India – by far Britain’s most important colony (it was colonized by the East India Company from the mid eighteenth century, and formally annexed by Britain in 1857)59 – had a per capita GDP of $550 in 1700, $533 in 1820, and $533 in 1870. In other words, it was lower in 1870 than it had been in 1700, or even 1600 (when it was also $550). It then rose to $673 in 1914 but fell back to $619 in 1950. Over a period of 250 years, most of it under some form of British rule, India’s per capita GDP increased by a mere 5.5 per cent. Compare that with India’s fortunes after independence: already by 1973
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