NCERT Class 8 History Chapter 6: Colonialism and the City YouTube Lecture Handouts

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NCERT Class 8 History Chapter 6: Colonialism & City

  • Many new cities with industrialization emerged
  • Leeds & Manchester in Britain grew in 19th & 20th century with housing and job
  • Late 18th century – Calcutta, Bombay & Madras – Presidency cities (administrative) which developed from East India Company՚s factories at Surat, Madras and Calcutta
  • Many smaller cities declined, many towns manufacturing specialized goods declined, old trading ports couldn՚t survive
  • Machlipatnam, Surat & Seringapatnam – deurbanized during 19th century & by early 20th century – 11% Indians were living in cities
  • Historic imperial city of Delhi became provincial town in the nineteenth century before it was rebuilt as the capital of British India after 1912
  • Delhi remained capital for more than 1,000 years
  • 14 capital cities were found in 60 square miles on left bank of Jamuna River

Shah Jahan built Shahjahanabad in 1639 with fort palace complex

Illustration: NCERT Class 8 History Chapter 6: Colonialism and the City YouTube Lecture Handouts
  • Lal Qila & Red Fort made of red sandstone contained palace complex – to its west was Walled City with 14 gates – big bazaars of Chandni Chowk & Faiz Bazaar & a canal down the center of Chandni Chowk
  • Jama Masjid (first mosque in India with minarets and full domes) was largest & grandest mosque & was highest in city
  • Dargahs (tomb of Sufi saint) , khanqahs (sufi lodge) and idgahs (open prayer hall)
  • Open squares, winding lanes, quiet cul-desacs (street with dead end) and water channels were the pride of Delhi՚s residents
  • Sharp distinction b/w rich & poor

Delhi

  • 1803 – British defeated Marathas but capital was Calcutta & Mughals were allowed to live in Red Fort, Delhi
  • After 1911, Delhi became capital of British India
  • Madras, Bombay & Calcutta – living spaces of Britishers and Indians separated as whites and blacks
  • 1st half of 19th century – Britishers lived along Indians in walled city & enjoyed learning Urdu/Persian
  • 1830 to 1857 was period of Renaissance
  • After 1857 – rebels gathered and persuaded Bahadur Shah to become leader of uprising (Delhi remained under rebel control for 4 months)
  • 1792 – Delhi College established for humanities and sciences in Urdu
  • After 1857, Britishers plundered the city & exiled Bahadur Shah to Burma dismantling his court
  • Britishers cleared area around forts like garden, pavilion, mosque for security reasons, mosques were destroyed
  • Zinat-al-Masjid was converted into a bakery
  • No worship was allowed in the Jama Masjid for five years
  • 1βŸ‹3rd of the city was demolished, and its canals were filled up.
  • 1870՚s – Western walls of Shahjahan abad were broken to establish railways & British started living in Civil Lines in north away from walled city
  • Delhi College was converted to school and shut down in 1877

Planning a New Capital

  • After 1857, many events were held
  • 1877- Viceroy Lytton organized Durbar to acknowledge Queen Victoria as Empress of India (Grand Durbar in Delhi but capital was Calcutta) – celebrate British power with pomp and show
  • 1911 – King George V was crowned in England & durbar in Delhi, capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. New Delhi constructed as 10 square mile city on Raisina Hill by Edward Lutyens and Herbert Baker – 2 mile avenue as Kingsway (Rajpath) leading to Viceroy՚s Palace (Rashtrapati Bhavan) with secretariat buildings on both sides – looks from classical Greek (5th century) , central dome form Sanchi & red sandstone from Mughal architects
Illustration: Planning a New Capital
  • New Delhi: Broad, straight streets lined with sprawling mansions set in the middle of large compounds; sense of law & order; clean and healthy with proper water supply, drainage, green areas

Life During Partition

  • Massive transfer of population, population increased and jobs changed
  • After 1947, rioting started, Many Muslims left for Pakistan while Sikhs and Hindu Refugees moved from Pakistan
  • 2βŸ‹3rd Muslims migrated and 40,000 homes were abandoned – mainly artisans, petty traders and labourers
  • 5 lakh people added as migrants form Punjab – stayed in camps, schools with aim to build new homes – new colonies like Lajpat Nagar and Tilak Nagar was established - rural landlords, lawyers, teachers, traders and small shopkeepers
  • Urdu urban culture was overshadowed by new tastes and sensibilities

Inside Old City

  • Past – canal system for drinking and domestic supply
  • 19th century – baolis and wells & channels to remove waste; Shahjahani drains were closed and open surface drains were introduced (too overburdened & it overflowed) – municipal committee was not willing to spend on good drainage
  • Mughal period – havelis and open courtyard & fountains – declined in 17th & 18th century – amir (nobleman) unable to maintain it & havelis got subdivided & were taken over by mercantile class
  • Colonial bungalows – large single storeyed structure with pitched roof for nuclear family in 1 - 2 acre area – separate living, dining & bedroom with veranda – kitchen, stable and servant quarter in separate space

Municipality Plan

  • 1931 census – old city crowded with 90 persons/acre while New Delhi had 3 person/acre
  • 1888- Lahore Gate Improvement Scheme by Robert Clarke for Walled City residents – keep them away from old city to new type of market square where shops would be built
  • Streets in grid pattern with identical width, size and character
  • Land divided into equal areas to construct neighborhoods
  • Clarkegunj as development was called remained incomplete & couldn՚t decongest old city
  • 1936 – Delhi Improvement Trust was established – Daryaganj South was built for wealthy Indians – with houses grouped around parks & within houses were new rules of privacy - different members of the same family had their own private spaces within the home.
  • Hebert Baker, architect went to South Africa & got connected with Cecil Rhodes (Governor of Cape Town)
  • He designed city of Pretoria in South Africa – used same in Secretariat building in New Delhi
  • Union Building & Secretariat were both built to house imperial offices

✍ Manishika

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