NCERT Solutions For Class 12 History Chapter 8 Colonial Cities

Bombay:

Bombay was one city that grew in importance during the nineteenth century. The East India Company developed their settlements, offices and factories mainly in and around port cities as it facilitated their commercial activities. Bombay was an important port city as half of India’s imports and exports passed through this city. Thus, Bombay grew in importance and became the commercial capital of colonial India. Opium trade with China had created an Indian capitalist class in this city.

Delhi:

Delhi was the political capital of India during the Mughal era. But as the Mughal Empire declined, the city of Delhi also lost its importance. As it was not a port city, the British took no interest in its development. Moreover, traders, artisans and officials of the Mughal era migrated to newly developed regional capital cities like Lucknow, Hyderabad, Seringapatam, etc. in search of employment and patronization.

Modern town planning began in the colonial cities. The layout of the entire urban space was prepared and urban land use was regulated. Planning was usually done by a vision of what the city should look like, how it would be developed and the way in which spaces would be organised and ordered. Exercise of state power over urban lives and urban space was clearly visible in the development of cities.

After the defeat of Sirajudaula in the battle of Plassey, defence considerations played an important part in town planning. The English fortified their settlements to remain safe from attacks. The Indians, who had commercial dealings with the British, had their settlements outside the fortified areas.

Health was another consideration in town planning. After the outbreak of epidemics like cholera and plague, densely populated areas were seen as unhygienic as they stopped sunlight and air circulation. The huts of the poor population became the target of demolition to clear the densely populated areas. Open spaces like parks were created for hygiene.

By the late nineteenth century, official intervention in the city became more stringent. Town planning was no more a task to be shared by inhabitants and the government. Instead, the government took over all the initiatives for town planning including funding. This opportunity was used to clear more huts and develop the British portions of the town at the expense of other areas.

The existing racial divide of the “White Town” and “Black Town” was reinforced by the new divide of “healthy” and “unhealthy”. With the growth of their empire, the British became increasingly inclined to make cities like Calcutta, Bombay and Madras into impressive imperial capitals. The grandeur of the cities had to reflect the authority of imperial power.

Town planning had to represent everything that the British claimed to stand for rational ordering, meticulous execution, and Western aesthetic ideals. Cities had to be cleaned and ordered, planned and beautified.

1. The new public places that came up in colonial cities were educational institutions, parks, theatres, cinema halls, libraries, etc. As all classes of people migrated to the cities, different social groups were formed. They needed access to new public places like schools, colleges and libraries.
2. The new educational institutions gave the educated class a new public sphere where they could discuss and debate on issues. As a result, social customs, norms and practices came to be questioned.
3. Cities also offered new opportunities for women. Access to libraries and educational institutions had created a new class of educated women.
4. Women began to express themselves through journals, books and autobiographies.
5. Women became more visible as they entered new professions. Many of them worked as domestic and factory workers or as teachers. Theatre and cinema had also given employment opportunities to women.
6. The poor or labouring class saw the cities as places of opportunity. Some others were attracted by the allure of living a different way of life. The life in the city was difficult.
7. People had to struggle hard and jobs were uncertain. Many people left their families behind to bring down the cost of living. Away from home and children, these people needed some sort of entertainment and recreation. Theatres, cinemas and public parks served these requirements of the workers.
8. Though the life in the city was difficult, the poor working class created an urban lively culture of their own. They enthusiastically participated in religious festivals, tamashas (folk theatres) and swangs (satires). They mocked the pretension of their masters – Indian or European.

• Prominent Indian merchants established themselves in the colonial city in different phases. Indian merchants settled in all the three colonial cities – Madras, Bombay and Calcutta.
• By 18^th century, Madras, Calcutta and Bombay had become important ports. The British made their settlements in these cities and fortified them. Indian merchants who had economic dealings with the British also settled outside these forts.
• During American Civil War, there was no supply of cotton in international market. Indian merchants took advantage and made huge profits.
• By late 19^th century, Indian merchants of Bombay were investing heavily in cotton mills. They also patronized building activity in the city.
• Later on, Bombay became a major trade centre of opium with China. Prominent Indian merchants played active role in collecting opium from different places of Rajasthan and Malwa.
• They used to bring opium on the back of horses, ponies, camels by road transport, etc. They used to earn a lot of money as middlemen between farmers and company agents and officials.
• The prominent Indian merchants became very rich. They constructed big buildings in all big cities of colonial period.
• The Indian merchants included the people of different communities and castes such as Parsi, Marwari, Konkani, Gujarati, Baniyas, Boras and Jews.
• Prominent Indian merchants also donated money for construction of inns, wells, tanks, temples, Mosque, Churches and other places of religion and worships.

• The European settlements came to be known as “White” towns whereas Indian settlements were called “Black” towns.
• During colonial era, Madras, Calcutta and Bombay had become important port cities. The British made their settlements at convenient points for collecting goods.
• Factories and offices of the East India Company were built in these port cities and because of rivalries amongst European trading companies, these settlements were fortified.
• In Madras, Fort St George, in Calcutta Fort William and in Bombay the Fort marked out the areas of British settlement.
• Indian merchants, artisans and other workers who had economic dealings with European merchants lived outside these forts in settlements of their own.

• The British first conducted an all-India census in 1872. From 1881 onwards, census is being conducted every 10 years.  These census reports give us important information about the pattern of urbanisation in colonial India.
• The census reports reveal that after 1800, urbanisation was slow. All through the nineteenth century up to the beginning of the twentieth, the proportion of the urban population to the total population in India was extremely low and had remained stagnant.
• In forty years between 1900 and 1940, the urban population increased from about 10 per cent of the total population to about 13 per cent.
• The census data show significant variations in the patterns of urban development in different regions. Smaller towns had lesser opportunities for economic growth.
• Calcutta, Madras and Bombay became big cities. The growth of these three commercial and administrative centres was at the expense of other cities.

1. For the Indian people, cities were bewildering places where nothing was constant. Life kept on changing at a fast pace. A huge contrast of extreme wealth and extreme poverty could be seen in the cities.
2. New transport facilities like horse-drawn carriages and, subsequently, trams and buses allowed people to live at a distance from the city centre. There was also a gradual separation of the place of work from the place of residence.
3. Travelling from home to work place was a completely new kind of experience. Though people missed the familiarity of their old towns, the creation of public places like public parks, theatres and cinema halls provided exciting new forms of entertainment and social interaction.
4. New social groups were formed in the cities and the old identities of people were no longer important. All classes of people were migrating to the cities. There was an increasing demand for clerks, teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers and accountants. As a result the “middle classes” increased. They had access to new educational institutions such as schools, colleges and libraries.
5. As educated people, they could put forward their opinions on society and government in newspapers, journals and public meetings. A new public sphere of debate and discussion emerged. Social customs, norms and practices came to be questioned.
6. The cities offered new opportunities for women. Middle-class women sought to express themselves through the medium of journals, autobiographies and books. But conservatives feared that education of women would destroy the social order.
7. Even reformers who supported women’s education saw women primarily as mothers and wives. Over time, women entered new professions in the city as domestic and factory workers, teachers, and theatre and film actresses. But for a long time, women who moved out for work remained objects of social censure.
8. Another new class within the cities was the labouring poor or the working class. Village people flocked to the cities in the hope of employment. Some saw cities as places of opportunity; others were attracted by the allure of a different way of life, by the desire to see things they had never seen before.
9. Most male migrants left their families behind in their village homes in order to minimize costs.
10. Life in the city was a struggle as jobs were uncertain, food was expensive, and places to stay were difficult to afford. Yet, the poor often created a lively urban culture of their own. They were enthusiastic participants in religious festivals, tamashas (folk theatre) and swangs (satires) which often mocked the pretensions of their masters, Indian and European.

1. During the eighteenth century, there were several political changes and commercial realignments. This resulted in the decline of old towns and development of new towns.
2. The downfall of the Mughal power resulted in the demise of cities associated with Mughal rule. Important cities of the Mughal era like Agra and Delhi lost their political authority. With the downfall of Mughals, new regional powers had gained prominence.
3. This could be reflected by the growing importance of regional capitals like Lucknow, Hyderabad, Seringapatam, Poona, Nagpur, Baroda and Tanjore.
4. Traders, craftsmen, administrators and artisans left the old Mughal centres and flocked these new capitals in search of work and patronage. There were rivalries and skirmishes between the new regional powers which meant that mercenaries too had employment opportunities in the new capitals.
5. New urban settlements such as the qasbah and ganj were created by some notables and officials of the erstwhile Mughal Empire. However, the effect of this political decentralization was uneven. In some regions, the renewed economic activity brought prosperity while other regions saw a decline due to wars and plunders.
6. Changes in networks of trade were reflected in the history of urban centres. The European Companies had set up base in different places early during the Mughal era – the Portuguese in Panaji in 1510, the Dutch in Masulipatnam in 1605, the British in Madras in 1639 and the French in Pondicherry in 1673.
7. Towns developed around these trading centres as commercial activities expanded. By the end of the eighteenth century, the land-based empires in Asia were replaced by the powerful sea-based European empires. Forces of international trade, mercantilism and capitalism now came to define the nature of society.
8. From the mid-eighteenth century, there was a new phase of change. Commercial centres such as Surat, Masulipatnam and Dhaka declined when trade shifted to other places.
9. As the British gradually acquired political authority, colonial port cities such as Madras, Calcutta and Bombay emerged as new economic capitals. They also became centres of colonial administration and political power.

Public buildings in colonial cities followed three main architectural styles –

• Neo-Classical or New Classical
• Neo-Gothic
• Hybrid

Neo-Classical or New Classical:

• Its characteristics included construction of geometrical structures fronted with lofty pillars. It was derived from a style that was originally typical of buildings in ancient Rome. This style was revived, re-adapted and made popular during the European Renaissance.
• It was considered particularly appropriate for the British Empire in India. The British imagined that a style that embodied the grandeur of imperial Rome could now be made to express the glory of imperial India.
• The Mediterranean origins of this architecture were also thought to be suitable for tropical weather.
• The Town Hall in Bombay was built in this style in 1833. Another group of commercial buildings, built during the cotton boom of the 1860s, was the Elphinstone Circle.

Neo-Gothic:

• This style was characterized by high-pitched roofs, pointed arches and detailed decoration. The Gothic style had its roots in buildings, especially churches, built in northern Europe during the medieval period.
• This style was revived in the mid-nineteenth century in England. This was the time when the government in Bombay was building its infrastructure and this style was adapted for Bombay.
• An impressive group of buildings facing the seafront including the Secretariat, University of Bombay and High Court were all built in this style.

Hybrid:

• Towards the beginning of the twentieth century, a new hybrid architectural style developed which combined the Indian with the European. This was called Indo-Saracenic. “Indo” was shorthand for Hindu and “Saracen” was a term Europeans used to designate Muslim.
• The inspiration for this style was medieval buildings in India with their domes, chhatris, jalis, arches. By integrating Indian and European styles in public architecture, the British wanted to prove that they were legitimate rulers of India.
• The Gateway of India, built in the traditional Gujarati style to welcome King George V and Queen Mary to India in 1911, is the most famous example of this style.

• One of the major factors that gave shape to Calcutta was defence. In 1756, Sirajudaula, the Nawab of Bengal, attacked Calcutta and sacked the small fort which the British traders had built as their depot for goods.
• The East India Company traders were reluctant to pay custom duties, and did not honour the terms on which they were expected to operate.
• So Sirajudaula wanted to assert his authority. He took military action against the English East India Company.
• Subsequently, Sirajudaula was defeated in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Now the East India Company decided to build a new fort, one that could not be easily attacked. Calcutta was developed from three villages called Sutanati, Kolkata and Govindapur.
• The Company cleared a site in the southernmost village of Govindapur and the traders and weavers living there were asked to move out. Around the new Fort William, they left a vast open space which came to be locally known as the Maidan or garer-math.
• Health concern was another factor that gave shape to Calcutta. The threat of epidemics gave impetus to town planning in colonial era.
• Cholera started spreading from 1817 and in 1896 plague made its appearance. The cause of these diseases was not known to medical science at that time.
• The government believed that there was a direct correlation between living conditions and the spread of disease. Such views were supported by prominent Indian merchants in the city, such as Dwarkanath Tagore and Rustomjee Cowasjee, who felt that Calcutta needed to be made healthier.
• Densely built-up areas were seen as insanitary since they obstructed direct sunlight and circulation of air. That was why huts or “bustis” of labour class became the target of demolition. The poor workers were forced to move to distant parts of the city.