Q.Define the term 'de-industrialisation' as it applies to colonial India.

British colonial policy — loss of patronage, cheap machine-made imports, discriminatory tariffs, railways and changed tastes — destroyed India's world-famous handicrafts, forcing artisans back to agriculture.

Before British rule, India was famous for its handicrafts — fine cotton and silk textiles, metalwork and jewellery. During the British period these declined sharply for the following reasons:

1. Disappearance of royal patronage — Indian princes and nobles who patronised craftsmen lost their power, so the demand for luxury handicrafts fell.
2. Competition from machine-made goods — the Industrial Revolution in Britain produced cheap, factory-made goods that flooded the Indian market and undersold handmade products.
3. Discriminatory tariff (trade) policy — heavy import duties were placed on Indian goods entering Britain, while British goods entered India almost duty-free. This one-way free trade ruined Indian crafts.
4. Development of railways — railways enabled cheap British goods to reach even the interior village markets, displacing local products.
5. Change in tastes and preferences — the new Western-educated class preferred imported goods.
6. Loss of foreign markets for Indian handmade goods.

The result was de-industrialisation: skilled artisans lost their livelihood and were forced back onto already over-crowded agriculture.

Handicrafts declined under British rule due to cheap machine-made imports, loss of patronage, biased tariff policy and India's reduction to a raw-material supplier — a process called de-industrialisation.

Before British rule, India was famous for handicrafts such as fine cotton and silk textiles, metalwork and pottery. Under colonial rule these industries collapsed. The main reasons were:

1. Competition from cheap machine-made goods — the Industrial Revolution in Britain flooded India with cheap, mass-produced factory goods (especially textiles) that handmade Indian products could not compete with.
2. Loss of patronage — the decline of Indian kings, nawabs and the aristocracy meant the loss of the wealthy patrons who had earlier bought fine handicrafts.
3. Discriminatory tariff / trade policy — Britain imposed heavy duties on Indian goods entering Britain while allowing British goods into India almost duty-free (one-way free trade), ruining Indian producers.
4. India as a colonial (feeder) economy — India was made a supplier of cheap raw materials to British industry and a market for British finished goods, discouraging domestic manufacturing.
5. Introduction of railways — railways helped British goods reach the interior markets easily, hastening the ruin of local artisans.
6. Lack of state support — the colonial government gave no protection or encouragement to Indian handicrafts.

The result was widespread unemployment of artisans and their forced shift to agriculture, increasing pressure on land — a process known as de-industrialisation.