Economic Condition in 18th Century

The eighteenth century in India was marked by two critical transitions that altered the power structure and ushered in significant social and economic changes. The first was the transition from the Mughal Empire to regional political orders in the first half of the century. The second was the political, social, and economic transition. The East India Company steered its way to political dominance in the 18th century. The decline of Mughal authority resulted in the emergence of several independent kingdoms. 

Background

• The 18th century India failed to make economic, social, or cultural progress at a rate that would have saved the country from collapse.
• The rising revenue demands of the state, the oppression of officials, the greed and rapacity of the nobles, revenue-farmers, and zamindars, the marches and countermarches of rival armies, and the depredations of the numerous adventurers roaming the land during the first half of the 18th century made people’s lives quite despicable.
• India was a land of contrasts at the time. Extreme poverty coexisted with extreme wealth and luxury.
• On the one hand, there were the wealthy and powerful nobles who lived in luxury and comfort; on the other, there were the backward, oppressed, and impoverished peasants who lived on the bare subsistence level and had to bear all manner of injustices and inequities.
• Nonetheless, life for the Indian masses was generally better at this time than it had been after over 100 years of British rule at the end of the nineteenth century.

Features

• India in the eighteenth century was a study in contrasts and contradictions. It must endure one of the most turbulent periods in its history.
• Agriculture was the people’s primary source of income. Because the rulers were constantly at war, they did not have time to improve the agricultural conditions of the land.
• Foreign trade flourished during the Mughals’ reign. India imported pearls, raw silk, wool, dates, and dried fruits from the Persian Gulf region; coffee, gold, drugs, and honey from Arabia; tea, porcelain, and silk from China; and luxury goods from Tibet, Singapore, the Indonesian Islands, Africa, and Europe.
• India exported raw silk, silk fabrics, indigo, sugar, pepper, and a variety of other items. Cotton textiles from India were famous throughout the world.
• Despite such a favourable trade balance, India’s economic situation could not improve due to constant warfare.
• Within the country, revolts of the Sikhs, Jats, and Marathas, and foreign invasions, such as those of Nadir Shah (1739 AD) and Ahmad Shah Abdali (1761), were common.
• European countries such as France, England, Portugal, and Spain were interested in trading with India by the eighteenth century. They contributed to the country’s political and economic instability, ultimately destroying its economy.
• However, by this time, India’s reputation as a land of beautiful handicrafts had spread throughout the world.