Economic exploitation of the country produced discontent, resentment and resistance among the people that culminated in the Great Uprising of 1857. In this context discuss:

(a) The ruin of trade and handicrafts

(b) Impoverishment of the cultivators

(c) Subordination of Indian economy to British interests (making India an agricultural colony of British capitalism)

(a) The British crippled the Indian trade and handicrafts in the following manner-

1. Heavy duties on Indian silk and cotton textiles in Britain destroyed Indian industries.
2. On the other hand, British goods were imported into India at a nominal duty.
3. By the middle of 19th century, export of cotton and silk goods from India practically ceased.
4. The art of spinning and weaving, which for ages had given employment to thousands of artisans, became extinct.
5. The misery of the artisans was further compounded by the disappearance of their traditional patrons and buyers- the princes, chieftains and zamindars.

(b) The official land revenue policy was the main cause of the impoverishment of the cultivators.

1. It was the peasantry that bore the heavy burden of taxes to provide money for the trade of the Company, for the cost of administration and the wars of British expansion in India.
2. The land revenue was double the amount collected under the Mughals.
3. Not even a part of this revenue was spent on the development of agriculture or on the welfare of the cultivator.
4. Increase in the land revenue forced many peasants into indebtedness or into selling their lands.
5. The traditional zamindars were replaced by merchants and money lenders, who had no concern for the peasants.
6. They pushed rents to exorbitant levels and evicted their tenants in case of non-payment. Thus, British economic exploitation, decay of indigenous industries, high taxation, the drain of wealth, stagnation of agriculture and exploitation of the poor peasants reduced the Indians to extreme poverty.

(c) The British exploited the Indian resources for their own benefits in the following manner-

1. They made agricultural India an economic colony to serve the interests of industrial England.
2. India was forced to export, at cheaper rates, raw material, raw cotton and raw silk that the British industries needed urgently.
3. India also exported plantation products and food grains which were in short supply in Britain.
4. India was made to accept ready-made British goods either duty-free or at nominal duty rates, while Indian products were subjected to high import duties in England.
5. This ruined the Indian industry, deprived the artisans of their income and reduced the avenues of employment for labour.
6. Export of raw materials and food grains deprived India of her agricultural surplus and raised the prices of raw materials.