AP-Economic and Social Developments 1

Economic and Social Developments

The period of British rule in India forms a significant chapter in the history of the ancient land. Many aliens came to this land, conquered some parts of the territory, but were soon absorbed as natural citizens of the country. For the first time, the British (and the other European nationals) who conquered and ruled it for a considerable time remained aliens administering a colonial rule and ultimately had to return. The policy that underlined the various measures the British took in legislative, judicial and executive fields was only to tighten their grip over the country and to exploit it to the advantage of their own motherland

However, the very measures they took had, curiously enough, initiated and promoted many positive factors leading to consolidation of the Indian society and their urge for freedom. The colonial rule, of course, left the country impoverished economically, but it unified the nation, which was rudely shocked and, therefore, prepared itself for a searching introspection. This resulted in ushering in a new order, which almost displaced the old one.

As a constituent of India, Andhra region also received its share of these negative and positive forces. Andhra was noted, for a long time since the period of the Satavahanas, for its cloth industry. In spite of several political upheavals, the ports of Andhra had been busy with incoming and outgoing ships of various countries. Even in the early years of the British rule, Andhra flourished as an exporter of fine varieties of cloth, chintz, palampores, etc. Handicrafts and metal crafts also formed a part of the exports along with cloth. Narsapur, in the present-day West Godavari district, was noted for its ship-building activity and some of the Europeans also were customers at the place. There used to be a great demand for indigo, an agricultural product, available only in Andhra and in a few other parts of the country. The over-all exports were far ahead of imports in value and the region earned a lot of foreign exchange, which enabled it to withstand the severity of famines that ravaged the country often.

But the Industrial Revolution which started in England in the latter half of the 18th century, gradually affected the cottage industries of Andhra as well as those in the rest of India. England then turned out to be a manufacturing country. By the aid of machines, the English factories could manufacture finished articles at a lesser cost than those from the cottage industries. Further, the British being the rulers in the country, discouraged the artists and craftsmen by imposing heavy taxes. As a result of these measures the once flourishing cottage industries and handicrafts of Andhra languished and gradually vanished. The finished articles that came out of the factories in England were imported into Andhra and thus began the economic drain which gradually impoverished the country and enriched Great Britain. The synthetic method of preparation of indigo by the western scientists, affected the farmers very badly. The unemployed poor artisans in the villages became agricultural labourers thus swelling the ranks of those that depended on the land.