Professor Om Prakash delivers second annual IIAS Lecture
Asia and the Pre-modern World Economy
By Paul van der Velde
On 12 May 1995, Professor Om Prakash of Delhi University, a well-known authority in the field
of the economic history of India of the pre-modern era, specifically in its relation to the Western
expansion, delivered the second annual IIAS Lecture in Leiden at the Nonnensteeg 1-3. This
building was officially opened two days earlier and, apart from the IIAS, houses the Institute
Kern, the Research School CNWS, and the Projects Division of the Department of Languages and
Cultures of South-East Asia and Oceania, which certainly entitles this building to be called the
Asia House. The lecture was attended by nearly 100 Asianists from the Netherlands and
abroad.
In his address Prakash made clear that until recently Western historians' understanding of the
economic processes in Asia was blurred by their ingrained preconception of the 'otherness' of
Asia. Therefore they always stressed the differences in these processes in the West and in Asia
and were unable to detect the underlying similarities.
In contrast to the theories of Wallerstein and Blitz, Om Prakash demonstrates that the inflow of
bullion had the same effect upon the economy in India as it had in Western Europe. That this
inflow of bullion did not produce a price revolution as it did in Western Europe was probably due
to idiosyncratic factors in Asia. Furthermore, Om Prakash clearly demonstrates that Asia played
as important a role in the pre-modern world economy as the West, an era which he describes as
one of a mutual advantageous economic relationship.
In view of the present developments in the global economy and the increasingly influential role
played by Asia, it is tempting to believe that the mutually advantageous nature of the pre-modern
world economy will be mirrored in the present post-modern economy.
Back to IIAS Home Page
Back to IIASN5