ABSTRACT
Moreland’s thesis1 that ‘prices on the Hooghly’ in the second half of the seventeenth century ‘were brought into line with those which prevailed elsewhere on the Indian sea board’ can now be exploded with the discovery of new evidence in the archives of the Dutch and English East India Companies. This mass of material – so far unexplored – leads to the irresistible conclusion that prices of provisions in Bengal were cheaper – much cheaper indeed – than those in any other part of the Indian coast.
