ABSTRACT
In the decades following 1757 the English East India company,which had begun its career with a charter to trade in Asia,established an elaborate state apparatus to govern its Indian territories. An organization originally created to accumulate profits from oceanic trade now drew its basic sustenance from land revenues. The century of company raj in India has been a subject of lively historical debate. Revisionist interpretations of the eighteenth century tended to imply that the disjunction between the pre-colonial and early-colonial eras was not as great as had been assumed. The bulk of the most recent research has emphasized the continuity between these eras. The early colonial edifice was undoubtedly built on the foundation of existing indigenous arrangements, institutions and identities which had not lost their vitality during the phase of political decentralization prior to the colonial advance. But it is important not to lose sight of the colonial state as a key actor in bringing about major changes within economy and society. While resilient indigenous entities moulded the colonial impact, fundamental alterations took place in the structures of state and in the character of political economy. An overemphasis on the processes of adaptation to pre-existing networks and patterns must not obscure the crucial elements of qualitative change.
