INDIA'S ECONOMY UNDER MUGHAL
EMPIRE AND UNDER BRITISH EMPIRE
India experienced its fastest economic growth
under the Mughal empire during the 16th-18th
centuries, boosting Mughal India above Qing
China by1700. By the late 17th century the
Mughal empire was at its peak. In 1700, the
exchequer of Aurangzeb reported an annual
revenue of $450 million, 10 times that of
contemporary Louis XIV of France, while
controlling just 7 times the population. Mughals
were responsible for building an extensive road
system, creating a uniform currency and
unification of the country. Early modern Europe
imported products from Mughal India. (Let us
remember that during Mughal empire, India's
wealth remained within India unlike under British
empire.) In the early half of the 18th century
Mughal empire fell into decline,
with Delhi sacked during Nadir Shah's invasion.
The treasury was emptied, tens of thousands were
killed and many more thousands carried off with
livestock, as slaves, leading to the emergence
of post-Mughal states.
During British colonial rule Indians were
subject to frequent famines, had one of the world's
lowest life expectancies and were largely illiterate.
Britain replaced India as the world's largest textile
manufacturer. India served as both a significant
supplier of raw goods to British manufacturers and
a large captive market for British manufactured
goods. There was massive transfer of capital
from India to England.
(By the way, after independence, India's gdp
grew, at a modest annual rate of three and half
percent over first forty years. But this is much
better than less than 1% annual rate of gdp
growth in India during the period of 1870-1947,
under British colonial rule.)
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