Traditional Industry in the Economy of Colonial India

Roy's book offers penetrating insights into the study of India's economic and social history.

Tirthankar Roy (Author)

9780521650120, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 November 1999

266 pages, 10 b/w illus. 4 maps 10 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.5 kg

"This new book by Tirthankar Roy of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Bombay is well worth reading. It is a careful and extremely well researched discussion of the evolution of five important craft-based industries during the colonial period." EH.NET (Feb 01)

The majority of workers in South Asia are employed in industries that rely on manual labour and craft skills. Some of these industries have existed for centuries and survived great changes in consumption and technology over the last 150 years. In earlier studies, historians of the region focused on mechanized rather than craft industries, arguing that traditional manufacturing was destroyed or devitalized during the colonial period, and that 'modern' industry is substantially different. Exploring material from research into five traditional industries, Tirthankar Roy's book contests these notions, demonstrating that while traditional industry did evolve during the Industrial Revolution, these transformations had a positive rather than destructive effect on manufacturing generally. In fact, the book suggests, the major industries in post-independence India were shaped by such transformations. Tirthankar Roy's book offers penetrating insights into India's economic and social history.

List of illustrations
List of maps
List of tables
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Markets and organization
3. Handloom weaving
4. Gold thread (jari)
5. Brassware
6. Leather
7. Carpets
8. Conclusion
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Industry & industrial studies [KN]