The Punjab--an area now divided between Pakistan and
India--experienced significant economic growth under British rule
from the second half of the nineteenth century. This expansion was
founded on the construction of an extensive network of canals in
the western parts of the province. The ensuing agricultural
settlement transformed the previously barren area into one of the
most important regions of commercial agriculture in South Asia.
Nevertheless, Imran Ali argues that colonial strategy distorted the
development of what came to be called the "bread basket" of the
Indian subcontinent. This comprehensive survey of British rule in
the Punjab demonstrates that colonial policy making led to many of
the socio-economic and political problems currently plaguing
Pakistan and Indian Punjab. Subordinating developmental goals to
its political and military imperatives, the colonial state
cooperated with the dominant social classes, the members of which
became the major beneficiaries of agricultural colonization. Even
while the rulers tried to use the vast resources of the Punjab to
advance imperial purposes, they were themselves being used by their
collaborators to advance implacable private interests. Such
processes effectively retarded both nationalism and social change
and resulted in the continued backwardness of the region even after
the departure of the British. Originally published in 1988. The
Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology
to again make available previously out-of-print books from the
distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These
editions preserve the original texts of these important books while
presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The
goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access
to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books
published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
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