India 1700: The World's Largest Economy
Before the Fall
In 1700, India commanded 24.4% of global GDP - larger than all of Europe combined. This lesson quantifies India's extraordinary economic position as the world's manufacturing powerhouse, and establishes the baseline from which colonial devastation would be measured.
The Emperor's Treasure Room
In 1665, French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier stood speechless in the treasury of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb at the Red Fort in Delhi. Before him lay the Koh-i-Noor diamond, the Peacock Throne encrusted with rubies and emeralds, and gold coins stacked floor to ceiling. Tavernier, who had visited the treasuries of Louis XIV and the Ottomans, wrote that he had never seen 'such wealth concentrated in one place in all my travels.'
This wasn't just royal extravagance. It was evidence of something far more significant: India was the richest nation on Earth.
The Numbers That Shocked Historians
When British economic historian Angus Maddison completed his landmark study The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective in 2001, his findings stunned even specialists. Using purchasing power parity calculations across centuries of data, Maddison demonstrated that in 1700:
| Region | Share of World GDP |
|---|---|
| India | 24.4% |
| China | 22.3% |
| Western Europe (all) | 21.9% |
| Britain | 2.9% |
India alone produced nearly a quarter of everything made on Earth. The tiny island nation that would colonize it contributed less than 3%.
This wasn't an anomaly. Maddison's data showed India had maintained roughly this share for nearly two millennia. In 1 CE, India and China together accounted for about 60% of global output. The 'rise of the West' was, in historical terms, a recent and temporary deviation from the norm.
The Workshop of the World
What made India so wealthy? Not gold mines or oil fields, but manufacturing excellence - what Sanskrit texts call shilpa (craftsmanship).
Textiles: The Original 'Made in India'
Indian cotton textiles were the most desired goods in the world. The names survive in European languages: calico (from Calicut), muslin (from Mosul, a trading hub for Indian cloth), chintz (from Hindi chint), dungaree (from Dongri in Mumbai).