Chapter – 12

Colonial Cities

In this post, we have given the detailed notes of Class 12 History Chapter 12 (Colonial Cities) in English. These notes are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

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Cities under Colonial Rule

• Modern cities came to the fore with more industrialization in most parts of the western world.
• Calcutta, Bombay and Madras were rapidly emerging as cities of importance in India. At that time these cities of India had become the centers of British power.
• At the same time, many old cities were deteriorating at that time. 
• Many cities producing specialty goods began to lag behind, as the demand for the things that were produced there decreased.
• When the local kings were defeated by the British, new centers of governance began to emerge. Due to which the old centers of regional power collapsed.
• Cities such as Machilipatnam, Surat and Srirangapatam experienced considerable urbanization in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, only 11% of people lived in cities.
• The historic city of India, Delhi remained a very small town in 1911 AD, then came to life again after becoming the capital of British India in 1912 AD.
• Machilipatnam developed into an important port in the 17th century. Its importance declined in the late 18th century when trade began to concentrate on the new British ports of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta.

Town

• The ‘Kasba’ used to be the centre of a specific type of economic and cultural activities. 
• Craftsmen, merchants, administrators and rulers lived in towns. It was in a way a place between the royal city and the village.

Position of Cities

• Three major large cities developed during the colonial period – Madras, Calcutta and Bombay. 
• These three cities were mainly fishing and weaving villages which became important centres due to the trading activities of the British East India Company. Later they became centres of governance, and were called Presidency Cities. 
• The importance of cities depended on where was the centre of administration and economic activity, as employment and trade networks existed there. 
• Most of the cities built by the Mughals were famous for their concentration of population, their huge buildings and their royal splendour and prosperity. In which Agra, Delhi and Lahore were prominent, which were the centres of imperial administration.
• The royal cities were fortified, gardens, mosques, temples, tombs, caravans, Sarai, markets, colleges were all inside the fort, and the movement was controlled through various gates.
• In the medieval cities of North India, a royal official named “Kotwal” looked after the internal affairs of the city and maintained the law.

Changes in 18th century: –

• As the Mughal Empire declined, the old cities ceased to exist, and due to which regional powers developed, due to which new cities began to be formed. Among them Lucknow, Hyderabad, Poona, Nagpur, Baroda and Tanjore etc. are notable. 
• Traders, administrators, craftsmen and other businessmen started coming here from the old cities.
• Here they had work and protection available. Since there were wars between the states, there was work for the mercenaries as well. 
• The officers of the Mughal Empire established towns and small permanent markets. European companies also took possession of these urban centres. 
• The Portuguese opened their trading centres in Panaji, the Dutch at Machilipatnam, the British at Madras and the French at Pondicherry. 
• In the 18th century, land-based empires were replaced by water-based European empires, giving rise to capitalism and commercialism in India. 
• Medieval cities – Surat, Machilipatnam and Dhaka declined. 
• After the Battle of Plassey, English trade increased and cities like Madras, Calcutta and Bombay were established as economic capitals. 
• These cities became centres of colonial administration and power. 
• These cities were rehabilitated and buildings and institutions were built. With the growth of employment, the arrival of people here also intensified.

Colonial Records: –

• The British government kept detailed records, conducted regular surveys, collected population data and published official records of their trading activities to regulate their business affairs. 
• The British also started mapping as they believed it would help in understanding topography, planning development, maintaining security and possibilities of commercial activities. 
• From the late nineteenth century, the British government began to elect Indian representatives to conduct basic services in cities, and this introduced a systematic annual collection of municipal taxes. 
• The first all-India census was first attempted in 1872 AD. After this, the 1881 10-year (to be held every 10 years) census became a regular system. So that water supply, drainage, road construction, health system and population expansion can be controlled in cities and annual municipal taxes can be collected.
• Many a times, the local people were misinformed about the mortality rate, and the disease. These were not always reported. Sometimes the reports and records kept by the British government were also biased.
• However, despite ambiguity and bias, these records and data helped in the study of colonial cities.

Reasons for keeping records in postcolonial cities 

• Records based on statistics and information were maintained for smooth running. 
• Detailed description of business activities to run the business efficiently. 
• To study the living standards, ethics, educational awareness, political trends etc. of urban citizens with the expansion of cities. 
• After thoroughly understanding the geographical structure and landscape of a place, records were also kept for urbanization, empire expansion etc. at those places. 
• After studying the social increase in the size of the population, according to it, to make administrative methods, rules and laws etc. and to ensure their work.

Difficulties collecting data

• Correct information was not given by the people because people thought that some new law was going to reach them again under the British rule. 
• Data on mortality and diseases were difficult to collect. 

To what extent are census data useful in understanding the reconstruction of urbanization in the colonial context?

• These data are useful for knowing the exact number of the population as well as the total population of whites and blacks.
• These figures also tell us the extent to which the total number of people or the total population has been adversely affected by terrible or deadly diseases. 
• Census data gives us complete information about the total number of different communities, their language, their work and means of livelihood as well as their caste and religion.

white and black town

• There were separate settlements of whites (British) and blacks (Indians) in colonial cities. 
• In the writings of that time, the settlements of Indians were called “Black Towns” and the settlements of Whites were called “White Towns”. 
• These words were used to express distinction on the basis of race. With the strengthening of the political power of the British, this racial discrimination also increased. 
• There was also a difference between the houses of these two settlements. Indian agents and middlemen built traditional houses in White Town, around the market place. There were bungalows in civil lines. Cantons were also established around them for security. 
• White towns were clean while black towns were dirty. There was a fear of spreading disease here.

Building Construction in the Colonial Period

• Three styles of building construction came into vogue during the colonial period.
• First neoclassical style: – 
  • In this, the geometric structure was found behind the big pillars. 
  • E.g.: – Bombay Town Hall and Elphinstone Circle. 
• Second Style (Neo-Gothic Style): – 
  • In this, high raised ceilings, notched arches, fine decorations are seen, 
  • E.g.: – Secretariat, Bombay University, Bombay High Court.
• Third Style (Indo-Saracenic Style): – 
  • It had a mix of Indian and European styles. 
  • The prime example of this is: – Gateway of India, Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay.

Social life in new Cities

• In the lives of cities people always had a great disparity between the rich and the poor. 
• New transport facilities like horse carriages, trains, buses were developed. People now started traveling from home to work using the new mode of transport. 
• Many public places were built, 
  • Such as public parks, theatres, and cinema halls were built in the 20th century. 
  • These places provided entertainment and opportunities for social interaction.
• People started migrating to the cities as there was a demand for clerks, teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers and accountants in the cities. 
• A new public area of ​​debate and discussion emerged. Social norms, customs and practices began to be questioned. 
• He provided new opportunities. There were opportunities for women too. It provided women a chance to step out of their homes and be more visible in public life. 
• She entered the new profession as a teacher, stage and film actress, domestic worker, factory worker, etc. 
• Middle class women started expressing themselves through autobiographies, magazines and books. 
• Conservatives feared these reforms, they feared breaking the existing governance and patriarchal system of society.
• Women who had to move out of the house faced opposition and became objects of social control in those years. 
• The poor came to the cities in search of opportunity, some came to the cities for the desire to live a new way of life and to see new things.
• Life in the cities was expensive, jobs were not fixed and sometimes migrants would leave their families at their native places to save money. The migrants also participated in tamasha (folk theatre) and swanga (satire) and thus attempted to integrate the life of the cities.

Development of Hill Stations: –

• The British Government initially started developing the hill station for the requirement of the British Army. Shimla (present-day Shimla) was established during the Gorkha War (1815 – 16). 
• The Anglo-Maratha War led to the development of Mount Abu (1818). Darjeeling was taken from the ruler of Sikkim in 1835. 
• The cold climate of the hills was seen as sanatoriums (places where soldiers could be sent to rest and recover from illness) as these areas were free from diseases like cholera, malaria etc. 
• Hill areas and stations became attractive places for European rulers and other elites. People used to visit these places regularly for entertainment during the summer season. 
• Later introduction of railways made these places more accessible and upper- and middle-class Indians like Maharajas, lawyers and traders also started visiting these places regularly. 
• The hill areas were also important regarding the economy as tea plantations, coffee plantations developed in this region.

Three Big Cities

• Neither the development of big cities – Madras, Calcutta and Bombay. 
  • The city became an important centre of trade due to the trading activities of the English East India Company.
  • The Company’s agents settled in Madras in 1639 AD and Calcutta in 1690 AD.
  • By the middle of the 19th century, all these towns had become big cities.
  • With the political and commercial reorganization in the 18th century, the old cities were in decline and new towns started to develop.
  • The growth of new regional powers was fuelled by the increasing importance of the regional capitals Lucknow, Hyderabad, Seringapatam, Poona (today’s Pune), Nagpur, Baroda and Tanjore.
  • Traders, administrators, craftsmen and others began to move less and less from the old Mughal canters to these new capitals in search of protection.
  • The Portuguese established settlements at Panaji in 1510 AD, the Dutch in 1605 at Machilipatnam, the English in Madras in 1639 and the French in 1767 AD at Pondicherry (today’s Puducherry).

Madras settlement

• The company first established its centre at Surat and tried to capture the east coast. The British and French were engaged in fighting in South India, but in 1761 France was defeated and, Madras was secured and began to develop as a commercial centre. 
• Fort St George became an important centre where Europeans lived and was reserved for the English people. 
• The officials were not allowed to marry Indians. However, apart from the English Dutch, the Portuguese were allowed to live in the fort as they were all European and Christian. 
• Madras was developed according to the need of the whites. Black Town, a settlement of Indians, was earlier outside the fort but was later shifted. 
• The New Black Town was a caste-specific neighbourhood like a traditional Indian town with living quarters around the temple and market. 
• Madras was developed by including several nearby villages. The city of Madras provided many opportunities for the local communities.
• Different communities do their specific jobs in the city of Madras, people from different communities began to compete for jobs in the British government. 
• Gradually the transport system began to develop. The urbanization of Madras meant bringing the areas between the villages within the city.

Town planning in Calcutta 

• The city of Calcutta grew out of three villages namely Sultanate, Kolkata and Govindpur. The company approved a site at Govindpur village for the construction of a fort there.
• Town planning in Calcutta gradually spread from Fort William to other parts. Lord Wellesley played a very important role in the town planning of Calcutta. With the help of the government, the work of town planning was carried forward through lottery plan. Funds for town planning were raised by lottery. 
• A new map was made for Calcutta, roads were built in the city. To make Calcutta clean and disease free, many huts and settlements were removed and these people were shifted to the outskirts of Calcutta. 
• Frequent fires in the city led to strict building regulation. Thatched roof was banned and pitched roofing was made mandatory. 
• Official intervention in the city became more stringent in the late nineteenth century.
• The British removed more huts and developed the British part of the city at the expense of other areas. 
• These policies deepened the racial divide between the white city and the black city and further accelerated the new division of the healthy and the unhealthy. Gradually there was public protest against these policies.
• Strengthened anti-imperialist sentiment and nationalism among Indians. 
• The British wanted cities like Bombay, Calcutta and Madras to represent the grandeur and authority of the British Empire. Town planning was intended to represent Western aesthetic ideas as well as their careful and rational planning and proper completion.

Architecture in Bombay

• Government buildings primarily served functional needs such as defence, administration, and commerce, but they were often meant to showcase ideas of nationalism, religious glory, and power. 
• Initially seven islands near Bombay, it later became the commercial capital of colonial India and also the centre of international trade. 
• From the Bombay port of Malwa, Sindh and Rajasthan developed and many Indian merchants also became rich. 
• Bombay developed the Indian bourgeoisie which came from diverse communities such as Parsis, Marwaris, Konkani’s, Muslims, Gujaratis, Banias, Bohra’s, Jews and Armenians. 
• An increase in the demand for cotton, the time of the American Civil War and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 led to further economic development of Bombay. 
• Bombay was declared as one of the most important cities of India. Indian merchants in Bombay started investing in cotton mills and building construction activities.
• Many new buildings were built but they were built in the European style. it was thought. 

Source: – 

1. East India Company records

2. Census report

3. Municipal report 

• The urban population increased from about 10% to 13% during the period 1900–1940. 
• Madras, Bombay and Calcutta had developed into important ports during the late 18th century. 
• The development of new modes of transport like horse drawn carriages, trams, buses etc. facilitated the people to live far away from their places of work. 
• Rulers everywhere tried to express their power through buildings. Many Indians adopted European styles of architecture as symbols of modernity and civilization.

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