Echoing Ibn Battuta's fourteenth-century observations, French diamond merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier also noted Bengal's remarkable prosperity during his travels in the seventeenth century. His account provides specific evidence of this abundance, stating that even the smallest villages had plentiful supplies of rice, flour, butter, milk, beans, vegetables, sugar, and sweetmeats. This corroboration from three centuries later suggests a sustained period of prosperity in the region.

Tavernier's 17th-Century Corroboration of Bengal's Abundance

A book by French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, published in 1676, which provides significant historical insight into the economic prosperity of India during his travels. As a primary source, the book details the abundance of provisions. Tavernier's direct observation was that, 'Even in the smallest villages, rice, flour, butter, milk, beans and other vegetables, sugar and sweetmeats, dry and liquid, can be procured in abundance.' This account is used by economists to understand historical economic conditions before modern data collection.

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To cite the ebook, use The CORE Econ Team 2023 The Economy 2.0: Microeconomics Open access e-text https://core-econ.org/the-economy/.

To cite a unit, use The CORE Econ Team 2023 The Economy 2.0: Microeconomics Open access e-text https://core-econ.org/the-economy/ Unit [unit number] (url).

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