Long-Term Trends and Fluctuations of Foreign Trade, Domestic Commerce, and Commodity Prices in Colonial India: A Statistical Study

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H03369
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic history
• Research Institution: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (2016-2017); National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (2015)
• Principal Investigator: Sugihara Kaoru 総合地球環境学研究所, 研究部, 特任教授 (60117950)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 神田 さやこ 慶應義塾大学, 経済学部(三田), 教授 (00296732) ; 木越 義則 名古屋大学, 経済学研究科, 准教授 (00708919) ; 西村 雄志 関西大学, 経済学部, 教授 (10412420) ; 小川 道大 金沢大学, 国際基幹教育院, 准教授 (30712567) ; 小林 篤史 大阪産業大学, 経済学部, 講師 (40750435)
• Research Collaborator: WAKIMURA Kohei 大阪市立大学, 大学院経済学研究科, 教授 (30230931) ; TANIGUTI Kenji 公立鳥取環境大学, 経営学部, 講師 ; KAWASHIMA Toshiki University of Pennsylvania ; ROY Tirthankar London School of Economics ; PARTHASARATHI Parasanan Boston College ; BALACHANDRAN Gopalan Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: インド / 「長期の１９世紀」 / 外国貿易 / 国内交易 / 物価

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examines statistics relating to foreign trade and internal trade in British India, and analyzes the patterns and development of foreign and internal trade in a comparative perspective. By comparing the trade statistics of each presidency, which was the main source from the early to the middle of the nineteenth century, with those of British India, and by putting together the statistics of coasting, rail- and river-borne, and road-borne trade, along with that of foreign trade, we find that there appears to have been a growth of internal trade, especially in the second half of the nineteenth century. Induced by the growth of networks of railways and steamships as a result of the growth of long-distance trade, domestic goods ranging from local grains and spices to cotton textiles and sundries circulated across the subcontinent. The pattern resembles the concurrent growth of foreign and regional trade in East Asian countries at a similar stage of integration.

Free Research Field

経済史