Amit's Blog

What If Shah Jahan Built Canals Instead of the Taj Mahal?   Imagine a world where the ₹32 million spent on the Taj Mahal—roughly $1 billion in today’s money —was diverted to irrigation canals and village schools . In just 20–30 years , this could have transformed the lives of 12 to 16 million people across Mughal India. That’s 10–15% of the empire’s population —a public works revolution that would have fed families, prevented famines, and seeded literacy for generations.   The Cost of Eternal Love Shah Jahan spent ₹32 million rupees (1632–1653) to build the Taj Mahal, a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Adjusted for long-term purchasing power, this equals ~$1 billion in 2025 USD (basis: Mughal silver rupee parity + 400-year inflation via global commodity baskets; see Habib, 1999; Moosvi, 2015). For context: this was 25–30% of the empire’s annual land revenue (~₹100–120 million). A massive one-time capital surge . Estimating the NPV of the Taj Mah...

The Unseen Ocean: India's Profound Misunderstanding of Maritime Power and the Rise of European Dominance   When Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut in 1498, he inaugurated an era that fundamentally altered the Indian subcontinent’s destiny. For over four centuries, European powers—beginning with the Portuguese and culminating with the British—established impregnable coastal strongholds, from Goa to Bombay, enduring until India’s liberation of Goa, Daman, and Diu in 1961. This prolonged European presence raises a critical question: Why did the mighty land-based Indian empires, particularly the Mughals, who ruled for over three centuries, fail to challenge these maritime interlopers, allowing them to entrench an insurmountable foothold? The answer lies in a profound and persistent failure to comprehend the strategic importance of maritime power. Across the entire span of the Mughal Empire and beyond, Indian rulers exhibited a near-total disregard for naval strategy, viewing the sea a...