The Economic History of India, 1857–2010

by Tirthankar Roy

From the end of the eighteenth century, two distinct global processes began to transform livelihoods and living conditions in the South Asia region. These were the rise of British colonial rule and globalization, that is, the integration of the region in the emerging world markets for goods, capital, and labour services. Two hundred years later, India was the home to many of the world's poorest people as well as one of the fastest growing market economies in the world. Does a study of the past help to explain the paradox of growth amidst poverty? The Economic History of 1857–2010 claims that the roots of this paradox go back to India's colonial past, when internal factors like geography and external forces like globalization andimperial rule created prosperity in some areas and poverty in others.Looking at the recent scholarship in this area, this revised edition covers new subjects like environment and princely states. The author sets out the key questions that a study of long-run economic change in India should begin with and shows how historians have answered these questions and where the gaps remain.

Genres: History, Economics, India

404 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 10, 2020

Reviews

[Jerry John · Rating 5 out of 5]

tour de force

This book answered my many questions of why there was a market departure between the fate of colonial India versus colonial America.