Ashik Kabir

It is well known to everyone that, today the USA is the number one economic, military and political power in the world. Soon after the second world war USA has attained this position. China has already occupied the second position and Japan, Germany, France and Britain are subsequent to significance in economic and political power. As the world economic history had witnessed, it was not always like that. It was the sixteenth century, where the journey of modern economic system commenced. At that time and till the end of eighteenth century, the rankings were totally different.
China was the number one country then. China was the leader in total output, manufacturing output and exports. China was also the most advanced country in science and technology. China was the leading country in world export and import. China was mainly exporting silk, tea, handicrafts, and porcelain. India was that time the second most important producer and exporter of manufactures, wherein the most important item being cotton textiles. Cotton and sugar were the main contribution of India to the world of exports. The growth of Indian science and technology slowed down for some centuries and stagnated in many categories. It was the twelfth century, state patronage for science and technology had disappeared in Northern India, though some of the patronage was available in Southern India till the sixteenth century. As a result, India was behind China in most matters in the sixteenth century.
Many countries of the Western Europe and rest of the world were primarily importers of manufactures from China and India, for many centuries and till the end of eighteenth century. Western Europe also imported spices from India and South East Asians islands in the Indian ocean. In exchange these countries exported large amount of gold and silver to China and India. Both China and India were known as the sinks of precious metals during the medieval period. These two countries could absorb huge amounts of precious metals in exchange for their handicrafts of well known high quality. Even though there were a huge demand for canons and military personnel in China and India, Western Europe exported a very little amount. In most of the cases, they were employed in the armies of the king.
It was the beginning of the nineteenth century, the situation was totally reversed, It was Britain who appeared as the world economic power. Britain in Particular and western Europe in general became the leaders in science, technology and manufacturing. It was only that time, the UK and the other countries of western Europe began experiencing economic growth. The growth rate was only 3% per annum , but sustained over a long period of time. It was just the beginning of modern economic growth. It is claimed that “ a great divergence” happened in the route of the nations. It was also to be pointed out that, the countries who were the most advanced countries of the sixteenth century became backward by the end of the twentieth century, while those who were the most backward countries of the world became the most advanced countries of the world by the twentieth century. It was named “ Reversal of Fortunes” by different scholars. The great divergence or the reversal of the fortunes of the nations was based on largely due to the phenomenon of the first industrial revolution.
India was colonized by Britain in 1757. Half a century later India became a major importer of manufactures, primarily cotton textiles. The land of cotton was inundated with cotton goods manufactured in England, as Karl Marx put it. In the middle of the nineteenth century it was China who was militarily humiliated by the Western European powers. The British forced China to import and consume opium, though opium was banned in China and thus the trade was illegal. The opium was largely produced in India, under the coercive rule of the East India company. In exchange, British received Chinese silk, tea, handicrafts porcelain virtually free as the opium was obtained virtually free from India. When the people’s liberation army liberated China from western dominance , the first half of the twentieth century is considered as the era of Shame. The Chinese economy after the 65 years of independence has achieved the fastest rate of economic growth and development in human history. Likewise, India , after centuries of colonization , is performing better .