ABSTRACT
In the second half of the eighteenth century, major forces of change were unleashed on certain geographic regions of the Indian subcontinent as a result of the European contest for Indian trade and the assertion of political power that followed that contest. The maritime regions of southern India were among the earliest to feel the impact of these forces. The political revolutions of the years 1740 to 1780 had caused considerable economic and social dislocation in the entire Carnatic region and had left the English East India Company in a position of unquestioned political dominance, both in relation to its major European competitors, the French and the Dutch, and to the hinterland powers, the Nawab of the Carnatic and the Rajah of Tanjore. As the textile trade of southern India was the oiiginal raison d'etre of English entry into the region and the expansion of their interests there, it was this section of the economy and those elements of society connected with this industry that felt the full initial impact of English political power. The production process of the handloom industry, its marketing and export received the first concerted attention of English policy. Consequently, the first major economic and social changes, in response to the growth of English political power, were seen in these sectors and producing districts. As deliberate colonial policy the English sought to use their power to alter the conditions of production of handloom textiles and to transform existing relationships between producers and merchant middlemen. By the end of the century, the economic position of the weaver and of the traditional textile merchant had been completely transformed.
