When Britain were the rulers of India and indeed a lot of their previous colonies, they demanded farm produce such as grain from the farmers to feed their people back in Britain.
They did this at the expense of poor farmers who were ripped off and saw their harvests taken for meagre amounts.
Artisans also suffered under British rule as Britain placed restrictions on the goods being exported by artisans. British artificial works then saturated India thereby killing off the market for artisan goods..
