Economy of the Mughal Empire
The economy in the Indian Subcontinent during the Mughal Empire era performed just as it did in ancient times, though now it would face the stress of extensive regional tensions.[1] It was described as large and prosperous.[2] India producing about 28% of the world's industrial output up until the 18th century.[3][4] While at the start of 17th century, the economic expansion within Mughal territories become the largest and surpassed Qing dynasty and Europe, where from Bengal Subah alone, the province statistically has contributed to 12% of Gross domestic product.[5] by 1700s, Mughals had approximately 24 percent share of world's economy.[4] They grew from 22.7% in 1600, which at the end of 16th century, has surpassed China to become the world's largest GDP.[6][7]
Mughal India's economy has been described as a form of proto-industrialization, like that of 18th-century Western Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution.[8] Many historians have built on the perspective of R. C. Dutt who wrote, "The plunder of Bengal directly contributed to the Industrial Revolution in Britain."[9][10][11][12]
The Mughals also responsible for building an extensive road system, creating a uniform currency, and the unification of the country.[13]: 185–204 The empire had an extensive road network, which was vital to the economic infrastructure, built by a public works department set up by the Mughals which designed, constructed and maintained roads linking towns and cities across the empire, making trade easier to conduct.[2]
The main base of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar.[14][15] These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator,[16] were paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[17] and caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[18]
Coinage
The Mughals adopted and standardised the rupee (rupiya, or silver) and dam (copper) currencies introduced by Sur Emperor Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule.[19] The currency was initially 48 dams to a single rupee in the beginning of Akbar's reign, before it later became 38 dams to a rupee in the 1580s, with the dam's value rising further in the 17th century as a result of new industrial uses for copper, such as in bronze cannons and brass utensils. The dam was initially the most common coin in Akbar's time, before being replaced by the rupee as the most common coin in succeeding reigns.[13] The dam's value was later worth 30 to a rupee towards the end of Jahangir's reign, and then 16 to a rupee by the 1660s.[20] The Mughals minted coins with high purity, never dropping below 96%, and without debasement until the 1720s.[21]
Despite India having its own stocks of gold and silver, the Mughals produced minimal gold of their own, but mostly minted coins from imported bullion, as a result of the empire's strong export-driven economy, with global demand for Indian agricultural and industrial products drawing a steady stream of precious metals into India.[13] Around 80% of Mughal India's imports were bullion, mostly silver,[22] with major sources of imported bullion including the New World and Japan,[21] which in turn imported large quantities of textiles and silk from the Bengal Subah province.[13]
Labour
The historian Shireen Moosvi estimates that in terms of contributions to the Mughal economy, in the late 16th century, the primary sector contributed 52%, the secondary sector 18% and the tertiary sector 29%; the secondary sector contributed a higher percentage than in early 20th-century
According to Stephen Broadberry and Bishnupriya Gupta, grain wages in India were comparable to England in the 16th and 17th centuries, but diverged in the 18th century when they fell to 20-40% of England's wages.[25][26] This, however, is disputed by Parthasarathi and Sivramkrishna. Parthasarathi cites his estimates that grain wages for weaving and spinning in mid-18 century Bengal and South India was comparable to Britain.[27] Similarly, Sivramkrishna analysed agricultural surveys conducted in Mysore by Francis Buchanan during 1800–1801, arrived at estimates using a "subsistence basket" that aggregated millet income could be almost five times subsistence level, while corresponding rice income was three times that much.[28] That could be comparable to advance part of Europe.[29] Due to the scarcity of data, however, more research is needed before drawing any conclusion.[30][31]
According to Moosvi, Mughal India had a per-capita income, in terms of wheat, 1.24% higher in the late 16th century than British India did in the early 20th century.[32] This income, however, would have to be revised downwards if manufactured goods, like clothing, would be considered. Compared to food per-capita, expenditure on clothing was much smaller though, so relative income between 1595 and 1596 should be comparable to 1901–1910.[33] However, in a system where wealth was hoarded by elites, wages were depressed for manual labour.[34] In Mughal India, there was a generally tolerant attitude towards manual labourers, with some religious cults in northern India proudly asserting a high status for manual labour. While slavery also existed, it was limited largely to household servants.[34]
Agriculture
Indian agricultural production increased under the Mughal Empire.[2] A variety of crops were grown, including food crops such as wheat, rice, and barley, and non-food cash crops such as cotton, indigo and opium. By the mid-17th century, Indian cultivators begun to extensively grow two new crops from the Americas, maize and tobacco.[2]
The Mughal administration emphasised agrarian reform, which began under the non-Mughal emperor Sher Shah Suri, the work of which Akbar adopted and furthered with more reforms. The civil administration was organised in a hierarchical manner on the basis of merit, with promotions based on performance.[35] The Mughal government funded the building of irrigation systems across the empire, which produced much higher crop yields and increased the net revenue base, leading to increased agricultural production.[2] From the late 17th century to the early 18th century, India accounted for 95% of British imports from Asia, and Bengal Subah province alone accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia.[36]
A major Mughal reform introduced by Akbar was a new land revenue system called zabt. He replaced the
Mughal agriculture was in some ways advanced compared to European agriculture at the time, exemplified by the common use of the
According to economic historian
Diamond mining
India during Mughal rule has produced many legendary gems, including the
The testimonial proof of lucrative diamonds of Golconda are under the supervision of regional governors, of whom 17th-century prominent diamond trader
Shantidas Jhaveri, was also a diamond trader from this area during the era of Mughal rule.[48]
Industrial manufacturing
Up until 1750, India produced about 25% of the world's industrial output.
In
Textile industry
The largest manufacturing industry in the Mughal Empire was textile manufacturing, particularly cotton textile manufacturing, which included the production of piece goods, calicos, and muslins, available unbleached and in a variety of colours. The cotton textile industry was responsible for a large part of the empire's international trade.[2] India had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century.[58] Indian cotton textiles were the most important manufactured goods in world trade in the 18th century, consumed across the world from the Americas to Japan.[59] By the early 18th century, Mughal Indian textiles were clothing people across the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East.[60] The most important centre of cotton production was the Bengal province, particularly around its capital city of Dhaka.[61]
Bengal accounted for more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks imported by the Dutch from Asia,[57] Bengali silk and cotton textiles were exported in large quantities to Europe, Indonesia, and Japan,[13]: 202 and Bengali muslin textiles from Dhaka were sold in Central Asia, where they were known as "Dhaka textiles".[61] Indian textiles dominated the Indian Ocean trade for centuries, were sold in the Atlantic Ocean trade, and had a 38% share of the West African trade in the early 18th century, while Indian calicos were a major force in Europe, and Indian textiles accounted for 20% of total English trade with Southern Europe in the early 18th century.[56]
The
Once, the Mughal emperor Akbar asked his courtiers, which was the most beautiful flower. Some said rose, from whose petals were distilled the precious attar, others, the lotus, glory of every Indian village. But Birbal said, “The cotton boll”. There was a scornful laughter and Akbar asked for an explanation. Birbal said, “Your Majesty, from the cotton boll comes the fine fabric prized by merchants across the seas that has made your empire famous throughout the world. The perfume of your fame far exceeds the scent of roses and jasmine. That is why I say the cotton boll is the most beautiful flower.[65]
Shipbuilding industry
Mughal India had a large shipbuilding industry, which was also largely centred in the Bengal province. Economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates shipbuilding output of Bengal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at 223,250 tons annually, compared with 23,061 tons produced in nineteen colonies in North America from 1769 to 1771.[66] He also assesses ship repairing as very advanced in Bengal.[66]
Indian shipbuilding, particularly in Bengal, was advanced compared to European shipbuilding at the time, with Indians selling ships to European firms. An important innovation in shipbuilding was the introduction of a
Bengal Subah
The province of Bengal was especially prosperous from the time of its takeover by the Mughals in 1590 until the British East India Company seized control in 1757.[68] It was the Mughal Empire's wealthiest province.[69] Domestically, much of India depended on Bengali products such as rice, silks and cotton textiles. Overseas, Europeans depended on Bengali products such as cotton textiles, silks, and opium; Bengal accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia, for example, including more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks.[57] From Bengal, saltpeter was also shipped to Europe, opium was sold in Indonesia, raw silk was exported to Japan and the Netherlands, and cotton and silk textiles were exported to Europe, Indonesia and Japan.[13]
Akbar played a key role in establishing Bengal as a leading economic centre, as he began transforming many of the jungles there into farms. As soon as he conquered the region, he brought tools and men to clear jungles in order to expand cultivation and brought
The province was a leading producer of grains, salt, fruits, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments.
After 150 years of rule by Mughal
See also
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- ^ Sivramkrishna, Sashi (2009). "Ascertaining Living Standards in Erstwhile Mysore, Southern India, from Francis Buchanan's Journey of 1800–01: An Empirical Contribution to the Great Divergence". Journal of the Economic and Social History. 52 (4): 726.
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Further reading
- Chaudhuri, K.N. (1978), "Some Reflections on the Town and Country in Mughal India", Modern Asian Studies, 12 (1): 77–96, S2CID 146558617
- Habib, Irfan. Atlas of the Mughal Empire: Political and Economic Maps (1982).
- Habib, Irfan. Agrarian System of Mughal India (1963, revised edition 1999).
- Heesterman, J.C. (2004), "The Social Dynamics of the Mughal Empire: A Brief Introduction", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 47 (3): 292–297, JSTOR 25165051
- Khan, Iqtidar Alam (1976), "The Middle Classes in the Mughal Empire", Social Scientist, 5 (1): 28–49, JSTOR 3516601
- Moosvi, Shireen (2015) [First published 1987]. The economy of the Mughal Empire, c. 1595: a statistical study (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-908549-1.
- Rothermund, Dietmar. An Economic History of India: From Pre-Colonial Times to 1991 (1993)
- Richards, John F. (1975a), Mughal Administration in Golconda, Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press, OCLC 2932290