Ascent and Decline of Native and Colonial Trading: Tale of Four Indian Cities

Ascent and Decline of Native and Colonial Trading: Tale of Four Indian Cities presents a vivid picture of how the British political regime reorganized the structure of the Indian economy to suit its own objectives. While doing so, the regime also affected the geographical distribution of economic activities, which in turn altered the locations of poverty and prosperity.

To reveal how the British colonial power brought about such changes in the Indian  subcontinent, the book narrates the account of two pairs of native and colonial cities― Dacca and Calcutta from the eastern coast, and Surat and Bombay from the western coast. These were major centres of manufacturing, shared a common history and  experienced the consequences of three different political dispensations―the Mughal Empire, the East India Company and the British Raj. It describes in detail how mutually beneficial relationships and interregional variations between these cities developed because of colonial restructuring. Due to its extensive coverage and analysis of the underlying phenomena, this book will prove indispensable for developing a deep understanding of Indian colonial and economic history.

Vijay K Seth, PhD (Delhi School of Economics), is former Professor at International Management Institute, New Delhi and Faculty of Management Studies, New Delhi. He is author of seven books, including The Story of Indian Manufacturing: Encounters with the Mughal and British Empires (1498 -1947), published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2017. He has also published around one hundred research papers, chapters in edited books, review articles and book reviews which have appeared in Indian and foreign journals.  He has presented several research papers in India and abroad.  He is the founding editor of Emerging Economy Studies, a journal published by SAGE India.  He has travelled widely across Europe and has trekked in various parts of the Himalayas and the Eastern and Western Ghats of India.