Class 12 History Chapter 12: Colonial Cities – Urbanisation, Town Planning & Architecture
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Amresh Academy
📘 Class 12 History – Chapter 12
✳️ Colonial Cities (Town Planning & Architecture)
❇️ Important Sources
📜 Records of the East India Company (ईस्ट इंडिया कंपनी)
📝 Census Reports (जनगणना रिपोर्ट)
🏛️ Municipal Reports (नगरपालिका रिपोर्ट)
📈 Urban Growth
🔹 Urban population increased from 10% → 13% (1900–1940).
🌊 Madras, Bombay & Calcutta developed as important ports (बंदरगाह) by late 18th century.
🎭 Ruling elite created racially distinct clubs, race courses, & theatres.
🚌 Introduction of horse-drawn carriages, trams & buses → people could live far from workplaces.
🏛️ Rulers expressed power through buildings; many Indians adopted European architecture (यूरोपीय स्थापत्य) as symbols of modernity & civilization.
❇️ Cities under Colonial Rule
🌆 Modern cities emerged with industrialization (औद्योगिकीकरण) in the West.
🏙️ Calcutta, Bombay & Madras → rapidly increasing as Presidency cities (प्रेसिडेंसी शहर), centers of British power in India.
⬇️ Many older cities declined due to reduced demand for their specialized products.
🏰 British defeated local kings → new governance centers emerged, old regional powers collapsed.
🌍 This process = urbanization (शहरीकरण). Example → Machilipatnam, Surat, Srirangapatam in 19th century.
🏠 Early 20th century → only 11% population lived in cities.
🏯 Delhi → historic city became small & dusty by 1911, revived as capital in 1912.
⚓ Machilipatnam → important port in 17th century, declined in late 18th century as trade shifted to Bombay, Madras & Calcutta.
✳️ Towns (कस्बा)
Centers of specific economic & cultural activities.
Inhabited by craftsmen (कारीगर), traders (व्यापारी), administrators (प्रशासक) & rulers (शासक).
Represented a link between city & rural area.
❇️ Location of Cities
🔹 Three major cities → Madras, Calcutta & Bombay (originally fishing & weaving villages).
🏛️ Became Presidency cities due to trading & governance (शासन).
📍 Importance depended on administration & economic activity (आर्थिक गतिविधियाँ) → trade & employment concentrated here.
🕌 Mughal cities → known for population concentration, huge buildings & royal prosperity (शाही वैभव) → Agra, Delhi & Lahore prominent.
🏯 Royal cities fortified → included gardens, mosques, temples, mausoleums, markets, colleges → movement controlled through gates.
👮 Medieval North Indian cities → Kotwal (कोतवाल) managed internal affairs & law.
✳️ Changes in 18th Century
🔹 Decline of Mughal Empire → old cities declined; regional powers formed new cities → Lucknow, Hyderabad, Seringapatam, Poona, Nagpur, Baroda, Tanjore.
🏭 Traders, administrators, craftsmen moved from old cities → work & protection available.
⚔️ Wars between states → demand for mercenaries (भाड़े के सैनिक).
🏪 Mughal officials established towns & ganjas (small permanent markets – गंजा).
🇵🇹🇳🇱🇬🇧🇫🇷 European companies established trading centers → Portuguese in Panaji, Dutch in Machilipatnam, British in Madras, French in Pondicherry.
💧 Land-based empires replaced by water-based European empires (जल आधारित यूरोपीय साम्राज्य).
📈 Capitalism & commercialism boosted in India.
⬇️ Medieval cities like Surat, Machilipatnam & Dhaka declined.
⚓ After Battle of Plassey, English trade grew → Madras, Calcutta & Bombay became economic capitals & colonial administration centers.
🏛️ Cities rehabilitated → buildings & institutions constructed → migration & employment grew.
✳️ Colonial Records & Urban Planning
✨ Colonial Records
📜 British government maintained detailed records (विस्तृत रिकॉर्ड), conducted surveys, collected statistical data (सांख्यिकीय डेटा), and published official records to regulate business affairs.
🗺️ Mapping introduced → helped in understanding landscape topography (भू-आकृति), planning, development, security, and commercial opportunities.
👥 Late 19th century → responsibilities given to elected Indian representatives (चुने हुए भारतीय प्रतिनिधि) for basic city services → introduced annual municipal tax collection (वार्षिक नगरपालिका कर संग्रह).
📅 First all-India census (जनगणना) → 1872; regular decadal census (दशकीय जनगणना) started from 1881 → helped manage water supply, drainage, roads, health, population expansion.
⚠️ Sometimes local people gave wrong information (गलत जानकारी) → British records could also be biased. Despite ambiguity, records helped in studying colonial cities (औपनिवेशिक शहर).
❇️ Reasons for Keeping Records
📊 Smooth government administration (शासन प्रशासन) based on data.
💼 Detailed account of business activities (व्यापारिक गतिविधियाँ) to promote efficiency.
🏙️ Study of urban living habits, ethics, education, political trends (शहरी जीवनशैली, नैतिकता, शिक्षा, राजनीतिक प्रवृत्ति).
🗺️ Understanding geography & landscape (भूगोल और स्थलाकृति) → urbanization & empire expansion.
👥 Study population growth (जनसंख्या वृद्धि) → design administrative rules & ensure implementation.
❇️ Difficulties in Data Collection
✨ Ports & Forts
❇️ Usefulness of Census Data
👥 Know total population (कुल जनसंख्या) and racial composition (जातीय संरचना).
⚕️ Understand impact of dreaded/fatal diseases (घातक रोग) on population.
🗂️ Provides info about communities, language, occupation (भाषा, पेशा), caste (जाति), religion (धर्म).
❇️ White & Black Towns
🏘️ Separate settlements → Whites (British) & Blacks (Indians).
⚠️ Words reflect racial discrimination (जातीय भेदभाव) → strengthened with British political power.
🏠 House differences → Indians built traditional hallway houses (परंपरागत हॉलवे घर), Bungalows in Civil Lines, Cantons for security.
🧹 White Towns → clean, Black Towns → dirty, risk of disease.
✨ Building Construction Styles
🏛️ Neoclassical Style (नव-शास्त्रीय शैली) → geometric structures, large pillars → e.g., Bombay Town Hall, Elphiston Circle
⛪ Neo-Gothic Style (नव-गोथिक शैली) → high ceilings, pointed arches, fine decorations → e.g., Secretariat, Bombay University, Bombay High Court
🕌 Indo-Saracenic Style (इंडो-सारसेनिक शैली) → mix of Indian & European → e.g., Gateway of India, Taj Mahal Hotel (Bombay)
✳️ Social Life, Urban Development & Architecture in Colonial Cities
✨ Social Life in New Cities
🌆 Life in cities was always in flux (परिवर्तनशील) → huge gap between rich (अमीर) and poor (गरीब).
🚋 New transport → horse carriages, trains, buses → commuting from home to work became easy.
🎭 Public spaces → parks, theatres, cinema halls → provided entertainment & social interaction (सामाजिक संपर्क).
👩🏫 Migration → demand for clerks, teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants. Schools, colleges, libraries developed.
💬 Emergence of public debate (सार्वजनिक बहस) → social norms & customs questioned.
👩 Opportunities for women → teachers, theatre/film actresses, domestic & factory workers.
✍️ Middle-class women expressed through autobiographies, magazines, books.
⚠️ Conservatives feared change → disruption of patriarchal system (पितृसत्तात्मक व्यवस्था).
💼 Working-class migrants → struggled with expensive city life, uncertain jobs, some left families behind.
🎭 Participated in folk theatre (तमाशा) & satire (व्यंग्य) → integrated into urban life.
✨ Development of Hill Stations
🏔️ British developed hill stations initially for army (सेना) needs.
📍 Examples: Shimla (1815-16), Mount Abu (1818), Darjeeling (1835).
🌿 Cool climate → sanatoriums (आराम स्थल) → soldiers recovered from cholera, malaria.
🏰 Visited by European rulers & nobility for entertainment → houses, buildings, churches in European style.
🚂 Railways → accessible → upper & middle-class Indians like Maharajas, lawyers, traders visited.
🍵 Economic importance → tea & coffee plantations developed.
✨ Big Cities: Madras, Calcutta & Bombay
🐟 Originally fishing & weaving villages → became trade hubs due to English East India Company.
📆 Company settled → Madras (1639), Calcutta (1690). By mid-19th century → large cities.
⚡ Old Mughal cities declined → Delhi & Agra lost political dominance.
🌐 New regional capitals → Lucknow, Hyderabad, Srirangapatna, Pune, Nagpur, Baroda, Tanjore attracted traders & craftsmen.
🌍 European settlements → Portuguese (Panaji, 1510), Dutch (Machilipatnam, 1605), English (Madras, 1639), French (Pondicherry, 1763).
✳️ Settlement & Separation of Madras
⚔️ British vs French → after 1761 → Madras secured, developed as commercial center.
🏰 Fort St George → Europeans only.
❌ Officials not allowed to marry Indians (except Europeans/Christians).
🏘️ Black Town → traditional Indian town, caste-specific localities.
🚗 Urbanization → transport system expanded, villages merged into city.
💼 Opportunities for local communities & employment → competition among communities for British jobs.
✳️ Town Planning in Calcutta
🗺️ Essential for urban space & land use (भूमि उपयोग) planning.
🌆 Calcutta → grew from Sutanati, Kolkata, Govindpur → Fort built at Govindpur.
🎲 Lottery system → funds raised for planning → Lord Wellesley led town planning.
🏠 Riverbank cleared, huts displaced → city made clean & disease-free.
🔥 Frequent fires → thatched roofs banned, tiled roofs mandatory.
⚖️ British interventions → racial divide (जातीय विभाजन) between White & Black city.
🏛️ Town planning → represent grandeur & authority (वैभव और सत्ता) of British Empire → Western aesthetics & rational planning.
✳️ Architecture in Bombay
🏢 Government buildings → defense, administration, commerce + symbol of power & authority (सत्ता).
🌊 Originally seven islands → became commercial capital & international trade center.
💰 Merchants from Malwa, Sindh, Rajasthan → Indian capitalist class grew → Parsis, Marwaris, Konkanis, Muslims, Gujaratis, Banias, Bohras, Jews, Armenians.
⚡ Economic boost → American Civil War, Suez Canal (1869) → demand for cotton.
🏗️ Buildings → European style → symbol of superiority & power (सत्ता), distinction from Indian subjects.
✨ Three main architectural styles → Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Indo-Saracenic.
🖌️ Architecture → reflected aesthetic ideas, molded taste (रुचि), shaped culture (संस्कृति).
🏛️ Late 19th century → regional & national styles emerged → cultural conflicts influenced evolution of styles.
