The Ungrudging Indian: The Political Economy of Salt in India, c. 1878–1947

Abstract

This article investigates the long background to Mohandas K. Gandhi’s choice of salt as a symbol of protest against British colonial rule. Arguably the largest of all the colonial monopolies in India, the salt tax had the smallest effect on the lives of Indians when compared with other forms of deprivation and inequality. How was the salt monopoly different from other kinds of extractive colonialism? Why did salt never become part of the lexicon of protest against British rule until 1930? The article discusses the operation of the salt monopoly, its impact on consumption and health, the criticism it provoked, and the growth of support in the 1920s for protection for the domestic salt industry.