Economic History and Modern India: Redefining the Link
Author(s)
Roy, Tirthankar
Abstract
British rule in India formally lasted between 1858 and 1947. How large, of what nature and how lasting was the impact? These questions have long guided the study of the economic history of India. The imperialist, or “orientalist,” belief was that the empire heralded modernity in India. For example, Karl Marx shared that belief with many of his contemporaries, although he also observed that modernity came with a cost. In contrast, twentieth-century writers on imperialism and development believed in an enduring link between colonialism and underdevelopment. The view that impediments to development were inherited from the damages of colonial rule, and not homegrown, became a key premise of Indian nationalist thought articulated by, among others, Jawaharlal Nehru himself. In 1947, this diagnosis of Indian poverty held that it was a product of “laissez-faire,” exploitation by foreign capital and the noninterventionist stance of the Indian government under the British raj. In turn, these ideas supported the two key planks of India’s development strategy: strong sentiment against foreign trade and investment and statism. Indian big business at 1947, the principal backers of the Indian National Congress, eagerly embraced the former and, somewhat uneasily, the latter.
