Author: Dr. Santoshi Bhagat
DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.70798/Bijmrd/04050010
Abstract: During the early modern and colonial eras, Bengal’s silk industry played a significant role in South Asia’s economic and commercial history. Bengal, known for its exquisite raw silk and silk fabrics, developed into a significant hub for manufacturing and export under both native kings and European commercial firms. However, under British colonial control, the sector gradually declined and changed during the eighteenth century. The structural shifts that impacted Bengal’s silk business between 1800 and 1900 are examined in this article. It contends that Bengal’s transformation from a thriving silkmanufacturing zone to a provider of raw materials for European industries was caused by colonial economic policies, the growth of global capitalist markets, technological advancements in Europe, and environmental crises. The impact on peasant and artisan communities, the demise of indigenous weaving centres, the East India Company’s role in monopolizing the silk trade, and Bengal’s absorption into the global imperial economy are all extensively examined in this study. The essay shows how the evolution of Bengal’s silk industry mirrored larger trends of colonial exploitation and deindustrialization in nineteenth-century India through an examination of colonial accounts, trade records, and secondary scholarship.
Keywords: Bengal Silk Industry; Colonial Economy; East India Company; Sericulture; Deindustrialization; Murshidabad; Silk Trade; British India; Colonial Capitalism; Nineteenth Century Bengal.
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