Kerala during the British days was any ways never one single state. It was two kingdoms and a large territory which was just a district (Malabar) in the Madras Presidency. The business communities most probably would be (Keralite) Christians and perhaps the Thiyyas/Ezhavas. The so-called upper castes generally spent a lot of energy on agriculture. Many possessed large swathes of land, and one feudal land-lord pretty much could give employments to families of entire villages.Virupaksha wrote:What are the business and industrial communities of Kerala in british India?
May be other veterans like Bade, hnair can bring in more clarity here..
At least from what I have heard from the stories told by elders in my clan. It was mainly poor economic conditions which forced people to move from their villages to Penang, Ceylon etc. But all of them seems to have landed up in a better position there. For example I have not heard any stories of large groups of Keralites from villages going as "indentured labour" (like Plantation Tamils in Sri Lanka). Most of the individuals seems to have found "individual contributor" roles (running a tea-shop, clerks in the estates, running small shops) in their host country. Which makes me also think, whether even during those days literacy was given due importance in the regions of Kerala. Which even during those days helped them to make a slightly better life abroad.Bade wrote:Even the migrants to Sri Lanka and Malaysia were mainly in vocations related to agriculture I believe. I cannot think of any large scale industry other than the plantations (tea) in the hills
Any clue you have on the "self-sufficiency" factor in the regions of KL during the days of the Raj? One thing we hear often these days is how KL has become a complete "consumer state", with even its own variety of rice now coming from AP, and vegetables from KA and TN. I don't think this happened earlier, as such heavy trade may not be possible during those days. May be a few items like coffee, jaggery etc. could have been brought from other areas.Another way to look at it in KL context, is when feudalism broke down (which was the biggest industry) there was no replacement for it in place already...
Another story I have heard (cannot vouch for its authenticity). When the communists planned to do land reforms, a communist leader (a Christian - who had more practical wisdom to be frank) had advised EMS Namboodirippad to go ahead and seize the surplus land. But instead of distributing it as peacemeal to all and sundry encourage the earlier workers to form up a co-operative society and then continue with the farming. That leader perhaps had the vision to see that agriculture is still important, and land just cannot be given away to every one. But Namboodirippad had other thoughts.