The traditional handicrafts industries were ruined under the British rule. Do you agree with this view? Give reasons in support of your answer.

Yes, we agree with the above statement that the traditional handicrafts industries were ruined under the British rule. The following are the reasons in favour of the statement.

(i) Discriminatory Tariff Policy:- The British rule used India both as a source of cheap raw materials as well as easy accessible market for their finished products. Thereby, they imposed heavy tariffs (export duties) on India’s export of handicraft products, while allowed free export of India’s raw material to Britain and free import of British finished products into India. This made India’s exports costlier and its international demand fell drastically leading to the collapse of handicrafts industries.

(ii) Competition from Machine-made Britain Goods:- The demand for the handicrafts products experienced a downward trend in the domestic markets as well. This was due to stiff competition from the machine-made textiles from Britain. The goods produced mechanically in Britain using cheap raw material from India were comparatively lower in price and of superior quality than the Indian handicraft goods. This narrowed the market for Indian handicrafts industries.

(iii) Emergence of Western Lifestyle:- The British rule in India popularised Western lifestyle in India. There was an emergence of a new section of population (consisting mainly of zamindars) in India who liked the British goods and also promoted their use to please the British Government. This section used to spend lavishly on the British products that provided impetus for the development of British industries at the cost of the domestic industries. Hence, gradually Indian handicrafts industries perished away.

(iv) Downfall of Princely State:- Prior to the British rule, nawabs, rajas, princes and emperors ruled different parts of the country. They used to patronise handicrafts industries and consequently, Indian handicrafts gained reputation in the international markets. But during the British rule, these princely states were ruined thereby ruining the protection of these handicrafts industries. Thus, Indian handicrafts industries could not survive.