An Economic History of India (South Asia Edition)

This book offers a major new economic history of India from the reign of Akbar in the sixteenth century to India''s post-independence integration into the global economy. Using concepts and theories from economics and economic history alongside extensive new data Bishnupriya Gupta builds a new framework for understanding the economic impacts and legacies of British rule. She charts India''s transition from precolonial economy to colonial rule and evaluates its economic performance from a comparative perspective particularly in the context of the Great Divergence between Europe and Asia. Finally she examines India''s post-independence economy and the evolution of social and economic inequality through to the turn of the twenty-first century. By taking a long view the book sheds new light on the persistent effects of historical institutions as well as the impacts of policy-driven changes. It will be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the long-run evolution of the Indian economy.- Offers a new framework for understanding the nature of development and underdevelopment in a large colonial economy.- Captures the impacts of both colonization and independence on the Indian economy.- Explores the evolution of social and economic inequality in India.Introduction1. The decline and the rise of the Indian economy.2. Agriculture as the engine of growth.3. From handlooms to modern industry and the emergence of a planned economy.4. Origins of India''s service sector advantage.5. Region income caste and gender: continuity and change.6. Colonial development in a comparative perspective.Bishnupriya Gupta University of Warwick Bishnupriya Gupta is Professor of Economics at University of Warwick and the research director of CAGE Research Centre. She is Honorary Professor at the School of Economics Peking University. She has published widely on industrial development in colonial India and is a key contributor to the debate on the Great Divergence.