Discuss the economic impact of british rule in India before 1857

Hello Aspirant, Hope you are doing good.

In the very beginning of British rule in Bengal, the policy of Clive and Warren Hastings of extracting the largest possible land revenue had led to such devastation that even Cornwallis complained that one-third of Bengal had been transformed into “a jungle inhabited only by wild beasts.”

India became an economic colony of industrial England. Indian handloom weaving industry was hit by the industrialization in England and eventually collapsed. Indian handicrafts lost both domestic and foreign market.

Land revenue experiments mentioned below caused hardship to cultivators

Lordcornwalli's permanent settlement system and Ryotwari and Mahalwari systems.

Commercialization of agriculture hard hit the labourers where numbers of landless labourers increased. This led to the birth of new money-lending class where peasants were exploited as they had to borrow money from the money-lenders

Another major economic impact of the British policies in India was the introduction of a large number of commercial crops such as tea, coffee, indigo, opium, cotton, jute, sugarcane and oilseed. Different kinds of commercial crops were introduced with different intentions.

Hope this information helps you.

All the best.