Urban history is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field of research. The rate of urban growth in the twentieth century has also stimulated interest in the city as an object of socio-historical inquiry. Some historical studies on individual Indian cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Cawnpore, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat and Madras have primarily explored the growth of urban centres by tracing their histories under colonial rule. This study offers a macro picture of the urban process under British administration, giving an understanding of how colonial capitalism shaped and imposed urban patterns in India. It contextualizes the urbanization of India in the world capitalist system of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, explaining the multifaceted historical conditions in 1857, just before the imposition of direct Crown rule. Sahoo examines the socio-economic developments and demographic changes in India under British rule and analyzes the impact of the world capitalist economy, the pattern of urbanization under British rule, and the contribution of railways to urbanization. This volume is a profile of India’s primate cities, identifying the core, the periphery and the underdeveloped hinterlands.

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.

Much has been written on the Indian economy but this is the first major attempt to present India's economic history as a continuous process, and to place the development of agriculture, industry and currency in a political and historical context.

This book is a comprehensive history of city planning in post-independence India. It explores how the nature and orientation of city planning have evolved in India’s changing sociopolitical context over the past hundred or so years. The book situates India’s experience within a historical framework in order to illustrate continuities and disjunctions between the pre- and post-independent Indian laws, policies, and programs for city planning and development. It focuses on the development, scope, and significance of professional planning work in the midst of rapid economic transition, migration, social disparity, and environmental degradation. The volume also highlights the need for inclusive planning processes that can provide clean air, water, and community spaces to large, diverse, and fast growing communities. Detailed and insightful, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students of public administration, civil engineering, architecture, geography, economics, and sociology. It will also be useful for policy makers and professionals working in the areas of town and country planning.

This book presents commuting as a new paradigm in mobility studies in the context of global south. It delves into suburban train commuting in Eastern India. The book interprets commuting not only as a means to attend work but also as a process producing kinetic event-space infused with different mobile practices, which is not determined by their locational fixity, rather can be cognized. It analyses the role of suburban train commuting in the metropolitan expansion of Kolkata, and the transformation of rural space into urban. The significant contribution of the book lies in explaining commuters’ experiencescape and the production of spatial fluidity in time capsule through commuting. It also explores the subjective reality of gendered commuting. The book uses a trans-disciplinary research design, blending quantitative and ethnographic research methods. The area selected for the empirical research is the Howrah-Bardhaman Main Railway Line (108 km), the first suburban railway line in Eastern India. Commuters originating from three adjacent districts of Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly and Howrah took part in this research. Besides the commuters, non-commuting passengers and hawkers in the train were also interviewed to understand the diverse perceptions of the process of commuting. This book may be considered as a reference book for mobility studies, transport studies, urban geography and regional planning.

A study of political possibilities in the era of modern imperialism, from the perspective of the sovereign state of Hyderabad.