CLASS 12 GEOGRAPHY · NCERT · NCERT CLASS 12 THEMES III, THEME 12: MADRAS, BOMBAY, CALCUTTA — COLONIAL URBANISM
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How did MADRAS arise?
1639 — FRANCIS DAY of EIC obtained land grant from local Nayak ruler at MADRASPATNAM (a fishing village). Built FORT ST. GEORGE 1640 — first British fort in India. Around fort: WHITE TOWN (European residential + administrative). Outside fort: BLACK TOWN (Indian merchants, weavers, dubashes — translators-cum-brokers). 1746-1763 — fought French at Pondicherry; ROBERT CLIVE's career began here. By 1700 Madras was MAJOR settlement — grew by absorbing surrounding villages: Mylapore (Hindu temple town), Triplicane (Muslim), San Thome (Portuguese), George Town.
WHITE TOWN vs BLACK TOWN — colonial spatial logic?
WHITE TOWN — Europeans + Eurasians; clean, ordered, low density; CLASSICAL architecture (Doric columns, gardens); contained CHURCH, hospital, governor's house, fort. BLACK TOWN — Indians; congested, organic growth; native architecture (courtyard houses, temples, mosques); MARKETS + BAZAARS. After 1767 plague, British reorganised Black Town with WIDER streets (became GEORGE TOWN). the standard textbook 12: SPATIAL APARTHEID was deliberate — kept colonial elite separated + projected racial hierarchy through urban form. Pattern repeated in BOMBAY + CALCUTTA cantonments.
WHO were the DUBASHES?
DUBASH (Tamil "two languages") — Indian INTERMEDIARIES who knew Tamil + English (or Portuguese earlier) + worked for EIC. Roles: (i) TRANSLATORS at court; (ii) AGENTS for EIC purchases (cloth, etc.) from local weavers; (iii) MONEY-LENDERS to junior British officials; (iv) Some grew RICH + powerful — became local notables. Famous dubash: AVADHANUM PAUPIAH (mid-18th C) — wealthy + influential. the standard textbook 12: dubashes were KEY to early colonial economy — cultural brokers + capitalist intermediaries.
MADRAS — CULTURAL transformation under colonial rule?
(i) ENGLISH-medium SCHOOLS — Madras Christian College 1837, Presidency College 1840; (ii) UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS 1857 (one of first 3 in India alongside Calcutta + Bombay); (iii) MADRAS HIGH COURT 1862; (iv) PRINTING — CALDWELL's comparative GRAMMAR of Dravidian (1856) — birth of MODERN TAMIL identity; (v) New Indo-Saracenic architecture (Madras High Court, Egmore Station, Senate House); (vi) PROFESSIONAL Indian middle class — lawyers, journalists, teachers. By 1900 — Madras became INTELLECTUAL hub of South Indian renaissance.
MADRAS — CULTURAL transformation?
(i) ENGLISH-medium SCHOOLS — Madras Christian College 1837, Presidency College 1840; (ii) UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS 1857 (one of first 3 in India alongside Calcutta + Bombay); (iii) MADRAS HIGH COURT 1862; (iv) PRINTING — CALDWELL's comparative GRAMMAR of Dravidian (1856) — birth of MODERN TAMIL identity; (v) New Indo-Saracenic architecture (Madras High Court, Egmore Station, Senate House); (vi) PROFESSIONAL Indian middle class — lawyers, journalists, teachers. By 1900 — Madras = INTELLECTUAL hub of South Indian renaissance.
DUBASHES — origin + significance?
DUBASH (Tamil "two languages") — Indian INTERMEDIARIES who knew Tamil + English (or Portuguese earlier) + worked for EIC. Roles: (i) TRANSLATORS at court; (ii) AGENTS for EIC purchases (cloth, etc.); (iii) MONEY-LENDERS to junior British officials; (iv) Some grew RICH + powerful — became local notables. Famous: AVADHANUM PAUPIAH (mid-18th c.) — wealthy + influential. Dubashes were KEY to early colonial economy — cultural brokers + capitalist intermediaries.
How did BOMBAY become important?
1661 — Portuguese gave the SEVEN ISLANDS of BOMBAY as DOWRY when CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA married CHARLES II of England. 1668 — Charles transferred to EAST INDIA COMPANY for £10/year rent. EIC built Fort 1668 + transferred Bombay HQ from Surat 1687. Slow growth till 18th C, then transformed by: (i) DECCAN COTTON (esp. American Civil War 1861-65 boom); (ii) COTTON MILLS — first 1854 (Cowasjee Davar at Tardeo); 80+ mills by 1900; (iii) RAILWAY 1853 (Bombay-Thane — first in Asia); (iv) SUEZ CANAL 1869 cut Europe-India trip in half — Bombay became GATEWAY for shipping.
BOMBAY MILL workers + Industrial city?
By 1925 — over 80 cotton mills, 200,000+ workers. Workers came from RURAL KONKAN + DECCAN villages (esp. Marathas, Kunbis); also from GUJARAT + UP (Bihari migrants). Lived in CHAWLS — multi-storey tenements with shared toilets + small rooms. WORKING CONDITIONS — 12-hour shifts; child labor; women workers (35% of workforce in spinning); poor pay + housing. STRIKES — 1908 Tilak protest strike (first political strike); 1928 Bombay textile strike (6 months); 1930 Civil Disobedience strikes. CRADLE of INDIAN TRADE UNIONISM + COMMUNISM (S.A. Dange + Girni Kamgar Union).
BOMBAY's COSMOPOLITAN COMMUNITIES?
BOMBAY = MOST diverse Indian city. Communities: (i) PARSIS — emigrated to Gujarat 700s CE; came to Bombay 1700s; pioneered SHIPPING + MILLS + medicine + education (Wadia, Tata, Petit, Jejeebhoy). (ii) GUJARATI HINDU + JAIN BANIAS — financiers + cotton merchants. (iii) BOHRA MUSLIMS, KHOJAS, MEMONS — trade communities. (iv) BENE ISRAEL JEWS — small ancient community. (v) GOAN CATHOLICS — administrators + clerks. (vi) BHADRALOK BENGALIS — government workers. (vii) RURAL Marathi-speaking workers + Konkani Christians. the standard textbook 12: Bombay was BUSINESS-DRIVEN city — community cooperation enabled commerce.
BOMBAY architecture + symbolism?
Late 19th C — Bombay developed INDO-SARACENIC architecture (combination of Victorian Gothic + Mughal/Hindu motifs). Iconic buildings: (i) VICTORIA TERMINUS (1887 — F.W. Stevens — UNESCO 2004); (ii) Bombay UNIVERSITY (1874 — Sir Gilbert Scott); (iii) HIGH COURT (1879); (iv) RAJABAI Tower; (v) GATEWAY OF INDIA (1924 — George V visit memorial); (vi) TAJ MAHAL HOTEL (1903 — built by JAMSHEDJI TATA after he was refused entry to Watson's European-only hotel). PURPOSE: Bombay as IMPERIAL SHOWCASE city — demonstrating British power + co-opting Indian motifs.
BOMBAY MILL workers — origins + lives?
By 1925: ~80 cotton mills, 200,000+ workers. Came from RURAL KONKAN + DECCAN villages (esp. Marathas, Kunbis); also GUJARAT + UP (Bihari migrants). Lived in CHAWLS — multi-storey tenements with shared toilets + small rooms. WORKING CONDITIONS — 12-hour shifts; child labor; women workers (35% in spinning); poor pay + housing. STRIKES — 1908 Tilak protest, 1928 Bombay textile strike (6 months), 1930 Civil Disobedience. CRADLE of INDIAN TRADE UNIONISM + COMMUNISM (S.A. Dange + Girni Kamgar Union).
BOMBAY COMMUNITIES — diversity?
BOMBAY = MOST diverse Indian city. (i) PARSIS — emigrated from Persia ~700s CE; came to Bombay 1700s; pioneered SHIPPING + MILLS + medicine + education (Wadia, Tata, Petit, Jejeebhoy); (ii) GUJARATI HINDU + JAIN BANIAS — financiers + cotton merchants; (iii) BOHRA MUSLIMS, KHOJAS, MEMONS — trade communities; (iv) BENE ISRAEL JEWS — small ancient community; (v) GOAN CATHOLICS — administrators + clerks; (vi) BHADRALOK BENGALIS — government workers; (vii) RURAL Marathi-speaking workers.
This topic is part of the NCERT Class 12 History syllabus, drawn from the chapter NCERT Class 12 Themes III, Theme 12: Madras, Bombay, Calcutta — colonial urbanism. Content is cross-referenced against the latest NCERT textbook editions + standard reference works.
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