Economic conditions in early modern Bengal: a contribution to the divergence debate
Roy, T.
(2010).
Economic conditions in early modern Bengal: a contribution to the divergence debate.
Journal of Economic History,
70(1), 179-194.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050710000094
(2010).
Economic conditions in early modern Bengal: a contribution to the divergence debate.
Journal of Economic History,
70(1), 179-194.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050710000094
This article contributes to the debate on relative levels of living in the early modern world by estimating the income and probable range of income growth in Bengal before European colonization. The exercise yields two conclusions, (a) average income in Bengal was significantly smaller than that in contemporary Western Europe, and (b) there is insufficient basis to infer either growth or decline in average income in the eighteenth century.