Swaminathan Aiyar disputes Sangh Parivar's 'sone ki chidiya' plank for so-called Hindu period

In a surprise article, well known academic and journalist, currently with Cato Institute, US, Swaminathan Aiyar, has disputed the Sangh Parivar claim that India was a "sone ki chidiya" during the so-called Hindu period of history.

Published in the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) following peer review, a story in The Print based on Aiyar's article says that during what is called the Hindu period of 1-1000 AD, the per capita GDP and population growth were both stagnant, no better than the world’s. In fact, the growth of per capita income of India was zero, just as bad in most other parts of the world, not better.

Aiyar believes that Sangh Parivar people cherry pick economic historian Angus Maddison's data to prove India was "sone ki chidiya", but a holistic look into the scholar's data suggest just the opposite. According to him, the real growth of Indian economy took place not in what is considered the Muslim period, nor during the British rule, when the Indian economy suffered a setback. It took place only post-independence.

Want to read full research paper? Well, while EPW, known for its left-of-centre stance, has paywalled it, ironically, its original version is freely available on the Cato website -- it was published on June 21, 2023, more than six months before it found its way in EPW.

Comments

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. I don't know who owns this site, for there is nothing on it in the About Us link. It merely says, the Nashik Corporation site "is an educational and news website of the municipal corporation. Today, education and payment of tax are completely online." It goes on to add, "So we provide some of the latest information about Property Tax, Water Tax, Marriage Certificate, Caste Certificate, etc. So all taxpayer can get all information of their municipal in a single place.some facts about legal and financial issues that different city corporations face, but I was least interested in them." Surely, this didn't interest...

Beyond the 'plum' posting: Why the caste lens still defines bureaucratic success

Following my recent blog on former IAS bureaucrat Atanu Chakraborty’s sudden exit as non-executive chairman of HDFC Bank, a few colleagues from the Gujarat cadre — mostly those I interacted with during my Gandhinagar stint (1997–2012) as the Times of India representative — reacted rather sharply. Most of them sent their responses directly on WhatsApp, touching upon on the merits and demerits of Chakraborty’s controversial move. One former IAS officer, a Dalit, however, went further, raising a broader question: why do some officials like Chakraborty secure plum post-retirement assignments, while others are overlooked?

Blaming RTE, not underfunding: Education groups hit back at NITI Aayog working paper

A preliminary working paper by Arvind Virmani, economist and member of the Government of India think tank NITI Aayog, has concluded that the Right to Education (RTE) Act — enacted to guarantee free and compulsory schooling for children between six and fourteen — has actually worsened learning outcomes rather than improved them. The paper, published in March 2026 and reported by The Print on 16 April, has drawn sharp pushback from education rights advocates, who argue it builds a politically motivated narrative against constitutionally guaranteed entitlements.

Search This Blog