Manchester of the East

Kanpur was a tiny hamlet until the railways arrived in India, and later a British garrison. The bloody events during the 1857 War of Independence led to a clampdown on the city, and under rigorous British supervision, industry began. The wars that Britain was fighting in South Africa, Russia and Afghanistan furthered the development of Kanpur into a hub of supply for the best military boots and other leather goods. Mills were set up and by 1900s, Kanpur became synonymous with high-quality products and top-of-the-class mills.Both Indians and Europeans were responsible for this transformation of a tiny dot on the map of the Indian subcontinent into the world's best supply-centre for leather, cotton, jute and other materials. In this rivetting account of the transformation of a hamlet into what became known as the Manchester of the East, Suraj Prasad Mehra describes the evolution of the city over two hundred years from the 1800s. He introduces us to events and incidents as well as individuals and governments that were responsible for making Kanpur what it eventually became and what it is today.