Colonialism and Urbanization in India : The Punjab Region

This book highlights the relationship between the processes of modernization and social change in the colonial situation in north-western India. Though interdisciplinary in orientation, this study remains embedded in the discipline of history. The pre-colonial background and the colonial context provide the setting for studying the new pattern of urbanization and new urban forms that emerged in the British Punjab. Demographic change due to urbanization, and reorientations in economic, cultural and administrative functions as well as political role of urban centres are brought into sharp focus. The significance and the limitations of self-government, with their socio-political ramifications are discussed as a framework for urban government. The close linkages of colonialism with urbanization are underscored in relation to the pan-Indian developments, which make this study relevant for the subcontinent as a whole, that is both India and Pakistan. Illustrated with maps and diagrams, and supported by statistical tables and appendices, this book would be of interest as much to historians and geographers as to the scholars in other social science disciplines. The civic administrators and planners would find this work equally useful.