Why did the great powers of Asia stagnate whilst Europe was rising? This question—often called the Great Divergence—is one of the most defining questions of modern history.

Few case studies illuminate this question as well as the contrast between Britain and India. Did colonialism make Britain rich and India poor? Or was Britain’s rise already underway before conquest? And what does all this tell us about the everyday experiences of the people of on two sides of the divide?

This episode is a live recording from the British Academy, where I was invited to speak at the launch of Bishnupriya Gupta’s An Economic History of India. I was honoured to give this talk on this exceptionally rich topic, speaking after some of the leading experts of India's history.

How did I do?

Share your thoughts in the comments at OnHumans.Substack.com.

Enjoy!

DIG DEEPER

Read: See my article on the ⁠"Origins of Modern India⁠⁠". Complement with "Origins of Modern China" from last fall.

Listen: Check out the two-part "⁠What About India?⁠" series from this February. Complement with the episode with Professor Tirthankar Roy this July.

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KEYWORDS 

Big history | Economic History | Why the West | Gunpowder empires | Mughals | Colonialism | Imperialism | British East India Company | European colonialism | History of Colonialism | Geographical Determinism | Environmental Determinism | Political History | Fiscal History | Great Divergence | Western Dominance | Early Modern History | Kenneth Pomerantz | Steven Broadberry