Basel Mission Industries in Malabar and South Canara: 1834-1914

Basel Mission, a German missionary organization established in Basel, Switzerland, started operating in the erstwhile Madras Presidency from 1834. during the period ending with the outbreak of the first world war, the mission invested in a number of economic activities, eventually culminated in the establishment of modern industrial units in weaving and tile making, in the eerstwhile districts of Malabar and South Canara. These industries were the first capitalist industries established in the regions and used the latest the then available technologies in Europe. These industries were established to give employment to converts who could not go back to their previous caste related occupation. The industrial expansion of the Basel Mission came to a halt with the outbreak of the first world war when the missionaries became suspects in the eyes of the British. The present work examines Basel Mission Industries in the context of social and economic environment under which they functioned. The work is the first of its kind to identify phases in the development of Basel Mission Industries. The work will also be the first of its kind to empirically examine the financial structure based on profit and loss statements-primary sources obtained by the author. The book addresses itself to general readership as well as to economists, sociologists and historians interested in the process of industrialization, social mobility and change, transfer to technology, regional studies and studies of the development of economics under colonialism.