ABSTRACT
India has traditionally been an export surplus nation. Its vast natural and agricultural resource base, finest labor and skills enabled it to be the world leader in exports of several commodities and enjoy overall export surplus, not only in the Middle Ages but also as late as in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During 1879 and 1892, India enjoyed an export surplus ranging between Rs.25 crores and Rs.40 crores accounting for between one half to two thirds of imports. In current value terms it would mean an export surplus of US$30 billion to US$40 billion. India even imported gold worth Rs.450 crores to 55 years from 1835.82 The global economy was more open in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than in the twentieth century. The winds of change set by the globalization are now making the economies more open now than ever before in recent history.
