With an interest in Socio-Economic history I have tried in the present study to analyse the non-agricultural production of Assam under the colonial regime. The period has been selected for the study because of two reasons. The year 1870-1901 marks the begining or the second phase of colonisation in Assam as the period was "One of hectic investment activities on the part of British enterprise in its drive for exploitation of colonial resources" Again, the early 20th Century has been included in the study because of technological changes and rise of indigenous enterprise under swadeshi impact.
But an apparent deviation from the period of study has been noticed in this work as two chapters relating to the social formation and the process of social mobility of two different occupational groups, viz. blacksmiths and goldw ashers have been included in the revised version. These two chapters are considered necessary to make a socio-economic approach to the indigenous artisans of the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam. The present study considers it necessary to extend the period of study to the late medieval period which was undoubtedly the period of transition from tribal to feudal social formation.
The geographical limitation of the present study deserves mention. It is needless to say that the people of the Valley are of mixed culture. There are different tribes, on the one hand, and the palins people, on the other. The undivided Assam comprised of the Khasi, Jaintra and Garo-Hills (modern Meghalaya), the Naga Hills (Nagaland), the Lushai Hills (Mizoram). Manipur, the hills of Arunachal Pradesh, the plains of Brahmaputra Valley and Surma Valley, a major part of which (the District of Sylhet) formed part of former East Pakistan and now of Bangladesh. The present work is mainly concerned with Brahmaputra Valley, but Surma Valley sometimes has made its way into the discussion mostly for a comparative study.
This study seeks to throw light on a rather uncultivated area in research. Still, mention must be made of Amalendu Guha's work on this area. His researches have no doubt been the basis for this work. Eminent historians like S. K. Bhuyan and H. K. Barpujari have also contributed to the field, but their works throw light more on political and social history.
than on economic field. Recently. Nandita Khadria has also contributed a number of articles on the subject which have been used as valuable guidelines for the present study.
The object of the study is to provide in the light of original sources the impact of industrial capitalism on the indigenous industries of the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam. It tries to highlight how the new social formation which was being moulded in the region in the 19th century affected the artisans and their productivity and brought forward a dynamic character to the mode of production and technology With this end in view the study deals with the production process, productive forces like tools and labour, the process of capital formation etc. The study also tries to highlight the growth of a new social class in Assam who owed.
their origin to swadeshi enterprise The present study has basically dealt with the industries like textile.
both silk and cotton, metal industries, industries connected with agriculture and forest products etc. Tea has been excluded from the study because though indigenous ownership was present British interests were in total control.
In view of paucity of any comprehensive works on the subject anyone interested in working on the subject is beset with some initial difficulties The major sources of the study belong to the primary sources including archival sources. The institutions like the National Library, Kolkata, Assam State Archives. Dispur, West Bengal Archives, Kolkata, Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, North East India, Shillong Office of the Deputy Commissioner. Karimganj. Astatic Society. Kolkata: Library of Assam Sahitya Sabha. Guwahati. Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Guwahati: Centre for Studies in Social Sciences. Kolkata offer major source materials to the study.
The work has been divided into six main chapters. Chapter one deals with the image and structural feature of the indigenous industries of Assam. Chapter two deals with the theory of de-industrialisation and its applications in Assam. Chapter three deals with the social formation of the blacksmiths and chapter four with the social mobility of the goldwashers of Assam. Chapter five discusses the modes of production and technology Chapter six being added as supplementary note, deals with the indigenous and swadesht enterprise in Surma Valley, mainly to show the nature of investment activities of the two Valleys.
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