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3. Mughal Empire in India, circa 1700 AD: 25% of global output
3. 印度莫臥爾帝國，公元1700年前后：占全球經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)出總量的25%
Indian civilization is one of the oldest in the world, and many empires have risen and fallen on the subcontinent throughout the centuries. But among its most economically vibrant was the Moghul Empire, which dated from the sixteenth century until the establishment of the British Raj in the middle of the 19th. According to the late economic historian Angus Maddison, the per capita output of Mughal-era India was likely about the same as in England or France at the time, but “India had a ruling class whose extravagant lifestyle surpassed that of the European society.” This was achieved, however, “by subjecting the population to a high degree of exploitation.”
印度文明是世界上最古老的文明之一，而且多個世紀(jì)以來，已經(jīng)有許多帝國在印度次大陸上盛衰沉浮。但其中經(jīng)濟(jì)最有活力的要數(shù)莫臥兒帝國，其統(tǒng)治時間始于十六世紀(jì)，一直持續(xù)到十九世紀(jì)中葉，英國在印度建立殖民統(tǒng)治為止。已故經(jīng)濟(jì)史學(xué)家安格斯•麥迪森曾指出，莫臥兒王朝時代的印度人均經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)出，很可能與當(dāng)時的英國或法國相差無幾，但是“印度統(tǒng)治階層生活的奢侈程度超過了歐洲社會的統(tǒng)治階層”，但是這是通過“對印度人民進(jìn)行沉重剝削而實現(xiàn)的”。
Though European traders who visited India during this time were impressed by the Mughal court, which Maddison describes as “one of the most brilliant in the world,” with its walled castles, gardens, fountains, literature, and painting, the Indian people were uninterested in the goods Westerners had to trade, beyond gold. Such a dynamic fueled the plunder of the newly discovered Americas for its wealth of precious metals. This persisted throughout the Mughal era, as European explorers began to insinuate themselves further into Indian society. The Mughal empire slowly decayed amid the rise of the industrialized British Empire, which officially colonized the subcontinent in the middle of the 19th century.
在這段時間里，來到印度的歐洲商人無不對莫臥兒王宮印象深刻——麥迪森稱這里是“世界上最光彩奪目的王宮”，它擁有諸多圍墻城堡、花園、噴泉、藏書和名畫。但是，除了黃金之外，印度人對西方人用來交易的貨物都不感興趣。這種貿(mào)易關(guān)系促使西方國家紛紛涌向新發(fā)現(xiàn)的美洲大陸，去掠奪大量的貴金屬。這種狀況在整個莫臥兒王朝時代都持續(xù)存在，同時，歐洲人也開始滲透進(jìn)印度社會。在工業(yè)化的大英帝國崛起之際，莫臥兒帝國慢慢地衰敗了下去。十九世紀(jì)中葉，大英帝國在印度次大陸正式建立殖民地。
