Impact of British Rule on India’s Agriculture and India’s Farmers

Before British rule, Indian agriculture was self-sufficient, village-based, and linked to local consumption and craft production. Under the British, agriculture was transformed into a commercialised, revenue-extracting, export-oriented system designed to serve the needs of British industry and empire. This transformation led to agrarian stagnation, peasant indebtedness, and recurring famines, shaping India’s colonial underdevelopment.

Introduction of New Land Revenue Systems