(i) After the Napoleonic wars had ended, thousands of soldiers returned to their villages. They needed alternative jobs to survive. (ii) But this was time when grain from Europe began flowing into England, prices declined and an Agricultural Depression set in. (iii) Anxious landowners began reducingRead more
(i) After the Napoleonic wars had ended, thousands of soldiers returned to
their villages. They needed alternative jobs to survive.
(ii) But this was time when grain from Europe began flowing into England,
prices declined and an Agricultural Depression set in.
(iii) Anxious landowners began reducing the area they cultivated and
demanded that the imports of crops be stopped.
(iv) They tried to cut wages and reduce the number of workmen they
employed.
(v) The unemployed poor tramped from village to village, and those with
uncertain jobs lived in fear of a loss of their livelihood.
(i) The new enclosures were different from the old, unlike the l6th century enclosures that promoted sheep farming. (ii) The land being enclosed in the late 18th century was for grain production. (iii) The new enclosures were happening in a different content: they became a sign of a changing time. (Read more
(i) The new enclosures were different from the old, unlike the l6th century
enclosures that promoted sheep farming.
(ii) The land being enclosed in the late 18th century was for grain production.
(iii) The new enclosures were happening in a different content: they became
a sign of a changing time.
(iv) From the mid-18th century, the English population expanded
rapidly. This meant an increased demand for foodgrains to feed the
population.
(v) Moreover, Britain at this time was industrialising. More and more people
began to live and work in urban areas.
(vi) Men from rural areas migrated to towns in search of jobs. To survive,
they had to buy foodgrains in the marker. So, these conditions led to
more and more enclosures.
(i) By 1773, the British government in Bengal had established a monopoly over opium trade. (ii) No one else was legally permitted to trade in opium. (iii) By the 1820s, the British found that opium production in their territories was rapidly declining and outside its territories, the production wasRead more
(i) By 1773, the British government in Bengal had established a monopoly
over opium trade.
(ii) No one else was legally permitted to trade in opium.
(iii) By the 1820s, the British found that opium production in their territories
was rapidly declining and outside its territories, the production was
increasing.
(iv) It was produced in the princely states where local traders were offering
much higher prices to peasants and exporting opium to China.
(v) To the British, this trade was illegal; it was smuggling and it had to be
stopped. Government monopoly had tr-i be retained.
(vi) It therefore, instructed its agents posted in the princely stares to
confiscate all opium and destroy the crops.
(i) In the rural areas of Bengal and Bihar, there were large number of poor peasants. They were very given advance money to produce opium by their village headmen. (ii) When offered loan, the cultivators were tempted to accept it, hoping to meet their immediate need and pay back the loan later'. (iiRead more
(i) In the rural areas of Bengal and Bihar, there were large number of poor
peasants. They were very given advance money to produce opium by
their village headmen.
(ii) When offered loan, the cultivators were tempted to accept it, hoping to
meet their immediate need and pay back the loan later’.
(iii) But the loan tied the peasant to the headman and through him to the
government.
(iv) The government opium agents were advancing money to headmen,
who in turn gave it to the cultivator.
(v) By taking the loan, the cultivator was forced to grow opium on a specific
area of land and hand over the produce to the agents.
(vi) He had no choice of planting the field with the crop of his choice or
selling his produce to anyone else but the government agent. And he
had to accept the low price offered for the produce.
(i) The crop had to be grown on the best land, on fields that lay near villages and were well manured. On this land, villagers usually produced pulses. If they planted opium on this land, pulses could not be grown there. (ii) Many cultivators owned no land. To cultivate, they had to pay rent to theRead more
(i) The crop had to be grown on the best land, on fields that lay near
villages and were well manured. On this land, villagers usually
produced pulses. If they planted opium on this land, pulses could not
be grown there.
(ii) Many cultivators owned no land. To cultivate, they had to pay rent to the
landlord for the lease land. And the rent charged on good land near the
villages were very high.
(iii) The cultivation of opium was a difficult process. The plant u,as delicate
and the cultivators had to spend long hours nurturing it.
(iv) The price government paid to the cultivators for opium was very low. It
was unprofitable for cultivators to grow opium at that price.
How did Agricultural Depression lead to job insecurity ?
(i) After the Napoleonic wars had ended, thousands of soldiers returned to their villages. They needed alternative jobs to survive. (ii) But this was time when grain from Europe began flowing into England, prices declined and an Agricultural Depression set in. (iii) Anxious landowners began reducingRead more
(i) After the Napoleonic wars had ended, thousands of soldiers returned to
See lesstheir villages. They needed alternative jobs to survive.
(ii) But this was time when grain from Europe began flowing into England,
prices declined and an Agricultural Depression set in.
(iii) Anxious landowners began reducing the area they cultivated and
demanded that the imports of crops be stopped.
(iv) They tried to cut wages and reduce the number of workmen they
employed.
(v) The unemployed poor tramped from village to village, and those with
uncertain jobs lived in fear of a loss of their livelihood.
Why was there such a frantic effort to enclose lands? What did the new enclosures imply ?
(i) The new enclosures were different from the old, unlike the l6th century enclosures that promoted sheep farming. (ii) The land being enclosed in the late 18th century was for grain production. (iii) The new enclosures were happening in a different content: they became a sign of a changing time. (Read more
(i) The new enclosures were different from the old, unlike the l6th century
See lessenclosures that promoted sheep farming.
(ii) The land being enclosed in the late 18th century was for grain production.
(iii) The new enclosures were happening in a different content: they became
a sign of a changing time.
(iv) From the mid-18th century, the English population expanded
rapidly. This meant an increased demand for foodgrains to feed the
population.
(v) Moreover, Britain at this time was industrialising. More and more people
began to live and work in urban areas.
(vi) Men from rural areas migrated to towns in search of jobs. To survive,
they had to buy foodgrains in the marker. So, these conditions led to
more and more enclosures.
How did the British establish their monopoly over opium trade ?
(i) By 1773, the British government in Bengal had established a monopoly over opium trade. (ii) No one else was legally permitted to trade in opium. (iii) By the 1820s, the British found that opium production in their territories was rapidly declining and outside its territories, the production wasRead more
(i) By 1773, the British government in Bengal had established a monopoly
See lessover opium trade.
(ii) No one else was legally permitted to trade in opium.
(iii) By the 1820s, the British found that opium production in their territories
was rapidly declining and outside its territories, the production was
increasing.
(iv) It was produced in the princely states where local traders were offering
much higher prices to peasants and exporting opium to China.
(v) To the British, this trade was illegal; it was smuggling and it had to be
stopped. Government monopoly had tr-i be retained.
(vi) It therefore, instructed its agents posted in the princely stares to
confiscate all opium and destroy the crops.
flow were the unwilling cultivators made to produce opium ?
(i) In the rural areas of Bengal and Bihar, there were large number of poor peasants. They were very given advance money to produce opium by their village headmen. (ii) When offered loan, the cultivators were tempted to accept it, hoping to meet their immediate need and pay back the loan later'. (iiRead more
(i) In the rural areas of Bengal and Bihar, there were large number of poor
See lesspeasants. They were very given advance money to produce opium by
their village headmen.
(ii) When offered loan, the cultivators were tempted to accept it, hoping to
meet their immediate need and pay back the loan later’.
(iii) But the loan tied the peasant to the headman and through him to the
government.
(iv) The government opium agents were advancing money to headmen,
who in turn gave it to the cultivator.
(v) By taking the loan, the cultivator was forced to grow opium on a specific
area of land and hand over the produce to the agents.
(vi) He had no choice of planting the field with the crop of his choice or
selling his produce to anyone else but the government agent. And he
had to accept the low price offered for the produce.
Why were Indian cultivators unwilling to grow opium ?
(i) The crop had to be grown on the best land, on fields that lay near villages and were well manured. On this land, villagers usually produced pulses. If they planted opium on this land, pulses could not be grown there. (ii) Many cultivators owned no land. To cultivate, they had to pay rent to theRead more
(i) The crop had to be grown on the best land, on fields that lay near
See lessvillages and were well manured. On this land, villagers usually
produced pulses. If they planted opium on this land, pulses could not
be grown there.
(ii) Many cultivators owned no land. To cultivate, they had to pay rent to the
landlord for the lease land. And the rent charged on good land near the
villages were very high.
(iii) The cultivation of opium was a difficult process. The plant u,as delicate
and the cultivators had to spend long hours nurturing it.
(iv) The price government paid to the cultivators for opium was very low. It
was unprofitable for cultivators to grow opium at that price.