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An Economic History of Early Modern India
Abstract
The death of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 until the annexation of Maratha territories by the British East India Company in 1818 was a period of transition for the economy of India. This book focuses on these transitions, and shows how a study of this period of Indian history contributes to a deeper understanding of the long-run patterns of economic change in India. Momentous changes occurred in business and politics in India during the eighteenth century - the expansion of trade with Europe and the collapse of the Mughal Empire, resulting in the formation of a number of independent states. This book analyses how these two forces were interrelated, and how they went on to change livelihoods and material wellbeing in the region. Using detailed studies of markets, institutions, rural and urban livelihoods, and the standard of living, it develops a new perspective on the history of eighteenth century India, one that places business at the centre, rather than the transition to colonial rule. This book is the first systematic account of the economic history of early modern India, and an essential reference for students and scholars of Economics and South Asian History.
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There is no compelling evidence that yields were higher and upwardly rising before colonialism or in areas not directly ruled.
“There is no compelling evidence to show this (Roy 2013).”
From THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA (1858-1947) (2016) · cites this paper as Roy 2013
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de Zwart, P., & van Zanden, J. L. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108551410 · Cited by 91
Trading Firms in Colonial India
Roy, T. (2014) · The Business History Review · doi:10.1017/s0007680513001402 · Cited by 49
Self-citationReligious identity and the provision of public goods: Evidence from the Indian Princely States
Chaudhary, L., & Rubin, J. (2016) · Journal of Comparative Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jce.2016.05.001 · Cited by 41
On the Evolution of Collective Enforcement Institutions: Communities and Courts
Masten, S. E., & Prüfer, J. (2014) · The Journal of Legal Studies · doi:10.1086/677837 · Cited by 42
A Business History of India: Enterprise and the Emergence of Capitalism from 1700
Roy, T. (2018) · Cited by 37
Self-citationPre-Colonial Warfare and Long-Run Development in India
Dincecco, M., Fenske, J. E., Menon, A., & Mukherjee, S. (2020) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.1093/ej/ueab089 · Cited by 51
Poverty or prosperity in northern India? New evidence on real wages, 1590s–1870s†
de Zwart, P., & Lucassen, J. (2020) · The Economic History Review · doi:10.1111/ehr.12996 · Cited by 23
Court, V. (2019) · European Review of Economic History · doi:10.1093/ereh/hez015 · Cited by 21
“On the contrary, in Roy (2013) perspective, the Mughal empire was already weakening, probably with a slight decrease in GDP per capita, so the increasing interference of the English East India Company did not fundamentally hampered the Indian trajectory, and actually for this author the British…”
BackgroundSheth, S. (2018) · Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient · doi:10.1163/15685209-12341465 · Cited by 19
State Capacity and the Economic History of Colonial India
Roy, T. (2018) · Asia‐Pacific Economic History Review · doi:10.1111/aehr.12166 · Cited by 17
“3 For examples of works that emphasize discontinuity, see Roy (2013), Oak and Swamy (2012).”
BackgroundSelf-citationOn the Evolution of Collective Enforcement Institutions: Communities and CourtsPreprint
Masten, S. E., & Prüfer, J. (2011) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1773486 · Cited by 11
THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA (1858-1947)
Roy, T. (2016) · Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History · doi:10.1017/s0212610915000336 · Cited by 9
Self-citationRahman, M., Zaman, K. B., & Hafiz, R. (2016) · City Territory and Architecture · doi:10.1186/s40410-016-0036-y · Cited by 10
“Protibesh 9:34–41 Ovington J (1929) A Voyage to Surat in the year 1689.”
BackgroundOn the Evolution of Collective Enforcement Institutions: Communities and CourtsPreprint
Masten, S. E., & Prüfer, J. (2011) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1874694 · Cited by 10
Why Was British India a Limited State?
Roy, T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108665001.003 · Cited by 6
Self-citationHow Should We Approach the Economy of ‘Early Modern India’?
Ghosh, S. (2015) · Modern Asian Studies · doi:10.1017/s0026749x14000596 · Cited by 5
Can colonial institutions explain differences in labour returns? Evidence from rural colonial India
Caum‐Julio, J. (2023) · The Economic History Review · doi:10.1111/ehr.13273 · Cited by 5
The Significance of Early Globalization: Arguments and Evidence
de Zwart, P., & Flynn, D. O. (2021) · Palgrave studies in comparative global history · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-69666-5_2 · Cited by 5
An Element of Risk: the Corrupt Contractor in Indian Fiction and Film, 1886–1983
Bubb, A. (2017) · The Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry · doi:10.1017/pli.2016.33 · Cited by 4
Envisioning the social order in a southern port city: the Tamil diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai
Washbrook, D. (2014) · South Asian History and Culture · doi:10.1080/19472498.2014.969007 · Cited by 3
Smith, B. (2016) · Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient · doi:10.1163/15685209-12341406 · Cited by 2
Narayan, R. (2024) · Modern Asian Studies · doi:10.1017/s0026749x24000313 · Cited by 1
Tanabe, A. (2021) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003173519 · Cited by 3
Agriculture Is Still the Engine of Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Uttar Pradesh, India
Tripathi, A. (2016) · Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development · doi:10.37801/ajad2016.13.1.1 · Cited by 1
Nadri, G. A. (2023) · Historia Crítica · doi:10.7440/histcrit89.2023.04 · Cited by 1
“People changed their professions, and, at times, new occupational castes were formed when several people decided to adopt another trade.(59) Product specialization, regional or caste-based, was a prominent feature of the textile industry in early modern India.”
BackgroundBritish Empire: 7. India, to 1858
Roy, T. (2016) · The Encyclopedia of Empire · doi:10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe083
Self-citationGlobal Trade and Economic Decline in South Asia
de Zwart, P., & van Zanden, J. L. (2018)
Bazaar aesthetics: On excess and economic rationality
Deka, M. (2020) · International Journal of Cultural Studies · doi:10.1177/1367877920971640
“In traditional peasant marketplaces, legumes and grains intermixed with medicines are sold, and in street markets in Asia and Africa, vendors sell purses and knock-off phones alongside electronic items (Gao, 2011).”
BackgroundFrom the Mughals to the Raj: India 1700–1858
Swamy, A. V. (2021) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316671566.007
Wage Earners in India 1500–1900:Regional Approaches in an International Context
Lucassen, J., Seshan, R., Lucassen, J., et al. (2021) · Sage eBooks · doi:10.4135/978-93-5479-364-6
Sood, G. D. S. (2016) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781316393581.012
Gardner, L. A., & Roy, T. (2020) · Bristol University Press eBooks · doi:10.51952/9781529207651.bm001
Self-citationMahmud, A. A., & GULSHAN, J. (2022) · the Journal of Academic Social Sciences · doi:10.29228/asos.65048
Entrepreneurship in India. What India's evolving business landscape means for its partners.Preprint
Kulik, L. V. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5320855
East Indiamen: shipping and its effect on East India Company-Asian trade 1660-1830
Bogart, D. E., & Angel, M. D. (2026) · Cliometrica · doi:10.1007/s11698-025-00329-3
“…(1962), Watson (1980), Desai (1984),Mui and Mui (1984), Carlos and Nicholas (1988), Lawson (1994), Bowen (2005), Hejeebu (2005), Robins (2006), Kranton and Swamy (2008), Webster (2009), Stern (2011), Roy (2013), Philips (2013), Solar (2013), Erikson (2014), and, Bogart (2017) for works on the EIC.”
Influential
Metadata
- Authors
- Roy, T.
- Affiliations
- London School of Economics and Political Science (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Roy, Tirthankar
- ORCID
- Roy, Tirthankar
- Venue
- Routledge eBooks
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Published
- 2013-07-18
- OpenAlex
- W156211706
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 4.74
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Historical Economic and Social Studies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Indian Economic and Social Development
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › South Asian Studies and Diaspora
- Keywords
- early modern India, Mughal Empire, Aurangzeb, British East India Company, European trade, independent states, markets, economic institutions, rural livelihoods, urban livelihoods, living standards, 18th century, business history
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