1856 Reports from Commissioners: Twenty Volumes. Salt (British India). Session 31 January - 29 July 1856. Vol. XXVI.

Description

Folding Plates, Rebound, Very Scarce

Volume XXVI, Session 31 January to 29 July 1856, of the Reports from Commissioners.

With a general title page, inscribed to the verso with 'this book is to be presented in the office of Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State, Home Department, 1856'. This is followed by four individually paginated works, each with their own title page.

The first report discusses the manufacture, sale, and tax of salt in British India, specifically in Bengal and Madras.

The second report was given on the 29th July 1856, and continues the discussion of salt found in the previous report.

The third work is an appendix to these two reports, featuring vignette illustrations, and illustrated with one coloured chart, two folding colour charts, and one plate.

The final work is 'Maps and Plans referred to by Mr. Plowden in the Salt Report and Appendix', illustrated with a colour folding salt map of India, four colour folding plans of Bombay, two folding colour plans of Madras, and five folding colour plans of Bengal. Collated, complete.

Rebound in the cloth binding of the Home Office Library.

A fascinating insight into the logic behind the mid nineteenth century British implementation of salt taxation in India, as a means of generating revenue for their colonial administration.

The British colonial administration in India declared salt a government monopoly, taking full control over its production, distribution, and sale. Indians were prohibited from producing or trading salt independently. Instead, they were forced to buy salt exclusively from government-controlled facilities, often at high prices due to the imposed taxes and levies.

This policy faced significant opposition, with Ghandi seeing the salt tax as a symbol of British Oppression.