“Africa is part of South Asia just as South Asia is part of Africa” – Tirthankar Roy

LSE’s Tirthankar Roy calls for greater historical consciousness of the centuries-old ties between India and African countries

The mutiny and the merchants

The historiography of the Indian mutiny (1857–8) suggests that livelihood classes responded to the episode differently, but pays more attention to the agricultural classes than the urban commercial ones in studying the response. This article revises the economic history of the rebellion by showing that commercial interests were influenced by concerns over security of property, and that they, as much as landed interests, shaped the course of the rebellion

The monsoon and the market for money in late-colonial India

Banking experienced large growth in colonial India along with a process of commercialization of agriculture. Yet, the rate of aggregate saving or investment remained low. This article is an attempt to resolve this paradox. It suggests that traditional forms of banking were helped by the formalization of indigenous negotiable instruments, but that transactions between bankers, merchants, and peasants were characterized by a limited use of legal instruments. The limited circulation of bills in this sphere is attributed, among other factors, to high seasonality in the demand for money. Seasonality-induced distortions in the organization of the money market made indigenous banking an unsuitable agent to promote saving and finance industrialization

The ‘Marwari’ business community is now a part of history

Tirthankar Roy looks at how the nature of the “business community” in India has evolved since the 19th century. He argues that modernisation and globalisation has resulted in a fundamental shift away from ethnic business networks to pan-Indian bodies

Economic history in South Asia: in conversation with Professor Tirthankar Roy

Economic history is a frequently overlooked branch of both history and economics. Amal Shahid recently spoke to LSE’s Tirthankar Roy about the value of studying the discipline in relation to South Asia, why it has been sidelined and what the UK and India can learn from each other about teaching it