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Entrepreneurship and Industry in India, 1800-1947 (1992)

Entrepreneurship and Industry in India, 1800-1947 (1992)

Rajat Kanta Ray

Year: 1992
Authors: Rajat Kanta Ray
Publishers: Oxford University Press, USA
Pages: 284
Print type: BOOK

Description:

When the new states of India and Pakistan attained independence in 1947, the economy of the subcontinent was backward, predominantly agricultural and characterized by massive poverty. Why this was so has been the subject of prolonged debate, going back to the acrimonious controversy between Lord Curzon and R.C. Dutt at the beginning of this century. But there were important developments in Indian business and industry later, especially the growth of modern industry under Indian enterprise between the world wars. At the time of independence, India possessed a large and fairly sophisticated modern industrial complex - in fact the biggest in the underdeveloped world. How this came to pass has been the subject of scholarly investigation and speculation since independence. This volume comprises some of the most important essays which focus on this theme, namely the emergence of entrepreneurs and industry in India over the colonial period. These essays, all by prominent historians or economists, also illustrate aspects of the investment behaviour of the various European and Indian communities (e.g. the Parsis and the Marwaris) involved in business and industry. In an extremely detailed and comprehensive Introduction, Professor Ray discusses the series of questions that have arisen on the history of Indian business and industry. Why did the linking of Indian capital to industry come so late? How was the bazaar kept distant from the bank? What benefits did European enterprise confer on India's economic development, if any? Why did the Bombay region become so important to the colonial economy? What were the major trends in production and employment? This book, like the other volumes in thisseries, will prove of great use to students and teachers of Indian history, as well as to anyone interested in India's business houses and industrial development.