Jute and empire : the Calcutta jute wallahs and the landscapes of empire / Gordon T. Stewart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stewart, Gordon T. (Gordon Thomas), 1945- author.

Series:

Studies in imperialism (Manchester, England)

Studies in imperialism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jute industry--India--Kolkata--History--19th century.

Jute industry.

Jute industry workers--India--Kolkata--History--19th century.

Jute industry workers.

Discrimination in employment--India--Kolkata.

Discrimination in employment.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 258 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Jute & empire

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 1998.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Dundee had an interesting role to play in the jute trade, but the main player in the story of jute was Calcutta. This book follows the relationship of jute to empire, and discusses the rivalry between the Scottish and Indian cities from the 1840s to the 1950s and reveals the architecture of jute's place in the British Empire. The book adopts significant fresh approaches to imperial history, and explores the economic and cultural landscapes of the British Empire. Jute had been grown, spun and woven in Bengal for centuries before it made its appearance as a factory-manufactured product in world markets in the late 1830s. The book discusses the profits made in Calcutta during the rise of jute between the 1880s and 1920s; the profits reached extraordinary levels during and after World War I. The Calcutta jute industry entered a crisis period even before it was pummelled by the depression of the 1930s. The looming crisis stemmed from the potential of the Calcutta mills to outproduce world demand many times over. The St Andrew's Day rituals in Calcutta, begun three years before the founding of the Indian Jute Mills Association. The ceremonial occasion helps the reader to understand what the jute wallahs meant when they said they were in Calcutta for 'the greater glory of Scotland'. The book sheds some light on the contentious issues surrounding the problematic, if ever-intriguing, phenomenon of British Empire. The jute wallahs were inextricably bound up in the cultural self-images generated by British imperial ideology.

Contents:

The significance of jute

The rise of jute, 1838-1928

Jute in crisis, 1928-1955

"To the greater glory of Scotland and to the benefit of Bengal"

Jute and empire.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 24 Jul 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781526121493

1526121492

OCLC:

1480155765