What Adam Smith Said About India And East India Company In The Wealth Of Nations

Adam Smith, in his book "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" published in March 1776, discussed India and the East India Company.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) made copious notes about India and the British East India Company’s presence and impact on the contemporary Indian economy. (Artist unknown. Source: British Museum/Wikimedia Commons)

Adam Smith’s more popular book - An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations – was published in March 1776. Though not often referenced, Smith (1723-1790) made copious notes about India and the British East India Company’s presence and impact on the contemporary Indian economy. Here are a few excerpts from the book:

Ganga and the business of inland navigation

The improvements in agriculture and manufactures seem likewise to have been of very great antiquity in the provinces of Bengal, in the East Indies, and in some of the eastern provinces of China… In Bengal, the Ganges and several oth...

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