Volume II,Issue IV, March 2026
Volume-II, Issue-IV, March, 2026 |
Received: 20.03.2026 | Accepted: 22.03.2026 | ||
Published Online: 31.03.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.issue.04W. | |||
উত্তর-ঔপনিবেশিক
মেদিনীপুর জেলা: কৃষি অর্থনীতি এবং কৃষি কাঠামো (১৯৪৭-১৯৫৫)
রাজকুমার মন্ডল, গবেষক, ইতিহাস বিভাগ, নেতাজী সুভাষ মুক্ত বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়,পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত |
ABSTRACT | ||
During the colonial
era, in marked contrast to the industrialised districts of Howrah, Hooghly, and
24 Parganas situated
along the banks of the Ganges, the district of Medinipur experienced no
significant development of large-scale industries; consequently, agriculture
emerged as the primary subsistence source of livelihood for seventy six percent
of the district's population. The agrarian structure that evolved during this
period which revolved primarily around land fostered relationships of
subordination and subservience within the social fabric. However, from the 1930s onward, as the
intensity of exploitation perpetrated under the guise of debt and revenue
collection gradually escalated, resentment began to simmer among small farmers,
sharecroppers, and the landless classes against the jotedars-zamindars and
moneylenders; in due course, this very resentment gave rise to a distinct form
of 'class consciousness' within the
political sphere. However, paddy constitutes the principal crop of Medinipur
district, the present study which focuses primarily on paddy production of the
post-colonial Medinipur, endeavors to move beyond the confines of a
unidimensional analysis based solely on a linear correlation between land area
and production volume. Instead, drawing upon statistical data, this research
attempts to analyze a complex web of interrelationships; specifically, it
examines in detail the relationship between production levels and the
district's population density; the manner in which ‘technological’ and ‘institutional’
frameworks influenced production; how the agrarian-social structure of rural
areas maintained its control over these technological and institutional
frameworks; and how ‘market-driven commercial’ forces exerted control over both
the processes of production and distribution. | ||
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