NCERT Class 12 History Colonial Cities Urbanisation Planning and Architecture

In this chapter we will discuss the process of urbanisation in colonial India, explore the distinguishing characteristics of colonial cities and track social changes within them. We will look closely at developments in three big cities – Madras (Chennai), Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai). All three were originally fishing and weaving villages. They became important centres of trade due to the economic activities of the English East India Company. Company agents settled in Madras in 1639 and in Calcutta in 1690. Bombay was given to the Company in 1661 by the English king, who had got it as part of his wife’s dowry from the king of Portugal. The Company established trading and administrative offices in each of these settlements.

By the middle of the nineteenth century these seltlements had become big cities from where the new rulers controlled the country. Institutions were set up to regulate economic activity and demonstrate the authority of the new rulers. Indians experienced political domination in new ways in these cities. The layouts of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta were quite  different from older Indian towns, and the buildings that were built in these cities bore the marks of their colonial origin. What do buildings express and what  can architecture convey? This is a question thatstudents of history need to ask. Remember that architecture helps in giving ideas a  shape in stone, brick, wood or plaster. From the bungalow of the government officer, the palatial house of the rich merchant to the humble hut of the labourer, buildings reflect social relations and identities in many ways.

Excercise

1. To what extent are census data useful in reconstructing patterns of urbanisation in the colonial context?
2. What do the terms “White” and “Black” Town signify?

3. How did prominent Indian merchants establish themselves in the colonial city?
4. Examine how concerns of defence and health gave shape to Calcutta.
5. What are the different colonial architectural styles which can be seen in Bombay city?

6. How were urban centres transformed during the eighteenth century?
7. What were the new kinds of public places that emerged in the colonial city? What functions did they serve?
8. What were the concerns that influenced town planning in the nineteenth century?
9. To what extent were social relations transformed in the new cities?

10. On an outline map of India, trace the major rivers and hill ranges. Plot ten cities mentioned in the chapter, including Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, and prepare a brief note on why the importance of any two cities that you have marked (one colonial and one pre-colonial) changed in the nineteenth century.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 History Colonial Cities(Urbanisation. Planning And Architecture)