Economic Outcomes from Contrasting Colonial Strategies by the East India Company and British Raj at an Inter-Regional Level Between 1757-1947

1757-1947 年间东印度公司和英属印度在区域间层面对比殖民战略的经济成果

• 批准号: 2884155
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2884155
• 关键词: Economic; Outcomes; Contrasting; Colonial; Strategies

My anticipated (general) area of research focus: Literature around the economic impact of British interference in India at a national level is abundant, however inter-regional variations, especially covering the western Tribal Areas and Balochistan have been relatively sparsely covered. On the one hand, the East India Company established the port cities of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta with the commercial opportunities here attracting the migration of many Indians (especially merchants and bankers). Eventually, institutions such as colleges and universities were established there making English language the lingua franca of the region, producing highly skilled doctors, civil servants and lawyers. The British Raj then expanded the access of these Indian merchants to overseas markets and the volume of trade through these three ports increased fivefold between 1863-1913. Other regions such as the United Provinces, Gujrat and Punjab experienced vast agricultural development with cultivated acreage across these regions increasing by a factor of 2.11 between 1600 and 1910, according to research by Professor Stephen Broadberry. In contrast, the Tribal Areas of western British India mainly experienced British military aggression and by 1947, there were no schools, hospitals, railways or other infrastructure within these Tribal Areas, except for those used exclusively by the British. In fact, the Waziristan region is reported to have had more troops stationed there in 1936 than anywhere else in the entire subcontinent. Other regions such as Bihar witnessed significant economic deindustrialisation in the 19th century. Balochistan and the Tribal Areas were given significant autonomy, although without any plans for economic development or institution building. This view is supported by Professors Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson who argue that colonisers less likely to settle in a specific region (possibly because of facing higher mortality like the British faced in the Tribal Areas and Balochistan), were more likely to establish extractive states there. These extractive states then determine the quality of institutions and the subsequent economic performance of the region. I would like to use regional British and Indian military mortality figures as a proxy for institutions, investigating heterogeneity across British Indian regions and then comparing it to the economic performances of these regions today to evaluate Acemoglu et al.'s hypothesis. Moreover, the Tribal Areas and Balochistan mainly consist of the Pashtun tribes of Mohmand, Shinwari, Achekzai and Kakar amongst many others, who were involuntarily separated from their fellow tribespeople between Afghanistan and British India in the late 19th century. I would like to compare the modern economic performances of these tribes settled in Balochistan and the Tribal Areas who have experienced the legacy of British colonial rule with their fellow identical tribespeople in Afghanistan who lived under the Durrani and Barakzai empires. This comparison can then hopefully be used as a robustness check of the overall long-term economic impact of the British colonial rule. By focusing on the economic impact of inter-regional variations of colonial strategies and covering the Tribal Areas and Balochistan amongst other British Indian regions, I will hopefully be filling up a gap within the academic discourse. Being natively fluent in Pashto and understanding Dari and Urdu, I would like to use primary and secondary sources in these languages to contribute to my research and to the wider academic discourse, from a non-European perspective.

我预期的（一般）研究重点领域：关于英国在国家层面干预印度的经济影响的文献很多，但区域间的差异，特别是涵盖西部部落地区和俾路支省的差异相对较少。一方面，东印度公司建立了马德拉斯、孟买和加尔各答等港口城市，这里的商业机会吸引了许多印度人（特别是商人和银行家）移民。最终，学院和大学等机构在那里建立，使英语成为该地区的通用语言，培养了高技能的医生、公务员和律师。随后，英属印度扩大了这些印度商人进入海外市场的准入，1863 年至 1913 年间，通过这三个港口的贸易量增加了五倍。根据斯蒂芬·布罗德伯里教授的研究，联合省、古吉拉特邦和旁遮普邦等其他地区经历了巨大的农业发展，这些地区的耕地面积在 1600 年至 1910 年间增加了 2.11 倍。相比之下，英属印度西部的部落地区主要遭受英国的军事侵略，到1947年，这些部落地区内除了英国人专用的设施外，没有学校、医院、铁路或其他基础设施。事实上，据报道，1936 年瓦济里斯坦地区驻扎的军队比整个次大陆其他任何地方都多。比哈尔邦等其他地区在 19 世纪经历了严重的经济去工业化。俾路支省和部落地区被赋予了很大的自治权，尽管没有任何经济发展或机构建设的计划。阿西莫格鲁、约翰逊和罗宾逊教授支持这一观点，他们认为殖民者不太可能在特定地区定居（可能是因为面临像英国人在部落地区和俾路支省面临的更高死亡率），更有可能在那里建立榨取式国家。这些采掘型国家决定了该地区的制度质量和随后的经济表现。我想使用英国和印度地区的军事死亡率数据作为机构的代理，调查英属印度地区的异质性，然后将其与这些地区今天的经济表现进行比较，以评估阿西莫格鲁等人的假设。此外，部落地区和俾路支省主要由莫赫曼德、辛瓦里、阿切克扎伊和卡卡尔等普什图部落组成，他们在 19 世纪末在阿富汗和英属印度之间被迫与部落同胞分离。我想将这些定居在俾路支省和部落地区、经历过英国殖民统治的部落的现代经济表现与生活在杜拉尼和巴拉克扎伊帝国统治下的阿富汗同胞进行比较。这种比较有望用作英国殖民统治总体长期经济影响的稳健性检验。通过关注殖民战略的区域间差异的经济影响，并涵盖部落地区和俾路支省以及其他英属印度地区，我希望能够填补学术论述中的空白。我的母语是流利的普什图语，并且了解达里语和乌尔都语，因此我希望从非欧洲的角度使用这些语言的主要和次要资料来为我的研究和更广泛的学术讨论做出贡献。