describe the old urban areas of india
- In the late eighteenth century, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras rose in importance as Presidency cities and became the centres of British power in the different regions of India.
- At the same time, a host of smaller cities declined like the towns manufacturing specialized goods declined due to a drop in demand
- Old trading centres and ports could not survive with the flow of trade moving to new centres.
- Similarly, earlier centres of regional power collapsed when local rulers were defeated by the British and new centres of administration emerged.
- Cities such as Machlipatnam, Surat and Seringapatam were deurbanized during the nineteenth century.
- By the early twentieth century, only 11 per cent of Indians were living in cities.