Barsha-1

Shabnam Talukder Barsha (ID- 12109035)

Anika Mahin
History- 202
5 December 2015

Impact of Industrial Revolution and Colonialism in Southeast Asia

While I am writing this Term Paper about the impact of industrial revolution and British
colonialism in Southeast Asia, I found a few authors who wrote some articles and books on effect
of industrial revolution in Southeast Asia but in their writing I did not find much information
about another important part Impact of colonialism in Southeast Asia My aim is to write this
paper is to analyze the social impact of industrial revolution and colonialism in Southeast Asia.

Barsha-2

To analyze my topic I have organized my paper in eight (8) main sections with four (4)
subsections. For better understanding, I provide
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

The meaning of Revolution,

The historical context of Industrial Revolution,
The meaning of Colonialism,
The pre colonial- history of Southeast Asia,
Historical background of colonialism in Southeast Asia,
British interests on Southeast Asia,
The social impact of colonialism in this region.
Conclusion

The meaning of Revolution:The word Revolution is derived from the Latin

word Revolutio which means A turn around.
Basically it means a fundamental change in power or
organizational structures that takes place in a relatively
short period of time. Aristotle described two types of
political revolution:
1. Complete change from one constitution to another
2. Modification of an existing constitution.

Barsha-3

Revolutions have occurred through human history and vary widely in terms of methods,
duration, and motivating ideology. Their results include major changes in culture, economy, and
socio-political institutions. (Wikipedia)
Instead the term Revolution indicates upheaval or civil war as well as long term
change, events, and structures that reach deep into our daily life.

The historical context of Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was
revolutionary because it changed -- revolutionized -- the productive capacity of England,
Europe and United States. But the revolution was something more than just new
machines, smoke-belching factories, increased productivity and an increased standard of
living. It was a revolution which transformed English, European, and American society
down to its very roots. Like the Reformation or the French Revolution, no one was left
unaffected. Everyone was touched in one way or another -- peasant and noble, parent and
child, artisan and captain of industry. The Industrial Revolution serves as a key to the
origins of modern Western society. As Harold Perkin has observed, "the Industrial
Revolution was no mere sequence of changes in industrial techniques and production, but
a social revolution with social causes as well as profound social effects" [The Origins of
Modern English Society, 1780-1880 (1969)].
The Industrial revolution has two phases1. Material phase &
2. Social Phase

Barsha-4

The martial phase making of concerning making of things and the social phase
concerning on making of men. Mens work and the conditions under which it is
performed are tremendous factors in determining their character.

Though the Industrial Revolution has opened the way for the production of means of life
without the consumption of all human energy, men started and stunned by the sudden
changes in the methods of working and living and were unable to organize their lives so
that all might share in the benefits of new inventions. The Industrial Revolution with its
factory system and its increased facilities have made wonderful changes in social organism
as well as enabled a specific class (Bourgeoisie) to make dominion power over the working
class people.

The meaning of Colonialism:-

Colonialism is the establishment, exploitation, maintenance, acquisition, and expansion

of colony in one territory by a political power from another territory. It is a set of unequal
relationships between the colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists
and the indigenous population. (Wikipedia)

Pre-colonial historical background of Southeast Asia-

Barsha-5

The pre-colonial political shape of Southeast Asia was entirely different from insular
colonial Southeast Asia. There in course of, late 18th and early 19th century three major
ethnic groups and three dynasties consolidated their control over the whole Southeast Asian
region: in Burma, the ethnic Burmans and the Konbaung dynasty; in Siam, the ethnic Thai
and the Chakkri dynasty; and in Vietnam, the ethnic Vietnamese and the Nguyen dynasty.
In all three cases, this era of empire building was the culmination of a long process of
expansion that would, in all probability, have ended with the final absorption of however,
interrupted by the colonial intervention that effectively began in the mid- nineteenth
century. To the East, the French in the period, between 1858 and 1900 gained control over
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and welded them into a colonial super- state, French
Indochina. In the West, between 1826 and 1886, the British seized control of the state of
Burma into a province of British India, situated in between the kingdom of Siam was able
to benefit from the colonial rapprochement reached between Britain and France at the
beginning of the 20th century and maintain a precarious independent existence as a buffer
state between British India and French Indochina.

None of these pre-colonial states however could be described as Nation-states in the

European sense. They could more accurately be described as Ethnic Empires, where a
dominant ethnic group governed a wide range of minorities, normally at the periphery of
the state, but where no serious attempt was made to integrate them into a common national
identity in the European sense was only to begin systematically in the early 20th century.

Barsha-6

How British colonialism spread through Southeast Asia?

The dominant colonial powers in mainland Southeast Asia were France and Britain.
The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars lasted only a few short decades. However
the effects of Southeast Asian politics were long lasting. The European conflict
permanently shifted the balance of power between the Dutch and the British. The Dutch
began sliding down the wheel of fortune, while the British began moving up.

Let us examine Englands colonial influence on Southeast Asia. The British Empire in
Southeast Asia came to include Burma, Malaya, Singapore and northern part of the island
Borneo and India. The English investors formed the British East India Trading Company
based upon the Dutch East India Trading Companys model. Like the Dutch Company, the
British Company was also semi-autonomous political entity that was only loosely
controlled by the central government of England. Because of the distances involved, the
price of communication was exorbitant. As such the international business made most of
their decisions without consulting Europe i.e. rulers of the royal advisors.

The Dutch and the British companies were the precursors of the current international
business community a.k.a the Cartel. There was a huge difference between the Cartel and

Barsha-7

the Companies. The Companies have written charters to legally bind them to a specific
country. They also have a board of directors that consciously directs affairs and can even be
held somewhat accountable.

The process of English Colonization in Asia started when the British East India
Company was able to conquer parts in India in 1750. From this time onwards, the southern
subcontinent of Asia was absorbed as a piecemeal into the British Empire. Besides moving
north into the interior of India, the Company also began moving coastward as well.

Like the Portuguese and Dutch before them, their first stop was Ceylon, present day
Srilanka. Srilanka is a large mountainous island to the east of India in the Bay of Bengal.
As a seafaring trading culture, their people influenced Southeast Asian culture just as did
Indias Ceylon, as it was then called was a spreading center for Theravada Buddhism to
Southeast Asias mainland. In fact, the Ceylonese monks were the first to transcribe the
Buddhas verbal transmissions into permanent written record the influential Pali Canon.
The Portuguese were the first conquer Ceylon and have their way with her but not the
last. She was conquered and ruled by a succession of European powers for next 400 years.
The pattern was always the same. Sailing in from the west with their merciless guns they
first conquer Ceylon and then Malacca.

Barsha-8

After the Portuguese (1505- 1658) came the Dutch (1658-1796) who were in turn
followed by British (1796-1947). Indeed those countries that were able to control these
trading centers became world powers in order to ensuring wealth.

This infection of European political rule severely eroded Ceylons Buddhist practices.
To purify and rejuvenate their Theravada traditions, the Ceylonese recruited Thai monks
from Chiang Mai.

From India, the English infection spread across the Bay of Bengal to western seaports
of Southeast Asia. In 1786, the British East India Company extending its reach established
their first English colony in the port of George. Town on the island of Penang off the
northwest coast of the Malay Peninsula. This was real beginning of the British Empires
incursion into Southeast Asia. They used this leading seaport as their foothold to spread
their disease of exploitation.

The British came the same way the others had. The British East India Trading
Company, the worlds second international trading corporation, first established a trading
post on St. George Island off the west coast of Malay Peninsula. From this outpost they
assumed control of Ceylon. Understanding the economic importance of key trading ports,
the British then seized control of Malacca. Shortly after, they also set up a newly free port

Barsha-9

called Singapore. They also moved to dominate Sabah, the major port of northern Borneo.
This move completed the British domination of the major ports between India and China.
To indicate the importance of these ports as a group, they became a crown colony called the
Straight Settlement in 1867. The British knew that, if they could control these crucial
entrepots- the conduit of trade between Eastern and Southern Asia, that they would become
wildly prosperous as the middleman between East and West.
Taking advantage of the woes of their neighbors on the European mainland, the British
seized the Dutch trade centers in 1795. This included Malacca, as well as the island of
Ceylon. Although a relatively small event at the time globally as well as locally, this was
just the beginning of the British flu that was to have a devastating impact upon Southeast
Asian culture.

British interest in Southeast Asia

The Southeast Asia , as in other parts of the world, the nature of British interests varied
over time reflecting a variation in the relative importance of commercial, economic,
political, strategic, religious, cultural and demographic concerns. The definition of British
interests was contested among the groups involved- merchants, manufactures, politicians,
administrators, church and state, private and public groups, metropolitan authorities. The
mode in which the definition of interest was contested also varied over time, given the
growth of communications, the advancement of literacy and the development of
democracy.

Barsha-10

I summarize some of the important reasons why the British came to Southeast Asia1. Expansion of trade with China providing opium as a means of paying of China tea
for maintaining and expanding ventures by providing labor and revenue in the
2.

subcontinent by establishing territorial dominion in India.

Southeast Asia, particularly the area around the straights of Melaka (Malacca),
became important to the British because it flanked the route to and from Canton
(Guangzhu) which was opened to British to carry materials and products of textile

and tea.
3. Burma was seized by the British in order to secure the economical as well as
political success against the Dutch Empire.
4. India and its subcontinent was domain by the British not only for trading and
economical purposes but also to establish dominion over India to show their
political power.
5. The British seized the Malay (Peninsula) as it was a major source of tin. Also the
development of automobile industries spawned a rubber boom in early 20th century.
That made Malaya dollar earner and the Great War (1914-1918) made dollar
earnings significant for the Britain and the sterling area as a whole. Postwar, too
Singapore, gained a new strategic importance marked by the laborious and
expensive creation of naval base which was at a time strength and weakness of
Britain as it was a commitment obliged by Washington treaties of 1921-1922 not to
modernize Hongkong.

The social and economical impact (changes) of the British Colonialism in

Southeast Asia-

Barsha-11

ECONOMIC CHANGE

The following economic developments occurred in Southeast Asia:

Creation of large-scale export industries and vulnerability to world recession.

Communications revolution

Standardized monetary system and an efficient economy

Domination of local economy by European and Chinese businesses

SOCIAL CHANGES

The following economic developments occurred in Southeast Asia:

Racial and social tensions

Rise of Middle Classes

Improvement in Standards of Living

Conclusion:-

Barsha-12

Its easy to antedate the impact of industrial revolution on Britain and its place in the
world. But from the above discussion its contemporary clearly recognized that the creation
of the first society was a revolution. In the second quarter of the 19th century the British
came to recognize that they would gain more by promoting free trade than by adhering to
the mercantilist regulation of the past. Furthermore the approach would serve them better in
promoting relations with other parts of the world on the basis of free trade rather than on a
colonial basis.

Bibliography:-

1. Keat Gin. Oii. (Editor), Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia from Angkor
Wat to East Timor. Santa Barbara, California, Oxford, England, 2004
2. Christie. J. Clive, The Modern History of Southeast Asia: Decolonization,
Nationalism and Separatism, I.B Tauris Publishers, London, New York, 2000

Barsha-13

3. Tarling. Nicholas. THE SUPERINTENDENCEO OF BRITISH INTERESTS IN

SOUTH-EAST ASIA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Journal of South Asian
History, Jstor. Cambridge University Press. 1966

Barsha-14

Barsha-15