A cache of 17th-century Mughal administrative reports has been unearthed in the British Library archives, exposing the systematic economic exploitation that preceded colonial rule. The documents, forgotten for centuries, detail the wealth of Mughal India during its peak under Emperor Aurangzeb: vast grain reserves, thriving textile industries, and a sophisticated taxation system. Yet British East India Company officials used these records to map out resource extraction, seizing land, imposing heavy taxes, and dismantling local industries.
The revelations come as historians reassess the roots of global inequality. The reports show how British policies deliberately impoverished regions that were once prosperous, diverting grain to feed London, not local markets. Labour historians argue this is the original sin of modern wage stagnation: the destruction of self-sufficient economies created a cheap workforce for colonial factories.
In Manchester, echoes of this history resurface in the debate over free trade agreements that undercut local workers today. The reports are a stark reminder that the price of bread in Bolton is tied to the plunder of Bengal centuries ago.
