Fact check: The Unmaking of India: How the British Impoverished the World’s Richest Country

1. Summary of the results

The analyses overwhelmingly support the claim that British colonial rule impoverished India, with multiple sources providing substantial evidence of systematic economic exploitation. The scale of wealth extraction was enormous - sources cite figures ranging from $45 trillion drained between 1765 and 1938 ^[1] to $64.82 trillion extracted during the entire colonial era according to an Oxfam International report ^[2].

The mechanisms of exploitation were multifaceted and devastating:

• Resource extraction and wealth drain: The British systematically extracted India's resources, wealth, and labor through coercive systems ^[3]
• Destruction of manufacturing: British policies deliberately destroyed India's manufacturing sector to benefit British industries ^[4]
• Infrastructure designed for exploitation: The colonial railway system was specifically designed to extract resources and control the subcontinent, prioritizing British interests over Indian industrial development ^[5]
• Narco-colonialism: The British exploited millions of Indian farmers through the opium trade with China, which became a major source of colonial income ^[3]

The human cost was catastrophic, with estimates of excess deaths ranging from 50 million to 165 million during the colonial period ^[4].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original statement lacks important contemporary context that emerges from the analyses. A significant finding is that India's current inequality may actually exceed that of the colonial period. During British rule, the top 1% held around 20-21% of national income, whereas today they hold 22.6% ^[6]. More strikingly, the top 1% now control 40.1% of national wealth, with the top 10% controlling almost 60% of national income ^[6].

The analyses reveal that modern India has experienced dramatic wealth concentration, with the number of Indian billionaires increasing from one in 1991 to 271 in 2024, collectively holding nearly $1 trillion or 7% of the world's total wealth ^[7]. This inequality has been particularly pronounced since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, with policies creating an authoritarian government and fostering a growing nexus between big business and government ^[7].

Who benefits from different narratives:

• Current Indian political elites and wealthy business leaders benefit from focusing solely on colonial exploitation while deflecting attention from contemporary inequality
• British institutions and descendants of colonial wealth benefit from minimizing discussions of reparations or acknowledgment of historical exploitation
• International development organizations benefit from promoting solutions like education reform and wealth taxes on billionaires ^[6]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

While the core claim about British impoverishment of India is factually supported, the statement presents potential bias through omission. By framing India as "the world's richest country" that was impoverished, it may oversimplify the complex economic dynamics and ignore that:

• Contemporary India faces inequality levels that potentially exceed colonial-era disparities ^{[6] [7]}
• The statement lacks acknowledgment that modern Indian elites and policies have contributed significantly to current wealth concentration ^[7]
• The framing could serve to deflect responsibility from current governance failures by attributing all economic problems to historical colonialism

The statement is not technically misinformation, as the historical exploitation is well-documented, but it presents an incomplete picture that may serve contemporary political narratives rather than providing full context about India's economic challenges across different periods.