New book on India exposes old myths and establishes new facts

New book on India exposes old myths and establishes new facts

A new book by Bishnupriya Gupta published by Cambridge University Press has been launched at the British Academy in London.

An Economic History of India: Growth, Income and Inequalities from the Mughals to the 21st Century 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.

Over 50 delegates attended the launch to hear from a range of social science experts on the important role the new book plays in understanding India’s economic position in the world.

Describing a professional relationship spanning 25 years, Mark Harrison, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick and fellow of the British Academy introduced Bishnu’s influential work on Asian and Indian history. He described its significance in uncovering old myths and establishing new facts over a period of 500 years.

Bishnu then talked about the journey her research took to truly understand the effect of colonialism in India. She highlighted the need to take a long view, and a particular need to write about the impact of colonisation on the average person. How did they fare under British rule? How did they respond to globalisation? And who benefitted from the railways?

“To understand any period in history you need to understand what went before and what came after”

Tirthankar Roy, Professor in Economic History at the London School of Economics followed. He described the importance of understanding economic history to show growth and inequality – not just for specialists but for everyone.

Finally, Ilari Mäkelä, science communicator and podcast producer, discussed the questions the book raises around the great divergence debate, grounding history in the experience of real people, and social bias in policy implementation – particularly educational investment.

Bishnupriya Gupta said:

“I am happy to be able to bring this work to publication. The book has been based solely on evidence and data, and spanning economic, sociological and cultural study. I hope it answers the fundamental question - how do we know what we think we know?”

About the Author

Bishnupriya Gupta is Professor of Economics at University of Warwick and CAGE Research Director. She has published widely on industrial development in colonial India, gender norms in India and is a key contributor to the debate on the Great Divergence.

• An Economic History of India: Growth, Income and Inequalities from the Mughals to the 21st Century can be purchased from Cambridge University Press
• Listen to CAGE Research Director, Bishnupriya Gupta discuss her work on colonialism and the economic history of India for the On Humans podcast What about India? Moghuls, British and the Causes of Poverty