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Gazi Abbas Shahid
Starting as a ground reporter back in his home UT of Jammu and Kashmir, Gazi has been a part of the news industry for well over a decade. While he finds every type of news engrossing, politics, partic ... Read More
Its a well-documented fact that medieval India was arguably the richest nation in the world at the time, far wealthier than kingdoms and empires in Europe and other parts, before the British colonialists invaded the country and drained it out of all the wealth. According to historians, the amount of wealth looted by the British was roughly equivalent to over one and a half times the current GDP of the United States.
Medieval Indian emperors were known for their military conquests as well as their enormous wealth, and among those, Mughal Emperor Akbar, popularly known as Akbar the Great, is considered the richest.
According to historical records, Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, the third Mughal emperor, once controlled a mind-boggling 25 percent, or one-fourth of the total global GDP.
Emperor Akbar is known for strengthening the tax system, and paid special attention to trade, due to which the Mughal treasury swelled during his prosperous reign. The Mughal king, who succeeded his father, Humayan, at a young age, expanded trade with Europe by opening new trade routes, and reformed the tax regime, resulting in a giant surge in revenue for the Mughal empire.
As per historians, the Mughal treasury in 1595 AD, during Emperor Akbar’s reign, was worth Rs 9 crore, about 25 percent of the global GDP, estimated to be Rs 36 crore at the time. In today’s terms, Emperor Akbar’s wealth would be equal to a staggering USD 21 trillion.
According to Money.com, Akbar’s annual revenue in the 16th century was worth more than the entire treasury of the British Crown. The Mughal empire had an annual revenue 1.75 crore pounds (Rs 193.15 crore), while the entire British treasury was worth 1.60 crore pounds at the time.
The Mughal emperor’s treasury contained 90 percent of the wealth of South Asia, boasting massive stores of gold, silver, and precious gemstones, that were housed in separate rooms.
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