Hello_10
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I have Master of Engineering degree from a high ranked university of Sydney, Australia, widely ranked among top 20 Tech universities of Asia pacific. And it is still a question, how Indian professionals (regardless Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Buddhist), built Taj Mahal by converting Shear Stress into longitudinal stress so the building was then supported without pillars? (with four Tall pillars on the corner only. The architectural design uses the interlocking arabesque concept, in which each element stands on its own and perfectly integrates with the main structure). It was wonder for many engineers till mid-20th century while ‘Strengths of Materials’ is known as the toughest subject of Mechanical & Civil engineering studies? And don’t forget Europe was living in deep poverty in 16th century, when Taj Mahal was constructed in India. Please don’t try to justify wrong like how one gentleman talked about India in 17th, when Brits came here. Have a look below about poverty in Europe in 16th century when Indian engineers had exercised high level of techniques in building Taj Mahal with many more as per the “Facts about India”, on the government website, the link I have mentioned before. Too many buildings, education, medical and other basic scientific inventions in India, just read all first in that link.
Britain could rule India because they had better 'Arms' than that time Indian rulers, only.
A History of Poverty
Poverty in the Middle Ages
Not much was written about poverty in the Middle Ages. The poor were not considered important. Much more was written about the rich and powerful.
However in the Middle Ages poverty was common. England was basically a subsistence economy where each village made most of the things it needed and most of the population were subsistence farmers. They grew as much food as their families needed (if they were lucky).Surprisingly, perhaps, examining Medieval skeletons shows that most people had an adequate diet, except in times of famine.
However life must have been very hard for the disabled. There were many disabled beggars in Medieval towns.
The Church tried to help the poor. The Church taught that it was a Christian duty to give to the poor. In monasteries a monk called an almoner gave alms to the poor. However in the Middle Ages fearful poverty was an inescapable part of life.
Things did improve after the Black Death of 1348-49. In England about one third of the population died. Afterwards there was a shortage of workers so wages rose. In the 15th century wage labourers were better off then in the 13th century.
Poverty in the 16th Century in Britain
With the rise in population during the 16th century jobs were not always easy to find. In Tudor times there were thousands of people without jobs wandering around looking for work. There were also disabled beggars. There were also people who pretended to be mad or disabled in order to beg. Tudor governments tolerated people who were disabled begging. However they did not tolerate able-bodied people without jobs wandering around. They saw such 'sturdy vagabonds' as a threat to law and order.
Poverty in the 17th Century
At the end of the 17th century a writer estimated that half the population could afford to eat meat every day. In other words about 50% of the people were wealthy of at least reasonably well off. Below them about 30% of the population could afford to eat meat between 2 and 6 times a week. They were 'poor'. The bottom 20% could only eat meat once a week. They were very poor. At least part of the time they had to rely on poor relief.
Poverty in the 18th Century
[/U]In the 18th century probably half the population lived at subsistence or bare survival level. (It was the time when Lord visited India in 1835)[/B] In the early 18th century England suffered from gin drinking. It was cheap and it was sold everywhere as you did not need a license to sell it. Many people ruined their health by drinking gin. Yet for many poor people drinking gin was their only comfort. The situation improved after 1751 when a tax was imposed on gin.
