Describe the phases of colonisation in British India.
British colonisation in India unfolded in three distinct economic phases. The first phase (1757–1813) represented mercantile capitalism under the East India Company. The focus was on plunder, monopoly trade, land revenue extraction, and remittances of tribute, creating massive wealth transfers to Britain.
The second phase (1813–1858), coinciding with the Industrial Revolution, saw India turned into a supplier of raw materials such as cotton and jute and a market for British manufactured goods. Indigenous handicrafts and industries declined, and India was integrated into the global capitalist system in a dependent role.
The third phase (post-1858), after the Crown assumed direct control, marked the rise of financial capitalism. British investments expanded in railways, tea and coffee plantations, coal mining, and jute mills. Profits and interest flowed abroad, while administrative consolidation entrenched colonial dominance. Each phase deepened India’s economic subordination, leaving structural distortions that shaped its underdevelopment well into the twentieth century.
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