Urbanization in India During the British Period (1857–1947)

331 Pages·2020·3.108 MB·English

by  Dipsikha Sahoo

Urbanization in India During the
British Period (1857–1947)
Urban history is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field of research.
The rate of urban growth in the twentieth century has also stimulated
interest in the city as an object of socio-historical inquiry. Some historical
studies on individual Indian cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Cawnpore,
Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat and Madras have primarily
explored the growth of urban centres by tracing their histories under
colonial rule. This study offers a macro picture of the urban process
under British administration, giving an understanding of how colonial
capitalism shaped and imposed urban patterns in India. It contextualizes
the urbanization of India in the world capitalist system of the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century, explaining the multifaceted
historical conditions in 1857, just before the imposition of direct Crown
rule. Sahoo examines the socio-economic developments and demographic
changes in India under British rule and analyses the impact of the world
capitalist economy, the pattern of urbanization under British rule and the
contribution of railways to urbanization. This volume is a profile of India’s
primate cities, identifying the core, the periphery and the underdeveloped
hinterlands.
Dipsikha Sahoo is an independent scholar who formerly worked as
Assistant Professor in Sociology at Lovely Professional University and
postdoctoral fellow at NCDS, Bhubaneswar.

Urbanization in India
During the British Period
(1857–1947)
Dipsikha Sahoo
First published 2021
by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sahoo, Dipsikha, 1983– author.
Title: Urbanization in India during the British period
(1857–1947) / Dipsikha Sahoo.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020026055 (print) | LCCN 2020026056
(ebook) | ISBN 9780367224868 (hardback) | ISBN
9780429275142 (ebook) | ISBN 9781000196344 (adobe pdf) |
ISBN 9781000196351 (mobi) | ISBN 9781000196368 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Urbanization—India—History. | Cities and
towns—India—Growth—History. | India—History—British
occupation, 1765–1947.
Classification: LCC HT147.I5 S235 2021 (print) | LCC HT147.I5
(ebook) | DDC 307.760954—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026055
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026056
ISBN: 978-0-367-22486-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-27514-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of Figures vi
List of Tables vii
Acknowledgments ix
Glossary x
1 Introduction: An Overview of the Study 1
2 India During the East India Company’s Rule 37
3 Socio-Economic and Political Causes of
Urbanization in India During the British Period 96
4 Pattern of Urbanization in India During the
British Period 154
5 Contribution of Railways to Urbanization in India 195
6 Growth of Satellitic Primates and Other Major
Cities in India 227
7 Conclusion 303
Index 315
Figures
2.1 Map of India Under the British East India Company, 1837 40
2.2 Map of India Under the British East India Company, 1857 91
4.1 Rural to Urban Population Ratio 155
4.2 Growth in Number of Towns/Cities and Percentage of
Urban Population in Each Class in India 161
4.3 Actual Workers and Dependants in 11 Large Cities 177
4.4 Occupational Structure in 11 Large Cities in 1921 177
5.1 Map of Indian Railways in 1871 prepared by the British
Government India Office for the House of Commons
Committee 202
5.2 A General Map of Indian Railways, 1909 203
6.1 A View of Calcutta From Fort William by S. Davies, 1807 249
Tables
1.1 Estimates of the Population of the Indian Subcontinent,
1855–1941 22
2.1 Estimates of India’s Population, 300 B.C. to A.D. 1871 41
2.2 Estimates of Population of Three British Presidencies
for 1858 42
2.3 Primacy of Ports in Terms of Imports Into India 64
3.1 Growth of Imports and Exports 109
3.2 Four Major Seaports According to the Weightage of
the Trade 117
3.3 Growth of Cotton Industries in India 126
3.4 Growth of Tea Plantations in Assam 129
3.5 Coal Output and Persons Employed, 1900–1914 131
3.6 Growth of Jute Mills in India, 1879–1914 136
4.1 Decadal Percentage Growth of Urban Population in
India, 1871–1951 156
4.2 Percentage Growth of Urban Population in India
During 1872–1951 in Provinces and States 158
4.3 Growth of Class I Cities, 1872–1951 163
4.4 Population Decline in Class II Cities 168
4.5 Percentage Urban Female Sex Ratio 169
4.6 Proportion of Females in Towns in 1901 170
4.7 City-Wise Distribution of Number of Females per
1,000 Males in 1901 170
4.8 Urban Age Structure of 28 Cities of India 171
4.9 Religious Affiliation of the Urban Population
(percentage in brackets) 173
4.10 General Occupational Categories Found in the Census
of India, 1921 174
4.11 General Distribution of the Population by Occupation
in 1891 175
4.12 Occupational Structure in 14 Large Cities in 1901 176
4.13 Occupational Distribution of Urban Population
(District-Wise) in 1951 178
viii Tables
4.14 Percentage of Pupils and Literates in Bombay and
Calcutta Classified by Gender and Religion 180
4.15 Education Details of the 29 Large Cities in 1901 181
4.16 Fertility Rates in the Three Major Cities Contrasted
With Their Provinces, 1921–1941 185
4.17 Death Rates in India (per 1,000) 186
5.1 Major Heads of British Capital Investment in India
and Ceylon 196
5.2 Growth of Population of Principal Railway Junctions/
Terminal Towns/Cities, 1872–1951 213
6.1 Decadal Growth of Class I Cities of Bombay
Presidency, 1872–1951 228
6.2 Working Age Population in Bombay 229
6.3 Percentage of Native Population in Bombay 230
6.4 Growth of Class I Cities of Bengal, 1872–1951 249
6.5 Distribution of 10,000 of the Population by
Quinquennial Age Periods 251
6.6 Religion-Wise Distribution of Literacy in Calcutta City
and Suburbs in 1921 252
6.7 Growth of Class I Cities of Madras 271
6.8 Class I Cities of Punjab 284
6.9 Class I Cities of Mysore 291
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my thankfulness to each and every one who helped
me directly or indirectly in writing this thesis over the last five years.
First among these people to whom I am indebted is my supervisor,
Professor K. Laxmi Narayan, Department of Sociology, University of
Hyderabad. He is the one who constantly motivated me and guided me in
every stage of this research. Without his help and moral support, I would
not have been in a position to write this.
The suggestions given by my doctoral committee members Prof Aparna
Rayprol and Dr Sandhya contributed greatly to improving the quality of
this research. I would like to thank them for their valuable remarks, com-
ments and explanations.
The kind of support I received from librarians and other staff at Par-
liament Library and National Archives in New Delhi, NIRD and Osma-
nia University in Hyderabad are praiseworthy. So I want to express my
thankfulness to them too.
I would like to acknowledge the support received from Dr Suchismita
Satpathy. The help I got from Mr Raghavendra Rao Harnoor, who gave
a patient reading and insisted on quality, is worth mentioning.
Finally, I thank my parents, family members and husband for their
affectionate support and encouragement throughout this work. It’s worth
mentioning my little son’s sacrifice, the time he has spent without his
mother.