Economic History of India — DU B.A. (Hons.) Economics Previous Year Question Papers

1. Do you agree with the view that the policies followed by the English East India Company state in India resulted in a missed opportunity for industrialization in the first half of the nineteenth century despite there being a potential for it? Discuss. 2. Was it the conquest of famines or favourable climatic conditions that led to mortality decline and the consequent surge in population growth in India in the third decade of the 20th century. 3. "Millions of lives were sacrificed in the nineteenth century because the pull of humanitarianism on the government and the elites was not so strong as the claims of Malthusianism and social Darwinism" (Ira Klein). Discuss the statement in the context of famine policy and administration in colonial India. 4. Critically examine the contribution of the railways to the growth of the Indian economy under British rule. 5. What was the impact of market expansion in agriculture on peasant earnings, agricultural wages, landownership and class structure in colonial India? 6. What were the fundamental factors inhibiting major industrial transformation in India in the colonial period? Discuss with reference to the different views on this subject. 7. How does Aditya Mukherjee challenge the view that the British rule brought economic progress to India and why does he argue that British colonialism systematically underdeveloped India while contributing to Britain's rise as an imperial power? Discuss. 8. Write Short Notes on any two of the following: (a) The different dimensions of deindustrialisation in nineteenth century India (b) The relevance of the "Bazar" in the three tier division of economic space in colonial India (c) The absence of 'linkages' in the construction of the railways in India (d) The modern cotton textile industry in colonial India