Art and Culture Class 12: Colonial Rule and Crafts

The Indian craft community during the colonial rule produced some of the finest arts and pieces and was highly focused on crafts development. The crafts industry during the colonial rule provided a steady market for indigenous crafts and clothing, and the Indian small scale industries enjoyed a worldwide reputation for this reason.  As per Art and Culture Class 12: Colonial Rule and Crafts, the Indian textile industry exported diamond reserves in Golconda and Andhra Pradesh.

Crafts development in India- A hub of textile production:

Before colonial rule, India was one of the largest exporters of textiles in the world.

• Factors that attracted the Europeans to the Indian subcontinent: Mainly due to the textile and cheap labour force. During colonial rule, the European traders used to trade in spices and export raw meat

• The triangular trading pattern of the Britishers: The Britishers used to transport slaves from Africa to North and South America. They made enough profit on buying textiles from Indian manufacturers to later sell in the European markets and the Eastern Mediterranean region

• The demand for textile during colonial rule: The Indian textiles were not only used to export as luxury items but also as everyday commodities such as decorative beddings, furniture, etc

• Imitating Indian crafts and textiles: As a method of gaining more profit, the Britishers had started imitating the indigenous Kashmiri shawl designs; they had also copied the traditional branch tree design from Palempore

Industries and Trade during the colonial rule:

• Around the 17th century, the European countries of France and Holland, along with the British East India Company, started establishing colonial cities across the Indian coastline
• This attracted the traders and indigenous artisans who crafted textile in colonial rule to display their products and export them to the European markets
• Later during the 19th century, several indigenous crafts and textiles underwent many changes, such as the Patua artists from Orissa and Bengal started practising wood carving, block printing and created the Kaligarh Art

Crafts in the colonial rule: India from textile producer to exporter of raw materials

Textile trading in the sub-continent was highly affected due to the advent of the Industrial Revolution.

• Balance of Trade: The Britishers had imposed high taxes on the import of Indian textiles while the import of British goods in India was virtually free; this happened around 1813

• Mill-made clothing market in India: Before the advent of the Britishers, the Indian textile towns of Dacca, Murshidabad, Surat and Madurai were the most prominent exporters of Indian textile but, the textile in colonial rule got limited to mill-made clothing imported from the industries of Britain

• Artisans to exporters: The fall of the Indian textile industry led Indian artisans and craftsmen to resort to farming to earn their livelihood while job opportunities went on a hike in the European industries

Colonial rule and crafts- British Industrialization 

Since Britain emerged as a prominent exporter of textile, the British cotton industry experienced massive growth during the Industrial Revolution.

• Lewis Paul and John Wyatt patented the Roller spinning machine in 1738, and the Flyerband- Bobbin system was used to draw out even layers of cotton
• Later during 1764, the Spinning Jenny was invented to produce cotton yarns at a much faster pace
• The British city of Manchester gained the title of ‘Cottonopolis’ since it became the hub of cotton production in the late 18th century
• A steady increase in cotton production was observed since the invention of Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, and she was of American origin

Crafts in colonial rule- Impact on the textile trade

During the 1860s, almost three-fourth of the cotton exports to Britain came from America, and they were also focused on increasing cotton production all over the world.

Prior to 1860, America supplied three-fourths of raw cotton imports into the United Kingdom. For a long time, British cotton manufacturers were concerned about their reliance on American supplies.

The Cotton Supply Association was established in the United Kingdom in 1857, and the Manchester Cotton Company was established in 1859. Their goal was to encourage cotton production in every part of the world that was conducive to its Colonial Rule and Crafts 23 growth. India was viewed as a country capable of supplying cotton to Lancashire if the American supply ran out. India had suitable soil, a favourable climate for cotton cultivation, and cheap labour.

When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, a wave of panic spread through cotton circles in Britain, and raw cotton imports from America dropped to less than 3%. Frenetic messages were sent to India and other countries in an attempt to increase cotton exports to the United Kingdom. Cotton merchants visited cotton districts in Bombay* to assess supplies and encourage cultivation. As cotton prices rose, so did exports to meet British demand. As a result, advances were made to urban sahukars, who then extended credit to rural moneylenders who promised to secure the produce.

These changes had a significant impact on the Deccan countryside. The Deccan ryots suddenly found themselves with seemingly limitless credit. They were given a ‘100 advance for each acre of cotton planted. Long-term loans were readily available from Sahukars. By 1862, India accounted for more than 90% of all cotton imports into the United Kingdom.

Expansion of credit and cotton exports:

• Export of cotton: As the American Civil war broke out, India became almost the sole exporter of cotton to Britain during 1862. Nearly 90% of the cotton exports to Britain were made from India

• Expansion of credit: The Urban Sahukars were provided with advances who later used them to lend out credit to the rural farmers, and this process had made a huge impact on the Deccan towns. Drying up of the credit:

After the American Civil War was finally resolved, Britain resumed their cotton exports from America for mainly the following reasons:

• Exquisite quality: The American cotton was of superior quality since the indigenous American cotton fibres were stronger and finer
• Unpaid slaves or labourers: Slaves from mainly the continent of Africa were used to produce and cultivate these raw materials at cheap or no labour costs. Hence, the Britishers saw this as an advantage

Since Britain had resumed trading relations with America, the Indian Sahukars were not receiving their timely advances. In turn, they had started demanding the payment of credit back from the farmers, which further led them towards poverty.

The reversal in trading activities: 

During the Industrial Revolution, the Britishers started importing cotton from the Indian markets and started selling mill-made finished clothing products to the Indian consumers; this ultimately hampered the Indian economy to a vast extent.

In Conclusion:- 

However, the American Civil War ended within a few years, cotton production in America resumed, and Indian cotton exports to Britain steadily declined.

When the Civil War ended, Britain resumed cotton trade with America for two reasons: first, American cotton was superior (due to the longer, stronger fibres of its two domesticated native American species); second, cotton from plantations in the United States and the Caribbean was much cheaper due to the use of unpaid slaves.

Cotton cultivation and harvesting had become the leading occupation of slaves in the United States by the mid-nineteenth century.