An Analysis of the Salt Industry in Coastal Region of Midnapore District in the Nineteenth Century: The Emergence, Development and Gradual Decay

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to analyze a detailed dispassionate and analytical account of the development and decline of the salt industry in the Coastal region of Midnapore district and their impact on the economic condition of the people of the coastal Bengal Presidency. The different aspects of their subjects have been discussed both from the administrative and economic stand points. The overall purpose is to prepare a well-documented profile of the growth and decline of the salt industry in British Bengal Presidency as the first exploration of its kind. The present work is the first of its kind to make a comprehensive and critical study of the salt industry in Coastal areas in Midnapore district during the colonial rule. The central concern is not only to examine the development and decline of the salt industry in aforementioned areas in Midnapore district of Bengal but also their impact on the economic condition of the people. Salt manufacturing was an established industry in the Bengal Presidency in the pre-Colonial rule period. It was in the hand of coastal chiefs and Zamindars. This paper is concluded by offering some suggestions to improve the yield and productivity of laborers engaged in the salt industry.