Technology and the Raj: Western Technology and Technical Transfers to India 1700-1947

The history of technology is no longer a story of machines and processes, nuts and bolts. Technologies do not appear or operate in a vaccum but have a socio-economic and cultural context. This volume explores, in this framework, the relationship between technology and colonialism in British India. The contributirs maintain that there was a close connection between commercial interests, technological changes, and the government policies from the earliest years of British presence in India. Three key issues are examined in depth by the contributors; practices shaping and constraining technology transfer and technoloical and engineering education; the emerging patterns in transportation and communication; and the principles arising in the struggle for technological sovereignty before India achieved independence. This volume will interest historians and economists, particularly those studying colonialism, the history of science and technology, and economic history.