Economic Transformations and Their Socio-Political Impact in Colonial Haryana, 1857-1947

This article traces the broad trends in the economy of colonial Haryana from the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 till independence. It discusses the post-Mutiny colonial policies that led to commodification of land, commercialization of agriculture, new land revenue settlements, rise of a new class of loyal landlords, and dispossession, indebtedness and impoverishment of peasantry. It also delineates the impact of these processes on social stratification and patterns of land-ownership; the rise of loyalist politics of the landlord class; the role of reformist Arya Samaj movement; and the contestations and shifting alliances among key political players of the region such as the Congress, the Muslim League and the Unionist Party. The essay demonstrates how economic restructuring of the region by colonial policies in the 19^th century reconfigured the class equations of the region’s rural society which, in turn, affected and were acted upon by the regional politics of the 20^th century.