From Coffee to Tea Cultivation in Ceylon, 1880-1900: An Economic and Social History

Description

In the early 1880s a disastrous plant disease diminished the yields of the hitherto flourishing coffee plantation of Ceylon. Coincidentally, world market conditions for coffee were becoming increasingly unfavourable. The combination of these factors brought a swift end to coffee cultivation in the British crown colony and pushed the island into a severe economic crisis. When Ceylon re-emerged from this crisis only a decade later, its economy had been thoroughly transformed and now rested on the large-scale cultivation of tea. This book uses the unprecedented intensity and swiftness of this process to highlight the socioeconomic interconnections and dependencies in tropical export economies in the late nineteenth century and it shows how dramatically Ceylonese society was affected by the economic transformation. CONTENTS List of Maps List of Tables List of Figures Acknowledgements Measures Abbreviations Chapter One Introduction 1.1 From Coffee to Tea 1.2 Structure of the Book 1.3 State of Research 1.4 Period of Observation Chapter Two Geography 2.1 Geographical Features of Ceylon Chapter Three History 3.1 Pre-History and the Aryan and Dravidian Colonisations 3.2 The Anuradhapura Period 3.3 The Pollonaruwa Period 3.4 The Shift of Sinhalese Capitals and the Tamil Kingdom of Jaffna 3.5 The Portuguese in Ceylon 3.6 The Dutch Period 3.7 The British Take-Over and the Conquest of Kandy 3.8 Reforms and Economic Development Chapter Four Demography 4.1 Colonial Population Censuses in Ceylon 4.2 The Growth of the Population, 1881–1901 4.3 Ethnic Composition of the Population, 1881–1901 4.4 Religious Composition of the Population, 1881–1901 Chapter Five Export Economy 5.1 The Rise of 'King Coffee' 5.2 Depression and Recovery 5.3 Monoculture, the Coffee Leaf Disease and the Period of Transition 5.4 The Depression of the Early 1880s 5.5 The Transition to Tea 5.6 Tea and the Sinhalese 5.7 The Evolution of Coconut Plantations 5.8 Diversification: The Emergence of Rubber Plantations 5.9 Transition—Consolidation—Diversifi cation Chapter Six Resources 6.1 The Factors of Production 6.2 Land 6.3 Labour 6.4 Capital 6.5 Infrastructure Chapter Seven Subsistence 7.1 A Subsistence Economy 7.2 Wet Rice Cultivation 7.3 Wet Rice Irrigation 7.4 The Paddy Tax and its Impact on the Peasantry 7.5 Chena Cultivation Chapter Eight Administration 8.1 Administrative Units 8.2 The Ceylon Civil Service 8.3 The Governor and the Government Agents 8.4 The Legislative Council 8.5 The Departments 8.6 The Headmen System Chapter Nine Education 9.1 British Educational Policy, 1796–1867 9.2 The Morgan Committee and the Department of Public Instruction 9.3 Education, 1880–1900 Chapter Ten New Elites 10.1 Elite Status and Social Stratifi cation 10.2 National Elites—The Mudaliyars 10.3 National Elites—The Nouveaux Riches 10.4 Local Elites—Headmen and Moneylenders 10.5 Non-Elites—The Peasantry and the Labourers Chapter Eleven Immigrants 11.1 Social Background of the Immigrants 11.2 Recruitment, Coast Advances, tundus and the kanganies 11.3 En Route to the Plantations 11.4 Rice, Balance Wages and Indebtedness 11.5 Medical Aid Schemes Chapter Twelve Revivals 12.1 Christian Missionary Activity and Buddhist Response 12.2 The Buddhist Revival: Theosophist Organisation 12.3 The Buddhist Revival: Central Issues 12.4 The Hindu Revival 12.5 The Muslim Revival Chapter Thirteen Conclusion 13.1 Export Economy and Monoculture 13.2 The Transformation of the Factors of Production 13.3 Peasant Agriculture 13.4 "Deconstructing the Dualistic Model" 13.5 Administration and Education 13.6 New Elites and Immigrant Labourers Bibliography Index