Colonial railways
Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 4 "The Colonial Era in India"
Meaning
Colonial railways were the railway lines the British built in India from 1853 onwards. Their main jobs were to carry raw materials like cotton to the ports, spread British factory goods across India, and move troops quickly. Indians paid for them through taxes, while British investors were promised a steady profit. This made the railways part of the drain of wealth, the steady flow of India's money to Britain.
Example
The first passenger line ran from Bombay to Thane in 1853. Later lines linked cotton-growing areas inland to ports like Bombay. During the cotton boom of 1861–65, raw cotton could then move quickly to Britain.
Don't confuse with
- Railways as development: the British claimed the railways were a gift of progress. But the lines were planned around British trade and military needs, and Indians bore much of the cost.
Related concepts
- Drain of wealth
- William Digby
- Dadabhai Naoroji
- Poverty and Un-British Rule in India
- Romesh Chunder Dutt
- Economic History of India
- Home charges
- First railway line 1853
- Great Indian Peninsula Railway
- Guaranteed interest system