This volume examines the economic and social consequences of colonial rule in India. It covers several aspects of economy like gross domestic product, regional growth, de-industrialization, relations between agriculture and economy, demographic changes, land tax and property rights, market relations and bondage, and notions of authority. It explores the mechanisms that generated and sustained resource flow catapulting Britain and other capitalist countries to global dominance.

Amiya K. Bagchi surveys the writings on economic history of colonial India and provides a theoretical framework to locate India's economic experience. Investigating areas like East India Company's monopoly trade, drain of wealth, deindustrialization, agricultural productivity and change, living standards, and emergence of civil society he also shows how India structurally adjusted itself to the changing economic dynamics. This book will be of considerable interest to scholars, teachers, and students of modern Indian history and economics.