The document discusses the concept of an "economic drain" from India to Britain that began in the 18th century. It describes economist Dadabhai Naoroji's notable 1881 study that attempted to quantify the magnitude of this drain and prove it caused mass poverty in India. Naoroji was the first to estimate India's national product in this context. The drain took the form of tributes, profits from unauthorized trade, and interest on loans used to expand British rule, as India received little foreign capital or enterprise unlike other British colonies. Surpluses from India's production and revenues were taken as a tribute to enrich Britain at India's expense through an unremitted export of goods. The drain impoverished India and deprived it
The document discusses the concept of an "economic drain" from India to Britain that began in the 18th century. It describes economist Dadabhai Naoroji's notable 1881 study that attempted to quantify the magnitude of this drain and prove it caused mass poverty in India. Naoroji was the first to estimate India's national product in this context. The drain took the form of tributes, profits from unauthorized trade, and interest on loans used to expand British rule, as India received little foreign capital or enterprise unlike other British colonies. Surpluses from India's production and revenues were taken as a tribute to enrich Britain at India's expense through an unremitted export of goods. The drain impoverished India and deprived it
The document discusses the concept of an "economic drain" from India to Britain that began in the 18th century. It describes economist Dadabhai Naoroji's notable 1881 study that attempted to quantify the magnitude of this drain and prove it caused mass poverty in India. Naoroji was the first to estimate India's national product in this context. The drain took the form of tributes, profits from unauthorized trade, and interest on loans used to expand British rule, as India received little foreign capital or enterprise unlike other British colonies. Surpluses from India's production and revenues were taken as a tribute to enrich Britain at India's expense through an unremitted export of goods. The drain impoverished India and deprived it
The transfer of resources from India to England and other countries of Western Europe,
which began in the middle of the 18
th century, has been described by many economists as a drain on Indian resources. ttempts ha!e been made from time to time to measure the e"tent and assess the effects of this drain. The most notable attempt was made by #adabhai $aoro%i in 18&1 who, in his study entitled 'o!erty and (n)*ritish +ule in India, not only tried to ,uantify the magnitude of the drain but also sought to pro!e that the mass po!erty in India was a direct conse,uence of the drain. It was in this connection that #adabhai wor-ed up the first estimate of Indias national product. (nli-e those parts of the *ritish Empire, li-e ustralia or .anada, which had been settled by emigrants from England, India did not recei!e any large influ" of foreign enterprise or foreign capital. Thus India was forced to de!elop her own resources largely through her own e"ports whole a substantial part of her accumulated capital found its way to *ritain by way of tributes, plunder, profits from unauthori/ed trade, and, at a later period, as interest on loans granted for the !ery purpose of e"tending *ritish dominions in India. The ci!il ser!ants and military officials sent out from *ritain en%oyed a salary scale which was too high in relation to a!erage Indian income and remitted most of their sa!ings to the mother country. 0or all these reasons the inflow of bullion to India dwindled after the middle of the 18 th century and by 1&&1 India, with her fa!ourable balance of trade o!er a succession of years, was gradually reduced to a chronically indebted country. s the East India .ompany came into the possession of Indias territorial re!enues, these could be used for ma-ing purchases of e"portable items in India and elsewhere. Thus profit)ma-ing through trade became integrated with administration which also became an instrument of profit)ma-ing. The drain too- the form of an unre,uited e"port of goods, not an e"port of bullion. The surplus of Indias production was ta-en away as a tribute to the newly ac,uired political power of the East India .ompany. fter 1&2& the inflow of bullion fell off. There were periods, for e"ample between 1&&& and 1&8&, when there was a substantial outflow of bullion from India to finance the .ompanys in!estments in .hina. 3utflow of bullion continued off and on until the opening years of the 14 th century. *etween 1811 and 1856 there was, according to #adabhai $aoro%i, a net influ" of bullion into India amounting to 711 million pounds, but this was relati!ely a small amount compared to Indias tremendous e"port surpluses during this period. fter 1858 the inflow of bullion was accelerated by the large e"port surpluses India en%oyed for some years owing to the merican .i!il War. t the same time *ritish money was also flowing into India in the form of +ailway loans. 9owe!er the import of bullion could not be regarded as a symptom of capital accumulation in India. 3n the contrary, the drain went on unhindered impo!erishing the country and enriching England at Indias e"pense. s concei!ed by #adabhai $aoro%i, the economic drain from India arose out of the following reasons: 9ea!y imports of *ritish capital into these colonies generated employment and income, while Indias meager stoc- of capital was drained away in the form of unre,uited e"ports, depri!ing Indian agriculture and industry of much)need imports of e,uipments. The e"ternal drain had its counterpart an inter!al drain) the transfer of purchasing power through ta"ation from the po!erty)stric-en rural masses to the richer urban centres. The transferred amount, barring a certain lea-age by way of affluent consumption in the urban areas, formed the unre,uited e"ports which made up the e"ternal drain. The drain was not only in the form of commodities or capital. There was an imperceptible drainage of human s-ill as well, since industries wee being -illed one after another by unimpeded foreign competition and people were being forced to fall bac- on a primiti!e system of agriculture. The *ritish connection had gi!en to India nothing but a on)sided flow of resources from India to England.