Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses institutional development in colonial Punjab, particularly the provision of secure property rights and cheap credit in the early twentieth century, with a particular view towards discussing the ideological underpinnings and long-term ramifications of these changes.

Paper long abstract:

This paper rethinks institutional development in colonial Punjab (1849-1947) by distilling the various economic reforms carried out by the British government to engage with the underlying theoretical paradigms and ideological commitments of the state. In particular, changes in the provision of cheap credit and land rights are interrogated in their ideological role as core values of liberalism as well as cornerstones of the British strategy of 'economic development.' Since the transition also marks the shift to a capitalist economy imperial efforts to engineer and influence the everyday lives of the peasants (shaped by a liberalism that is outmoded in Britain itself) are carefully studied. A particular focus is laid on the 1920s and 1930s when many of these political and economic reforms start to bear fruit and the imperial state also prepares to battle its ideological rival, communism. In an attempt to finetune the discussion, particular emphasis is laid on the career of the Indian Civil Service officer, Sir Malcolm Darling, and his career spanning thirty years in the Punjab. Using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative sources, an attempt is made to detail a comprehensive account of changes in the administrative structure of the Punjab alongside the personal trajectory and initiatives of an influential colonial officer to question the limits and possibilities of individual agency, as well as to confront the generation and perpetuation of a larger ideological and political project on the part of the 'state.'