When this April India surpassed China as the world’s most populous nation, commentators were quick to declare this the “Indian Century”, a plaudit primarily reflecting the so-called “demographic dividend”. By 2030, the ratio of India’s working-age population to its total population will reach 70%, the highest of any large economy in the world. This is a workforce of extraordinary magnitude — fully one quarter of the globe’s — and a consumer class of equally extraordinary potential.
A powerhouse of the world
There have been other Indian centuries, however — prior to the colonial depredations suffered before regaining independence in 1947. For a millennium before the arrival of the British, India, along with China, was a powerhouse; by the 1600s it is estimated to have possessed up to a quarter of the world’s production capacity. The imperial capital in Delhi was the destination of ambassadors, from the court of King James I to that of the Ayutthaya emperor of today’s Thailand; of poets and painters and musicians from across central and west Asia, and of craftsmen from as far afield as Italy, who brought with them the pietra dura artistry that adorns the Taj Mahal.
