Indian Business and Nationalist Politics 1931–39: The Indigenous Capitalist Class and the Rise of the Congress Party

by Claude Markovits

• ISBN13: 9780521016827
• ISBN10: 0521016827
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-16
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The 1930s was a critical decade in Indian politics. It saw the Congress Party begin its rise to political dominance, while Indian 'big business' strengthened its position in the economy. This book seeks to analyse the response of India's most important indigenous businessmen to the growth of political nationalism. Dr Markovits' study falls into three parts: an analysis of the structure of the business class, revealing its basic heterogeneity and lack of political unity; an examination of the impact of the Depression of the 1930s on the fortunes of Indian businessmen and on government economic policy; and a survey of the uneasy and changing relationship between businessmen and Congress at a time of political turmoil and realignment. Drawing heavily on the private papers of prominent businessmen as well as on a wealth of official sources, this is the first systematic study, on an all-India scale, of the political attitude of big business during the final and most crucial phase of the nationalist struggle. Given increasing prominence of businessmen in Indian politics after 1920 an understanding of their behaviour is fundamental to our view of the overall pattern of Indian nationalist politics. All those interested in the rise of anti-colonial movements and in patterns of capitalist development in Third World countries should also find matter for thought in this sensitive and unusual study.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
Indian capital	7	(34)
Crisis and opportunities	41	(27)
Business, Civil Disobedience and the reforms 1931--1935	68	(33)
The turning point: capitalists and Congressmen 1935--1937	101	(27)
Business, the central government and the Congress 1937--1939	128	(22)
Indian business and the Congress provincial governments 1937--1939	150	(29)
Conclusion	179	(28)
APPENDICES
1 Top business groups in India in 1931--1939	190	(6)
2 Largest public companies in India 1932--1939	196	(1)
3 Holdings of controlling group in selected companies 1926--1927	197	(1)
4 Main groups in the cotton-textile industry 1931--1939	198	(1)
5 Sectorwise distribution of companies under the control of major Indian and British groups 1931--1939	199	(1)
6 Profits in selected industries 1928--1939	200	(1)
7 India's balance of commodity transactions (merchandise and treasure) on private account 1929--1939	201	(1)
8 Final balance of India's international transactions on current account 1929--1939	202	(1)
9 Principal countries in India's foreign merchandise trade 1929--1939	203	(1)
10 Most significant items in India's foreign merchandise trade 1929--1939	204	(2)
11 A Bombay manifesto of twenty-one businessmen	206	(1)
Biographical notes	207	(7)
Bibliography	214	(8)
Glossary	222	(2)
Index	224