Colonialism, British India, East Pakistan

1. Tahmina Ferdous Tanny, SUST, Sylhet, email: tahminatanny@gmail.com, 13-5-2018
Impact of colonialism on British India
Economic impact
According to Barron, economic condition of Europe was not better than India till 18th
century,
but it began to fall in 19th
century because of the East India Company’s rough plunder &
continuous resource consumption.
Destruction of Indian handy craft
 In 18th
century India was an enriched country of agriculture & industries, & supplier of
the loom produced goods to the markets of Asia & Europe. The imperialist powers
exploited the colonies by importing raw materials at the cheapest possible rates and
exported the finished products at very high rates.
 Policy of British ruler in the first decade of nineteen century was to keep India under
Great Britain’s industry & to produce raw materials by India for the sake of the supply of
loom & other industrials products to them. Under the policy, Indian craftsmen were
forced to work in the factories of company.
 Indian silk & cotton cloths were driven away from England’s market under preventive
revenue.
 Products of England were imported to India without tax or in some cases with minimum
tax.
 Manufactured tax was imposed to the production of cotton clothes, which stopped
functioning of new still mills.
 This policy of systematic exploitation resulted in the draining of wealth and greatly
contributed to poverty, starvation and backwardness of the colonies.
Autocratic land & revenue policy
 British administration introduced land & revenue policy which ruined village
economy exchanging with land lords & merchant. Trade policy destroyed craftsmen
& made them helpless & created a number of frauds, small business men & agents
who were involved in earning by no other ways.

2. Tahmina Ferdous Tanny, SUST, Sylhet, email: tahminatanny@gmail.com, 13-5-2018
 Destroyed self-reliant village economic system by introducing ‘ ‘ in which the land
lords cultivated their lands through the system of taxes by the people those who had
not owned any lands. The last Muslim ruler in his last year of ruling received 4,
17,553 pounds of sterling revenue from lands, where the British in the same
provinces earned 26, 80,000 pounds of sterling.
The following figure shows the difference between the two ruling class:
Political impact
Positive impact
 In the political sphere, Imperialism proved to be a blessing in disguise for some countries.
For example it provided political unity to India which had been torn by dissensions and
strife before the arrival of the western powers. This was rendered possible due to
development of railways, modern means of transport and communication, press,
introduction of English language which served as lingua franca and a uniform system of
administration throughout the country.
 Secondly, the western colonialism and imperialism was responsible for the introduction
of western ideas like nationalism, democracy, constitutionalism etc. in Asia. The various
Afgan & Mughal emperors spent
money on armies that also brought
up their families.
Create separation within family ties
under British rules in case of
Indian armies.
Spent huge money on building
monuments, palaces & artists,
craftsmen were encouraged &
earned their livelihood.
Destroyed local industries
craftsmen, handicrafts.
Collected taxes, tributes used for
their people & went back to them
& enriched their arts & commerce.
Earned taxes sent to Britain,
enriched their industry in England.
Colonized rulerPre colonized ruler

3. Tahmina Ferdous Tanny, SUST, Sylhet, email: tahminatanny@gmail.com, 13-5-2018
imperialist powers tried to implant their ideas and institutions in their colonies of Asia
and Africa.
 The colonial powers introduced efficient system of administration in the country. It is
true that the administrative machinery was evolved primarily to promote the interest of
the imperialist powers and paid little attention to the well-being and welfare of the
natives.
Negative impact
 The natives were not given adequate representation in the civil services and generally
excluded from higher positions.
 The imperialist rule also led to the rise of slavery. The slaves began to be sold and
purchased as part of personal belongings.
 The colonialism and imperialism led to bitter rivalry among the European powers and
they fought various wars for the possession of the colonies. In India the French were
involved in a long drawn-out struggle with the British.
Social & cultural impact
In the social and cultural spheres the colonial and imperialist rule produced serious
consequences which are given below:
Affect religions: In the first place it adversely affected the religions of the local people because
the local people were encouraged by the Western Missionaries to embrace Christianity by
offering them certain material benefits. As a result soon Christianity became a thriving religion
in many Asian and African countries.
Provide social services: The Christian Missionaries played an important role in providing
certain social services to the local people in the form of hospitals, dispensaries, schools, colleges
etc. and thus greatly contributed to the enlightening of the people of Asia and Africa.
Racial segregation: Colonial and imperialist rule led to racial segregation. The European rulers
treated their culture as superior to the Asian and African cultures and tried to impose the same on
them. They believed that white races are superior to the black races and tried to keep aloof. They

4. Tahmina Ferdous Tanny, SUST, Sylhet, email: tahminatanny@gmail.com, 13-5-2018
often enacted discriminatory laws against the local people. For example, in India the Indians
could not travel in the railway compartment in which the Europeans were travelling.
Undermine morality: The imperialist rule undermined the moral principles. They abandoned all
norms of morality to keep their hold on the colonial people. They tried to divide the local people
and made them fight among themselves to retain power. This policy of 'divide and rule'
ultimately led to the partition of India.
Misery to humanity: The policy of colonialism and imperialism caused untold misery and
suffering to the people. The various imperialist powers were involved in a number of wars with
the local people as well as amongst themselves which resulted in loss of millions lives.
Impact/ process of colonialism on/in Bangladesh (In the context of internal colony)
After 1947, when the British left for England India and Pakistan two countries were created
based on the majority of religion. Bangladesh in the rule of British was used as exploitation
colony, then became inter colony of Pakistan. Inter colonialism in this context, is the process of
political and economic inequality between west and East Pakistan, which was characterized by
the uneven development of the two wings of Pakistan. The Bengalis of East Pakistan made up
the majority of the population of Pakistan about 55%, but were not allowed an influential role in
the government & viewed as a source of revenue by West Pakistan.
Economic disparity between two parts of Pakistan
The two wings of Pakistan did not start their new partnership as a nation state on equal resources.
East Pakistan was neglected during the period of the Raj. It lacked a basic communication
structures such as railways and metaled roads. The geography and ecology of East Pakistan did
not help economic development because of monsoon, floods & cyclones for about three months
of every year. The economic developers of Pakistan were West Pakistan centric. West Pakistan
was under populated, while East Pakistan faced a serious problem of heavy population.
West Pakistan East Pakistan
Area 310,000 sq. miles
85% of the total
55,000 sq. miles
15% of the total

5. Tahmina Ferdous Tanny, SUST, Sylhet, email: tahminatanny@gmail.com, 13-5-2018
Population 33 million 42 million
Density 109 per sq. mile 727 per sq. mile
Muslims 97% 79%
Literacy 12% 18%
Agricultural labor force 64% of labor force 85% of labor force
Earning of jute sector used in West Pakistan
In 1950, jute was the world’s most and widely used packing material. East Pakistan produced
over 50% of world’s jute where India produced 25% but which was of inferior quality. The
Korean war 1950-53 ensured that every piece of jute was purchased and paid for in foreign
currency produced by East Pakistan. As capitalism developed in Pakistan, resources were gone
from the countryside in East Pakistan to the towns of West Pakistan and by 1950, about 50% of
the foreign export earnings came from this sector. The revenues collected from jute sector were
transferred to the central government of West Pakistan to balance the national books and to pay
for the industrialization process mainly concentrated in West Pakistan.
Competition between rice and jute & existence of acute food problem in East Pakistan
Rice was grown in competition with jute because jute was earning huge amounts of valuable
foreign exchange. As a result, the amount of land that was given to rice production was not
enough to meet the balanced diet of people of East Pakistan as it was their staple food. As the
price of jute raised more, jute was grown which also put up the price of rice & West Pakistan
was out of step in this matter because their staple food was wheat. The shortage of rice was so
acute that Pakistan government made a request to UK government to grant 3.7 million US dollar
food aid.
Exclusion of Bengalis from military establishment
Defence spending was a major Bengali grievance, not only because they were contributing huge
sums of money to the defence budget but they were excluded from the military establishment.
Pakistan had a very large establishment which consumed about 50% or 60% of the entire
government budget but East Pakistanis were omitted from military job while less than 10% of

6. Tahmina Ferdous Tanny, SUST, Sylhet, email: tahminatanny@gmail.com, 13-5-2018
the total of all military jobs went to East Pakistanis. In 1947, Bengalis constituted 1% of the total
strength of the armed services of Pakistan, while every second family of West Punjab had a
linked with the armed services. The exclusion of Bengalis from armed forces became crucial
during the period of martial law, as East Pakistan had no direct or indirect input into the
government.
From West Pakistan From East Pakistan
Lt. generals 3 0
Major generals 20 0
Brigadiers 34 1
Colonel 49 1
Lt. colonels 198 2
Majors 590 10
Air force officers 640 60
Naval officers 593 97
Disproportion of military officers between the two wings of Pakistan, in 1955
Sense of economic drain in East Pakistan
Between, 1947-1971 West Pakistan would not have survived financially without East Pakistan.
But East Pakistan did not see an equitable economic partnership. In the first financial year 1948-
49, 99% of all Pakistan’s income had come from five major sources; cotton, jute, wool, tea and
hides and skins. The two largest earners of foreign currency jute and tea which made up 50% of
the total currency came from East Pakistan. At the time of 1970 election East Pakistan’s jute
made up almost half of the total exports of Pakistan and provided a market for the goods
manufactured in West Pakistan.
Spending in development sector was West Pakistan based
Development planning in East Pakistan during the first six years of independence was very poor.
The central government was concentrating on the task of nation building with all of the functions
of government, civil services and military services based in West Pakistan. Between 1948 &

7. Tahmina Ferdous Tanny, SUST, Sylhet, email: tahminatanny@gmail.com, 13-5-2018
1953 the Pakistani government had spent 1880 million rupees on development expenditure of
which 235 million rupees was spent in West Pakistan.
Harassment of Hindus by Muslim government
The Hindu middle classes were major dominant socio economic group in east Pakistan but they
were being harassed financially by a Muslim government. The East Bengal (emergency)
Requisition of Property act empowered the government to take requisition houses and buildings
for accommodating refugees and migrants from India but most of the properties in urban areas
belonged to Hindus. The East Bengal Transfer of Agricultural land act was passed which stopped
the transfer of capital to West Bengal as a result many absentee Hindu zamidars and landlords
who were Calcutta based could not transfer their properties.
Employment in government service was West Pakistan based
Employment in government services was weighted against non -punjabis and Bengalis. The civil
service claimed that there was a lack of suitably qualified candidates in spite of being having
higher literacy rate than west Pakistan. The non-Bengali civil servant refused to learn Bengali
because they considered it inferior than urdu.
Rise of capitalism under government
The economic development of Pakistan was mainly development of certain people who had
close links with the power holders. Groups or institutions that had not linked with government
were not economically developed. The capitalists of the wet wing owned most of the industrial
capability of the west wing. (By 1970, just six non Bengali industrialists owned 40% of the
industrial assets of east Pakistan)
Benefits of foreign exchange gathered in west Pakistan
Jute was the largest single foreign exchange earner & the benefits of which were gathered in
west Pakistan without retaining it in it’s production country. East Pakistan was forced to borrow
from central bank at a high interest rate as a result economic disparity & standard of living was
degrading in east Pakistan. The following table shows the disparities in motor car ownership
between the two wings over a twenty year period:

8. Tahmina Ferdous Tanny, SUST, Sylhet, email: tahminatanny@gmail.com, 13-5-2018
East Pakistan West Pakistan
1947 85 600
1967 520 2660
Source: The Causes of the Bangladesh War
By Iain Cochrane