5 - Markets versus climate in Europe and India

Summary

The available sources and quantitative evidence for India do not, for the moment, allow for a similar “decomposition” of the market environment and integration process as performed for Europe in Chapter 4. Instead, we now return to the description of differences between India and Europe.

So far, the comparison has focused on describing the “average” picture for both large regions, thereby leaving aside differences in the extent of market integration within both the European continent and the Indian subcontinent brought about by differences in geography, climate, infrastructure, legal and political frameworks, or the general trade environment. The aggregate results, both for the extent of market integration within as well as between India and Europe therefore hide or blur some heterogeneity.

Now, we wish to narrow the geographical scope by focusing on a comparison of particular subregions to get a more specific understanding of differences between Europe and India and to explore whether such a micro view, which controls for physical geography, corroborates the broad findings of the macro picture presented in Chapter 3. The subregions in India and Europe that are to be compared should share some basic features to make this undertaking a fruitful one. Yet the choice of appropriate subregions is, to a certain degree, an arbitrary one, since differences and common features across regions exist along many dimensions. Luckily, Chapter 4 offered a good guideline for a choice of focus, showing that the most important differentiation to make in the early modern trade environment is arguably the one brought about by physical geography. Thus, the basic dividing line is whether a region has access to the sea, or to shipping more generally, or whether it is situated in the interior.