Class 12 NCERT History chapter 12

                Colonial Cities 

  Urbanization , Planning and Architecture

Introduction

• The process of urbanization in colonial India , explore the distinguishing characteristics of colonial cities and track social change within them .
• Madras (Chennai ) , Calcutta  (Kolkata ) and Bombay (Mumbai) were originally fishing and weaving village .
• They became important centers of trade due to the economic activities of the English East India company .
• Company settled in Madras in 1639 and in Calcutta in 1690 .
• Bombay was given to the company in 1661 by the English king 
• Indians experienced political domination in new ways in these cities .

Towns and cities in pre - colonial times 

• The growth of cities in the colonial period , let us look urban centers during the centuries preceding British rule 

What gave towns their character ?

• Towns were defined in opposition to rural areas .
• Towns represented specific forms of economic activities and cultures.
• Town by contrast were peopled with artisans , trader , administrators and rulers .
• Towns dominated over the rural population , thriving on the surplus and taxes derived from agriculture .
• Agra , Delhi and Lahore were important centers of imperial and control .
• The treasury was also located in the imperial capital Thus the revenues of the kingdom flowed into the capital regularly .
• within these towns were gardens , mosques , temple , tombs , colleges , bazaars and caravanserais .

Town in south India 

• In the towns of South India such as Madurai and Kanchipuram the Principal focus was the temple 
• These town were also important commercial centers .
• The ruler was the highest authority and the principal patron of religious institutions .
• The work of the imperial officer called the Kotwal who oversaw the internal affairs and policing of the town. 

Changes in the eighteenth century 

• The old towns went declined and new towns developed in the 18th century 
• The gradual erosion of mughal power led to the demise of towns associated with their rule .
• The growth of new regional powers was reflected in the increasing importance of regional capital - Lucknow , Hyderabad , Seringapatam, Poona , Nagpur , Baroda and Tanjore 
• In some places there was renewed economic activity , in other places war , plunder and political uncertainty led to economic decline. 
• Changes in the networks of trade were reflected in the history of urban centers .
• By the end of 18th century the land based empire in Asia were replaced by the powerful sea based European empires.
• New building , Occupations institutions developed .

Finding out about colonial city 

Colonial record and urban history 

• Colonial rule a based on the production of  enormous amount of data 
• The british kept detailed kept detailed record of their trading activities in order to regulate their commercial affair .
• The municipal corporation with some popular representative were meant to administer essential services such as water supply sewage etc. 
• The activities of municipal Corporation in turn generated a whole new set of records maintained in municipal record rooms .

Problem faced while collecting the census

• The first all- India census was attempted in 1872 . from 1881 decennial census become a regular feature.
• The people often refused to cooperate or gave evasive answer to the census officials.
• Historians have to use source like census with great caution , keeping in mind their possible biases recalculating figures and understanding what the figures do not tell.

Trends of change                                           

• The smaller towns had tittle opportunity to grow economically 
• Calcutta , Bombay and Madras on the other had grew rapidly and soon became and prawling cities 
• The introduction of railways in 1853 meant a change in the fortunes of towns 
• Railway town like jamalpur ,waltair developed as a trading center

Ports, forts and centers for device 

• By the 18th century Madras , Calcutta and Bombay had become important ports .
• The English east India company build its factories because of competition among the Europeans companies fortified the settlement for protection.
• There were separated quarters for European and Indian , which came to be labeled in contemporary writing as the Black town and White town.
• From the 19th century the expanding network railways linked these cities to the rest of the country 
• Madras , Calcutta , Bombay , grew into a large city but did not signify and dramatic economic growth .

A new urban milieu 

• Colonial cities reflected the mercantile cultural of the new rule.
• Political power and patronage situated from India rulers to the merchants of the east India company 
• Economic activities near the river of the sea led to the development of docks and ghats 
• The rich Indian agents and middlemen built large traditional courtyard houses in the black town in the vicinity of the bazaars.
• For the British , the Black areas came to symbolize not only chaos and anarchy , but also filth and disease While the british were interested primarily in the cleanliness and hygienic of the white areas 

The first hill station 

• The hill station were a distinctive features of colonial urban development 
• The founding and settling of hill stations was initially connected with the needs of the British army 
• Hill stations became strategic places for billeting troops , guarding frontiers and launching campaigns against enemy rulers
• The temperate and cool climate of the Indian hills was seen as an advantage , particularly since the british associated hot weather with epidemics.
• Hill stations were also developed as sanitariums .
• Hill stations were important for the colonial economy.

Social life in the new cities 

• The new cities were bewildering places where life seemed always in a flux
• There was a dramatic contrast between extreme wealth and poverty 
• There was a gradual separation of the place of work from the place of residence .
• within the cities new social groups were no longer important .
• There was an increasing demand for clerks , teachers , lawyers , doctors , engineers and accountants .
• Another new class within the cities was the labouring poor or the working class .
• Paupers from rural areas flocked to the cities in the hope of employment .

Segregation , Town Planing and Architecture Madras , Calcutta and Bombay 

• Madras , Calcutta and Bombay gradually developed into the biggest cities of colonial India .

Settlement and segregation in Madras 

• The company had first set up its trading activities in the well - established port of Surat on the west coast 
• In 1639 they constructed a trading post in Madraspatam .This Settlement was locally known as Chenapattanam.

White Town Fort St. George

• Fort St. George became the nucleus of the white town where most of the Europeans lived.
• Colour and religion determined who was allowed to live within the fort , the company did not permit any marriages with Indians 
• The Dutch and Portuguese were allowed to stay here because they were European and Christian .

Black Town 

• The Black town developed outside the fort 
• It was laid out in straight lines , a characteristic of colonial towns .
• A new black town developed further to the north .
• this housed weavers , artisans , middlemen and interpreters who played a vital role in the company trade .

Town planing in Calcutta

• Modern town planning began in the colonial cities .
• The ideology of development that this vision reflected presumed exercise of state power over urban lives and urban spaces.
• 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 .
• In 1757 , When Sirajudaula was defeated in the Battle of Plassey , the east India company decided to build a new fort , one that could not be easily attacked .
• The new Fort William they left a vast open space which came to be locally known as the Maidan or garer- math.
• The history of town planning in Calcutta of course did not end with the building of fort William and the Maidan 
• In 1798 , Lord Wellesley became the Governor General.
• After Wellesely's departure the work of town planning was carried on by the Lottery Committee (1817) with the help of the government .
• The Lottery committee was so named because funds for town improvement were raised through public lotteries.
• By the late 19th century , official intervention in the city became more stringent . 

Architecture in Bombay 

• Bombay was initially seven islands .
• Bombay was the commercial capital of colonial India .
• The end of the 19th century , half the imports and exports of India passed through Bombay .
• One important item of this trade was opium that the East India company exported to china .
• In 1869 ,the Suez Canal was opened and this further strengthened Bombay's links with world economy .
•  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 .
• The 20th 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 .
• In India localities of Bombay traditional styles of decoration and building predominated .