Decolonization of the Indian Arts and Crafts Industry

Abstract

The ‘British Raj’ is known by all. It was a period during which the British had direct rule over the Indian subcontinent from 1858 up till 1947 i.e., when India and Pakistan gained independence. Previous studies have shown how colonization has dire impacts on the colonizes from an economic, social and even cultural perspective. This stands true even in the case of India. More specifically, however, there were certain industries which were more impacted than the others. In line with the aforementioned, this research paper conducts an in-depth study of the Indian arts and crafts industry to uncover its brilliance and how the British colonized it. The latter half of the paper evaluates the policies and initiatives that have been implemented by the Indian government and ministries, since 1947 to date, to understand how effective these have been in decolonizing the Indian arts and crafts Industry