The British ruined Indian Economy and created the Foundations of British Power (1757-1947): A Historical Analysis of Wealth Drain

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe interaction between Britain and India from the 17th century to the 20th was not just apolitical or military interaction, but also an unprecedented transfer of wealth and resources,technology, science and culture from India to Britain. The British brought some institutions,administrative systems and modern infrastructure to India, but they also stole vast amounts ofmaterial and valuable intellectual traditions. Indian knowledge in medicine, mathematics,astronomy, linguistics, agriculture, metallurgy and botany enriched the European science andscholarship and India's textiles, spices, agricultural products, precious metals and raw materialsfueled Britain's Industrial Revolution. The massive contribution that India made to Britain interms of economic and intellectual development has been recorded by the historians likeDadabhai Naoroji (1901), R. C. Dutt (1902), William Digby (1901), Amiya Kumar Bagchi(1976), Irfan Habib (2015), Angus Maddison (2007), Utsa Patnaik (2018), and Shashi Tharoor(2017). The article examines in detail the commodities and information that Britain importedfrom India and how they influenced Britain's emergence as a world power.