From Cantonment to Commercial Hub: Colonial Policies and Trade in Bangalore

This paper analyzes how colonial-era policies transformed Bangalore from a military cantonment into a commercial hub between ca. 1800 and 1920. The cantonment initially served as a concentrated demand node, but sustained commercialization was driven by targeted infrastructural investments. Specific policies—urban planning, rail transport development, and municipal/land regulations—reoriented pre-existing trade patterns, facilitated commercial aggregation, and enabled the emergence of hybrid merchant networks. The study concludes that while these institutional and spatial choices were foundational to Bangalore's economic prominence, they also embedded the socio-spatial inequalities visible in its modern urban form.