This paper concerns the institutional origins of economic development, emphasizing the cases of nineteenth-century India and Africa. Colonial institutions-the law, western style property rights, newspapers and statistical analysis-played an important part in the emergence of Indian public and...

The socio-economic contribution of the Indian state of West Bengal, which has been subjected to repeated partitions and transfer of population during the last one hundred and fifty odd years to serve the interest of the colonial and national rulers, is immense. Bengal was one of the wealthiest...