Manufacture at the Colonial Frontier: Iron and Salt Production Experiments in the East Indies, 1765 – 1858
Author(s)
Mishra, Yogesh Ram
Type
Thesis
Abstract
This thesis discusses the fate of British East India Company’s attempts to industrialise
iron and salt production in India in 1765-1858. Standard histories of these early
manufacturing ventures tell stories either of decline in a flourishing indigenous
industry or of the governments’ failures to modernise traditional sectors of
commodity production. However, these accounts present simplistic portrayals of the
Company’s Indian organisation, the local manufacturing milieu, and of iron and salt
production and processing technologies. Crucially, they downplay conflicts among
various departments of the Company’s Indian edifice, and divisions within the local
social organisation of manufacture. The fact that the fiscal policy of the Company
governments significantly influenced both manufacturing and market structure in the
period is also overlooked.
This thesis, by contrast, decouples the actions of the Indian governments from
London’s thoughts and prescriptions. It then analyses the implications of the
fragmented and evolving colonial edifice for the local industries of iron and salt. Being
sensitive to the social, political and geographical differentiation in the colonial
landscape, this work focuses on the iron and salt production at the social and
geographical ‘frontiers’.
It argues that the Company arrived at workable production arrangements in
India through experiments in technology and colonial governance, while also
discovering effective ways to govern the local manufacturing population. The
experiment-based understanding developed in this work will make the messy and
unpredictable development of these large-scale iron and salt enterprises
comprehensible. Simultaneously, it will cast light on the critical inputs of hitherto
unexamined factors such as pre-colonial production relations and the technological
uncertainties inherent in the development of various manufactories. These findings
will revise our understanding of the ways in which colonial policy was linked to
industrialising attempts on the one hand, and technological change on the other.
iron and salt production in India in 1765-1858. Standard histories of these early
manufacturing ventures tell stories either of decline in a flourishing indigenous
industry or of the governments’ failures to modernise traditional sectors of
commodity production. However, these accounts present simplistic portrayals of the
Company’s Indian organisation, the local manufacturing milieu, and of iron and salt
production and processing technologies. Crucially, they downplay conflicts among
various departments of the Company’s Indian edifice, and divisions within the local
social organisation of manufacture. The fact that the fiscal policy of the Company
governments significantly influenced both manufacturing and market structure in the
period is also overlooked.
This thesis, by contrast, decouples the actions of the Indian governments from
London’s thoughts and prescriptions. It then analyses the implications of the
fragmented and evolving colonial edifice for the local industries of iron and salt. Being
sensitive to the social, political and geographical differentiation in the colonial
landscape, this work focuses on the iron and salt production at the social and
geographical ‘frontiers’.
It argues that the Company arrived at workable production arrangements in
India through experiments in technology and colonial governance, while also
discovering effective ways to govern the local manufacturing population. The
experiment-based understanding developed in this work will make the messy and
unpredictable development of these large-scale iron and salt enterprises
comprehensible. Simultaneously, it will cast light on the critical inputs of hitherto
unexamined factors such as pre-colonial production relations and the technological
uncertainties inherent in the development of various manufactories. These findings
will revise our understanding of the ways in which colonial policy was linked to
industrialising attempts on the one hand, and technological change on the other.
Date Issued
2012
Date Awarded
2012-03
Copyright Statement
Attribution NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND)
Advisor
Warwick, Andrew
Woods, Abigail
Sponsor
Hans Rausing Endowment, Imperial College Hardship Fund, Institute of Historical Research, and Churches Together UK
Publisher Department
Humanities
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)