The Establishment of British Rule in Bengal and its Impact on Business and Enterprise
After the establishment of Company rule in Bengal, the traders of the East India Company strictly established their control over the craftsmen of Bengal. After the success of Plassey and Buxar wars, the merchants and employees of the Company started looting the rural areas openly. Since at that time no such top officer was established by the company who would have been constitutionally safe and could control the employees of the company, so the company got the excuse that controlling these businessmen and employees was not a matter of its business.
The merchants of the company put pressure on the craftsmen of Bengal to sell their products at low prices. On the other hand the private traders of the Company established their monopoly on raw materials in Bengal and they started providing raw materials at higher prices to the artisans. As a result, the craftsmen of Bengal felt double pressure. Due to this, the traditional crafts started to decline, further himself also accepted that the soil of Bengal is lying with the bones of the craftsmen.The company itself was also incurring losses due to the corruption of the employees of the company. The employees of the company would give more incentive to their private business than the company. To avoid this situation, Robert Clive established a Society of Trade in Bengal.
The monopoly of trade in some important commodities was given to that Society of Trade. The profits from this business were to be distributed among the employees of the company. But the Court of Directors rejected this proposal. Simultaneously the Society of Trade was dissolved.The biggest blow to Indian crafts and trade was in 1813.The charter began when the door of India was opened to British goods and the country of cotton cloth was filled with cotton cloth. Due to this the Indian handicraft industries got a setback. Further railways and British social and educational policy gave impetus to this process.
