Choose five different types of buildings in your town or village. For each of these, find out when it was built, how it was planned, how resources were obtained for its construction, and how long it took to built it. What do the architectural features of the buildings express ?
By the mid-nineteenth century second local census had been carried out in different regions. The first all India census was attempted in 1872. Thereafter, from 1881 decadel (conducted every ten years) census become a regular feature.
A careful study of census reveals some fascinating trends. For example, after 1800, urbanisation in India was sluggish. All through the nineteenth century up to the first two decades of the twentieth, the proportion of the urban population to the total population in India was extremely low and had remained stagnant.
Read the following excerpts carefully and answer the questions that follow:
“For the regulation of nuisances of every description”By the early nineteenth century the British felt that permanent and public rules had to be formulated for regulating all aspects of social life. Even the construction of private buildings and public roads ought to conform to standardised rules that were clearly codified. In his Minute on Calcutta (1803) Wellesley wrote:
It is a primary duty of Government to provide for the health, safety and convenience of the inhabitants of this great town, by establishing a comprehensive system for the improvement of roads, streets, public drains, and water courses, and by fixing permanent rules for the construction and distribution of the houses and public edifices, and for the regulation of nuisances of every description.
(a) How does Wellesley define the duty of the government?
(b) What was the work done by the Lottery Committee?
(c) How did the threat of epidemics give an impetus to town planning in Calcutta?
Why were the figures of mortality and disease difficult to collect? Give two reasons.
Why did paupens from rural areas flock to the cities? Mention any two reasons.
Why was the colonial government keen on mapping? Mention any two reasons.
