Businessmen and Politics: Rising Nationalism and a Modernising Economy in Bombay, 1918- 1933

During the Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience movement of the 192s and 193s, Bombay came to be known as ‘the keep of Gandhism’. Its busi­nessmen were seen as the front-line troops and backroom financiers of the nationalists. But it was principally among merchants and traders that this commitment to Gandhian nationalism was deepest; the great industrialists tended to stand aloof – and sometimes even actively opposed the nationalists. Yet, in terms of the boycott of foreign trade, it was they who apparently had most to gain from the economic doctrines of the Indian National Congress. In quiet times, indeed, the industrialists were capable of switching allegiance and supporting the Congress in its attempt to win independence by constitutional means. Dr. Gordon sets out to explain this seeming paradox between the economic interests of the industrialists and their political activity. He examines politics in relation, on the one hand, to the forced modernization of the market sector of the economy, and, on the other, to the profound financial and economic changes following the First World War, Using a wide range of sources, many of them hitherto unexplored, Dr. Gordon argues that the politics of businessmen in a developing colonial economy can only be understood when related to the tensions inherent in the process of economic modernization. This book will interest not only historians of modern India, but also the students of colonial economies throughout the world. About the Author After graduating from Sydney University in 1968, A.D.D. Gordon read History at Cambridge University. He took an M.A. in 1971, and a Ph.D. in modern South Asian history in 1976 after a year’s research in India. He is employed in the Australian public service.