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BACKDROP
The term ‘historiography’ is commonly understood as history of
history, history of historical thought or history of historical writings. It
is an independent branch of history in its own right and neither solely
political, nor social, nor cultural, nor moral or literary history. It is
also defined as the study of ideas which prompted a historian to adopt
a particular line of thought. It is in this context that the discipline is
also aimed at knowing the psychology of the historians to form an
estimate of their works, to know their techniques of writing and to
pass judgment on their performance as historians.1 E. H. Carr
defines, “Historiography is a progressive science, in the sense that it
seeks to provide constantly expanding and depending insights into a
course of events which is itself progressive.”2 It occupies a unique
place different from theoretical or regular techniques. It has come to
history which tells about the successive stages of the evolution or
development of historical writings. It has come to include the
evolution of ideas and techniques associated with the writings of
history and changing attitude towards the nature of history itself.3
Historiographical analysis, thus, has as its main objective to explore
and explain the origins and development of historical texts and the
ideas presented by them. In simple language, it may be perceived as
the art of examining critically writings of the different authors on the
same subject in terms of techniques, theories, source material and the
basic principles of historical research methodology. Parameters of
historiographical perception or analysis comprise evaluation of the
personality, nature of thinking process in terms to particular theory
related to the concerned field, influence of office and individual’s
occupation and sources utilized. P. H. M. Van Dungeon discussed
different types of influences including social, intellectual and cultural 1 Ali B Sheikh, History: Its Theory And Method,Macmillion,2001, p.179 2 Carr E. H.,What is History?, Middlesex : Penguin Books, Reprint 1975 ,p.124 3 Sreedharan E., A Text Book Of Historiography, Orient Longman, New Delhi,
Reprint 2006, p.2
which could affect thought patterns of historians. He observed that
the social, intellectual and cultural elements prevail among influences
which permit or promote thinking process or retard the progression of
opinion. Out of these influences social influence constitute a larger
part of the whole range of influences at work, because among the
social influences alone dynamic elements explaining a steady
progression of opinion can be detected.4
The systematic writing of history in India acquired a new shade
with the impact of western influence under the British rule. Efforts of
the early British writers created interest among the later scholars who
not only began to follow their presentations but also attempted to
their criticisms. In this way the historical writings with scientific
outlook came to the readers of the regional and national history. Even
the British writers did not attempt to make critically analyze other
writings available to them on the same subject. After the annexation
of Punjab in 1849, there arose political necessity to know and
understand culture of the ruled population. The early British
administrators attempted codification of this information and their
major emphasis remained on pre-colonial political developments. It
could be due to the reason that during early years of annexation of the
province British were primarily concerned with consolidation and
establishment of British rule in India. Much of the research on
historiography of imperial Punjab during post-British period has paid
attention to political writings by the British administrators and
historians in order to critically examine and evaluate perceptions of
the British administrators-writers. This engagement was quite natural
as it synchronized with the level of historical research methodology
and philosophy in the West. As new dimensions of critical analysis of
historical writings developed and there arose need to explore not only
the policies but character of society and its linkages to power. This
4 Dungeon, P. H. M. Van, The Punjab Tradition, George Allen and Unwin,
Undated, p.22
methodology provided entirely new interpretations to the historical
understanding of the British Punjab.
After capturing the power in Punjab the British had to face the
ground reality in the form of diverse opposition. This newly developed
situation in agrarian and economic relationships compelled the British
administrators to pay early attention to the conditions of economic
change particularly to agriculture, trade, industry, transport and
communication and tertiary sectors. In order to glorify the beneficial
results of the British rule as against the Sikh rule, these writers
attempted to convince the readers about sincerity and dedication of
the Imperial administration that resulted in the establishment of
peace and prosperity in Punjab. The very object of these writers was to
put the blame of backwardness of the economy and society on the
illiteracy and certain other inherent limitations in the culture of the
people of the Punjab. Imperial compulsions provided the basis for the
British administrators to cover other issues related to society in terms
of economic, social, cultural and religious domains. By doing so they
extended scope of historical research. Ultimately it provided impetus
to research which enlarged the areas of writing history in broader
sense. Since object of the Imperial rule was to procure raw material
from Punjab and also to establish it as a market for the sale of British
products, the British began to develop irrigation and communication
along with transportation network. As a result there was enormous
increase in the volume of agricultural production. The trade in
foodgrains and other agricultural commodities flourished as also the
market for the Imperial products. New centers of trade and markets
developed which also ushered in the emergence of new social classes
and categories both in rural and urban areas of Punjab. The very
object of colonialism entirely transformed the agrarian structure and
relations, which were bound to produce new economic relationships.
The present analysis has been based on the publications of the
British writers including administrators and bureaucrats during the
British rule in Punjab. These are the developments in agrarian and
economic relationships controlled by the British machinery that
attracted attention of early British administrators, who began to
highlight the condition of agriculture, trade, industry, transport and
communication and the tertiary sector in order to glorify the beneficial
impact of the British rule as against that of the Lahore Kingdom. In
this way the writings on economy of Punjab developed. Some of the
earliest works of significance include H. Calvert, The Wealth and
Welfare of the Punjab; M. L. Darling, The Punjab Peasant in Prosperity
and Debt; M. L. Darling, Rusticus Loquitur; S. S. Thorburn, Musalmans
and Moneylenders in Punjab; and The Punjab in Peace and War;
Darlington W. Economic Life of a Punjab Village; James Wilson, Recent
Economic Developments in the Punjab; A.C. Badenoch, Punjab
Industries; F.L. Brayne, Better Villages and H.K. Travaskis, The Punjab
of To-Day.
Since these writings became not only pioneer to understand the
economic structure during the British period but also provided certain
perspectives on the issues which in fact later on proved very crucial to
the political economy of the British empire as a whole. Yet there
remains a critical examination of these contributions in the light of
new research and perspectives. Thus the objective of my research is to
evaluate, analyse and critically examine the pre-independence
writings on economic history along with the evaluation of the
perceptions and motives of Imperial administrators-cum-writers in
order to make a comparative analysis with the post-British research.
Further, the scope of study covers examination of the sources utilized
by the British writers to discuss their views about the developments in
different components of economy of Punjab, the extent of this
development and its ramifications. Moreover attempt has been made
to analyze effects of their writings on British Punjab’s economy and to
evaluate and examine methods, sources and techniques used by
them. In short, the focus of the study is to concentrate on the very
object and nature of colonialism and its outcomes for economy at the
backdrop.
The three terms including Imperialism, Colonialism and British
Raj deserve attention as these are related to British structure.
Imperialism is defined by the dictionary of Human Geography as, “The
creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural and
territorial relationship usually between states and often in the form of
an Empire based on domination and subordination.5 It is usually
autocratic and also sometimes monolithic (having a massive
unchanging structure that does not permit individual variation) in
character.6 Imperialism could equally be applied to domains of
knowledge, beliefs, values and expertise.7 The second term,
colonialism, refers to the establishment and maintenance of colonies
is one territory by people from other territory. It is a process whereby
sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the metropolis and the social
structure. Government and economies of the colony are changed by
colonist people from the metropolis. Colonialism is a set of unequal
relationship between the colonist and the indigenous population.8 As
a colony is a part of an empire and so colonialism is related to
imperialism. Later is a concept while former is a practice. Colonialism
is based on an imperial outlook, thereby creating a consequential
relationship between the two. Classically speaking through empire
colonialism is established and capitalism is expanded. On the other
hand a capitalist economy naturally enforces an Empire. Marxist view
of colonialism described it as an instrument of wholesale destruction,
dependency and systematic exploitation producing distorted
economics, socio-psychological disorientation, massive poverty and
neo-classical de-tendency.9 Colonialism in India was as modern
phenomenon as industrial capitalism in Britain --in fact the two 5 Johnston, Ronald Johan, The Dictionary of Human Geography, 4th edition, Willy
Blackwell, 2000, p.375 6 Ress John, Imperialism, Globalization, the state and War, National Socialism
Journal 1993 7 http://www. Religion- online.org/showarticle. Asp ?title=3350 8 Daniel Klein, Associate Prof. of economics, Liberal Anti-Imperialism, Some notes
on the tradition of classical liberal opposition to colonialism, imperialism and Empire, July 2004, internet
9 Dictionary of Human Geography, en.wikepedia.org/ wiki/colonialism ≠ cit ref- dic-11-0
developed together. It was, however, something much more than
political control or colonial policy. The colonial state was un-doubted a
part of the colonial system; it was an instrument through which the
system was best enforced; and colonial policies helped in evolving and
maintaining the colonial structure. But both colonial state and
policies did not constitute the essence of colonialism that was
complete but complex integration and enmeshing of India’s economy
and society with world capitalism carried out by stages over a period
lasting nearly two centuries. 10
British Raj meant by British government in India particularly
during the period from 1858 to 1947.It was created gradually and
haphazardly as a by- product of the East India company’s trading
objectives. The Raj was the half century following the mutiny of 1857,
which had abruptly ended company rule. Contemporary defenders of
the raj emphasized the benefits arising out of the end of anarchy. They
highlighted the benefits of law and order and justice, efficient
administration, benevolence of the raj, pax Britannia growth of trade,
construction of the railways and growth in area under cultivation.
They claimed that progress had occurred, that Indians were better off
than Europeans or even Englishmen.11
In the area of writings on British economy no monograph on
historiographical analysis is available in this context. So far only some
articles are available. The first is by S.K. Bajaj on ‘M. L. Darling: A
Study of his perspective’ published in The Panjab Past and Present,
April 1980 (pp. 171-181). In his article the author has attempted the
aim and objective of Darling’s approach to the question of
indebtedness in rural society of Punjab. According to the author,
Darling understood that the problem of peasant indebtedness could
be tackled by the promotion of Cooperative Movement in Punjab and
this constituted to the author of article a ‘Pious hope’ generated on the
part of Darling. The second article by Sukhdev Singh Sohal on ‘Punjab 10 Chandra Bipin, Nationalism and Colonialism In Modern India, Orient Longman,
New Delhi, 2006, pp. 3, 25-26 11 Chandra Bipin, op. cit, p.46
Peasantry in Colonial Situation- A note on Historiographical
Perspectives’ published in the Punjab History Conference Proceedings,
March 1988 (pp.335-343). In this article the author has attempted to
compare the different approaches of historians belonging to the
imperial and nationalist schools in terms of agrarian transformation
under colonialism. The author has discussed the various issues which
have been taken up by the above scholarship. The third article is by
Sukhwant Singh on ‘Historical writings on the agrarian history of the
British Punjab 1849-1901’, published in the Punjab History
Conference Proceedings, March 1988 (pp.365-370). The author
focuses only on the agrarian history of British Punjab and asserts that
the British writings were conscious of certain pre-conceived notions
but the Nationalist’s writings were comparatively more objective. Thus
it is clear that the scope of further exploration on this theme is not
only self-explanatory and immense but also a necessity in order to
understand the socio-economic and political ramifications of imperial
rule in Punjab. The above mentioned writers paid attention to field of
agriculture but they ignored other sectors including industry, trade
and commerce, communication and territory. Although at national
level much work is available in the form of books and articles, but in
the context of history of political-economy of Punjab, it was ignored
though deserved attention. This motivated me to select this topic for
research purpose in order to have re-interpretation and critical
evaluation of both the sources as well as perceptions of the scholars
who provided some attention to this ignored aspect of history of
Punjab. For collection of material, I consulted different libraries
including Main Library Punjab University, Chandigarh, Main Library,
Punjabi University, Patiala, Library of Department of Punjab Historical
Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, Library of Punjab Archives,
Patiala and State Library, Sector 34A, Chandigarh. Apart from these, I
also collected material by accessing internet facility.
At present four dominant streams in Indian historiography are
in practice: Imperial, Nationalist, Marxist and Subaltern. These
schools of historiography effected the perceptions and thought pattern
of writers working in the field of history. There is still minor variation
in the interpretation of these British writings that developed during
the 19th century. James Mill was the first historian to write on the
British period in India. Arguably, Imperial historiography was part of
an ideological effort to appropriate history as a means of establishing
cultural hegemony and legitimizing British rule over India. The basic
idea embedded in the tradition of British historiography was the
paradigm of a backward society’s progression towards the pattern of
modern European civil and political society under the tutelage of
Imperial power. The intellectual lineages of the British historiography
as reflected in mainstream historiography have been traced to
utilitarian political philosophy which represented Britain’s role to be
that of a guardian with a backward pupil as his ward.12 The Imperial
school declared that India was growing more prosperous as well as
undergoing economic development as a by product of pax-Britanica
(ending a long anarchy), law and order, an efficient administration run
by the most honest and efficient bureaucracy in the world,
development of railways, growing commerce, increased irrigation and
increase in the area under cultivation. 13 These writings depict two
common objectives in their works i.e. admiring the British rule for
every positive change and condemning the ruled people, their tradition
and culture for every negative change.
The Nationalist writings began by the end of the 19th century.
This school is represented by Dadabhai Naoroji, Justice Ranade, R. C.
Dutt and many others. In this school, history was used for two
purposes, firstly, to establish the identity of Indians and secondly by
establishing the superiority of the past over the present. The basic
thing to be noted is that, the nationalists to a large extent used the
same methods of historiography as the imperialists but they
interpreted these ‘facts’ differently so as to suit their socio-political 12 Bhattacharya S., Colonial Ideology and Historiography, Sita Ram Memorial
Lecture 2006, Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Patiala,2007,pp.18-19 13 Chandra Bipin, op. cit, p. 40
needs.14 This school developed partly in reaction to the pretensions
and prejudices of British Imperialist historiography. They believed that
British rule was not leading to or not led to industrial growth or on
industrial revolution or economic development, or even to the
economic improvement of the lives of the masses. Rather the rule as a
system had gradually become the main obstacle to the country’s
economic development and modernization whose removal was an
essential, though not sufficient, condition if India was to
develop.15This school became economic basis to the rise and growth of
Indian nationalism.
Marxist school of thought developed during the 19th century in
Europe. Karl Marx offered a materialist interpretation of history. He
emphasized that the class which controlled the means of production,
dominated the power structure. He held that the struggle among the
classes would ultimately end in the victory of the proletariat. He
adopted the Hegelian dialectics to create a materialistic interpretation
of history. Marx attached great importance to the technological and
economic factors in the determination of the human and social
development. He not only talked about the class struggle which has
pervaded in all the societies but also stressed the ultimate overthrow
of the capitalistic system based on exploitation and the creation of a
classless society. He viewed that in history neither the people nor the
nations, but economic classes are important factors. In this sense
Marx presented to the historians a new methodology of explaining
historical phenomenon in economic terms.16
The Subaltern School of historiography began in 1982, when
Indian historian Ranajit Guha and others formed a collective group
under the name the Subaltern Studies Group and it began publishing
a series of studies on history under "Subaltern Studies”. This school
14 P.KesavaKumar,Indian Historiography and Ambedkar:Reading History From Dalit
Perspecitve,http://historytoo.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/interpretations-of-indian-history-colonial-nationalist-post-colonial/
15 Chandra Bipin, op. cit, p.40 16 Ibid, pp. 32, 42
participated in this historiographical contest with a single aim of
highlighting common sense of the masses or their specific folk
consciousness, wisdom and action. This analysis of history claims to
be an improvement to the elitist mode of intellect including both the
Marxist and non-Marxist type of exploring and explaining history. The
Subaltern studies emphasized the need of reviewing the reciprocity
prevalent in the relationship between structure and super-structure of
a society. The term subaltern encompasses all the non-elite segments
of a society. It includes the masses of the labour population and
intermediate strata in town and country i.e. population. Subaltern is a
community not a pure class oriented because the people (subalterns)
means the co-existence and complex interpretation of extremely varied
kind of consciousness and activity: caste, class, local, regional or
national.17 This approach came along the line of ‘history from below’
approach of European history writing in 1970 and 1980s. It came in
opposition to both colonialist and nationalist historiography. It is
skeptical about the established orthodoxies of both liberal nationalist
and Marxist historiographies. Writing history from subaltern point of
view was to show that neither nationalist nor left progressive
historiography had a place for autonomous historical actions of the
subaltern classes.18
In order to cover different components of economy, the topic
under study has been divided into five chapters including agriculture,
industry, trade and commerce, communication and tertiary. In first
chapter, attempt has been made to analyze the perspectives of the
British writers in the context of development of agriculture in terms of
technology, irrigation, state policy of agriculture, beneficiaries of
agriculture development etc. The study related to industrial aspects
cover the nature of industrial development, social categories involved
17 Bajaj Satish K., Recent Trends In Historiography, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd.
New Delhi, 1998, pp. 131-132 18 P.KesavaKumar,Indian Historiography and Ambedkar:Reading History From Dalit
Perspecitve,http://historytoo.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/interpretations-of-indian-history-colonial-nationalist-post-colonial/
in industrial activities, impact of foreign goods on cottage industries
etc. Third chapter is related to their perspectives in relation to trade
and commerce. Further, various issues related to above category
include the perception on markets, money-lenders, pattern of trade in
industrial goods in rural and urban areas including British policy
towards trade. The next chapter is about the perceptions in terms of
communication –network that comprise various points like growth of
transportation and communication under British rule, objectives of
British to develop communication network and its relationship with
agriculture, industry and trade etc. Lastly, the British perspectives on
Tertiary sector, that includes service classes, education, health, social
customs and categories and classes involved along with legal statutes
and state policies.
The study is based on the hypothesis that British writings have
been written with pre-conceived notions and with the objective of
glorification of imperial rule and condemning the Sikh rule. In order to
justify the British rule, these writers attempted to appreciate British
economic policies by highlighting their positive outcomes and
concealing the negative impacts. For the purpose of analyzing these
writings in the above context certain questions have been raised
which include:
1. Did commercialization of agriculture enhance benefits of
cultivators or it increased their problems?
2. Were efforts of British in the sphere of industries British
oriented?
3. Had only extravagant expenditures on social ceremonies
resulted in enhancement of indebtedness in Punjab?
4. Was efforts to develop export trade of wheat to England resulted
in advantages to British while affecting local people adversely?
5. Did the establishment of different trade centers ease out the
practices of trade to Britain and up to what extent favour was
shown to ruled population?
6. Could ‘Drain Theory’ apply in all respects to the economy of the
province or drain was favourable in British Context?
7. Why did government put so much emphasis on Railways
construction?
8. Had foreign capital been in Punjab developed the country or
exploited it?
9. Why did the rulers ignore the interests of growth of industries of
Punjab by giving primary importance to interests of the British
trade, industry and capital?
10. Were British economic policies based on well-being of
ruled people?
11. Could British political structure become conducive to the
growth of economy of Punjab in all respects?
12. Whether the cause of slow progress of industries was due
to the orthodox nature of people or British motivational factors
failed to induce the people to join the process of
industrialization?
13. Had the attachment of Punjab markets to the world
markets resulted in betterment of peasantry of the province?
14. Did the introduction of communication-network result in
control of famines and provided helping hand to famine affected
masses?
15. Could the introduction of canal irrigation served as a tool
in famine conditions as a relief measure?
16. Did the establishment of canal colonies term as an effort
of British to facilitate the local population?
17. Could the British period be correlated with the prosperity
of the Punjab?
18. Was only surplus wheat of the province exported to
Britain or were ruled people forced to consume food-grains
other than wheat?
19. Up to what extent confrontation between religion and
economics resulted in positive change in masses?
20. Why did British education system urban area oriented
but villages were ignored in this regard?
21. Was diversion to other occupations due to British
motivation or people forced by changed conditions to shift?
Thirteen writers have been taken comprising twelve male writers
and one female writer. Comparative method of study for analyzing
the work of both pre and post-independence writers has been
followed. The first writer discussed under study is David Ross, who
was a C.I.S., F.R.G.S. He wrote book named Land of Five Rivers
and Sindh (1883). The objective of his study was to provide the
travelers visiting India with a historical and descriptive account of
the province and places of interest between Multan, Karachi,
Lahore, Peshawar and Delhi. He mainly confined his remarks to
the more prominent cities and towns adjoining the railway system.
Imperial bureaucrat made use of published sources of information
and consulted concerned authorities of railways department in this
regard. Apart from this, he was helped by his friends, who were
residing in different areas of Punjab and Sind.19 The next writer is
Sir James Douie, who wrote The Punjab, North-West Frontier
Provinces and Kashmir (1916) and Punjab Settlement Manual
(1899). He was an M. A., I.C.S., C.S.I. and devoted 35 years to the
service of North-West India. He was the first financial
commissioner of British Punjab. He served as settlement officer of
adjoining tehsils in the Karnal and Umballa districts. In 1887, he
submitted his assessment report of the Jagdhari tehsil, which was
the most involved tehsil in the Umballa district. His views
described peasant population as ignorant, unthrifty and
unenterprising. He predicted that future of this tehsil was dark. He
feared to offend the Sikh Hindu jats of the central districts, who
were politically influential and who might object to the imposition
of restrictions on their power to acquire land. He was member of
19 See Preface, Ross David, The Land of Five Rivers and Sindh, Champman and
Hall, London, 1883
committee to discuss the issue raised by Thorburn about
implementing restrictions on moneylenders.20 His account of
physiographic, the flora and fauna, the people and the
administration were essentially the personal recollections of one
who first studied the details as a district officer and afterwards
corrected his perspective stage by stage, from the successively
higher view point of a commissioner, the chief secretary, financial
commissioner and finally as officiating Lieutenant-Governor.21 He
was directed to prepare a new settlement manual on the directions
of Lt. Governor, Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick. This work was done by Mr.
D. G. Barkley whose work later on became obsolete. New
settlement manual of Punjab was issued after examination by
financial commissioner. Douie used directions for settlement,
circulars and extracts from government of India, Statements or
revenue and agriculture department etc as the source of
information.22
A.C. Badenoch was I.C.S., Assistant commissioner who brought
his contemporary, Latifi’s book Industrial Punjab (1911) up-to-date by
publishing his book Punjab Industries (1918). It has been written
primarily for the benefit of the Industrial Commission in 1918. This
work of Imperial bureaucrat was under the general supervision of Mr.
Maynard, Financial Commissioner and Chairman of the Provincial
Committee on industries and he was also helped by C.A.H. Townsend,
Director of agriculture and industrial Punjab. His perception was
affected by his official status as he wrote this book by keeping in mind
requirements of office of industrial commission. He utilized varied
sources in that capacity. His study was based on proceedings of
Industrial conference 1911, record of Industrial schools, statements of
20 Dungeon, P.H.M. Van, op. cit, pp. 157, 249 21 See Preface, James Sir Douie, The Punjab, North-West Frontier Provinces and
Kashmir, Cambridge University Press, London, 1916 22 See Preface, James Sir Douie, Punjab Settlement Manual, Civil and Military
Gazette Press, Lahore, 1899
co-operative societies of weavers, Report of Industrial education 1911
and Latifi’s Industrial Punjab.23
Anstey Vera (1889-1976) is the only female writer among 13
writers covered under the study. She was an old student of London
School of Economics during 1909-13, 1921 and 1926-30. She was
D.Sc (Economics) and served as a lecturer in London School of
Economics and Political Economics. She returned to England from
India after her husband's death in 1920 and joined the School's staff
in 1921. A reader in commerce, she taught at the School until her
retirement in 1964 and was one of the School's great figures. As an
economist and teacher she was devoted to India, and her caring
personality helped to shape the School's community. She is also
author of the Indian Oceans. Her book The Economic Development of
India published in 1936. In the words of Tarlok Singh, the secretary of
B. K. Nehru (the nephew of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister
of an independent India), 'For generations of students at the LSE,
from India and the sub-continent, she had been a friend and a guide
who had cared for each of them.24 Her interest in economy of Punjab
motivated her to write on economy of the country. She took material
from annual reports on the administration of railways in India,
railway budget, report of the industrial commission and census report
of 1921 etc.
James Wilson was K.C.S.I, who wrote Recent Economic
Developments in the Punjab (1910) that covered period of 22 years i.e.
(1887-1909) which dealt with different components of economy of the
Punjab. He spent 34 years on official duty in the province.25 He came
to India in 1859 as the first finance member of the Viceroy’s Council,
he set himself five tasks to extend a system of sound taxation to the
great trading classes who hitherto have been exempted, though chiefly
23 See preface Badenoch A. C., Punjab Industries (1911-1917), Government
printing press, Lahore, 1917, p. iii 24 Dahrendorf, A History of the London School of Economics and Political Science
1895-1995, 1995, p. 408 25 See Preface, Wilson James, Recent Economic Developments in the Punjab,
Richard Clay & Sons, Sufflock 1910,
benefited by British enormously increased civil expenditures, secondly
to establish paper currency, thirdly to remodel the financial system
with an effective credit, fourthly to promote public works and roads
with a view to increase production of cotton, flax, wool and European
raw material and lastly, to form a great police system of semi-military
organization but usually of purely civil application. Only one of these
objectives was concerned with positively promoting economic
development, but even that was intended to support the British
industrial economy.26 At the end of 1882 he was an officer with no
more than seven years’ to his credit. He was posted to Gurgaon in
1877-78 and 1882. He saw alienations to money-lenders in a manner
which ran entirely counter to lassiez-faire or social Darwinist motions.
He clearly differentiated operations of natural laws and British
administration. The British official concluded that it was the latter,
not the former who was at work.27Since 1886 Wilson had been
employed almost entirely in Shahpur. His experiences had brought
him into contact not only with the indebted communities in both the
eastern and the western Punjab; but also with the Sikh jats, who, as a
whole, were able to take care of themselves. In the case of
communities like the Sikh jats, Wilson considered the withdrawal of
the power of transfer of land to be necessary.28 His opinions and
conclusions were result of his close study of the province and personal
experiences along with this he obtained statistics from official returns.
Apart from this, Wilson made use of records and publications of the
government of the province.29
Darlington W. writer of Economic Life of a Punjab Village was
research scholar at Columbia University. The objective of writing this
book was to fulfill a necessary pre-requisite to serve the degree of
philosophy. His study is based on comparative analysis of the British
26 Ambirajan S., Classical Political Economy And British Policy in India, Vikas
Publishing House Pvt . Ltd, New Delhi, 1978, p. 54 27 Dungeon, P. H. M. Van, op. cit, pp. 135,138 28 Ibid, pp. 127-128 29 See Preface, Wilson James, op .cit.
period and Sikh period as regards to varied components of economy of
the province. Suggestions were taken in a meeting of government
officials and students of economics held in Lahore in May 1919, under
the chairmanship of Mr. H. J. Maynard. This study was conducted on
a small village named Kabirpura (District Hoshiarpur). It was an
intensive study of that village. He made use of annual reports of
Registrar of Cooperative Societies in the Punjab and district Gazette.
Apart from this, help was taken from old residents of Hariana.30F. L.
Brayne was C.I.E, M. C. and I.C.S and was Commissioner for Rural
Reconstruction, Punjab. He also served as deputy commissioner,
Gurgaon. The purpose of his study Better Villages (1938) was to point
out briefly what has to be done and how it should be done for the
betterment of the villages. It is intended for the lay workers, officials
and non-officials and also contains that every intelligent person living
or working in a village should know for his own and his neighbor’s
well-being. There were very few people in the Punjab between the wars
who gave much serious thought to the promotion of economic
development.31 Men like Darling or his colleague in the Punjab
commission, F. L. Brayne, who campaigned for ‘rural reconstruction’
before the modern vocabulary of development was invented, ran the
risk of being branded as eccentrics.32 He also wrote other books
including Village Uplift in India and the remaking of Village India,
Socrates in an Indian village. He also worked in Jehlum for Eighteen
months. He wrote in the capacity of commissioner. Brayne was
helped by Mr. F. B. Wace, Registrar of co-operative societies and Mr.
H. R. Stewart, Director of agriculture and Lt. Col. C. M. Nicol, Director
of public health. The writer made use of published sources laying in
the form of reports and books for this purpose. It comprises
statements of rural reconstruction, review of rural activities, lecture
30 See Preface, W. Darlington, Economic Life of a Punjab Village, George Allen,
London, Undated 31 See preface, Brayne F. L., Better villages, oxford University Press, London,
1938, pp. ix-x 32 See Editor’s Introduction, Darling M. L., The Punjab Peasant In Prosperity and
Debt ,Oxford University Press, London, Reprint 1977, p. iii
notes on rural reconstruction etc. His perspective was affected by
views of his colleagues and his official status which built up his
opinion about position of Punjab villagers. Like his friend, he has also
supported the role of cooperative movement in province.33
Baden. H. Baden Powell, who was C.I.E., F.R.S.E. and M.R.A.S.,
worked in Bengal Civil services. He was one of the judges of the chief
courts of the Punjab. He wrote two books Land system of British India
(1892) in two volumes and Economic Products of the India (1868).34 He
was an apologist for periodic settlement as against the alleged
inequities of the permanent settlement in Bengal, looked upon the N.-
W.P. settlement operations as absolutely reliable. He appreciated the
idea of following protective policy in Punjab, so he supported the
notion of favoritisms to landlordism to secure loyalty of village
proprietors. It affected his views.35He made use of published records of
Punjab government as a source of information. Another writer,
Thompson W. P. wrote book Punjab Irrigation (1925). His study was an
attempt to present to and others who may be interested to read about
irrigation in the Punjab.36 His views in book could not be interpreted
as having the authority of the Punjab government. He depicted the
objectives of rulers for developing system of irrigation in the province
as enhancement of area under cultivation, raising the standard of
living of the people and widening the tax base for future revenue of the
state to prevent famines. The information is derived and collected from
various sources, mainly from administrative reports.37 Next writer
under consideration is Paustin Paul W., who wrote Canal Irrigation
published in 1930. He highlighted both economic and humanitarian
motives of government behind implementing scheme of canal
33 See preface, Brayne F. L. Op.cit, p. ix 34 See preface Baden H. Baden-Powell, The Land Systems of British India, The
Clarendon Press, London, 1892 35 Spangenberg Bradford, British Bureaucracy in India, Manohar Book Services,
New Delhi,1976, p.159 36 Thompson W. P., Punjab Irrigation, Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, 1925, pp.
65-66 37 See Preface, Thompson W. P., Punjab Irrigation,
irrigation. He supported the ideas of ruling government through his
study. For collection of data about his study he made use of reports
and Sidhnai canal completion reports.38
Further, the literature examined include, Musalmans and
Moneylenders in the Punjab (1886) and The Punjab in Peace and War
written by S.S. Thorburn, who was appointed as s civil officer in 1864
and entrusted with the settlement of the frontier districts of Bannu in
1872, a district in which he had served since 1867 and which he
would not finally leave it till 1879. He published a popular account of
his district in 1876 and much of the manuscript has been written in
1874 and 1875. 39 He was also Deputy Commissioner, Dera Ismail
Khan and in-charge of sub-division of Bannu. His sympathy with
Muslim agriculturists made him a bitter critic of Hindu money-
lenders. He also served in Bengal Civil Services and was author of
Bannu or Our Afghan Frontier.40 He was not only more seriously
haunted by an ever increasing threat to the stability of the British rule
in Punjab, but there was certainly an element of deep frustration in
Indian Sub-continent. He urged on timely actions in shortcomings in
British rule. He dealt in 14 out of 31 districts, pre-dominantly
inhabitant by Muslims with a sprinkle of Hindu population.41
Thorburn was very faithful to their rule, when he saw political
discontent, leading to political danger, then he desired that rulers
must be operative in their own interest. Thorburn did not look at
indebtedness in a political light. He believed that the people of the
Bannu district, the self cultivating owners, believed in implicitly in the
impartiality, justice and good faith of the British. But later on, he
realized that inherent qualities of Hindus had given them superiority.
His perception was affected by the Daccen Act of 1879 as he was
38 Paustin Paul W., Canal Irrigation in the Punjab, Columbia University Press, New
York, 1930, p. 32 39 Dungeon, P. H. M. Van, op. cit, p.116 40 See Preface, Thorburn S.S., Musalmans and Moneylenders in the Punjab, William
Blackwood and Sons, London, 1886, p. ix 41 Thorburn S.S, The Punjab in Peace and War, Usha, New Delhi,1987, pp. viii, ix,
40-41
acquainted with the literature on the Daccen situations.42 He also
made use of Punjab Census Report 1881, the Revenue Survey Report,
and Famine Commission Report 1880, as a source of information.
H. Calvert was B.Sc., C.S.I., C.I.E. and I.C.S. retired. He was
former financial commissioner Punjab and was member of the Royal
commission on agriculture.43 He was author of The Wealth and
Welfare of the Punjab (1922). In this book effort has been made to
throw light on the problems of the province. Assistance has been
taken from government officials and government records were
consulted for deriving information, it includes report on agriculture,
and few official and non-official reports. This book has been written
from the point of view of a sincere well-wisher of the Punjab, who
desired to see its people win for themselves, the wealth, the power and
the moral statute which he felt to be within reach. Calvert was also
Registrar of Cooperative Societies and wrote another book Principles of
Cooperation (1926). His study was mainly based on the survey of
Punjab.44He admitted that in Punjab religion, politics, poetry and the
adventures were dealt in with great manner but land of five rivers was
not discussed in a detailed way, so he attempted to analyse it in his
study.45 His perspective was affected by the economic conditions of his
native place which directed him to analyse local conditions up to that
extent.
Malcolm Lyall Darling (1880 -1964) served Indian civil services
from 1904 to 1940. He was Registrar of Cooperative Societies, adviser
to newly established Reserve Bank of India in 1935. He retired as
Financial Commissioner of Punjab. Government of India recalled him
after ten years of independence to report on the Indian cooperative
movement. Darling drafted the reports of the Punjab Banking Enquiry
Committee (1930), the Punjab Land Revenue Committee (1930),
42 Dungeon, P. H. M. Van, op. cit, pp. 116, 141, 143 43 See Preface, Thorburn S. S., The Punjab In Peace and War 44 See Preface, Calvert H. The Wealth and Welfare of the Punjab, Civil and Military
Gazette, Lahore, 1922, pp. i, ii 45 Calvert H., op. cit, p. i
Indian Labour Organization’s Enquiry into Labour conditions in
Pakistan in 1955. Darling’s father was a clergyman and grand father a
Scot physician. His family had Indian connections. His father refused
the offer as an Indian cadetship. His grandfather sailed as a surgeon
for the care of the East Indian men. His guardian Alfred Lyall and
Uncle James Lyall were the last Indian civilians chosen under the
system of patronage. His brother G. K. Darling was senior member of
the Board of revenue, United Provinces, in 1938. Malcolm stood out of
the Indian bureaucracy’s sepatinated ranks due to his sense of vision.
He not only had a goal but also had a means. Cooperation was his
universal speific. The Writer favored the functioning of cooperative
movement in India. Darling, the cooperator emerged as Darling the
author. He wrote 11 books over a period of 45 years. Darling’s success
as an author was merely the continuation of a family tradition as both
his grandfather and Uncle James Lyall were good writers. The secret
of his outlook in terms of the explanation of interest in cooperation
was the result of the impact of names of T.M. Green and Arnold
Tonybee. Both Darling and F.L. Brayne campaigned for rural
reconstruction.46 His important three books i.e. The Punjab Peasants
in Prosperity and Debt (1925), Rusticus Loquitur (1929) and Wisdom
and Waste in the Punjab Village (1934) have taken for analysis
because of their focus on economy. The sources of collection of
material included surveys, that covered conversations with at least
10,000 peasants, annual reports on the working of the Cooperative
Societies of the Federated Merlay States, and the seasonal notes of
Punjab Agriculture Department of October 1928. Darling was more
sympathetic than the majority of his official generation to the
prospects of Indian self government. He was equally sympathetic
towards native peasantry.47Darling’s mind was not trained in
particular discipline like T. H. Green, a social philosopher, J. M.
Keynes, a great economist and E. M. Forster, a great writer of English
46 Darling M. L. The Punjab Peasant in Prosperity and Debt, pp, vii-ix 47 Darling M. L., Rusticus Loquitur, Oxford University Press, London, 1929, p. x-xi
Literature. His social and philosophical ideas can be traced in the
philosophy of Green, his economic remedies in those of Keynes and
his feelings and sensitivity in Forster.48 His assumptions, insight and
care for details, his analysis of the extremely complex data on the
problem and multi- dimensional approach merits a study of his
perspective.49
Hugh Kennedy Travaskis, who wrote, The Punjab of Today- An
Economic History of the Punjab in two volumes (1928 and 1931). He
was an M.A., O.B.E., I.C.S. and F.R.E.S. The writer served as
Inspector General of Registrations and Director of Land Records,
Punjab; member of the Indian Economic Association and Fellow of
Royal Economic Society. The title of this book was taken from Royal
Economic Society. He served for 23 years in Punjab and visited every
part of it. He worked as district judge, deputy commissioner, sub-
divisional officer, Recruiting officer during the war and also served in
the Cooperative Department. While writing Administrative Reports
during 1921-25, the desire to make better known some of the
information provided him an idea to write a book. He claimed that he
had toured all parts of the province and tested his justifications by
comparison of experiences of officials and non-officials of the districts
and different departments.50 He was inspired by Mr. H. Calvert, C.I.E.,
I.C.S. and his The Wealth and Welfare of the Punjab is a mine of
suggestive information. Calvert gave suggestions after reading the
draft of Travaskis. He worked under Calvert in the Cooperative
Department for six months. Suggestions were also taken from Mr.
Woolver, Dean of Punjab University, Professor Myles, professor of
Economics in Punjab University and Mr. Fyron O.B.E. and
I.C.S.51This book not intended for those who were experts in the
48 Bajaj S. K., M. L. Darling: A Study of his perspective; The Panjab Past and
Present, April 1980, p.172 49 Ibid, p. 171 50 Travaskis, H. K., The Punjab of To-Day, Volume II, The Civil and Military Gazette,
Lahore, 1931, p.iv 51 See Preface, Travaskis, H. K. The Punjab of To-Day, Volume I, Oxford University
Press, London,1928 pp. vii-viii, 2
particular subject but for the great masses who could not be bothered
to read any book but who would occasionally require information as to
specific facts. He hoped that this book could become a useful work.52
Apart from using government records for getting information, he also
made use of the other books by different authors namely, Adam
Smith, M.L. Darling, F.L. Brayne, W.P. Thompson, S.S. Thourburn,
A.C. Badenoch and Baden Powell. He followed Ricardian Theory,
Divine Rights and Social contract. He attempted to explain effects of
social, religion, legal and political system on economic life. He also
used Sir James Douie’s settlement manual and Beazley, Puckle and
Messers’s colony manual.53 His views were affected by contemporary
conditions and views of his colleagues, economists and contemporary
writers.
The above mentioned Imperial writers were primarily
administrators, who attempted to focus on presenting positive bright
picture of economy of Punjab through their works. Of course these
writings are very important for getting knowledge about economic
situations, yet there remains to critically examine these contributions
in the light of new perceptions and the latest and recent writings on
the British Punjab economy by the post-independence scholars and
historians. Two types of major differences in the approaches are
visible. One, the sources utilized by the administrators-cum-writers
are limited and one sided; secondly, their approach was pro-British
centric. Recent research had covered vast set of official and non-
official records in order to reconstruct scientific and balanced view of
the colonial economy. Furthermore, the entire approach of the recent
researchers is entirely different and neutral, as it is not bound to
serve some political objective. Mention may be made of some such
writings that include G.S. Chabbra Social and Economic History of the
Punjab (1849-1911); Master Hari Singh Agrarian Scene in British
Punjab along with the dissertation by Neeladari Bhattacharya
52 Ibid, p. iv 53 Ibid, pp. iii, ix, xii
Agrarian Change in Punjab (1870-1940); Navtej Singh Starvation and
Colonialism; Himadri Banerjee Agrarian Society of the Punjab 1849-
1901; S. S. Sohal The Making of the Middle Classes in the Punjab
1849-1947.Comparison of British and post-British writings would help
to contribute to a rational understanding of economic historiography
of the British Punjab.