Indigo Cultivation | Social Studies (SST) Class 8 PDF Download

High Demand of Indigo

• The indigo plant grows primarily in the tropics. By the thirteenth century Indian indigo was being used by cloth manufacturers in Italy, France and Britain to dye cloth. However, only small amounts of Indian indigo reached the European market and its price was very high.
• European cloth manufacturers therefore had to depend on another plant called woad to make violet and blue dyes. Being a plant of the temperate zones, woad was more easily available in Europe. It was grown in northern Italy, southern France and in parts of Germany and Britain. Worried by the competition from indigo, woad producers in Europe pressurised their governments to ban the import of indigo.Indigo dye powder
• Cloth dyers, however, preferred indigo as a dye. Indigo produced a rich blue colour, whereas the dye from woad was pale and dull. By the seventeenth century, European cloth producers persuaded their governments to relax the ban on indigo import. The French began cultivating indigo in St Domingue in the Caribbean islands, the Portuguese in Brazil, the English in Jamaica, and the Spanish in Venezuela. Indigo plantations also came up in many parts of North America.

• By the end of the eighteenth century, the demand for Indian indigo grew further. Britain began to industrialise, and its cotton production expanded dramatically, creating an enormous new demand for cloth dyes. While the demand for indigo increased, its existing supplies from the West Indies and America collapsed for a variety of reasons. Between 1783 and 1789 the production of indigo in the world fell by half. Cloth dyers in Britain now desperately looked for new sources of indigo supply.

India: A Major Source of Indigo

• In response to the growing indigo demand in Europe, the Company in India sought to increase the area for indigo farming.
• During the late 18th century, indigo farming in Bengal expanded rapidly, and Bengal indigo became the leading supplier in the world market. In 1788, only about 30% of the indigo imported into Britain was from India. By 1810, this number rose to 95%.
• As the indigo trade flourished, Company officials and commercial agents began investing in indigo production. Many Company officials eventually left their posts to manage their indigo businesses. Attracted by the potential for high profits, many Scotsmen and Englishmen moved to India to become planters. Those without funds for indigo production could borrow from the Company or emerging banks.

Systems of Indigo Cultivation:

Nij Cultivation: In nij cultivation, the planter grew indigo on land that they directly controlled. They either purchased the land or rented it from local zamindars and employed hired labourers to produce indigo.

The Problem with Nij Cultivation

• Planters struggled to expand nij cultivation areas. Indigo needed fertile land, which was already densely populated. Only small plots could be acquired, but planters required larger areas for successful plantations. Less than 25% of the land producing indigo was under this system.
• Attempts to lease land near indigo factories often led to conflict with local peasants.
• Mobilising labour was challenging. Large plantations needed many workers, but peasants were typically occupied with rice farming during peak planting times.
• Large-scale nij cultivation also required many ploughs and bullocks. For instance, one bigha of indigo farming needed two ploughs. A planter with 1,000 bighas would thus require 2,000 ploughs. Acquiring and maintaining these resources presented significant issues. Peasants' ploughs and bullocks were often busy with rice cultivation when indigo planters needed them.
• Until the late 19th century, planters were hesitant to increase nij cultivation. The rest of the land was used for an alternative farming method known as the ryoti system.

Indigo Cultivation in the Nineteenth Century

Till the late nineteenth century, planters were hesitant to expand the area under nij cultivation, with under 25% of the land producing indigo being part of this system. The remainder was under the ryoti system.