¹ article, M. D. Morns', “Towards a Rcintcrpretation of 19th Century Indian Economic History” in the Journal of Economic History 23/4 (Dec. 1963), pp.Google Scholar 606–18, marked the conscious and systematic beginning of this reappraisal. Some of the most important reassessments which have appeared thus far include Kumar‘s, DharmaLand and Caste in South India (Cambridge, 1965);Google ScholarGeertz‘s, CliffordAgricultural Involution (Berkeley, 1966);Google Scholar and DeGregori‘s, T. R.Technology and the Economic Development of the Tropical African Frontier (Cleveland, 1965).Google Scholar

² The Economics of Under-Developed Countries (Chicago, 1957), p. 107.Google Scholar

³ The following summary of economic development in the Delta is based upon Adas, Michael, The Burma Delta: Economic Development and Social Change on an Asian Rice Frontier, 1852–1941 (Madison, Wisc, 1974). Chapters I, 3, 6, and 8.Google Scholar

⁴ The indicators of growth cited below were derived from tables in Grant, J. W., The Rice Crop in Burma (Rangoon, 1932);Google ScholarSiok-Hwa, Cheng, The Rice Industry of Burma, 1852–1940 (Singapore-Kuala Lumpur, 1968); and the censuses and administrative reports prepared by the Government of Burma.Google Scholar

⁵ The best discussions of marketing and milling operations in the Delta may be found in Cheng, Burma Rice Industry, pp. 48–76, 83–95 and 198–219.

⁶ See, for examples, Cheng, , Burma Rice Industry, pp.Google Scholar 179–93 and Wai, Tun, Currency and Credit in Burma (Bombay, 1953), PP. 42–82.Google Scholar

⁷ The Economics of Developing Countries (New York, 1965). PP. 38–52.Google Scholar

⁸ This description of indigenous moneylcnding operations prior to the 1870s is based upon the information in the district settlement reports for Lower Burma relating to this period.

⁹ Parrot, B. A., Report on the Settlement Operations in the Syriam Township, Hanthawaddy District, 1880–1881 (Rangoon, 1881), p. 7. This practice would become a dominant feature of credit provision in later decades.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Cheng, , Burma Rice Industry, p. 187 (quoted portion);Google ScholarChakravarti, N. R., The Indian Minority in Burma (London, 1971), pp.Google Scholar 64 and 67–8; Siegelman, Philip, “Colonial Development and the Chet-tiar,” Ph.D. Dissertation, U. of Minnesota, 1962, pp.Google Scholar 9, 17, and 262; and Mahajani, Usha, The Role of the Indian Minorities in Burma and Malaya (Bombay, 1960), pp. 19–20.Google Scholar

¹¹ Schmitt, Hans O., “Decolonization and Development in Burma,” Journal of Development Studies 4/1 (Oct. 1967), pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar 101–3; and Furnivall, J. S., Colonial Policy and Practice (New York, 1956), pp. 86–7.Google Scholar

¹² See the tables on land ownership in the Government of Burma, Reports on the Land Revenue Administration for the 1880s and 1890s.

¹³ The statistics provided by settlement officers relating to indebtedness showed that as late as the first decade of the twentieth century 60 percent of the cultivators in debt could pay after the next harvest, while only 9.5 percent were “hopelessly” involved or in danger of losing their holdings. A large portion of the remaining 30 percent of cultivators in debt had taken long or medium term loans for major improvements on their holdings or to purchase additional land. These loans were normally repaid in from two to five years and were generally a sign of the borrower‘s wealth and reliability rather than his insolvency. See also Binns, B. O., Agricultural Economy in Burma (Rangoon, 1948), pp. 34–6.Google Scholar

¹⁴ For a more detailed discussion of these trends see Cheng, Burma Rice Industry, pp. 12–15.

¹⁵ Government of Burma, Report of the Burma Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee, 1929–30 (Rangoon, 1930), Vol. 1, pp. 204 and 210–13.Google Scholar

¹⁶ For a district by district breakdown see Ibid, Vol. 3, pp. II-33 ana 80–90.

¹⁷ Ibid, Vol. 1, pp. 210-13. The committee appointed to investigate government-sponsored, cooperative credit programs in 1928–29 gave a lower estimate of 250 million rupees lent by Chettiars to agriculturists in Lower Burma. (See, Government of Burma, Report of the Committee on Cooperation in Burma, 1928–29 [Rangoon, 1929], p. 10). It is probable that the carefully-researched estimate of the Banking Enquiry Committee is more accurate.Google Scholar

¹⁸ The Banking Enquiry Committee estimated that 17 percent of the crop loans and 15 percent of the long tciTn loans extended to agriculturists in the Delta districts were provided by Burmese moneylenders. See Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. 3, pp. 11–33 and 80–90.

¹⁹ Ibid, Vol. 1, p. 67.

²⁰ Sec the sections on internal marketing in the settlement reports for Lower Burma or the Government of Burma, Interim Report of the Riot Enquiry Committee (Rangoon, 1939), p.Google Scholar 20; and Furnivall, J. S., An Introduction to the Political Economy of Burma (Rangoon, 1957 ed.), P. 158.Google Scholar

²¹ See, for examples, Sandhu, K. S., Indians in Malaya: Immigration and Settlement, 1786–1957 (Cambridge, 1969), p.Google Scholar 42 et passim; Wick-berg, Edgar, The Chinese in Philippine Life, 1850–1898 (New Haven, 1965), especially pp.Google Scholar 67–80; and Dewey, Alice, “Capital, Credit and Saving in Javanese Marketing” in Firth, R. and Yamey, B. S. (eds.), Capital, Saving and Credit in Peasant Societies (London, 1964), pp. 230–32. Groups, like the Minangkabau on Sumatra, also provide important exceptions to this general trend.Google Scholar

²² Maung, Mya, “Cultural Value and Economic Change in Burma,” Asian Survey 4 (March 1964), PP.CrossRefGoogle Scholar 757–64. See also Maung's, “The Genesis Economic Development in Burma: The Plural Society” (Ph. D. dissertation, Catholic University of America, 1962), especially, pp. 98–9, 101–2 and II0.Google Scholar

²³ “Buddhism and Economic Action in Burma,” American Anthropologist 68/3 (October 1966), pp. 1163–65.Google Scholar

²⁴ Nash, Manning, The Golden Road to Modernity (New York, 1965), pp.Google Scholar 159–60; and Pfanner, David E. and Tngersoll, Jasper, “Theravada Buddhism and Village Economic Behavior: A Burmese and Thai Comparison,” Journal of Asian Studies 21/3 (May 1962), p. 345.Google Scholar

²⁵ Maung, “Cultural-Value,” p. 760.

²⁶ Government of Burma, Revenue and Agriculture Proceedings, Vol. 4886, March 1896, no. 5, p. 9. For a detailed discussion of these shifts in peasant attitudes see, Adas, Burma Delta, chapter 3 and conclusion.

²⁷ Thurston, Edgar, Tribes and Castes of South India (Madras, 1909), Vol.Google Scholar 5, pp. 258–61; Ap-padorai, A.. Economic Conditions of South India, 1000–1500 (Madras, 1936), Vol.Google Scholar 1, p. 379; and Rau, C. H., “The Banking Caste of Southern India,” Indian Review (Madras) 8/8 (Aug. 1907). p. 593.Google Scholar

²⁸ Rau, “Banking Caste,” p. 594; and Government of Madras, Madura (District) Gazetteer (Madras. 1914). P. 101.

²⁹ Wai, Tun, Burma's Currency and Credit, pp. 49–50;Google Scholar and Jain, L. C., Indigenous Banking in India (London, 1929), pp. 165–69 and 177.Google Scholar

³⁰ Thurston, Tribes and Castes, Vol. 5, pp. 250–53 and 270; Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. 1. p. 192.

³¹ Information on Chcttiar professional training was derived mainly from the questionnaire pre-pared by Mr. Vellayan Chetriar tor the Banking Enquiry Committee and included in Vol. 2 of the Banking Enquiry Report, pp. 129–36. See also Thurston, Tribes and Castes, Vol. 5, pp. 252–3; and Rau, “Banking Caste,” p. 595.

³² Pfanner, “Thcravada Buddhism and Economic Behavior,” p. 345.

³³ Nash, Golden Road, pp. 160–61. See also Pfanner, “Thcravada Buddhism and Economic Behavior,” p. 348 and Maung, “Cultural Value,” pp. 759–60.

³⁴ Sec, for examples, MacKenna, James, Report on the Settlement Operations in Myaungmya and Thongwa 1902–3 (Rangoon, 1903), Appendices A and B, p.Google Scholar 118; Voeux, H. Des, Report on the Settlement Operations in Toungoo 1898–99 (Rangoon, 1900), p.Google Scholar 34; and Moore, E. A., Report on the Revision Settlement Operations in the Tharratvaddy District, 1901–2 (Rangoon, 1903), p. 7.Google Scholar

³⁵ This judgement would, of course, have been incomprehensible to the Burmese agriculturist who regarded merit-making as the very best possible long-term investment. See Melford Spiro's excellent article on “Buddhism and Economic Action in Burma,” American Anthropologist 68 (Oct. 1966), pp. 1163–73; or Maung, “Cultural Value.” p. 759.Google Scholar

³⁶ The best accounts of Chettiar organization and operations in Burma may be found in the Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. 1, pp. 194–96 and 200–09, and Vol. 2, pp. 128–36 et passim.

³⁷ “Javanese Marketing” in Firth, and Yamey, (eds.), Credit in Peasant Societies, pp. 233–242.Google Scholar

³⁸ Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. I, p. 194.

³⁹ P. Sieglcman, “Colonial Development,” p. 126.

⁴⁰ Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. I, pp. 81 and 94, Vol. 3, pp. 11–33; sections on agricultural credit in the settlement reports for Lower Burma districts, especially Rees, O. M., Initial Report on [the] Revision Settlement of the Pyapon District, 1921–25 (Rangoon, 1927), p.Google Scholar 8 and Gyi, U Tin, Report on the Second Revision Settlement of the Ma-ubin District, 1925–28 (Rangoon, 1929), pp. 15 and 21–22.Google Scholar

⁴¹ Tun Wai, Currency and Credit, pp. 78–82; and Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. 2, p. 98.

⁴² The best discussion of government lending efforts in the secondary literature may be found in Cheng, Burma Rice Industry, pp. 190–97.

⁴³ Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. 2, p. 97.

⁴⁴ Govt, of Burma, Revenue and Agriculture Proceedings, Vol. 8633, Nov. 1911, p. 496 et passim; and Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. 1, p. 78.

⁴⁵ Ibid, p. 4; and Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. 1, pp. 78–80, Vol. 2, p. 106 et passim, and Vol. 3. PP. II–33.

⁴⁶ Ibid, Vol. 7237, May 1906, pp. 25–6; and the sections on credit provision in the settlement reports for this period.

⁴⁷ Govt, of Burma, Report of the Land and Agriculture Committee (Rangoon, 1938), Pt. 2, P. 39.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Govt, of Burma, Revenue and Agriculture Proceedings, Vol. 4886, March 1896, pp. 36–7; Vol. 7238, Aug. 1906, p. 63 and Vol. 7237, May 1906, pp. 25–6; and Mahajani, Role of the Indian Minorities, p. 178.

⁴⁹ Ibid, Vol. 7237, May 1906, pp. 25–6 and 89–92 and Vol. 7238, Aug. 1906, p. 63.

⁵⁰ For a detailed discussion of these trend* see Adas, Burma Delta, Chapter 6.

⁵¹ Ibid

⁵² Excepting the years following the world-wide credit crisis which began to affect Burma in 1907. See Couper, Thomas, Report on Indebtedness in the Thaton District (Rangoon, 1911), pp. 10–11.Google Scholar

⁵³ Andrus, J. R., Burmese Economic life (Stanford, 1948), P. 77.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ The following summary is based on Adas, Burma Delta, Chapters 6, 7 and 8.

⁵⁵ Banking Enquiry Report, Vol. 2, p. 89; and the Rangoon Gazette, 8 December 1929, p. 12.

⁵⁶ Land and Agriculture Report, Pt. 2, p. 39.

⁵⁷ Harvey, G. E., British Rule in Burma, 1824–1942 (London, 1946), p.Google Scholar 55. See also the excerpts from Burmese vernacular papers reprinted in the Government of Burma, Interim Report of the Riot Enquiry Committee (Rangoon, 1939). PP. 35–36; and Mahajani, Role of the Indian Minorities, p. 21.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Cady, John, A History of Modern Burma (Ithaca, 1958), p. 252.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ N. Chakravarti, Indian Minority, pp. 61, 67–8, 162–63 and 177–78. The grievances of the Chettiars and their associations' claims are discussed in Mahajani, Role of the Indian Minorities, pp. 68–69 and 174–79.

⁶⁰ These statements were made by a Karen witness before the Banking Enquiry Committee. See Report, Vol. I, p. 189.

⁶¹ Bauer, and Yamey, , Economics of Underdeveloped Countries, pp. 115–17.Google Scholar

⁶² Land and Agriculture Report, Part 3, p. 78.