pre mordern to 19th c Flashcards
food exchange (and Irish Potato Famine)
-noodles travelled west from China to become spaghetti
-Arabs took pasta to Sicily, an island now in Italy
-foods such as soya, maize, groundnut, sweet potatoes, chillies were introduced in Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered Americas
Ireland’s poorest peasants became so dependent on potatoes that when disease destroyed the crop in mid 1840s, thousands died of starvation
colonisation of America
-porutugese and spanish colonisation was under way by mid 19th c
-america’s original inhabitants had no immunity against europe’s diseases due to their long isolation
-Smallpox spread deep, ahead of Europeans reaching
-killed and decimated whole communities; paving way for conquest
types of movement within international eco exchanges
flow of trade: trade in goods
flow of labour: migration of people for work
movement of capital: for investments over long distances
all closely interwoven and affected people’s lives deeply
abolition of corn laws and effects
-pop growth in 18th c increased demand for food grains; prices increased
-under pressure from landed groups, govt had restricted import of corn; laws allowing govt to do this were called ‘corn laws’
-unhappy with food prices, industrialists and urban dwellers forced abolition of corn laws
-food could now be imported more cheaply than produced within;
-as food was cheaper, consumption rose. fast industrial growth led to higher inc and more food imports.
- across world, lands were cleared and food production expanded to meet British demand
canal colonies
britt-indi govt built network of irrigation canals in west punjab to transform semi desert wastes into fertile agricultural lands that could grow wheat and cotton for export
canal colonies; areas irrigated by new canals; settled by peasants from Punjab
what problem did Europeans face in Africa and how did they overcome it
-africa had abundant land and small pop
-land and livestock sustain African livelihoods and people rarely worked for a wage
-Europeans wanted to establish plantations and mines in Africa but they faced shortage of labour. —employers used the following methods to recruit and retain labour:
1) imposing heavy taxes
2) changing inheritance laws; only one family member allowed to inherit land
3) confining mineworkers in compounds
rinderpest
-arrived in africa in late 1880s
-rinderpest was carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers invading Eritrea in East Africa
-entered in east and spread to Atlantic coast by 1892 ; reached Cape 5 years later
-killed 90% cattle
-loss of cattle destroyed African livelihoods
-Europeans conquered and subdued Africa
indentured labour migration from india
-in India, indentured labourers were hired under contracts which promised return travel to India after 5 years of work on employer’s plantation
-most indentured workers came from up bihar tn. in these regions 1)cottage industries declined 2)land rents rose 3)lands were cleared for mines and plantations
- main destinations were Caribbean islands(Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam), Mauritius and Fiji. Tamil migrants went to Ceylon and Malaya
-took up work hoping to escape oppression or poverty and provided false info about nature of work, working conditions, place and mode of travel or even forcibly abducted
-new system of slavery; harsh living and working conditions and no legal rights
how did indian indentured labourers survive
-many escaped into the wilds, but faced punishment if caught
-new forms of individual and collective sle expressions
1) Hosay in Trinidad (annual Muharram precision transformed into a riotous carnival)
2) Rastafarianism (protest religion)
3) Chutney music in Trinidad and Guyana
-most stayed on after their contracts ended or returned to their new homes after a short spell in India
-abolished in 1921
indian entrepreneurs in 19th c
bankers and traders financed export agri using own funds or borrowing from European banks
Shikaripuri Shroffs
Nattukottai Chettiars
has sophisticated system of to transfer money over large distances
Hyderabadi Sindhis ventured beyond European colonies; sold local and imported curios to tourists.
how did India help Britain balance its deficits?
Britain had trade surplus with India as value of British exports was higher than Indian imports.
used it to balade trade deficits with other countries this was how multilateral settlement system worked- one country’s deficit was settled by surplus with a third country
the surplus also helped pay the so-called ‘home charges’ in India, including private remittances home by British officials, interest payments on India’s external debt, and pensions of British officials in India.
