Home market and the artisans in Colonial India: A study of brass-ware

Modern Asian Studies

Volumn 30, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 357-385

  Roy, Tirthankar ^a  

^a INDIRA GANDHI INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH   (India)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BRASSWARE MARKET; COLONIAL SOCIETY; HISTORICAL STUDY; MARKET DEVELOPMENT; NINETEENTH CENTURY; TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE; TWENTIETH CENTURY;

INDIA;

EID: 0029849404     PISSN: 0026749X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0026749x00016504     Document Type: Article

References (103)

1. 'Cloth, the Artisans, and the World Economy', Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, April 1993; T. Roy, Artisans and Industrialization. Indian Weaving in the Twentieth Century (Delhi: 1993); and T. Roy, 'Foreign Trade and the Artisans in Colonial India. A Study of Leather', Indian Economic and Social History Review, October-December 1994.
2. 'Cloth, the Artisans, and the World Economy', Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, April 1993; T. Roy, Artisans and Industrialization. Indian Weaving in the Twentieth Century (Delhi: 1993); and T. Roy, 'Foreign Trade and the Artisans in Colonial India. A Study of Leather', Indian Economic and Social History Review, October-December 1994.
3. 'Cloth, the Artisans, and the World Economy', Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, April 1993; T. Roy, Artisans and Industrialization. Indian Weaving in the Twentieth Century (Delhi: 1993); and T. Roy, 'Foreign Trade and the Artisans in Colonial India. A Study of Leather', Indian Economic and Social History Review, October-December 1994.
4. For a remarkable example of survival, All India Handicrafts Board, Report on Cast Metal Industry in Dariapur (New Delhi, 1964). See also the Anthropological Survey of India's monograph by Meera Mukherjee, Metalcraftsmen in India (Calcutta, 1978). The connection of brass-ware with smelting, which dissolved later on, is indicated in the following, 'in the hilly districts of western Bengal, metal artisans, or at least certain sections of them, seem to have gradually evolved out of the aboriginal . . . iron-smelters', T. N. Mukharji, A Monograph on the Brass, Bronze and Copper Manufactures of Bengal (Calcutta, 1903), p. 4.
5. For a remarkable example of survival, All India Handicrafts Board, Report on Cast Metal Industry in Dariapur (New Delhi, 1964). See also the Anthropological Survey of India's monograph by Meera Mukherjee, Metalcraftsmen in India (Calcutta, 1978). The connection of brass-ware with smelting, which dissolved later on, is indicated in the following, 'in the hilly districts of western Bengal, metal artisans, or at least certain sections of them, seem to have gradually evolved out of the aboriginal . . . iron-smelters', T. N. Mukharji, A Monograph on the Brass, Bronze and Copper Manufactures of Bengal (Calcutta, 1903), p. 4.
6. For a remarkable example of survival, All India Handicrafts Board, Report on Cast Metal Industry in Dariapur (New Delhi, 1964). See also the Anthropological Survey of India's monograph by Meera Mukherjee, Metalcraftsmen in India (Calcutta, 1978). The connection of brass-ware with smelting, which dissolved later on, is indicated in the following, 'in the hilly districts of western Bengal, metal artisans, or at least certain sections of them, seem to have gradually evolved out of the aboriginal . . . iron-smelters', T. N. Mukharji, A Monograph on the Brass, Bronze and Copper Manufactures of Bengal (Calcutta, 1903), p. 4.
7. For examples, G. C. Birdwood, The Industrial Arts of India, Part II (London, 1887), and T. N. Mukharji, Arts and Manufactures of India, (Calcutta, 1888).
8. For examples, G. C. Birdwood, The Industrial Arts of India, Part II (London, 1887), and T. N. Mukharji, Arts and Manufactures of India, (Calcutta, 1888).
9. William Hoey, A Monograph on Trade and Manufactures in Northern India (Lucknow: 1880).
10. Central Provinces and Berar, Report of the Industrial Survey of the Central Provinces and Berar (Nagpur, 1908-09), p. 82; Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13, 15. Interestingly, if prosperity induced use of metals, famines did the reverse. Census, 1901, Bombay, Report (I) attributed a decline in brass and increased use of earthenware to the 1896 famine.
11. Central Provinces and Berar, Report of the Industrial Survey of the Central Provinces and Berar (Nagpur, 1908-09), p. 82; Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13, 15. Interestingly, if prosperity induced use of metals, famines did the reverse. Census, 1901, Bombay, Report (I) attributed a decline in brass and increased use of earthenware to the 1896 famine.
12. Central Provinces and Berar, Report of the Industrial Survey of the Central Provinces and Berar (Nagpur, 1908-09), p. 82; Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13, 15. Interestingly, if prosperity induced use of metals, famines did the reverse. Census, 1901, Bombay, Report (I) attributed a decline in brass and increased use of earthenware to the 1896 famine.
13. Including 'a general growth in smoking habit' in and around the major cities. However, 'at the end of the decade [1920s] came the boycott of imported cigarettes and the Beedi came into its own', Census, India, 1931, Report (I), p. 291.
14. United Provinces, Industrial Survey of the United Provinces (Allahabad, 1924), Benares district, p. 23.
15. The exhibition referred to is probably the British Empire Exhibition, 1924. United Provinces, Industrial Survey, Moradabad, p. 21; Census, 1931, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, Report (I), p. 425.
16. The exhibition referred to is probably the British Empire Exhibition, 1924. United Provinces, Industrial Survey, Moradabad, p. 21; Census, 1931, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, Report (I), p. 425.
17. G. D. Ganguli, 'The Art Industries of the United Provinces', Report of the First Indian Industrial Conference (Benares, 1905) (Allahabad, 1906), p. 346.
18. Part of this can be accounted for by a general decline in employment, probably an after-effect of the epidemic, and by raw material shortages during the war.
19. For instances either way, see A. C. Chatterjee, Notes on the Industries of the United Provinces (Allahabad, 1908), p. 117; P. G. Shah, 'The Copper and Brass Industries in India', Report of the Eighth Indian Industrial Conference, Bankipore, 1912 (Amraoti, 1913), PP. 22, 56; Bengal, Report on the Survey of Cottage Industries of Bengal (Calcutta, 1929), P. 35.
20. For instances either way, see A. C. Chatterjee, Notes on the Industries of the United Provinces (Allahabad, 1908), p. 117; P. G. Shah, 'The Copper and Brass Industries in India', Report of the Eighth Indian Industrial Conference, Bankipore, 1912 (Amraoti, 1913), PP. 22, 56; Bengal, Report on the Survey of Cottage Industries of Bengal (Calcutta, 1929), P. 35.
21. For instances either way, see A. C. Chatterjee, Notes on the Industries of the United Provinces (Allahabad, 1908), p. 117; P. G. Shah, 'The Copper and Brass Industries in India', Report of the Eighth Indian Industrial Conference, Bankipore, 1912 (Amraoti, 1913), PP. 22, 56; Bengal, Report on the Survey of Cottage Industries of Bengal (Calcutta, 1929), P. 35.
22. Census, 1901, Bombay, Report (I).
23. N. M. Joshi, Urban Handicrafts of the Bombay-Deccan (Poona, 1936), p. 56.
24. Shah, 'The Copper and Brass Industries', p. 28.
25. Ibid., p. 53; A. B. Trivedi, Post-war Gujarat (Bombay, 1949), p. 165.
26. Ibid., p. 53; A. B. Trivedi, Post-war Gujarat (Bombay, 1949), p. 165.
27. Central Provinces and Berar, Report of the Industrial Survey, p. 82.
28. 'Of late years the manufacture of many new articles in brass has commenced in and around Calcutta to meet the new wants created . . . among the people', Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13.
29. Bengal, Report on the Survey, p. 83.
30. For example, use of wooden moulds in castings implied mass production and a specialized branch of carpenters who did this work. In the entire period, moulds were of wax in Bengal, but of wood in Moradabad.
31. Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 57.
32. United Province, Industrial Survey, Mirzapur, p. 12, some of this trade still went in carts, the railways being unpopular as they 'ruthlessly knocked about' the vessels. See also, United Provinces, ibid., Farrukhabad and Moradabad.
33. United Province, Industrial Survey, Mirzapur, p. 12, some of this trade still went in carts, the railways being unpopular as they 'ruthlessly knocked about' the vessels. See also, United Provinces, ibid., Farrukhabad and Moradabad.
34. For 1924, United Provinces, Industrial Survey furnishes value of output, number of workers and cost of brass sheets. For 1945, workers and weight are available from V. P. Chaturvedi, Moradabad mein Pital ke Bartanon ka Gharelu Udyog wa Vyavasaya [The Cottage Industry and Trade in Moradabad Brass-ware] (Allahabad, 1950). This yields a per worker weight of raw metal used that increased about 2.9 times in 20 years. If this appears to be an overestimate, the possible sources could be the following. Chaturvedi's figures consist of scrap imported into the city as recorded in the dealer accounts, and of number of workers. Relative to conventional figures, Chaturvedi scaled up scrap, and scaled down workers. Scraps were only partly imported by the railways, so there was a guess involved. But even in the most conservative case, there would remain a large increase in per worker output.
35. In 1924, there were 300 factories of 8-10 workers each. In the late-1970s, there were 2136 factories, of which 273 were registered under Factories Act, with about 19 workers each.
36. Placing the most skilled artisans, the engravers who usually worked at home or in jointly rented sheds, in the same class as the smaller factory owners. Wagecomparisons, average or by kinds of artisans, are possible between United Provinces brass towns in 1907, and in the 1920s; between the Deccan and Moradabad in the 19505; and between Bengal and United Provinces in the first decade of the century.
37. Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 42.
38. Imperial Gazetteer, Indian Empire (Economic) (Oxford, 1909), p. 238; Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 54.
39. Imperial Gazetteer, Indian Empire (Economic) (Oxford, 1909), p. 238; Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 54.
40. Shah, ibid., p. 47.
41. S. S. Mensinkai, A Survey of Handicrafts in Eight Districts of the Mysore State (Dharwar, 1961), p. 10.
42. Engraved cutlery is one example, Imperial Gazetteer, p. 238; In hammered ware, there was a constant change of product, Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 23; firms switching from tin-plating to nickel or silver were also 'taking up new lines of manufacture', United Provinces, Report of the Director of Industries (Allahabad, 1922-31 p. 19.
43. Engraved cutlery is one example, Imperial Gazetteer, p. 238; In hammered ware, there was a constant change of product, Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 23; firms switching from tin-plating to nickel or silver were also 'taking up new lines of manufacture', United Provinces, Report of the Director of Industries (Allahabad, 1922-31 p. 19.
44. Engraved cutlery is one example, Imperial Gazetteer, p. 238; In hammered ware, there was a constant change of product, Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 23; firms switching from tin-plating to nickel or silver were also 'taking up new lines of manufacture', United Provinces, Report of the Director of Industries (Allahabad, 1922-31 p. 19.
45. Chatterjee, Notes on the Industries, pp. 123-4.
46. Imperial Gazetteer, p. 238.
47. Census, 1931, United Provinces (I), p. 425.
48. United Provinces, Industrial Survey, Benares p. 24.
49. G. D. Ganguli cited in Central Provinces, Industrial Survey, p. 85; also, 'with no better guide to regulate their skill other than the fancy of their numerous customers, the brass workers of the present day have adopted models, which in point of elegance and purity of design, can hardly bear comparison with the art product of former years', Ganguli, 'The Art Industries', p.347.
50. G. D. Ganguli cited in Central Provinces, Industrial Survey, p. 85; also, 'with no better guide to regulate their skill other than the fancy of their numerous customers, the brass workers of the present day have adopted models, which in point of elegance and purity of design, can hardly bear comparison with the art product of former years', Ganguli, 'The Art Industries', p.347.
51. Indian Industrial Commission, Evidence (I), United Provinces, p. 194.
52. Mohammad Yaar Khan, see Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 56.
53. On the decline of the industry in Lucknow with the rise of Moradabad, see A. Bhattacharya, 'A Survey of the Small Urban Industries of Lucknow', Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee, United Provinces, vol. 2, Evidence (Allahabad, 1930), pp. 404-5.
54. Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, pp. 118-19.
55. Thus, 'whenever a cottage industry is in the hands of a particular caste, it easily assimilates itself to the workshop system', Provincial Banking Enquiry Commission, United Provinces, Report, p. 252. Caste, though utilizable this way, was neither a necessary nor a sufficient precondition for workshops to develop.
56. Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 121.
57. See Mensinkai on dealers in the Deccan, A Survey of Handicrafts.
58. United Provinces, Industrial Survey, Moradabad, p. 20.
59. Banking Enquiry, United Provinces, Evidence (II), p. 132. In Moradabad, big dealers allowed their long-time employees to become agents. Some remained paid employees, and some became full-fledged merchants, Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry.
60. Banking Enquiry, United Provinces, Evidence (II), p. 132. In Moradabad, big dealers allowed their long-time employees to become agents. Some remained paid employees, and some became full-fledged merchants, Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry.
61. Joshi, Urban Handicrafts, p. 123.
62. R. D. Choksey, Economic Life in the Bombay-Deccan (1918-1939) (Bombay, 1955), P. 189.
63. In 1907, 'there is . . . a great deal of competition among the dealers and profits are cut very fine', Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 125; on flexible contracts, Baljit Singh, The Economics of Small-scale Industries. A Case Study of Small-scale Industrial Establishments of Moradabad (Bombay, 1961), p. 20.
64. In 1907, 'there is . . . a great deal of competition among the dealers and profits are cut very fine', Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 125; on flexible contracts, Baljit Singh, The Economics of Small-scale Industries. A Case Study of Small-scale Industrial Establishments of Moradabad (Bombay, 1961), p. 20.
65. Bengal, Report on the Survey, pp. 31-3, 56.
66. On karkhanadars trading (Mirzapur), see Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 121; on factories belonging to 'men of substance who were not themselves workmen', Chatterjee, ibid., p. 120, Moradabad engraving, and p. 122, Benares. In the early 19303, karkhanas in Poona were owned by 'rich capitalists', who owned shops in the city. Some of these worked on contract, and some were independent. Joshi, Urban Handicrafts, p. 124.
67. On karkhanadars trading (Mirzapur), see Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 121; on factories belonging to 'men of substance who were not themselves workmen', Chatterjee, ibid., p. 120, Moradabad engraving, and p. 122, Benares. In the early 19303, karkhanas in Poona were owned by 'rich capitalists', who owned shops in the city. Some of these worked on contract, and some were independent. Joshi, Urban Handicrafts, p. 124.
68. On karkhanadars trading (Mirzapur), see Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 121; on factories belonging to 'men of substance who were not themselves workmen', Chatterjee, ibid., p. 120, Moradabad engraving, and p. 122, Benares. In the early 19303, karkhanas in Poona were owned by 'rich capitalists', who owned shops in the city. Some of these worked on contract, and some were independent. Joshi, Urban Handicrafts, p. 124.
69. In the 19605, a section of Moradabad dealers were called karkhanadars. All India Handicrafts Board, Report on the Survey of the Brassware Industry at Moradabad (New Delhi, 1964).
70. Banking Enquiry, United Provinces, Evidence (II), p. 131.
71. Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 120; Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 27; Singh, The Economics of Small-scale, p. 21.
72. Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 120; Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 27; Singh, The Economics of Small-scale, p. 21.
73. Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 120; Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 27; Singh, The Economics of Small-scale, p. 21.
74. United Provinces, Industrial Survey, Moradabad, p. 22.
75. Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 25; All India Handicrafts Board, Report on the Survey, pp. 6-8.
76. Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 25; All India Handicrafts Board, Report on the Survey, pp. 6-8.
77. For example, where the vessel was lacquered, the lathe needed to move slowly, controllably, and the assistant turning the lathe had to have knowledge of the mastercraftsman's techniques.
78. A leading brass-dealer of Moradabad informed me that he was making arrangements to set up a die-press in that town', Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 125.
79. Singh, The Economics of Small-scale, p. 54.
80. Ibid.
81. Interpreting data supplied in ibid.
82. Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, and United Provinces, Industrial Survey, Moradabad.
83. Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, and United Provinces, Industrial Survey, Moradabad.
84. On Punjab, Haryana District Gazetteer, Ambala (Chandigarh, 1984), p. 129; Punjab, Report on Industrial Survey of Punjab (Chandigarh, 1960), pp. 86-7; on Bombay, Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 53; Bombay, Report of the Bombay Economic and Industrial Survey Committee, 1938-1940 (Bombay, 1940), p. 74; on Calcutta, Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13; on Poona, Gazetteer of the Bombay State, Poona (Bombay, 1954), pp. 270-2.
85. On Punjab, Haryana District Gazetteer, Ambala (Chandigarh, 1984), p. 129; Punjab, Report on Industrial Survey of Punjab (Chandigarh, 1960), pp. 86-7; on Bombay, Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 53; Bombay, Report of the Bombay Economic and Industrial Survey Committee, 1938-1940 (Bombay, 1940), p. 74; on Calcutta, Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13; on Poona, Gazetteer of the Bombay State, Poona (Bombay, 1954), pp. 270-2.
86. On Punjab, Haryana District Gazetteer, Ambala (Chandigarh, 1984), p. 129; Punjab, Report on Industrial Survey of Punjab (Chandigarh, 1960), pp. 86-7; on Bombay, Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 53; Bombay, Report of the Bombay Economic and Industrial Survey Committee, 1938-1940 (Bombay, 1940), p. 74; on Calcutta, Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13; on Poona, Gazetteer of the Bombay State, Poona (Bombay, 1954), pp. 270-2.
87. On Punjab, Haryana District Gazetteer, Ambala (Chandigarh, 1984), p. 129; Punjab, Report on Industrial Survey of Punjab (Chandigarh, 1960), pp. 86-7; on Bombay, Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 53; Bombay, Report of the Bombay Economic and Industrial Survey Committee, 1938-1940 (Bombay, 1940), p. 74; on Calcutta, Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13; on Poona, Gazetteer of the Bombay State, Poona (Bombay, 1954), pp. 270-2.
88. On Punjab, Haryana District Gazetteer, Ambala (Chandigarh, 1984), p. 129; Punjab, Report on Industrial Survey of Punjab (Chandigarh, 1960), pp. 86-7; on Bombay, Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 53; Bombay, Report of the Bombay Economic and Industrial Survey Committee, 1938-1940 (Bombay, 1940), p. 74; on Calcutta, Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13; on Poona, Gazetteer of the Bombay State, Poona (Bombay, 1954), pp. 270-2.
89. On Punjab, Haryana District Gazetteer, Ambala (Chandigarh, 1984), p. 129; Punjab, Report on Industrial Survey of Punjab (Chandigarh, 1960), pp. 86-7; on Bombay, Shah, 'Copper and Brass Industries', p. 53; Bombay, Report of the Bombay Economic and Industrial Survey Committee, 1938-1940 (Bombay, 1940), p. 74; on Calcutta, Mukharji, A Monograph, pp. 12-13; on Poona, Gazetteer of the Bombay State, Poona (Bombay, 1954), pp. 270-2.
90. Joshi, Urban Handicrafts, p. 124.
91. Chatterjee, Notes on Industries, p. 119.
92. Chaturvedi, The Cottage Industry, p. 27.
93. Joshi, Urban Handicrafts, p. 125.
94. Bengal, Report on the Survey, pp. 81-2.
95. Bhattacharya, 'A Survey', p. 402.
96. Ibid., p. 404.
97. Banking Enquiry, United Provinces, Evidence (II), p. 131.
98. Choksey, The Economic Life, p. 189.
99. Bhattacharya, 'A Survey', p. 404.
100. Census, 1961, Uttar Pradesh, Handicrafts Survey Monographs (VII-A), Brass and Copper Industry in Uttar Pradesh.
101. India (Ministry of Labour and Rehabilitation), Report on the Working and Living Conditions of Workers in the Metalware Industry at Moradabad (New Delhi, 1982), tables. The study contains fascinating information on the levels of living of Moradabad brass workers. By income, wealth and welfare indices, they were placed somewhere in the middle classes of the town. It would seem, however, that over the preceding decades, the workers' distance from the work-place had increased, reflecting general urban growth.
102. Mensinkai, A Survey of Handicrafts, p. 89.
103. Census, 1961, Brass and Copper, p. 17.