De-industrialisation of Traditional Handicrafts

One of the most significant and well-documented consequences of British rule was the decline of India's traditional handicraft industries — a process economists call de-industrialisation. Before colonial rule, India had a large and skilled artisan base producing high-quality handloom textiles, metalwork, and other crafts, some of which were exported abroad. Over the course of British rule, this traditional industrial base collapsed in relative and, in many regions, absolute terms.

Two forces working together caused this decline:

1. Competition from machine-made British imports. The Industrial Revolution in Britain produced cotton cloth and other manufactured goods far more cheaply than India's hand-based methods could match. Once these goods could be shipped to and sold in India, Indian handicraft producers found it very difficult to compete on price.
2. Discriminatory tariff policy. Colonial trade policy did not treat British and Indian goods evenly. British manufactured goods entering India often faced low or no import duties, while Indian goods (where they were exported at all) could face unfavourable treatment in British markets. This one-sided tariff structure gave British manufacturers a further artificial advantage over Indian producers, on top of their existing cost advantage from mechanisation. …