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Indian Economic Policy

Notes carpenters, potters, oil pressers, washermen, cobblers, barber-surgeons, etc. All these occupations
were hereditary and passed by tradition from father to son. These craftsmen were paid a stipend
out of the crops at the harvest time in lieu of the services performed.
Most of the food produced in the village was consumed by the village population itself. The
raw materials produced from primary industries were the feed for the handicrafts. Thus the
interdependence of agriculture and hand industry provided the basis of the small village
republics to function independently of the outside world. Sir Charles Metcalfe writes in this
connection : “The village communities are little republics having nearly everything they want
within themselves; and almost independent of foreign relations. They seem to last where nothing
lasts. This union of the village communities, each one forming a separate little state by itself... is
in a high degree conducive to their happiness, and to the enjoyment of a great portion of freedom
and independence.” The villages did acknowledge some out-side authority, may be that of a
local princeling, who in turn may be under a Muslim Nawab or a Hindu king, by paying a
portion of the agricultural produce varying between one-sixth to one-third or even in some
periods one-half as land revenue. The land revenue sustained the government.
The agriculturists could be further divided into the land-owning and the tenants. Labour and
capital needed was either supplied by the producers themselves out of their savings or by the
village landlord or by the village moneylender.

There were three distinct classes in village India: (i) the agriculturists, (ii) the village
artisans and menials, and (iii) the village officials.

(b) The structure and character of the towns
Towns had come into being principally on account of the following three reasons :
(1) Towns were the places of pilgrimage or sacred religious centres. Important examples of
such towns were Allahabad, Banaras, Gaya, Puri, Nasik etc.
(2) Towns were the seat of a court or the capital of a province. In this category may be included
Delhi, Lahore, Poona, Lucknow, Tanjore, etc. These towns lost their importance as the
prop of the court was withdrawn.
(3) Towns were trading or commercial centres. These towns existed on important trade routes.
Mirzapur, Bangalore, Hubli, etc. are examples of this category.
Towns had a life much different from the villages. There existed a large variety of occupations
and trades in towns. They catered to wider markets.
1.2 Industries and Handicrafts in Pre-British India

The popular belief that India had never been an industrial country, is incorrect. It was true that
agriculture was the dominant occupation of her people but the products of Indian industries enjoyed
a worldwide reputation. The muslin of Dacca, the calicos of Bengal, the sarees of Banaras and other
cotton fabrics were known to the foreigners. Egyptian mummies dating back to 2000 B.C. were wrapped
in Indian muslin. Similarly, the muslin of Dacca was known to the Greeks under the name Gangetika.
The chief industry spread over the whole country was textile handicrafts. The high artistic skill of the
Indian artisans can be visualised from this account given by T.N. Mukherjee : “A piece of the muslin
20 yards long and one yard wide could be made to pass through a finger ring and required six
months to manufacture.”Besides the muslins, the textile handicrafts included chintzes of Lucknow,
dhotis and dopattas of Ahmedabad, silk, bordered cloth of Nagpur and Murshidabad. In addition to
cotton fabrics, the shawls of Kashmir, Amritsar and Ludhiana were very famous.
Not only that India was also quite well-known for her artistic industries like marble-work, stone-
carving, jewellery, brass, copper and bell-metal wares, wood-carving, etc. The cast-iron pillar near

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