March 13, 2019

India on the eve of British Conquest

Contents

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Socio-Economic Conditions

Eighteenth century India failed to make progress economically, socially or culturally
India became a land of contrasts because extreme poverty and extreme luxury existed side by side.

Though agriculture was technically backward, it was worked by the hard labour of peasants
They were forced to pay exorbitant amounts to the state, the zamindars, the jagirdars, and the revenue-farmers
But this worsened under British rule

On account of being self-sufficient in handicrafts and agricultural products, India did not import foreign goods on a large scale.

Persian Gulf Region – pearls, raw silk, wool, dates, dried fruits, and rose water
Arabia – coffee, gold, drugs, and honey
China – tea, sugar, porcelain, and silk
Tibet – gold, musk, and woollen cloth
Africa – ivory and drugs
Europe – woollen cloth, copper, iron, lead and paper

Cotton textiles, raw silk and silk fabrics, hardware, indigo, saltpetre, opium, rice, wheat, sugar, pepper and other spices, precious stones, and drugs

knowledge was confined to literature, law, religion, philosophy, and logic
It excluded the study of physical and natural sciences, technology and geography
Hindu and Muslim elementary schools were called pathshalas and maktabs respectively
Children from the lower caste sometimes attended the schools, but female presence was rare

Society of 18th century India was characterised by traditional outlook and stagnation
People were divided by caste, religion, region, tribe and language.
The family system was primarily patriarchal and caste was the central feature of the social life of the Hindus
The sharif Muslims consisting of nobles, scholars, priests and army affairs often looked down upon the ajlaf Muslims or the lower class Muslims.

upper class women remained at home, lower class women worked in fields and outside their homes supplementing the family income.
Ppurdah, sati, child marriage, polygamy did exist which hindered the progress of women.
Life of Hindu widow was usually miserable.
Evil of dowry was especially widespread in Bengal and Rajputana

Higher classes of Rajputs, Khatris and Kayasthas kept women slave for domestic work.
Status of slaves in India was better than that in Europe.
Slaves, were usually treated as hereditary servants
European trading companies purchased slaves from the markets of Bengal, Assam and Bihar and took them to the European and American market

At Lucknow, Asaf-ud-Daula built the bada Imambara in 1784.
Sawai Jai Singh built the pink city of Jaipur and five astronomical observatives at Delhi, Jaipur, Benares,
Mathura and Ujjain. He also prepared a set of time-tables called Jij Muhammad-shahi, to help the people in the study of astronomy.
In the south, in Kerala, the Padmanabhapuram Palace, famous for its architecture and mural paintings.
Kanchan Nambiar was a noted Malayalam poet.
The Tamil language was enriched by sittar poetry.
Tayumanavar (1706-44), one of the best exponents of sittar poetry, protested against the abuses of temple-rule and the caste system.
Heer Ranjha, the romantic epic in Punjabi literature, was composed by Warris Shah.
In Sindhi literature, Shah Abdul Latif composed Risalo, a collection of poems.

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