Why were the eigh

Bernier’s views influenced the western theorists because:

1. This account was used by the French philosopher Montesquieu to develop the idea of oriental despotism. According to this idea ruler in Asia enjoyed absolute

authority over their subject. They kept their subjects in conditions of subjugation and poverty and argued that all land belonged to the king and that there was no existence of private property.

2. The concept of the Asiatic mode of production by Karl Marx argued that before colonialism in India, all the surplus were utilised by the state.