Author: Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy
Publication: Star of Mysore
Date: September 20, 2008
The ruin that Britain wrought' is the title
of a book authored by Kulapati K.M. Munshi, the founder of the Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan and a great visionary of pre-and post-independent India. He was a multifaceted
scholar and has written on varied aspects spanning from mythology to agriculture,
history to architecture and fiction to facets of administration. Thus he is
the author of over one hundred books in English, Hindi and Gujarati.
Eye-opener
The present book is an eye-opener to the entire
world and has explained how the British destroyed India during the colonial
days in every walk of life, be it economics or education, commerce or navigation.
The entire book is supported by reports mostly by the British themselves and
throws open tables after tables showing authentic dates. Thus this is a well-documented
study of an era in which the British were our masters.
Writing in 1946, he asserts 'Today after a
century and half of British rule, we are poor, underfed, illiterate, backward
in all respects where government help was necessary, thwarted in all matters
where no such help was needed. This is neither mere logic nor rhetoric; it
is the testimony of the facts mostly found by the Britishers.'
Cottage industries in pre-British days
During the pre-British days, India was a highly
advanced land of cottage industries. Delhi produced cotton cloth; Lahore was
famous for muslin, carpets, woolen goods, tents, boots; Agra was known for
gold-laced fabric and embroidery; Srinagar had made a name for shawls, carpets
and wooden ware; Ahmedabad was famous for gold and silver jewellery. All these
were almost as large as London.
All these showed that Indians were not only
rich but were practical in their commerical activities till the British entered
India.
Golden period
The epoch between 1600 to 1800 was a golden
period from the point of view of industry and trade. At this point of time,
British transferred 1000 million pounds from India to Britain. Perhaps ever
since the world began, nobody could plunder this much of money. Suddenly every
English home began to show signs of affluence and with the help of this loot
from India, Britain vanquished Napolean and built her supremacy in the world.
Fabric buisness
The fabric business of South India and Bengal
was such that Britain could not compete with it. Hence they passed a law.
It prohibited the wear of Indian cloth under a penalty of five Pounds on the
wearer and 20 Pounds on the seller. Thus Manchester came to be built on the
grave of Indian Commerce. Consequently, India could not expect cotton goods
but had to import from England 214 million yards of cloth. Thus Indian cotton
indu-srtry was murdered.
Shipping industry
Indian shipping had made a name from the early
days. They were capable of building ships larger that were capable of containing
2000 butts. Some ships were built in compartments so that if one part got
damaged, the other part could continue the voyage without any difficulty.
Naturally, Engalnd borrowed plans and designs from India. Indian ships could
carry a load of 1500 tons whereas English ships could carry just 300-400 tons.
Further, the ships built in Bombay were one
fourth cheaper than the ones built in the docks of England. Hence there was
no market for English ships. Hence British passed a law in 1814 that no ship
could enter London if it did not have three fourths British crew. This killed
the Indian shipping industry.
India has moved from plenty to unparellelled
poverty forced on her by the British. During the first world war, India supplied
goods and services to Britain and acquired 4000 crore. But Britain did not
give this amount to India. India had to purchase 2000 crore tolas of gold
from Britain at the rate of Rs. 75/- per tola whereas the actual price was
just Rs. 42 per tola.
Enslavement
Britain fought imperialist wars at the expense
of India. Indians shed their blood and paid for their own enslavement. The
army expenditure in India was mainly intended to help Britain to retain her
empire. India was dragged to the wars without the consent of the Indians and
was made to supply men and materials under compulsion. Had Britian spent half
this money on welfare activities, half of Indian population could have lived
in contentment.
Poverty & Famine
Within fifty years of the revolt of 1857,
Indians were forced to live on less than half of their previous earnings.
The British officers themselves submitted to the government that if this is
continued, it will lead to great distress. But this advice fell on deaf ears
of the British government. Famines visited India regularly during the period.
But the British never bothered even though millions perished in Bengal famine.
We were at least 150 years behind USA or UK in general development of our
resources. The British came and stopped the clock of progress.
Corrupt officers
Most of the British administrators were corrupt
and looting was their main desire. Impeachment of Clive, Warren Hastings and
many others confirm the corruption of the British officers. Wealth of the
Indian Maharajas was proverbial and the British eyes fell on that fabulous
wealth.
On some pretext or the other, the British
administrators coerced the Indian Maharajas and slowly robbed them of their
wealth. Wives of the British officers were so greedy that they took away whatever
they wanted from the Maharajas. There is no exaggeration that some of them
wanted to transfer the marble monuments of India to their villas in Britain
to decorate their bathrooms and drawing rooms.
Fortunately, there were some good British
officers who loved India and her heritage and thanks to them the sinister
design did not take place. Even the Queen was disgusted by all these anti-Indian
measures and gave marching orders to East India Company. But enough damage
had been done and even after 60 years of independence we are struggling to
catch up.
- Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy is former Head,
Department of Ancient History & Archaeology,University of Mysore.
