Economic impacts and legacies of British rule in India

In her latest book An Economic History of India: Growth, income and inequalities from the Mughals to the 21st century, Bishnupriya Gupta builds a new framework for understanding the economic impacts and legacies of British Rule, which she will discuss in this public event.

Using concepts and theories from economics and economic history alongside extensive new data, she charts India's transition from precolonial economy to colonial rule and evaluates its economic performance from a comparative perspective, particularly in the context of the Great Divergence between Europe and Asia. She examines India's post-independence economy and the evolution of social and economic inequality through to the turn of the twenty-first century.

Meet our speaker and chair

Bishnupriya Gupta is Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick, and the research director of CAGE Research Centre. She has published widely on industrial development in colonial India, gender norms in India and is a key contributor to the debate on the Great Divergence. She is currently one of the editors of the Journal of Economic History.

Sara Horrell is Professor of Economic History at LSE, and current Head of Department. Her research interests are labour market participation, household structure, standards of living and expenditure in the British industrial revolution and late-nineteenth century, with particular interest in women and children’s work and welfare; family labour market work and wages in Britain in the long run, 1280-1860.

More about this event

The Department of Economic History (@LSEEcHist) is one of the world's leading centres for research and teaching economic history. It is home to a huge breadth and depth of knowledge and expertise ranging from the medieval period to the current century.

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