Indigo and its checkered past

The introduction of indigo business in Bengal was made by the British in the late 1700s. By the late nineteenth century, the trade came to a halt. Indigo production and trade was indeed very prosperous.

Extracted from a type of plant, indigo - a natural dye that gives out a particular kind of blue hue - seemed to be a natural wonder. Then why did the business come to an end?

A common saying about that colonial era should suffice to explain the downfall: "no indigo box was dispatched to England without being smeared in human blood." Indigo was very flourishing for the planters, but the peasants were deprived. And when these farmers refused to cultivate, the ruthless planters forced the peasants to work.

And thus began an agonising episode of the British Raj. Horrific acts of burning entire villages and committing murders fanged the souls of the farmers with fear. The large indigo factories and warehouses - 'nil kuthis' they were called - were also a venue for imprisonment and torture.

Indigo Revolt was a successful one. It was a very strong and powerful movement. "Rather beg than sow indigo", as one the farmers in the revolution had put it.

The farming and trade of indigo, because of the revolution and also because of cheaper substitutes,  eventually stopped. Since then, cultivating the plant has become taboo.

After that, many generations of farmers have come and gone, cultivating many kinds of plants - but never indigo. However, the plant, native in many areas in Bangladesh, such as the northern region, continued to grow. Apart from a few attempts of reviving indigo cultivation, the potential still largely remained untapped.  

Source: Buildings of the British Raj in Bangladesh By Nazimuddin Ahmed