Indian Eco. On Eve Of Independence Flashcards

1
Q

Where and when was the foundation of British Empire laid in India?

A

it was laid by Battle of Plassey, fought in 1757

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2
Q

What was the main purpose of British Rule in India?

A

the main purpose was to use Indian economy as feeder economy for British economic development

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3
Q

Before the advent of British rule, what were the characteristics of Indian economy?

A
  • prosperous economy
  • agrarian economy
  • well known handicraft industries
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4
Q

What were the main handicraft industries of India?

A

cotton and silk textiles, metal and precious stone works. it had reputation of fine quality material and high standards of craftmanship

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5
Q

Meaning of Colonialism

A

it refers to the system of political and social relations btwn two countries of which one is the ruler and other is its colony. ruling country has no political control over colony but determines economic policies

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6
Q

Describe attempts of estimation of India’s per capita and national income during British rule?

A
  • no sincere attempt by british govt
  • individual attempts made by Dadabhai Naoroji, William Digby, V.K.R.V Rao etc - inconsistent
  • estimates of Dr. Rao - significant
  • growth of aggregate output during first half of 20th century was less than 2%
  • per capita income growth was 0.5%
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7
Q

Who attempted to estimate India’s national and per capita income?

A

Dadabhai Naoroji, William Digby, Findlay Shirras, V.K.R.V Rao, R.C. Desai

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8
Q

What was per capita and national growth in the first half of 20th century?

A

per capita income growth - 0.5%

national income growth - less than 2%

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9
Q

Condition of agricultural sector during British period

A
  • overwhelmingly rural and agricultural
  • 85% lived in villages and had occupations relating to agriculture
  • country was not self sufficient in food and raw materials for industry
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10
Q

Main reasons for stagnation in agricultural sector

A

1) land settlement system
2) commercialization of agri
3) scarcity of investment
4) low level of productivity

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11
Q

Explain land settlement system

A
  • zamindari system stagnated the economy
  • profits went to zamindars in form of lagaan
  • zamindar’s main interest-collect lagaan regardless of economic condition
  • dates for depositing specific sums of lagaan to british govt was fixed
  • nothing was done to improve agri condition
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12
Q

Explain commercialization of agriculture

A
  • meaning- production of crops for sale in the market rather than for self consumption
  • farmers were given higher price for cash crops like cotton and jute - used by british comp
  • did not improve economic condition
  • british rule promoted shifting of crops from food to cash crops
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13
Q

How did commercialization of agriculture lead to famines?

A
  • british industrialists were in need of raw materials like cotton, jute, sugarcane
  • farmers produced cash crops cuz high prices were offered
  • farmers had to purchase food from shops in towns\
  • fall in production of food crops led to frequent famines
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14
Q

Explain scarcity of investment

A
  • india was facing scarcity of inv in terracing, flood control and drainage
  • although cropping patterns changed, a large section of tenants, small farmers and sharecroppers had no resources/tech/incentive
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15
Q

What is sharecropping?

A

form of agri in which the landowner allows tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on their portion of land

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16
Q

What were the adverse effects of partition on agricultural sector?

A
  • partition led to further setback
  • sizeable portion of highly irrigated and fertile land went to Pakistan
  • almost whole of jute producing area went to Bangladesh
  • jute goods industry of India suffered
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17
Q

Which industry in india enjoyed world monopoly?

A

jute goods industry

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18
Q

What were the effects of British rule on industrial sector?

A

1) de-industrialization - decline of handicraft industry
2) adverse effects of decline of handicraft industry
3) lack of capital goods industries
4) low contribution to GDP
5) limited role of public sector

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19
Q

What were the primary motives behind de industrialization?

A
  • to get raw materials from India at cheap rates to use in industries
  • to sell finished products of British industries to Indian markets at higher prices
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20
Q

What was the main reason for decline of India’s renowned handicraft industry?

A

discriminatory tariff policy

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21
Q

What did the discriminatory tariff policy implement?

A

it allowed free export of raw materials from India
it allowed free import of final goods of British industry to India
heavy duty was imposed on export of Indian handicrafts

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22
Q

How did decline of handicraft industry affect Indian economy?

A
  • high level of unemployment

* import of finished goods

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23
Q

Why did modern industries start coming up during the second half on 19th century?

A

initiative of private sector

24
Q

Industries in second half on 19th century was confined to _________

A

cotton textiles and jute mills

25
Q

Cotton textile mills were located in _____

A

western parts of India, Maharastra and Gujarat

26
Q

Major breakthrough in industrial sector was ________

A

TISCO, Tata Iron and Steel Company, 1907, Jamshedpur (BIHAR)

27
Q

What was the state of India’s foreign trade during British rule?

A

1) exporter of primary products and importer of finished goods
2) monopoly control of British rule
3) drain of indian wealth during British rule

28
Q

_____ of India’s foreign trade was restricted to ___ while the rest was allowed to ____

A

more than 1/2, Britain, China Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Persia (Iran)

29
Q

What was the direct route which was established for ships to operate between India and Britain?

A

The Suez Canal

30
Q

What is Suez Canal?

A

It is an artificial waterway running from north to south across Isthmus Of Suez in north eastern Egypt

31
Q

When was Suez Canal opened?

A

1869

32
Q

What is the drain of Indian wealth?

A

india became an exporter of raw materials and importer of finished goods, huge export surplus

33
Q

How was the export surplus with India used?

A
  • to make payments for expenses incurred by offices set up by govt in Britain
  • to meet expenses of the war fought by the british
  • to import invisible items
34
Q

When was the first official census?

A

1881, operations were then carried out every 10 years

35
Q

What was the year of the great divide? Why was it named so?

A

1921, the first stage of demographic transition was before 1921, the second started after

36
Q

How was the demographic condition of India?

A
high birth rate and death rate
very low literacy rate
widespread poverty 
poor health facilities
low life expectancy
high infant mortality rate
37
Q

What was the birth and death rate?

A

birth rate- 48 per thousand

death rate- 40 per thousand

38
Q

Overall literacy rate was _____
Female literacy rate was ______
Infant Mortality rate was _______in contrast to _____in 2011

A

less than 16%
less than 7%
218 per thousand in contrast to 44 per thousand in 2011

39
Q

What is occupational structure?

A

it refers to the distribution of working persons across different industries and sectors

40
Q

Agricultural workforce amounted to ____ of the population

Manufacturing and service sectors accounted for _____

A

75%

25%

41
Q

Which states witnessed a decline in dependence of workforce on agricultural sector and increae in manufacturing and service sector?

A

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharastra, West Bengal

42
Q

Which states saw an increase in dependence of workforce on agricultural sector?

A

Orissa, Rajastan and Punjab

43
Q

What was the main purpose of the roads built by the British?

A

it was used to mobilise the army

it was also used to shift raw materials

44
Q

When was railways introduced in India?

A

1850

45
Q

How did the railways affect the structure of Indian economy?

A

it broke geographical and cultural barriers and promoted national integration
it enhanced commercialisation of Indian agri, which led to decline in self sufficiency of village economies

46
Q

Where was the Coast Canal built?

A

on the Orissa coast

47
Q

What was the most popular means of communication?

Why was it introduced in India?

A

posts and telegraphs

it was to maintain law and order

48
Q

Why was railways introduced in India?

A

to have effective control and administration over the vast Indian territory
to earn profits through foreign trade by linking it with major ports
to make profitable investment of British funds in India

49
Q

What were the positive contributions of British rule?

A
self sufficiency in food grain production
better means of transportation
check on famines
shift to monetary economy
effective administrative set up
50
Q

How can India’s economy be described on the eve of independence?

A

semi-feudal, colonial, amputated, backward, depleted and stagnant amputated economy (SCABDS)

51
Q

What are two aspects of Indian economy?

A

1) feudal system (land settlement system leading to cruel landlord-tenant relations)
2) capitalist system (modern industries led to formation of two classes, capitalist and labourers

52
Q

What is a stagnant economy?

A

it is one which is growing at a very low rate

53
Q

What is depleted economy?

A

it is an economy where no arrangements have been made to replace the physical assets, depreciated due to excessive use.

54
Q

Indian industries has to work beyond their capacities during WW2 to _________

A

meet the demand of plant, machinery, equipments etc

55
Q

What is meant by amputated economy?

A

british policy of divide and rule promoted discrimination on the basis of religion caste etc which led to partition