![]() ![]() This is the story traced by the distinguished British historian William Dalrymple in his latest book, The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire. ![]() ![]() And it did all that not in a Churchillian “fit of absent-mindedness,” but with the full knowledge and support of the British Parliament. Whenever possible, company employees carted off huge amounts of loot (a Hindustani word meaning plunder), particularly gold and gems.īy 1803, when the company captured Delhi, it maintained a force of nearly 200,000 men - twice the size of the British army. So did easy access to credit.īut the company’s governors planned and carried out campaigns of conquest and killing every bit as aggressive as those of the Marathas, the Afghans, the Persians, and various Mughal factions fighting for territory and power. Yes, the Indians’ habit of killing each other and the repeated breakdowns of the anti-British Maratha Confederacy and other indigenous coalitions contributed substantially to the East India Company’s ultimate victory. Those who nurse the comfortable idea that the company accomplished this feat by exercising subtle diplomacy and siding with the winners of 18th-century intra-Indian wars are in for a shock. How did the East India Company, run by a small group of profit-seeking merchants from a modest office in London, manage to conquer virtually the entire Indian subcontinent in just over 40 years? ![]()
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