktconvenience. ithholdingfwagesoften-triggerediots.

Wage

ssue

brought

he workers o

collective

ction;

rutality

pushed

hem nto

making

hat ction

iolent, 73

The

British

n ndia

distinguished

etween

mental ndmanual

work.

riven

y

he ame racial

prejudice, hey

eserved

mental

workfor hemselvesnd

delegated

manual abour o Indians.

Railways

id notbecome

he

raining

round

or

killed

erson-

nel

for ther ectors f

he

conomy.

ndians ame

o be

hired

s

lower-level

ersonnel

n

such

obs

as

engine

rivers

nd

guards.

All

management osts

continued o be held

totally y

Britons.

Thiswas

a

reflection

fracialdiscrimination.74ndian abourers

were

organised

nto mall

gangs

f

12-13

menunder he mmedi-

ate

charge

f

an Indianmistri

ganger)

who

n

turnwere ub-

jectedto close superintendenceyBritishnspectorsnd sub-

inspectors.

ost

abourers ereunskilled

ith

0

per

ent

f he

workforceemale

nd

put

nder

he trict

upervision

f

mported

British

ngineers.75

ritons lso

held the best

obs

as station-

masters

f

arge

tations,

rivers f

express

rains

nd

adminis-

trators.

he first

lass

passengers

ere lso all

British,

hile ndi-

ans

had

to travel

nly

hird lass.76

The ra of he

new

mperial-

ismwas

also

the

ge

in

which

acism

eached

ts enith.

urope-

ans,.

began

o confuse

evels

f

echnology

ith evels f

ulture

in

general,

nd

finally

ith

biological

apacity.

asy

conquest

had

warped

he

udgment

f

ven

he

cientific

lites. 77

Racial

prejudice

lso

guided

uropean

hinking.

hey

elieved

that

ndians

were

ncapable

f

making

ecisions

n their

wn,

wereunreliablenddidnotpossess he bilityodirect urope-

ans.

This

ntense

acial

prejudice

revented

ndians

rom

dvanc-

ing78

nd

only

ncreased

fter

857

ebellion

hen he

railways

were

treamlined

o

defend

he

strategically

mportant

arts

f

the

ndian

mpire.79

he

rail ine

was

also seen s

themain tra-

tegic

defence

or

he

European

population.80

he

railways

id

not

ffer

ery

many

ocial

benefits

o the

people

ither.

he

gov-

ernment

f

India

did

not

seriously

onsider

ncouraging

r

undertaking

lternative

nvestments.

he

capital

xpended

n

much

of

the

railway

ystem

would

have

yielded

higher

ocial

rates of

return

ad

it been

spent

on

other

projects81

uch

as

health,

ducation,

ousing,

anitation,ood,

ocal

ndustry,

kills,

etc.But hiswas not hegovernment'sriority.

ts

priority

nstead

lay

n how

best o

make he

natural

esources

f ndia

vailable

toBritish

ailway

ompanies.

ne

such

mportant

esource

as

the

forest.

7 South

AsianForests

and

Railways

One

of

he main

reasons

or

he

depletion

f

forestsn

the

19th

century

as

the

railways

nd

British

ngineers

ere

he

prime

movers

f his

roject.82

ood

was used

not

nly

or

leepers,

ut

also as

fuel

for

owering

ngines.

he

railways

lso used

enor-

mous

uantities

f

bricks.

ridges,

ulverts,

tation

uildings

nd

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22,

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workshops

onsumed ricks

n astronomicalumbers.or xam-

ple,

n

the

17

miles fHullohar ivision f he

East ndianRail-

ways

n

the secondhalf f

1858,

ome two million

rickswere

burnt

nd

4.5

million ere

n kilns

eady

or

iring

hile nother

sevenmillion

ere

molded. n thisdivision lone

therewere

50

brick

ilns nd 16 imekilns. hesekilnswere

kept

ontinuously

burning

ith irewood

upplied

rom orests. rick

making

as

a

major art f ndianrailway onstructionnd was tightlyon-

trolled

y

he

ailway

ompanies

nd

upplied y

he

government

of ndia.83

Wood romndian orests as also used

for

ailway leepers.

The

orestsf ndiawere earchednd

avaged

or

upplies

f

leeper

wood. .Indian oodwould

e

felled

n

forest,

ossibly

uite

istant,

by

oresters

nthe

mploy

f imber

ontractors,...

t

s clear

hat he

demandsor he

ailways

or ood

prime

ood or

leepers,

uild-

ings

nd

arriages,

nd

esser ood

or

irewood

or ilns nd or

uel

for

arly

ocomotives-increased

he

xploitation

f ndia's orestsnd

the

ressure

n

forest-dwelling

eople.84

In

fact,

when

heforests

eredeclared s reserved

or

ov-

ernment

nd

commercial se

only,

he

forest-dwellersere

forcedo move ut.This riggerederious lashesbetween eo-

ple

and

colonial oresterss the former esisted tate

ncroach-

menton

their

ge-old

customary

ights

o the use of forest

resources or

ustenance.85

Indianforests erewell known or

t

hardwood.

here

were

many

ifferentarieties f

tfoundn

different

arts

f he ndian

subcontinent,e, teak, al, deodar,

edar nd even hir

ine

im-

berwas

used. Since ailroads

prawled hroughout

he ubconti-

nent,

oneof he

forests

ere

pared.

t all

began

with he eak

forests

fMalabar oast nd theWestern

hats.

ong

before he

beginning

f

railways

heMalabar eakwas

severely

educed o

meet heneeds fBritish

oyal avy.86

he

railways nly

urther

decimated he forest.

y

1870s,

he teak of

Malabar

coast

was

already

epleted

ndthe

great

eak orestsf

upper

urma

egan

to be

harvested or

xport

o India.Whenthe

railways

were

extended

nto he

ndo-Gangeticegion,

ts

mpact

as felt nthe

Himalayan

orests.

imilarly,

herich

al forests

f

he ubmon-

tane

reas

stretching

or

housands

f

miles

fromwestern arai

down

into

Bengal

became the

target

or

he

railwayproject

because of

ts

tough

fibres hatwere

particularly

esistant o

white

nts. These rich al forests

ot rapidly epleted

or he

production

f

sleepers

nd no one took

any

responsibility

o

regenerate

al

trees.

Consequently,

al

production ipped

n the

late

19th

entury.87

In

the

1860s,

aced

with

he

depleted

tocks

nd

rising

osts

f

both al andteak, he olonial ailway uilders fnorthernndia

set heir

aze

farthernto hemountains n

deodar

tands.

Exploitation

f he

eodar orestsoon ecame he entralocus f he

firstalf

entury

f orest

epartment's

ork

n

the

Himalayas,

irst

for he

ontinuingepletion

f

he

deodar tands nd ater or he

gradual

tabilisation

f

commercially

aluable imberands

n the

system

f

Reservedorests.88

When

he

onstruction

f

major

ineswas undertaken

n

north-

western

ndia,

n

hedecades f

870s

nd

1880s,

he ommercial

exploitation

fdeodar eached ts limax. n the

early

870s,

or

example,

he

ingle argest roject

hat

tretchedrom elhi nto

Rajasthan equired

,00,000

sleepers.

or his normousnder-

taking,

he deodar forests f the

Punjab

hills,Kashmir,

pper

Ganges

nd

ndus

asinwere

equisitioned.

imilarly,

he

ongest

line from ahore o

Karachiwas

designed rimarily

o

export

Punjab

wheat o

Europe.

he

annualharvest f rees or

ailways

in

western

ttar radesh lonefluctuatedetween

8,000

and

1,47,000

n

1870s.

And

by

early

1880s

it

rose

to

double

that

figure.89one mile rack equired ,700 leepersnd1.5 onnes

ofwooden

keys

with

single leeper

tandard ize

of 0'

by

12

y

6 .90

This meant

that

each

sleeper

required

ne

fully-grown

hardwood ree o be

brought

own.

Dietrich

randis,

German orest

gent

was

appointed

s

an

inspector-general

f

ndian orests

y

he olonial tate.He

made

extensive

urveys

nd wrote

many eports ecommending

om-

mercial se ofndian orests.n his

1878

eport,

randis

bserved

that

ree

tands

n

the

Himalayas

were

good

source or

main-

taining

steady upply

f

leepers

o the

railways.

e estimated

an

annual

railway

emand f

over

,00,000

sleepers.

y

1880s,

as

many

econd-generationleepers

s

new ones were

required

for

eplacing

hose

hat

ad deteriorated

n

original

ines.91 ow-

ever, he ailwaysnfact, sednearlyouble henumberf leep-

ers

estimated

y

Brandis. uteven before

randis,

he colonial

forest

epartment

as created

1864)

o ensure

steady upply

f

timber or

railway

onstruction. he formationf

the forest

department

as no

coincidence,92

s the

railway roject

as

cen-

tral

othe

mperialgenda

of

arly

olonial

orestry

n ndia.93 o

the

reation f he olonial orest

epartment

nd the

xpansion

of

mperial

ailways

ere

ntimately

onnected.94

The

story

fforest

epletion

as

repeated

ll across ndia.The

establishment

f Madras

Railways,

or

xample, riggered

he

large-scale

epletion

f forests

n

Madras

Presidency.

adras

Railways

rimarily

sed firewoodmore hancoal. The

simple

reason

being

hatwood was

cheaper

hancoal.

However,

more

woodwas

required

o run he

railway ngine

han oal.The ver-

age

consumption

fwood

per ngine

mile n

1870s

was

89.53

bs,

while

hat f

oal was

only

6.75

bs.95 fter

epleting

reserve

forests,

he colonial

government

urchased arge quantities

f

firewood rom

rivate

orests.he dea of

protecting

orests

as

not

o much or

onserving

he

ecological

alanceor

protecting

the

environment,

utfor

he constant

upply

f

firewood

o the

Madras

Railways.

Protection f the forests

by

the forest

departmentrimarily

eant

rotecting

hecommercial

nterest

of

English ailway ompanies

nd the

government

f ndia.For

forests

ere

protected

nd reserved

nly

to be cut

down for

railway

se.96

Thepressure n forests o service herailway emandwas

generally

uite

heavy.

For

example,

n the revenue

year

of

1859-60

ome

2,45,763

erthswere

upplied

o Madras

Railways

and

all were made of wood.97No forest ould

possibly

tand

drain f

hat

nature,

specially

n a

situation,

here

he

olonial

government

id not ake

ny

erious

measure owards onserva-

tion. n

fact,

he orest

onservatorrandis imselfecommended

that

n Madras

Presidency

he

railways

hould e

encouraged

o

first

xtract

ully

rom

rivate

orests efore

orking

he

govern-

ment

orest eserves.98 hus the

egacy

of colonial

forestry

n

Madras

residency

as that n the

19th

entury

he

olonial

tate

74

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extracted

arge

quantities

f timberfromboth

private

nd

government

orests.

8

Railways

nd

Disease

In

1859,

local

East ndia

Railway ngineer elayed

o his boss

the cholera

pidemic

hat

decimated housands f labourers

working

n

the railroads s

they

rrived rom ar off

places

inBengal.

Large

masses ontinuedo arrive lmost

aily,

heutmost xertions f

the

ngineers

ailed

o

get ogether

aterials or t once

hutting

hem,

and

a

large roportion

ad no shelter

or

many

ays

fter heir rrival

and

when

holerawas

raging mong

hem.

Apparently,

n that

pidemic

ome

4poo

coolies died on site.

However,

holerawas not he

nly

iller

f

abourers

uilding

he

colonial ailroads.

Malaria,

mallpox,

yphoid,

neumonia, ys-

entery,

iarrhoea,

lcers lso

attacked

oolies.

n

some

onger

sections ometimes

s much s

30

per

ent

r

more f heworkers

would

uccumb o disease

pidemic.

or

xample,

n

1888,

n the

Bengal-Nagpur

ine across he

subcontinent,

ome

2,000-3,000

workersied n a

single

tretch

nd their odieswere trewn

ll

alongthe ine and rottedwith no claimants.Apparently,he

stench

ecame o unbearable

hat hebodieswere

dragged

nto

pile

nd

it n massfuneral

yre.100

The deaths f

arge

bodiesof

abourers

ere

not

very

urpris-

ing onsidering

he

iving

onditions

tworksites.here

was

ack

of

proper

ousing,

anitation,

ooking

acilities,

rinking

ater

and

protection

rom xtreme

eather onditions

ike

rain,

heat

and cold.

Generally,

arge

bodies

ofworkers

eremobilised

n

construction

ites,

hence,

he

epidemic

pread

rapidly

n out-

break.

nce

begun,

twould

pread

uickly

mong

he ssembled

workers

nd

then

move

ntonear

nd far

illages.

he

construc-

tion

echniquesrovided

avourable

onditions

or he

breeding

ofmalaria

arrying osquitoes.

arth or

ailway

mbankments

often

was

dug

from

orrow-pits

long

the ineof

works.

hese

abandoned

its

filled

p

with

water

nd

vegetation

uring

he

rains

nd became

mosquito

atcheries.101he

railway

ines

were

laid

on

raised eds

that

ften

nterfered

ith

he

natural

ines f

drainage

and created

unwanted

ponds

and

waterholes

hat

became

breeding rounds

or

malaria

ectors.102

British

edi-

cal

agent

who tudied

malaria

n ndia

n

1927,

ameto

the

con-

clusion

hat

ailways

ereone

of

he

major

auses

of

malaria n

India.103

owever,

et

nother

actorf

malaria

roliferation

as

the olonial

rrigation

rojects

hat

ed to serious

nvironmental

consequences

ike

waterlogging,

alinity,

ndmost

f ll

malaria

deaths.104

Cutting

own

hundreds

f

rees or

very

mile f

ail-

waytiesfor verymileof rackageaid, eft oorly ooted rees

nearby

pen

o

buffeting

y

winds

which oon

oppled

hem

ver.

These

collapses reatly

ncreased

he area

of

thin oil

exposed.

Blasted

uring

he

dry

eason

by

he

rays

f

he unand

by

tor-

rential

ownpours

uring

he

rains,

hese

aterite-based

oils

were oon eeched

ut,

orming

ater-filledracks

nd

potholes

which

female

mosquitoes

intent

on

laying eggs

found

irresistible. 105

The

highly

mobile

nature

f

construction

ork

brought

is-

eases to

the worksites

rom istant

arts,

nd in

turn,

arried

newly cquired

diseases

onwards

o other ites.

The

labourers

often huttled etween

olonial

plantations

nd

railway

work-

sites

ravelling y

trains nd steamers. he

migrant

abourers

often

ent

owork ormonthsnd

years

hrough

isease-infested

region,

where

railways

ad

spread

ts

tentacles.

Many

f

them

perished

rom

eglect

nd

diseases either n

ourney

r

upon

arrival.106

alaria

was

by

far he

biggest

iller.

t

was

said,

a

death

sleeper

nd

some

1,700

leepers

were

neededfor ach

mileof rack n the Ghat ection fthe GreatndianPeninsular

Railways.107

he

environment

t

theworksitesreated

onditions

for he

repeated

utbreaks fmalaria nd

cholera. he ife

was

grim

nd hard for

he

poverty-stricken,

alnourished,

eak-

ened,

disease-ridden

en,

women nd

children. he labourers

lived

n

crowded,

nsanitary

nd

unhealthy

onditions.108nd

there

was

no effort ade to

improve

heir ot. n

fact,

eaviest

construction

ears

coincidedwith

famines,

897

2,732

miles)

and

1898

(2,962

miles)109

nd

the

railway

ompanies

nd the

colonial tate

xploited heap

famine

ang

abourers.

Proliferation

f

o

many

iseases

eading

o

deaths

learly

ndi-

cated

hat

he colonial

development

f

railways

nd canalswas

fundamentally

lawed nd

environmentally

nsound.

cological

transformationas theprincipaleason or he courge fkiller

diseases

uch s malaria

nd cholera.

Railroadswere

one of he

biggest

actors

n

that

transformation.

lthough

holerahad

existed

n

ndia from he

time f

the

ndus

Valley

ivilisation,

t

had

never een as

widespread

s ithad become

during

he

19th

century.

t had

always

been endemic

to small

geographical

locales.

The movement

f

conquering

mperial

rmies

nd

the

colonial

railways

ransformed

hese endemicdiseases

to

epi-

demic outbreaks

preading

hroughout

outh Asia

and

even

beyond.

Wherever

he

railways

went,

holera acillus

wentwith

it.110ibrio holerae

ivesfor

everal

ays

n

tanks

f

water

uch

as

those carried

board

railway

arriages.111

husthemodern

transportation

etwork

rovided

nvasion outes

fordiseases

such s cholera nd malaria.

Modernising

orks reatederious

'obstacles'

owater

lows,

aused

river

ystems

o

become

silted

up'

and

'moribund,'

eprived

oils of

enriching

utrients

nd

damaged

ropyields,

rainage

nd sanitation. 112hile

holera

slaughtered

illions

hus,

he British

overnment

ontinued

o

invest

eavily

n

railways

nd notmuch

n

public

ealth.113

Imperial

Railways

and Famines

Commercialisation

f

agriculture

nd railroads

went

hand

in

glove.

Commercial

rops

absorbed

pasture

nd

grazing

ands

putting

attle

t

risk.

nflation

n the

price

f

grass

ed

to theuse

of

attle

ropping

or uel.

carcity

f attle

manureed

todeclin-

ing productivityf and and increased hepaceof oilexhaus-

tion.

Dams

and canals

might

ave

afeguarded

he

rural

opula-

tion

n the event

f

drought.

ut

the

colonial tate

had all the

investments

n railroads nd

very

ittle

n social

projects.114

he

natural

esult

f

his rtificial

henomenon

as

famine. nd

he

railroads

ere

directly

nd

ndirectly

esponsible

or

t.Driven

y

the

official

octrine f

free trade

and

non-interference,

he

government

efused o

bring

ood

to feed the

starving.

t

did

nothing

o

prevent

rain speculators

rom

sing

railways

o

transfer ood

reserves

held in

places

stricken ith dearth o

another

art

of

the

country,

here

hey

would fetch

higher

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- =

price.115

he

colonial

elegraph

uilt

longside

ailways

nsured

that

rice

ikeswere oordinated

n

hundreds f owns

t once.

Modern

markets

ccelerated

ather

han

relieved amine.Rail-

roadshiked

he

price

f

grains

verywhereuring

amines

nd

made t

beyond

hereach f hecommon

eople.

The

peasantry

that

was

already

roaning

nder he

crushing

eight

f axes

o

finance

he

railroads

was

now

hit with

high

grainprices

hat

broughttarvationnddeath.116ndnotust he ailroads,ndian

agriculture

lso

paid

for

he

British

military

machine

nd

civil

bureaucracy

hat

kept

ndia, nder

ts

heels

until he end of he

British

aj.117

The colonial

railroads ot

only

reated

onditions or

grain

speculation

nd

profit-making,

utfurther

ggravated

amine

n

India

by facilitating

he

export

f

grains

broad. Substantial

amounts fbothfood nd non-food

rops

began

to

be

shipped

overseas.

t s

estimated

hat

s

much s

13

per

cent

f

hewheat

produced

n ndiawent o Britain.

y

1886,

ndiawas

supplying

23

per

ent fBritain's heat

mports.118hroughout

hecotton-

exporting

istrictsfthe Deccan

ncluding

he

puppet rincely

state f

Hyderabad,

orest

nclosures

nd

displacement

f

gram

bycotton reatlyeducedocalfood ecurityndput nplacea

classic olonial

conomy.119

uch

ofthe

wheat

nd

rice

urplus

was

exported

o

England.

ondoners

ere n effect

ating

ndia's

bread.

And

n the

ve

of

1896

famine,

hewheat elt fnorthern

Indiahad been

depleted

y

massive

xports

o

make

up

for

he

previous ear's

errible arvest

n

England.

Millions

f

famine-

stricken

n India

died

along

the railroad racks

tarving

nd

exposing

he

hollow

mperial

laims f he

ife-saving

enefits

f

steam

ransportation.120

ut heBritishontinuedobelieve hat

some

regions

f outhAsia

they

onstrued

o be endowed

with

rich oil

were mmune rom amine.

owever,

his

olonial on-

struction

urned ut

o

be

false ecause

massive amines arched

across

the

and

almost

very

decade since

the ntroductionf

railroads ith

890s

being

heworst ecade

of ll. At he

urn

f

the

century

colonial dministration

eport

or he cotton-rich

province

fBerar

Deccan

vividly

aptured

his

falsity

tating,

The idea thatBerar njoyed mmunityrom aminewas dis-

pelled

by

he

xperiences

f

1896-97

nd

1899-1900.

he

former

year

was one of

scarcity,mounting

o famine

n

parts

f the

province,

n the atter

ear

hefamine

was

severe,

nd

affected

thewhole fBerar. 121ndBerar

was

only microscopic

eflection

of

Britishndia.

9

Conclusions

So

despite

heBritish laims f

railways

s

the

light

f ivilisa-

tion o

ndia,

r Britain's enevolence

o

a backward

eople

for

their moral nd material

rogress ,

t s

argued

here

hat

he

colonial

railways

n facthad

a

regressivempact

n

the

and,

environment

nd the

people

of outhAsia.

The ndiannational-

ists n the19th enturyecried ot o much herailways er e,

but ts

colonial

nd

exploitative

haracter.122

evertheless,

he

British

mperialists

ill

heend

had the illusion f

permanence

and continued o believe hat

hey

were

n ndiafor hewelfare

and

security

f

ts

people

nd to maintain

aw and

order.123

hey

continued o

believe

n the beneficial ffects f

railways

nd

canals.

But

he

post-colonial

cholarship

n southAsia

has estab-

lished

that

the

impact

of British

mperial

ailways

was

quite

contrary

otheofficial

deology

f he

raj.

SAMEEKSHARUSTOOKS

1857

Essays

rom conomicndPolitical

Weekly

A

compilation

f

essays

hatwere

irst

ublished

n

the EPW

n a

special

ssue

n

May

007.Held

ogether

ith

n

introduction

y

Sekhar

andyopadhyay,

he

ssays

that

ange

n

hemend

ubject

rom

istoriography

nd

military

ngagements,

othe alit

iranganas

idealised

n

raditional

ongs

nd

he unconventional

rotagonists

n

mutiny

ovels

converge

n

onecommon

oal:

o enrich

he

xisting

national'

ebatesn he 857

Uprising.

The olume

as18

ssays

y

well nown

istorians

ho nclude

iswamoy

ati,

ipesh hakrabarty,

eter obb

nd

Michaelisher.he rticles

are

rouped

nderive

ections:

hen nd

Now',

Sepoys

nd

oldiers',

he

Margins',

Fictional

epresentations'

ndTheArtsnd1857'.

Pp

viii

364

2008 Rs295

Available

rom

Orient lackswan vtLtd

Mumbai

ChennaiNewDelhi Kolkata

angalore

hubaneshwar

rnakulam

uwahati

aipur

ucknow

Patna

Chandigarh

yderabad

Contact:

[email protected]

70

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22,

2008

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NOTES

Thomas

Williamson,

revenue

commissioner,

Bombay

addressed o chairman f the GIPR

Company

Two

Letters n

the

Advantages

f

Railway

Communication

n

Western

India',

Richard

nd

John

aylor,

ondon, 846,

10.

2

Daniel

R

Headrick,

he

Tools

f

Empire:

echno-

logy

nd

European mperialism

n

theNineteenth

Century,

ew

York,

981,

184.

3

Ian

Kerr,

uilding

he

Railways f

the

Raj:

1850-

1900,Delhi, p38-39.

4

Ibid,

187.

5

Ibid,

p

17-18.

6

Headrick,

heTools

f mpire,

p

184-86.

7

Sugata

Bose

nd

Ayesha

alal,

Modern outh sia:

History,

ulture,

olitical

conomy,

ondon, 998,

P

103.

8

Bipan

Chandra,

Nationalismnd Colonialism

n

Modern

ndia,

Hyderabad,

992,

205.

9

Kerr,

uilding

he

Railways

f

he

Raj,

p

47.

10

Headrick,

heTools

f mpire,

184.

11

Ibid,

188.

12 Barbara Metcalf

nd Thomas

R

Metcalf,

Con-

cise

History

f

ndia,

Cambridge,

002,

p

96.

13

HermanKulke nd Dietmar

othermund,

His-

tory f

ndia,

New

Delhi,

986,

254.

14

Ibid,

p

268-69.

15

Cambridge

conomic

History f

India,

Vol

2,

DharmaKumar ndMeghnadDesai (eds),Cam-

bridge,

983,

p

741

nd

743.

16 Irfan

Habib,

ssays

n

ndian

History:

owards

Marxist

erception,

adras, 1995,

pp

279

and

360.

17

Thomas

Williamson,

wo Letters n the

Advan-

tages

f

Railway

ommunication

n Western

ndia,

p24.

18 See

Arthur

W

Silver,

Manchester

en nd ndian

Cotton

847-1872,

anchester,

966.

19 Headrick,

heTools

f mpire,

188.

20 Bose

nd

Jalal,

Modern outh

sia,

p

99.

21

Metcalf

nd

Metcalf,

Concise

History

f

ndia,

P125.

22

Sumit

arkar,

odern

ndia:

1885-1947,

h I.

23

Bose nd

Jalal,

Modern

outh

Asia,

p

99.

24

Metcalf

nd

Metcalf,

Concise

History f

ndia,

P125-

25

Zaheer

Baber,

The Science

f

Empire:

cientific

Knowledge,

ivilisation

nd Colonial

ule n

ndia,

Delhi, 996,

214.

26

Chandra,

ationalism

nd Colonialism

n

Modern

India,

p

108-10

27

Metcalf

nd

Metcalf,

Concise

istory f

ndia,

pi28.

28 Mike

Davis,

Late Victorian

olocausts:

l

Nino

Famines

nd

the

Making of

the

Third

World,

London, 001,

332.

29

Cambridge

conomic

istoryf

ndia, 749-

30

Ibid,

750.

31

Ibid, 758.

32

Laxman

D

Satya,

Colonial

Modernisation

nd

Popular

esistance',

cholars

, 1,

Winter

001, 27.

33

Metcalf

nd

Metcalf,

Concise

istory

f

ndia,

96.

34 Habib,

ssays

n ndian

History,p

364-65-

35 Cambridgeconomic istoryf ndia, 757.

36

Habib,

ssays

n ndian

History,

278.

37

Boseand

Jalal,

Modern

outh

Asia,

p

103.

38 Kerr,

uilding

he

ailways f

he

Raj,

p

2.

39

Headrick,

ools

f mpire,

188.

40

Kerr,

uilding

he

Railways f

he

Raj,

p

135.

41

Kulke

nd

Rothermund,

History

f

ndia,

p

270.

42

Cambridge

conomic

istory f

ndia, 749.

43 Headrick,

oo/5

f mpire,

188.

44

Ian

Derbyshire,

The

Building

f ndia's

Railways:

The

Application

f

Western

echnology

n

the

Colonial

Periphery,

850-1920'

n

Roy

MacLeod

and

Deepak

Kumar

eds),

Technologyf

the

Raj:

Western

echnology

nd Technical

ransfers

o

India,

700-1947,

ew

Delhi, 995, 185.

45

Cambridge

conomic

istory

f

ndia,

751.

46

Ibid,

p

742, 52

nd

755.

47

Kerr,

uilding

he

Railways f

he

Raj,

pp

164-85.

48

Cambridge

conomic

istory

f

ndia,

pp

756-57

and

752.

49 Ibid,

758.

50

Bipan

Chandra,

Nationalism nd Colonialismn

Modern

ndia, 75.

51

Cambridge

conomic

istory

f

ndia,

759.

52 Habib,

ssays

n

ndian

History,

336.

53 BoseandJalal,Modern outh sia,p 97.

54

Headrick,

oo/5

f mpire,

187.

55

Sheldon

Watts,

pidemics

nd

History:

isease,

Power nd

mperialism,

ew

Haven,

997,

168.

56

Deepak

Kumar,

cience

nd the

Raj: 1857-1905,

Delhi,

1997,

p

46-47.

57

See Peter

Harnetty,

mperialism

nd FreeTrade:

Lanchashire

nd

India

in the mid-Nineteenth

Century,

ancouver,

972.

58

Habib,

5say5

n

ndian

History,

360.

59 Headrick,

ools

f mpire, 189.

60

Habib,

ssays

n

ndian

History,

307.

61

Bose

and

Jalal,

Modern outh

sia,

p

102.

62

Derbyshire,

The

Building

f ndia's

Railways:

he

Application

f

Western

echnology

n the Colo-

nial

Periphery,

850-1920',

203.

63

Surendra

Patel,

Agricultural

abourers

n ndia

and

Pakistan,

ombay,

952,

p

9-20,

3-64.

64 Cambridgeconomic istoryf ndia, 748.

65 Kerr,

uilding

he

Railways f

he

Raj,

pp

152

nd

193-194-

66

Derbyshire,

The

Building

f ndia's

Railways:

he

Application

f

Western

echnology

n

heC

british imperial railways in 19th century india

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