Department of Economics,

Delhi School of Economics

Minutes of Meeting
Subject : Common Pool of DSE
Semester: III/V/VII
Course : Economic History of India – ECON031
Date : 13 May, 2024.
Venue : Department of Economics
Chair : Dr. Varun Kumar Das and Dr. Rohit Parasar
S.NO. NAME COLLEGE
1 Abhinub Kumar Janaki Devi Memorial College
2 Amulya kumar sahoo spm college
3 Anil Kumar Ramjas College
4 Bal Krishan Hansraj College
5 C. Saratchand Satyawati College
6 Kartikeya Kohli Aryabhatta College
7 Kokila meena Satywati college morning delhi
8 Kulwinder Kaur S.G.T.B Khalsa College
9 Manavi Jain Miranda House
10 Mausumi Mohanty Sri Venkateswara College
11 Priyanka Yadav Daulat Ram College
12 R. Ahalya Daulat Ram College
13 Rakesh Kumar Motilal Nehru College
14 Ritu Khanna Daulat Ram College
15 Saumyajit bhattacharya Kirori mal
16 Shweta Kumari Satyawati College
17 Sonia Goel Ramjas College
18 Yogesh Malhotra Sri Venkasteswara College

Learning Objectives

The Learning Objectives of this course are as follows:

-
colonial period to the Independence of the country. This will cover the nature and
characteristics of economy before colonial rule and its transition to the colonial regime.

regime changes, and the mechanisms that linked economic development in India to the
compulsions of colonial rule.

hypothesis mortality and famines and debates around the retreat of the Raj is discussed.

Learning Outcomes
The Learning Outcomes of this course are as follows:

development trajectories.

political and social developments in the past that may have relevance in the
present times.

variety of textual and statistical sources, appreciate their contexts, strengths and
weaknesses, and draw upon them to construct a coherent argument.
-graduate studies these skills
would be useful in a variety of careers in academics and business research,
journalism as well as the government.

Course Outline:
Unit I: Economic changes from pre-colonial to colonial regimes - nature and characteristics;
Colonialism and the Indian Economy (9 hours)
UNIT II: Population, Mortality and Famines (7 hours)
Unit III: Agriculture Industry and Railways (20 Hours)
Unit IV: Economy and State in the Imperial Context (9 hours)

Readings List
Note: Readings with an asterisk (*) mark are essential for teachers. The students may be
encouraged to read them, but no direct questions should be asked from these readings.

Unit 1
1. P. Parthasarathy, 2011, Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia did not: Global Economic
Divergence, 1600-1850, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Ch 2 on India and the
global economy, 1600–1800: Introduction pp. 21-27; Section on Bullion in the global
economy pp: 46-50 & Ch 8 on Modern industry in early nineteenth-century India: Section
on The debate on the nineteenth-century Indian economy pp 224-226; Section on
Industrialization in early nineteenth-century India pp: 239-244; Section on State and
economy in nineteenth-century India pp: 251-262.
2. P. Parthasarathy, 2009, Historical Issues of Deindustrialization in Nineteenth Century
South India, in T Roy and Giorgio Riello (eds) How India Clothed the World: The World
of South Asian Textiles, 1500-1850, Brill, Leiden, pp. 415-435.

Unit 2:
1. Sumit Guha, 1991, Mortality decline in early 20th century India, Indian Economic and
Social History Review, vol. 28, Issue 4, pp. 371-74 and 383-87; (Note: pages 375-382,
which involve Guha’s critique of Klein, are to be de-emphasised for detailed reading
and examination).
2. Ira Klein, 1984, When Rains Fail: Famine relief and mortality in British India, Indian
Economic and Social History Review, vol. 21, issue 2, pp. 185-214
3. (*) Bagchi, A. K. (2010) Colonialism and Indian Economy. Oxford University Press.
Introduction. Section on Agricultural Productivity and Agrarian Change (pg. xxxiii-
xxxix).

Unit 3
1. Tirthankar Roy, 2011, Agriculture, The Economic History of India 1857-1947, 3rd
edn, Oxford University Press, Delhi, Ch. 4, pp. 104-148. (Note: pp: 40-41 on Famines
to be de-emphasised for examination).
2. John Hurd, 1982, Railways, in Dharma Kumar (ed.) Cambridge Economic History
of India 1754-c.1970, vol. 2, Orient Longman, Delhi, Ch. 8, pp.737-761
3. Rajat Ray (ed.), 1994, Introduction in Entrepreneurship and Industry in India, Oxford
University Press, Delhi, pp.1-69.
4. (*) L. C. Jain, 1929, Indigenous Credit Instruments and Systems in M. M. Kudaisya
(ed.) The Oxford Anthology of Business History, 2011, Oxford University Press,
Delhi, Ch. 3, pp. 52-61. (Note: This reading may be used as a background reading for
the section “The Bazaar” in Rajat Ray’s Introduction (previous reading) for a better
understanding of the Hundi system).

Unit 4
1. David Washbrook, 2012, The Indian Economy and the British Empire in Douglas M
Peers and Nandini Gooptu (ed.) India and the British Empire, Oxford University
Press, Delhi, Ch. 3, pp. 44-74.
2. Mukherjee, A. (2010) Empire: how colonial India made modern Britain. Economic
and Political Weekly. Vol. 45(50) (December 11-17, 2010), Section 2: British Conquest of India, pp.
75-78.
3. (*) Mukherjee, A. (2010) Empire: how colonial India made modern Britain. Economic
and Political Weekly. Vol. 45(50) (December 11-17, 2010), Sections 1 and 2 pp. 73-75 and Section
4 pp: 78-82.
4. *David Washbrook, 2022, The Political Economy of Colonialism in India In Harald Fischer-Tiné
and Maria Framke (eds.) Routledge Handbook of the History of Colonialism in South Asia,
Routledge, Chapter 2, pp. 23-35.
5. (*) Gopalan Balachandran, 2016, Colonial India and the World Economy. c. 1850-
1940, in L. Chaudhary, B. Gupta, T Roy and A. V. Swami (eds.), A New Economic
History of Colonial India, Routledge, London and New York, Ch.6, pp. 84-99.
6. (*) Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi (2005) ‘Introduction’ in the new edition of Kumar,
Dharma ( ed.) Cambridge Economic History of India. Vol 2. Delhi.

Assessment
1. Internal Assessment (IA): 30 marks - one class test, another test or presentation (12
marks each), and 6 marks for attendance
2. Continuous Assessment (CA): 40 marks - projects, presentations etc. (35 marks) and 5
marks for attendance.
3. The End Semester Exam will be of 90 marks. Students would be required to attempt
any 5 questions out of 8 given (18 marks each).