a) Encourage students to view history as a social scientist’s irreplaceable ‘laboratory’; allowing for the identification of irregularities, validation (or invalidation) of theories.
b) Inculcate an understanding and appreciation of the essential complementarities between deductive reasoning (as used in mathematics and economic theory) and inductive reasoning (as used in history and other social sciences).
c) Provide the student of economics with a comprehensive overview of the major debates and issues in the economic and demographic history of India under colonial administration. Specifically, at the end of this course you will have some understanding of the factors that have influenced the pace of long run economic growth in the Indian economy; key institutional, demographic, political, social, and cultural changes that have influenced the course of Indian economic development