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.