Asia and global capitalist development; The role of Indian business communities, with special reference to Sri Lanka
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Date
2020
Authors
Gunarathne, M. S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Abstract
Economic transformation in Asia under the intervention of European colonial expansion is a popular theme in the academic discourse on global capitalist development. Eurocentric theory, both Liberal and Marxist, on development of capitalism on a global scale has been intensively refuted and debated about. The current academic discourse on the subject recognizes the interaction of multi-centered economic processes over several centuries paving the way for global capitalist development. In this process, the specific nature of the contributions of India and China has received considerable academic attention. In the case of India, its merchant capital had been operating in South and Southeast Asia, in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea areas and East Africa over several centuries. At the time of the advent of Western capitalism, Indian mercantile operation had brought about significant economic changes in this vast geographical area. It was in this background that the interaction between European and Indian merchant capitalist operations takes place in the 18th century. In this process Indian business communities performed specific roles and made a significant contribution to the development of capitalism in the region in the 19th century in collaboration and competition with European colonialism. Sri Lanka presents a typical arena of this broad transformation process. Sri Lanka was in the Asian merchant capital network and Indians played an intermediary role in the economy for centuries. When Sri Lanka underwent rapid economic change under the British colonial intervention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Indians played a noteworthy role to make colonial initiatives practicable, as in most parts of South East Asia. The aim of this study is to analyze the debate on economic transformation in Asia examining the involvement of various Indian business communities during the colonial intervention in the Sri Lankan economy, and to assess their contribution towards its transformation. The principle problem addressed in this research is the specific role played by various Indian business communities in the economic transformation in Sri Lanka under the colonial intervention. The research tries to assess the importance of their roles in the incorporation of indigenous society into colonial capitalist production processes. This research will utilize information and data obtained from primary archival materials in Sri Lanka and India and statistical records of colonial governments. The research will also involve a search for private collections of documents of such families.
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Keywords
Capitalism , Colonialism , Economic transformation , Indian business communities , Merchant capital
Citation
Modern Sri Lanka Studies, 2020, XI(1), P 61-98