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5 - From the Mughals to the Raj: India 1700–1858

from Part I - Regional Developments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2021

By
Anand V. Swamy
Edited by
Stephen Broadberry  and
Kyoji Fukao
Stephen Broadberry
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Kyoji Fukao
Affiliation:
Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo
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Summary

In 1700 the Mughals controlled much of the Indian subcontinent. By 1858 the British Crown ruled. Why did this transition occur? How did the relationship between the state and economic activity change? And how did the economy perform? This chapter provides an overview, discussing competing perspectives on the breakdown of the Mughal Empire, the rise of the East India Company, the increasing commercialization of the economy, and changes in the economic structure. The literature suggests that the East India Company’s political and military success partly came from more successful fiscal administration compared to its Indian rivals. After consolidating its rule, British policy favoured the export of Indian primary products and the import of manufactured goods, contributing to deindustrialization. In agriculture, the area cultivated increased with population, but technology stagnated. Per capita income, which was already low, may have fallen slightly. Conflicts between the state and local users of forests and other resources emerged, especially in conjunction with the introduction of a major technological innovation, the railways. Our period ends with the Mutiny, a formidable challenge to British rule, following which British policy became conservative, seeking to preserve the existing social order.

Keywords

MughalsMarathasTipu SultanEast India CompanydeindustrializationThe Great Divergencecommercialization
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World , pp. 123 - 145
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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