To what extent are census data useful in reconstructing patterns of urbanisation in the colonial context?
A careful study of the data gathered through the census helps us a lot in understanding the trend of urbanisation. It can be examined as under:
(i) The process of urbanisation was sluggish in India after 1800.
(ii) In the nineteenth century and first two decades of the twentieth century the proportion of the urban population to the total population of India was very low and stagnant.
(iii) Between 1900 and 1940, there was a 13% increase in the urban population whereas during the same period, there was a 10% increase in the population of the whole country.
(iv) The data helps us in the enumeration of people according to their age, sex, caste, religion and occupation.
(v) The British lived in the White areas whereas the Indians lived in the Black areas. The white areas stood for cleanliness and hygiene. On the other hand, the black areas signified chaos, anarchy, filth and disease.
