I’m curious what people here think about Nader Shah's invasion of India and sacking of Delhi. I read an interesting theory that said that if it wasn’t for Nader Shah's invasion of India and sacking of Delhi exposing just how weak India was, Europe would never have colonized India. Mughals and Muhammad Shah turned out to be no match for the Afsharid Army of Nader Shah and the Persians. It was in fact the Persians who first made the British aware just how easy it was to conquer India.
it seems like thre was more to british colonialism of india than mere excuse of nadir shah, reminding how bengal was the first state to be colonised by the british.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_Subah#Economy_and_trade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-industrialization
The Bengal Subah had the largest regional economy in the Mughal Empire. It was described as the
paradise of nations. 50% of the
gross domestic product (GDP) of the empire was generated in Bengal. The region exported grains, fine cotton
muslin and
silk, liquors and wines, salt, ornaments, fruits, and metals. European companies set up numerous trading posts in Mughal Bengal during the 17th and 18th centuries. Dhaka was the largest city in Mughal Bengal and the commercial capital of the empire.[
citation needed]
Chittagong was the largest seaport, with maritime
trade routes connecting it to
Arakan,
Ayuthya,
Aceh,
Melaka,
Johore,
Bantam,
Makassar,
Ceylon,
Bandar Abbas,
Mocha and the
Maldives.
[58][59][
page needed]
Real wages and
living standards in 18th-century Bengal were higher than in Britain, which in turn had the highest living standards in Europe.
[60]
Mughal India and Bengal[edit]
Some historians have identified proto-industrialization in the early modern
Indian subcontinent,
[9][10] mainly in its wealthiest and largest subdivision, the
Mughal Bengal[11][12] (today's modern
Bangladesh and
West Bengal), a major
trading nation in the world which had been in commercial contact with global markets since the 14th century. The Mughal region singly accounted for 40% of
Dutch imports outside Europe.
[13] During the 17th–18th centuries, when the
Indian subcontinent was ruled by
Mughal Empire's sixth ruler
Aurangzeb through
sharia and
Islamic economics,
[14][15] sustained growth was being experienced in manufacturing industries, exceeding
China.
India became the world's largest economy, valued 25% of world
GDP,
[16] having better conditions than 18th-century
Western Europe, prior to the
Industrial Revolution.
[17]
The
Kingdom of Mysore, a major economic and military power in
South India, ruled by
Hyder Ali and
Tipu Sultan, allies of
Emperor of the French Napoleon Bonaparte, also experienced massive growth in per capita income and population, structural change in the economy, and increased pace of technological innovation, most notably
military technology.
[18][19]
