Takers or Makers: A Study on the British Investment and Return in the 19th Century Colonial Assam

Abstract

The paper focuses on the investments of the British colonizers in Assam and the return on these investments. The first Anglo Burmese War of 1824-26 paved the way for establishment of British colony in Assam and the North east of India. The British historiography often highlights the ‘White Man’s Burden’ attitude and portrays the British and Europeans in India as self-sacrificing, and thereby promoting the narrative that they were the makers of modern India. But in reality, in the so-called process of making of the modern India they actually drained the wealth of India. The same was the case of Assam. They had taken over Assam from the Burmese and started administrative and diplomatic arrangement in order to create an investment friendly political atmosphere. They were in real sense the pioneers of tea plantations, extraction of petroleum and coal, railways and streamer services in Assam. They connected the medieval feudal economy of Assam with the global economy of 19th century. They can well be termed as the ‘makers’ of modern Assam but at the same time they appeared as the ‘takers’ with a huge drain of wealth as return of their investment in Assam. The paper discusses the volume of British investments in organized sector of Assam from 1826 to 1900 and the return from it. Thereby it is tried to establish the fact that the British by establishing a colony in Assam were the ‘takers’ in reality although appears to be the ‘makers’ of modern Assam.