AGRICULTURE

India agriculture during 18th century was technically backward and stagnant. The techniques of production had stayed stationary for centuries. However, the peasantry tried to balance the lack in technique by working hard in order to sustain the exploitative revenue farming regime (explained earlier). Unfortunately, the peasants were not able to reap the benefits of their hard work. Even though their produce was the major source of income for whole of india, they were the ones deprived of their produce with high taxes which amounted to approx 50% of their produce. This mechanism was almost followed everywhere by all rulers – Mughals, Marathas, indidual successors of Mughal state and even the Sikh chiefs.

TRADE

Indian villages were largely self sufficient and imported little from outside. However, despite the means of communication being backward, still an extensive trade within the country and with the other countries in Asia and Europe was carried out under the Mughals.

India imported the following commodities from the given countries:

• Persian gulf: pearls, raw silk, dry fruits, rose water
• Arabia: coffee, gold, drugs, honey
• China: Tea, sugar, porcelain, silk
• Tibet: gold, musk, woollen clothes
• Singapore: Tin
• Indonesia: ivory and drugs
• Africa: drugs

Political factors which hurt trade also affected the urban industries. Delhi was plundered by Nadir Shah; Lahore, Delhi, Mathura by Ahmed Shah Abdali; Agra by Jats; Gujarat, Malwa, Deccan by Marathas; Sirhind by Sikhs and so on. Also the fortune of artisans went along with the fate of their feudal lords. This was because of the reason that the upper class/ nobility was the only customer of the artisans. Although, the continual plundering made them vulnerable, the development of autonomous states helped them to move to different locations, for example, to Awadh, Bengal, Mysore, Kashmir, faizabad, Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna. This provided for a recovery to artisan production. Even with political distu bances, India remained an extensive manufacture. Indian artisans enjoyed fame all over the world for their skill. The large scale production items included- cotton, silk, jute, dye-stuffs, saltpeter, spices, oil etc. Major cotton textile hubs were.

1. Dacca & Murshidabad in Bengal,
2. Patna in Bihar,
3. Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad in Gujarat,
4. Chanderi in MP
5. Jaunpur, Varanasi, Lucknow and Agra in UP,
6. Multan and Lahore in Punjab,
7. Masulipatnam, Aurangabad, Visakhapatnam in what is now Andhra Pradesh,
8. Bangalore in present day Karnataka,
9. Coimbatore, Madurai in today’s TN,
10. Kashmir was the woollen textiles hub.

EDUCATION

Education in India was primarily emphasized on at the elementary level. Though it was majorly limited to the upper castes among Hindus; there were certain regional exceptions. Education was provided at the local village level schools among Hindus. For Muslim, this was done in Maktabs by the Maulvis. The language pursued at that time was Persian as it was the official language and was followed by both Hindus and endownments in reading, writing, arithmetic than common people of any nation in Europe. A negative feature of the education  system was that girls were seldom given education, through some upper class women were an exception.

SOCIAL & CULTURAL LIFE

There was no uniformity of culture and social patterns all over the country. Nor did the Hindus and Muslims form two distinct societies. People were divided across several lines which included religion, region, tribe language, caste etc. Moreover, the social and cultural life of the upper classes, which formed a tiny minority of the total population, widely different from the lower classes.

Caste was the central feature of the social life of Hindus. Apart from the 4 varnas, numerous jatis had come into existence which differed in nature from place to place. There was a huge divided between the upper castes and lower castes. The upper caste also known as ‘dvijas’ or ‘twice born’ castes of Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas were dominated by Brahmins who monopolized all social prestige and privileges. There was restriction on the inter-dining of the castes an even there was a section that would not have food if it was touched by a lower caste. Caste often determined the choice of profession but this was limited to lower castes only. Brahmins were diversified into zamindaris and trade businesses by this time. However, there was a small section of population which was able to rise in social hierarchy with their economic power through hard work. They were also able to acquire certain high offices of power e.g.  Holkar family of indore.

WOMEN

Society primarily remained patriarchal which meant that family was dominated by senior male members. In Kerala, though, there was an exception in Nairs. Who were a matrilineal group. In general, women were seen merely as mothers and wives, although with respect. A European traveler, Abbe J.A. Dudois, commented in the beginning of 19th century “A Hindu woman can go alone anywhere, even in the most crowed places, and she need never fear the impertinent looks and jokes of idle loungers”. However, it doesn’t mean that all women were restricted household. Devi Ahilyabai Holkar administered Indore with great success between 1766 and 1796. While women worked mostly inside homes, this was limited to only the upper castes. The lower caste women had to work outside and even in field to contribute to the production and therefore family income. Although the Purdah system was common mostly in higher castes of north, it was not practiced in south. Boys and girls were not allowed to mix and they were married at early ages. Such was the belief in child marriages that some sections of people used to get their children married at the age of 3-4 years.

ART

Culturally India showed signs of exhaustion in 18th century. The arts which mostly depended on patronage of royal courts suffered most, but a revival was observed with the upsurge of autonomous regions as they attracted these artists towards them. Mughal architecture and paintings also witnessed a huge decline during the era. The painters of the Mughal School migrated to different regions e.g. Hyderabad, Kashmir, Patna, Lucknow etc. At the same time, new schools of painting came up with the Kangra & Rajputana schools. City of jaipur and Imambara of Lucknow reflect similar shift of art from Delhi to different parts of the country. Music flourished in this period majorly due to the efforts of Muhammad Shah ‘Rangeela’. Urdu saw a great upsurge with  the vigorous growth of Urdu poetry. It produced poets like Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Muhammad Rafi ‘Sauda’. Nazeer Akbarabadi ‘Nazeer’ etc and later in 19th century Mirza Ghalib and Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’ (yes, the last Mughal Emperor was interested in Urdu poetry). Similarly there was revival of Malayalam literature in south due to the patronage of the Travancore rulers. Kerala witnessed full development of Kathakali, literature, drama and dance in this period. Similar advancements happened in the areas like Assam , Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat.

RELIGION

Although there was no unity among Indian people , but still there were no differences due to different religion. The Hindus and Muslims cooperated in non-religious spheres such as social and cultural affairs. Hindu writers wrote in Persian and Muslim writers wrote in Hindi, Bengali and other vernaculars. Muslim scholars often wrote dealing with subject of Hindu social life and religious texts on Hindu deities like Radha, Krishan, Sita, Rama etc. many local cults and shrines had both Hindu and Muslim followers. The development of Urdu language provided for a new meeting ground for Hindus and Muslims. It may also be noted that religious affiliation was not the main point of departure in cultural and social life. People of one region had far greater cultural synthesis, irrespective of religion than people following the same religion spread over different regions.

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