The political history of north India, 1757–1857, complicates the task of surveying its economy. The period neither marks the beginning of a new regime as in Bengal in 1757, nor the transition from one centralized state to another as in western India in 1818. There is more similarity to the south, were political decentralization and frequent military operations dominated the last half of the eighteenth century. But nineteenth-century north India was still to experience major wars; important areas like the Punjab and Kashmir remained independent to the end of the period while others, like Awadh and Rajputana, retained considerable autonomy. There is real danger, therefore, of distorting the overall picture by concentrating on British possessions for which records are relatively accessible and abundant while ignoring independent and autonomous states not sufficiently studied.

For some parts of the region, particularly in the eighteenth century, it is difficult to say anything specific about economic activity. With the waning of Mughal power in the Punjab and Ganges valley for instance, the Marathas, Afghans, and local groups such as the Rohillas, Jats, and Sikhs contended for influence and booty in its closing decades. The historic confrontation at Panipat in 1761 settled only the fact that no single power would control the area for almost forty years. The economy was obviously affected – the thriving Multan and Amritsar trade in Kashmiri shawls, hill fruits, nuts, and horses (via Agra and Benares) in return for Bengali silks and European broadcloth was disrupted, for example; and we can speculate about the impact of intermittent raids by outsiders, and battles among the Sikh misls for territorial control of agricultural production. Little more can be said.