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BPSC Mains GS-1 Masterclass · Modern Indian History

Socio-Economic Changes in Colonial BiharSchools, Presses, Zamindars and Lost Trade

After Plassey and Buxar, British rule reshaped Bihar. Society changed slowly, through English schools, newspapers and reform laws. The economy changed fast: wealth drained away, Patna lost its trade, zamindars and indigo came to dominate the countryside, and Bihar's crafts declined. This page sets out both.

Education1835First western school

in Patna; Purnea the same year.

College1863Patna College

established 9 January.

Land1793Permanent Settlement

zamindars became owners.

Trade300+ yearsPatna's trade

a hub until the railways.

Mines2.2 → 22.6 mtCoal output

between 1890 and 1920.

Sugar25%India's sugar

from Bihar in the mid-fifties.

Part 1 · Changes in the social scenario: education

From Pathshalas to Patna College

Traditional schooling gave way to English education after 1835, but only a few schools reached Bihar and mass education was neglected.

Illustration of a 19th-century colonial college building on the bank of the Ganga at Patna, students in period dress on the steps

Sudden economic, gradual social change

The establishment of British rule in Bihar after the battle of Buxar and battle of Plassey brought in the changes in all the dimensions of life.

While the changes in the economic scenario were sudden, the changes in the social scenario were comparatively gradual because of the policy of non-intervention followed till 1813.

Education

Earlier, traditional education was provided in mainly Sanskrit and Persian languages in 4 types of educational institutes: Pathsalas and Maktabs for elementary education and Chatuspadi and Madrasas for higher education. According to survey of Adam in 1837-38, there were about 1 lakh primary schools in about 15 lakh villages in Bihar and Bengal.
During British rule, Western education in English medium was introduced in Bihar from 1820s-30s.
The Charter act of 1813 directed the British government to spend 1 lakh rupees for education. But it was followed by the controversy regarding how this amount is to be spent.
Following the orientalist-anglicist controversy, a radical change was introduced in 1835 with introduction of Macaulay's minutes on education. It favored English education and directly impacted content, methodology and medium of Indian education system.
The government soon made English as the medium of instruction in its schools and colleges and opened a few English schools and colleges instead of a large number of elementary schools, thus neglecting mass education.
- Though very few English schools and colleges were set up in Bihar, e.g. district school in Purnea, Ara, Chhapra and Biharsharif.
- The first modern-western educational school was established in 1835 in Patna. In the same year, another Western school was opened in Purnea. And in the next year a number of District Schools were started in Biharsharif, Bhagalpur, Ara, Chhapra etc.
Later after Wood's dispatch (1854) on educational system, the government assumed wider responsibility for the spread of education.
Patna college was established on 9 January, 1863 which became Patna university in 1917.

Mass education neglected

The education policies continued to evolve during the colonial rule. But, overall the mass education was neglected leading to widespread illiteracy (1911—84 per cent and in 1921—92 per cent) which created a wide linguistic and cultural gulf between the educated few and the masses. There was also almost total neglect of women's education.

Part 2 · Changes in the social scenario

A New Middle Class, a Rediscovered Past and a Changing Society

Bihar's educated middle class, the revelation of ancient Magadha, a lively press, colonial medicine, missionaries, reform laws and new rural power structures.

The emergence of middle class

In late 19th century there emerged English educated middle class in Bihar like in other parts of India. However, in Bihar, due to slower pace of the spread of education, it was comparatively slower than Bengal.
This newly emerged class played pivotal role in the emergence and progress of the freedom struggle for independence.
Sachchidanand Sinha, Mahesh Narayan etc. were among the earliest representatives of middle class in Bihar.

Rediscovery of India's (and Bihar's) past by the British

In order to rule India effectively, an understanding of her past traditions and culture was required.
Many European scholars and government employees became increasingly interested in India's past.
William Jones founded the Asiatic Society. Jones himself was a great scholar of Sanskrit. He translated some ancient Indian works like the Manu Smriti.
Charles Wilkins translated the Bhagavad Gita into English. Max Mueller translated the Rig Veda. The Archaeological Survey of India was set up due to the efforts of Alexander Cunningham and John Marshall.
James Prinsep deciphered the Ashokan inscriptions which were written in Brahmi. The glory of ancient Magadha empires was known for the first time.
Bihar's rich and glorious history, as revealed by Western scholars, helped both Indians and Biharis to regain their lost pride and confidence and contributed to the development of nationalism.

Emergence of modern press

The second half of the nineteenth century saw an unprecedented growth of Indian owned English and vernacular newspapers, despite numerous restrictions imposed on the press by the colonial rulers from time to time.
Some of the well-known English language papers were Amrita Bazar Patrika, Hindu Patriot and Som Prakash published from Calcutta, Indu Prakash and Native Opinion from Bombay and The Hindu from Madras.
The press, while criticising official policies on the one hand, urged the people to unite on the other. It also helped spread modern ideas of self-government, democracy, civil rights and industrialization.

Major newspapers of Bihar

Language	Newspapers
English	Bihar Herald, Indian Chronicle, Motherland, Bihar Standard, Bihar Times, Bihar News etc.
Hindi	Bihar Bandhu, Hindi Bihari, Sarbhitasi, Dainik Bihari, Aryavarta etc.
Urdu (daily)	Sada-e-Aam and Nurul Anwar

Health system also received some attention as the survival of army, planters and colonisers was dependent on it.
Indian medical services was established but it was mainly to serve the army.
In 1925, Prince of Wales Medical College (now Patna Medical College and Hospital) was established.
In the same year, the government school of Ayurveda was established at Patna. It was granted status of College in 1947.
In 1930, Patna veterinary college was established to improve breed etc.
Introduction of canal irrigation and large scale railway construction work resulted in the water logging that in turn led to increasing incidence of diseases like malaria.

New power in the villages

One of the outcomes of the Zamindari system was the breaking of traditional bond between the peasants and the Zamindars as most of the old zamindars were replaced under sunset law.
Experiments and changes in the administrative system created further gaps between the rulers and the ruled. The new officer called daroga was most feared by the people. By the nineteenth century the daroga-zamindar nexus thus emerged as a new instrument of coercion and oppression in Bihar's rural life.

Part 3 · Changes in the economic scenario: drain, capital and trade

Drained Wealth, Sidelined Merchants and Patna's Lost Trade

Wealth flowed out after Plassey, Bihari bankers and merchants were reduced to agents, and the railways bypassed Patna, a trade hub for three centuries.

Illustration of the busy Patna riverfront in the 18th century, country boats loaded with saltpetre and textiles at the ghats

Drain of wealth

Post battle of Plassey, drain of wealth started in different forms, e.g. Plassey plunder, misuse of dastak by the European traders, using revenue to finance the trade, home charges etc.
- Earlier nationalists like Dadabhai Naoroji, M.G. Ranade, R.C. Dutt etc had given detailed picture of drain of wealth during British rule.
- Dadabhai Naoroji stated that out of the revenues raised in India nearly one-fourth goes out of the country.
- While R.C. Dutt observed that one-half of the net revenue of India flows annually out of India.
- If this wealth was invested in Bihar it could have enormously improved the economy.

Subordination of native capitals

After establishment of British rule, the local traders' position was reduced to that of dependent agents.
In the middle of 18th century there were flourishing native business communities in Bihar like other parts of India. Earlier, these traders and bankers played vital role in the economy: facilitated tax collection in cash, facilitated remittance of revenue and they were also source of loans during crises.
But their status changed during colonial rule:
- The banking house of Jagat Seth ceased to be the state banker and repository of revenue in 1765 when the Company became Dewan of Bengal; the minting rights of Jagat Seth were gradually taken away by the English.
Earlier, the Company had to depend on the Bihari merchants to procure cloth. After gaining the political power, new systems like contract system and system of direct agency was introduced which removed the Bihari middlemen altogether.
Thus step by step Indian businessmen were reduced to a subordinate position or virtually excluded.

Diminishing the centrality of Patna in trading activities

Patna was located at the crossroads of the long-distance riverine and overland routes. Earlier, it was a major trans-shipment hub. Textiles, saltpetre, opium were some of the major items of trade in Patna which attracted the traders from the different parts of the world.
For more than 300 years, Patna remained one of the most important trading centres in northern India.
However, the arrival of the Railways in the early 19th century changed the equation. Railway ended the city's role as a forwarding station and diverted all commercial traffic away from River Ganga. Railways diminished the centrality of Patna in two respects:
- The traffic, particularly that conveyed by country boats, which converged on Patna en route to its hinterland or to other areas, no longer needed this intermediate stop.
- The new railway lines in the north enabled small traders especially to remit their goods directly to Calcutta instead of sending them on to Patna. With freight charges lower for goods transferred directly between the place of origin and Calcutta without stopovers, many traders opted for the better rates and bypassed Patna.

Part 4 · Land revenue, de-industrialisation and common resources

Zamindars, Ruined Crafts and Enclosed Commons

The Permanent Settlement turned peasants into tenants, British machine cloth ruined Bihar's crafts, and forests and rivers were taken over for colonial purposes.

Land revenue settlement

The chief aim of the colonial state was to maximise the appropriation of agrarian surplus through land-revenue. Being an agrarian economy, land revenue continued to be the main source to be exploited.
First Ijardari settlement was introduced by Warren Hastings in 1772. Right to collect was given to the highest bidder. However, due to uncertainty of the revenue collection and exploitation of peasants the system was replaced by Permanent settlement in 1793.
Earlier peasants had occupancy rights over the land. But, after the introduction of permanent settlement, the Zamindars became the owner of the land and peasants became mere tenants on their own lands.
In Bihar, Permanent settlement possessed its worst elements and contained none of its redeeming features. The feudal Bihari leadership closely allied with outside capital was opposed to any radical tenancy reform and indifferent to indigenous industrial development.
The land revenue assessment was initially set so high that extensive default and sale of zamindari followed. Old Zamindars were replaced with the new Zamindars. There was absence of traditional social bond between the new Zamindars and peasants. It led to further exploitation of peasants.

De-industrialisation, ruralisation and collapse of external trade

The villages were a holistic and integrated system which gave all its people a respectable job and sufficient income out of it.
- But with the advent of the external traders and successive invasions as well as the internal weaknesses, the village economy started to degrade. The cheaply available British finished products such as clothes made the rural economy to deteriorate.
With the decline of native ruling class, the traditional industries were adversely affected. These ruling houses consumed articles of pleasures, weapons, items of decoration etc. Decline of these houses led to the decline of such demands.
- Newly emerged middle class imitated British people and they were not consumer of the products of the traditional industries.
British rule adversely affected the craft's guilds and crafts' organisations which had dampening impact on traditional handicrafts.
Earlier, Indian handloom had a big market in Europe. After industrial revolution in Britain and establishment of British rule, there was now a reverse of the direction of textile trade between Britain and India.
- There was a massive import of machine made clothes from English factories to Bihar markets. This import of large amount of products manufactured by mechanical looms in England led to increased threat for the handicraft industries as the British goods were sold at a much cheaper price.
- The British succeeded in selling their goods at a cheap price as foreign goods were given free entry in India without paying any duty. On the other hand, Indian handicrafts were taxed heavily when they were sent out of the country.
Besides there were protective tariff on Indian textiles. Therefore, within a few years, India from being an exporter of clothes became an exporter of raw cotton and an importer of British clothes.
Thus there was virtual collapse of the traditional industries. It led to the change in the contemporary economic structure. It also created unemployment for a large community of artisans. Many of them migrated to rural areas to work on their lands as agricultural labourers. This in turn put increased pressure on the rural economy and livelihood.
The main aim of the British was to transform India into a consumer of British goods. As a result, textile, metal work, glass and paper industries were soon out of work.
Bihari goods could not compete with the British factory-made products where machines were used.
The poverty of India in general and of Bihar in particular is associated with the decline of these industries.

Exploiting common resources like forests, waste lands, water etc.

Many social groups like hunter gatherers, pastoralists, fishers, tribals etc depended on these common resources for their livelihood.
However, during the British period, the common resources were depleted and access to them became more and more difficult. Colonial state ignored the collective customary rights of these social groups.
The colonial rulers reserved the access to forests and almost tried to monopolise the use of commercially valuable forest produce especially timber mainly for shipbuilding, railway sleepers etc. The Forest Act of 1878 was passed for this.
- Under pre-colonial regime the state control of forest was restricted to the right of the use of certain valuable plant and animal species.
In the 19th century, the colonial state embarked on the construction of a number of canals cut out of the perennial rivers.
- Sone canals, Saran canal, Triveni canal etc are some of the examples in Bihar.
- It is viewed that canal irrigation under colonial rule had a harmful effect on the natural drainage system. This led to water logging and increased the salination of vast tracts of fertile lands.
- The canal also induced a bias towards cultivation of cash crops and land intensive cropping pattern.
- However, it also enabled the rise in yield per acre, reduced the fluctuation in harvesting, raised the living standards and encouraged industries like sugar-refining.

Example: Under the Permanent Settlement the revenue demand was fixed for ever, and a zamindar who failed to pay by sunset on the due date lost his estate at auction (the ‘sunset law’). That is why so many old zamindar families of Bihar were replaced by new buyers with no ties to the villages.

Part 5 · Commercialisation, mines, labour, industry, transport and famine

Cash Crops, Coal, Railways and Famine

Opium, indigo and sugarcane linked Bihar to world markets, coal and steel arrived under European ownership, and famine stayed a constant threat.

Illustration of an indigo factory in north Bihar in the 19th century, vats of blue dye and peasants carrying bundles of indigo plants

Commercialisation of agriculture

The commercialisation of agriculture doesn't indicate any new event in Bihar economy, rather it indicates that the new form of commercialisation of agriculture emerged during this period.
The high assessment of revenue and demand of revenue in cash, and objective of gaining profit through export of agricultural commodities stimulated the production of cash crops like Opium, sugarcane, cotton, indigo etc.
However, the commercialisation of agriculture didn't give boost to the agricultural production and the condition of peasants remained as before.
Owing to this process, the agricultural product got linked with Indian and world markets. The peasant class got adversely affected owing to imbalances in market conditions.
It adversely affected the self-sufficiency of village economy and acted as a major factor in bringing the declining state in rural economy.
Another impact was that the peasants' dependence on moneylenders increased and peasants received only small fraction of profit.
It also led to emergence of some exploitative systems like tinkathia system in Bihar, which created ground for the peasants movement in early 20th century.

However, there were some positive aspects of this process

Linking of agriculture with global market was a step in modernisation of agriculture,
Growth of regional specialisation.
In mid fifties 25% of India's sugar output was from Bihar. And Bihar was truly an agriculture power house of India at the time of independence.
Dalmianagar emerged as a large agro-industrial town.

Between 1890-1920, domestic coal production increased from 2.2 million to 22.6 million tons.
Although the state did not directly control the reserves of coal resources in India, general economic incentive was provided to the British agency houses. The European managing agencies owned most of the joint stock companies engaged in coal mining in Bihar.

Famine

Occurrences of famine and severe scarcities were a constant feature during the colonial rule. The first of such was Bengal Famine of 1769-70 which claimed a third of the population of the province. Other incidences of Famine in Bihar were seen in 1837, 1866 etc.
- The Golghar in Patna was constructed as a huge grain store as a measure for prevention of famine in the province.
During Company rule no significant relief measures were taken; rather the Company servants made large profits by buying up rice and retailing it at high prices.
Under crown administration, some relief measures were taken and policies were formed to deal with the famines, e.g. Formulation of Famine Code in 1883.
- However, it remained a perpetual problem throughout the colonial rule and the policy response and relief measures remained half-hearted.

The Golghar granary in Patna, a large beehive-shaped dome with external spiral stairs — The Golghar, Patna: a huge grain store built as a measure against famine.

Conclusion

To conclude, the colonial rule brought about drastic changes in the socio-economic scenario of Bihar. There were both positive and negative developments. While motivation behind almost all the policies was to serve the colonial interest, the positive outcomes were mostly unintended by-products of these policies.

“While motivation behind almost all the policies was to serve the colonial interest, the positive outcomes were mostly unintended by-products of these policies.”

— BPSC Mains answer · Colonial Bihar

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