Local History of a Global Commodity: Production of Coffee in Mysore and Coorg in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

When was large scale production of coffee in India, and what role did global capital play in the process? How did indigenous capital respond to the plantation sector? Taking a petition submitted by some European coffee planters of the Mysore Planters’ Association in December 1864 as a point of departure this article attempts at answering these questions by analysing the initial phase of the coffee industry in Mysore and Coorg in Karnataka. The petitioners claimed that the tax they paid on coffee was much higher than coffee planters elsewhere in India had to pay. The authorities concerned sought experts’ opinion on the petition, and came to the conclusion that the claims made in the petition were baseless. By comparing the role of the European and Indian enterprise in the coffee industry, the article contributes to the ongoing discourses on dual economy and the response of indigenous in the face of Western capital.