ABSTRACT
Raniganj mine under European supervision and the introduction of railways in 1855 to facilitate coal transport to the market in Calcutta which was the capital of British Empire in South Asia till 1911. Calcutta was till then the economic capital of British imperialism. Yet, what was striking was the development of Indian enterprise in the coal industry. It led to sharp conflict between European managing agencies and the Indian colliery owners and coal traders. The managing agency system came into existence when an agency house first promoted and then acquired the management of a joint-stock company. The European managing agencies had an overpowering presence in the coalfields of Raniganj and Jharia. The development of the coal industry in Bengal was largely in the hands of the European managing agencies. In coal too, the business of trading throughout the subcontinent was increasingly in Marwari hands.
