Katar Lalvani claims that the British did almost everything for India. (News Review 20 March). He misses the point.
It was the fabled riches of India that brought the British to India.
Before the arrival of the British, India accounted for a quarter of all global manufacturing. Its GDP was around 25% in 1700 and fell to 5% by 1950.
The city of Agra with a population of 700,000 dwarfed all the cities of Europe.
It was the influx of Indian treasure that propelled the industrial revolution. And it was India that was forced to absorb the goods produced by the revolution.
India’s flourishing textile industry was destroyed leading to the destruction of its urban economy. Under the Raj India had two famines in 1876 and 1899 which killed millions. An ancient civilization that was way ahead in Mathematics, Medicine, Astronomy and many other subjects was crushed and reduced to penury.
The transfer of wealth is unparalleled in History. India started with nothing in 1947 and is today the world's fastest growing economy. The Roman conquest of England and the Norman conquest of Britain was wrong. So was the British conquest of India! Neither were invited!
Nitin Mehta
Croydon
