Although India is not a direct combatant in the Iran war, it has been impacted by inflation, fiscal stress, slower growth, supply chain disruption, pressure on agriculture, and a large outflow of capital. Has something similar happened before?

In 18th-century Europe, Great Britain and France were locked in a struggle for supremacy. France had more than twice the population of Britain and three times its GDP. Yet between 1750 and 1800, Britain’s economy tripled. That growth financed victory over France and the loss of its colonies in America and India. The usual explanation is the Industrial Revolution and the Bank of England. But later scholarship has questioned both claims. The Industrial Revolution, it is argued, began only around 1770, and the agricultural surplus said to have funded it has never been convincingly established.

A more persuasive explanation lies in the empire. British power was built not simply at home but through the capture of wealth abroad, especially in India. The first Indian force trained to European standards was raised at Madras by Stringer Lawrence and Robert Clive. Sailing up the Hooghly on Royal Navy ships, they defeated the Nawab of Bengal at........

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