Abstract

Since the late nineteenth century India has been a major center for research and writing in economic history. Early pioneers included Mahadev Govind Ranade and Romesh Chunder Dutt, who turned to history in order to both critique British rule in India and to construct an economics that was appropriate for Indian conditions. In the early decades of the twentieth century a number of writers built upon the foundation established by these figures and combined a concern for contemporary problems of the Indian economy with an interest in historical issues. From the 1930s, however, economic history went into decline as the Keynesian revolution gave economists other sources of inspiration to create an Indian economics. In faculties of economics, the study and teaching of economic history was of secondary importance for a number of decades.