ENCLAVES IN A PEASANT SOCIETY Political Economy of Tea in Wester

Book Details

• Author: Asim Chaudhuri

• ISBN: 8170071992

• Edition: December 1995

• Multiple Book Set: No

About the Book
In this detailed study, Asim Chaudhuri explores the underdevelopment bias of plantation agriculture through a focused examination of the Western Dooars region in the Jalpaiguri district of Northern Bengal during the colonial period. Annexed to British Bengal in 1864 after the Bhutan War, this region, with its pre-modern economy, sparse population, and abundance of cultivable waste land, attracted the attention of English tea planters by the third quarter of the nineteenth century. As land for further tea cultivation in Darjeeling became scarce, the Western Dooars presented new opportunities.

The book chronicles the establishment of the first tea garden in 1874 and the subsequent influx of significant capital investment by merchant capitalists. This marked the beginning of rapid progress in tea cultivation, transforming the region from a "howling wilderness" into an important producer of valuable export crops. Chaudhuri highlights how this transition led to the integration of the region's natural economy into the global market, gradually transforming it into a commodity-money economy. This work sheds light on the socio-economic changes driven by colonial exploitation and its long-term effects on the region's agricultural practices, economy, and social structure.