19世纪中后期英属印度贝拉尔地区棉花种植推广探析

Cotton Cultivation Promotion in Berar of British India in the Mid and Late 19th Century

美国内战导致英国棉纺织业爆发严重的“原材料危机”,英国意图在印度贝拉尔地区开展棉花种植推广活动以挽救本国的棉纺织业。在英国棉花利益集团的推动下,殖民政府采取改造农村经济结构、打击棉花掺假以及改善交通条件等手段来扩大印度贝拉尔地区棉花种植面积和出口量。英国的殖民改造颇有成效,贝拉尔地区很快成为英国完美的原棉供应地,但与此同时,当地的家庭纺织业不复存在,民众陷入系统性贫困和周期性饥荒。英国在贝拉尔地区棉花种植推广的历史,是印度乃至整个第三世界被纳入全球资本主义体系复杂进程中的一个缩影。

The American Civil War caused a serious“raw material crisis”in the British cotton textile industry.Britain intended to launch cotton cultivation promotion activities in the Berar of India to save its cotton textile industry.Under the promotion of the British cotton interest group,the colonial government adopted measures such as reforming the rural economic structure,cracking down on cotton adulteration and improving transportation conditions to expand cotton cultivation and export.The British settlement was successful,and Berar soon became a perfect source of raw cotton for Britain,but at the same time,the local household textile industry ceased to function,and the population fell into systematic poverty and periodic famine.The history of the British cotton promotion in the Berar is a microcosm of the complex integration of India and the Third World into the global capitalist system.