For
administrative purposes, the British divided colonial India into three
Presidencies, which in turn led to the rise in the importance of the Presidency
cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. These cities became the centres of British power in power in the different
regions of India. New factories came up, trade developed.
At the same time that these cities were expanding, the towns and cities
that manufactured specialised goods declined due to a drop in the demand
for what they produced. Old trading centres and ports could not survive
when the flow of trade moved to new centres. Similarly, earlier centres of
regional power collapsed when local rulers were defeated by the British
and new centres of administration emerged. This process is described as
de-urbanisation.