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The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire

The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire

byWilliam Dalrymple
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Somnath
5.0 out of 5 starsA most important book
Reviewed in India on 24 September 2019
Just finished reading the latest offering from the master storyteller William Dalrymple, "The Anarchy". It narrates the events that allowed the East India company to overthrow the declining Mughal empire in India and become the masters themselves. You will meet many interesting characters in this book including Siraj-ud-Daula, Robert Clive, Shah Alam, Mir Qasim, Tipu Sultan, Warren Hastings, Corwallis and many more.
But most importantly it tells us in great details how could a small group of merchants from a far away land capture the richest and most powerful empire in the world of that era.

From what I understood the reasons were too
1) Our rulers were all megalomaniac and myopic with no one capable of looking beyond their ego and uniting with others for the greater good
2) The continuous financial support by the indian business class to the East India Company in their endeavors to overthrow existing rulers. So Jagat Seth helped Clive overthrow Siraj and Gopaldas helped Welseley against Tipu. Why? For all that mattered to these individuals was greater financial returns, even if that meant accepting a foreign invasion!
300 years later what has really changed? Are our leaders truly United even on issues of National importance?
Are our business class morale enough to not sell the country for a greater return on investment?
Sorry for the long post but, I do hope friends that you read this most important book 😊
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S venkatesh raja
1.0 out of 5 starsan outsider's viewpoint of the insider
Reviewed in India on 30 December 2019
This book is an outsider's viewpoint of the insider. He chose to be diplomatic while speaking about Britishers and was radically candid while speaking about Indian kings, culture and war tactics. Only good thing is the corporate lobbying by EIC that has been brought to light.
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9 people found this helpful

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From India

Nathik
4.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended book on an important period in Indian history
Reviewed in India on 2 October 2019
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The Anarchy is a popular history book on the East Indian Company(EIC) in 18th Century India. Dalrymple regale us the rise of the EIC from a Tudor privateering operation full of ex-Caribbean privates to an imperial power. Considering that the British were pretty late to the spice trade in India compared to the Portuguese, Dutch, and the French, their raise as an imperial power is extraordinary.

Rise of of the first Multinational Corporation:

East Indian Company(EIC) basically invented corporate lobbying, insider training and first corporate bail out, and all the other things we loathe about modern corporation. EIC developed a symbiotic relationship with the British Parliamentarians. Company men like Clive used the looted money from India to buy both MPs and parliamentary seats. The Parliament backed the Company with state power because many MPs were shareholders of EIC and any action against the company will affect their personal wealth.

Silk, Spices and Sepoy:

Thanks to the dwindling military and financial power of the Mughals, a huge military labor market sprang up all across India. Dalrymple describes this as one of the most thriving free markets of fighting men anywhere in the world- all up for sale to the highest bidder. Warfare become a business enterprise and substantial section of peasants spent part of their time year as mercenaries. EIC were better off financially and were able to pay the sepoys the promised wage on time than many local rulers. EIC were using as much as 80% Indian sepoyts in many of their battles.

The British very really lucky:

Although popular theories propose that the success of the EIC can be attributed to the fragmenting to Mughal India into tiny competing states; the military tech of the Europeans and innovation of banking, taxing and administration of the Anglo-saxons, one of the recurring themes that I found is how lucky in the may of the battles. Yes, the above theories are probably true and East India Company troop were more disciplined than their Indian rivals; but its incredible how consistently lucky the British were.

Break the Rules:

Warfare in India were actually done in gentlemanly manner. The Mughals. Marathas and other local rulers pursued negotiation, bribery and paying tribute. In case of actual conquest, there are rules by which they abide by. The Company men, especially Robert Clive, who committed suicide at the age of 49(Hope someone soon writes a biography on this truly appalling character), constantly breaking the rules like attacking at night and attacking at thunderstorm etc.

Why we need to learn to negotiate?

Mughals were completely clueless about who corporation functions or how unsavory Clive operates as an Profiteer. Ghulam Hussain Khan says a sale of jackass would have taken up more time than the time taken for the Treaty of Allahbad. Post Treaty of Allahabad, EIC used Indian tax revenue to purchase textiles and spies. Even at the time of famines EIC enforces tax collection to maintain their revenue and growing military expenditure. At the height of the famine, English merchants engaged in grain hoarding, profiteering and speculation.

North vs South India?

Even after Battle of Plassey, Cavalry was the dominant form of warfare in northern India and continued to fight each other despite the growing domination of the British. However the south was every quick to copy and learn the military innovations of the Europeans. Haider Ali had a modern infantry and his troops were more innovative and tactically ahead of EIC. They mastered the art of firing rockets long before the English. Nana Phadnavus, ‘the Maratha Machiavelli’, after the Treaty of Wadgaon, proposed a Triple Alliance between the Marathas, Haider and the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Indian Bankers love the Company:

The rise of EIC as an imperial power would not be possible with out the Indian bankers. The Indian financiers saw greater advantage in keeping the Company in power than they did supporting their own. By 1803, Indian bankers were competing with one another to back the company’s army.

In the end its the Company’s ability to mobilize money have them the edge over the Marathas and Tipu Sultan. It was no longer the superior European military technology. Bengal alone was annually yeilding a steady revenue surplus of Rs 25 million at the time when Scindia struggled to net Rs 2 million. The biggest firm of the period – the houses of Lala Kashmiri Mal, Ramchand-Gopalchand Shahu and Gopaldas-Manohardas – helped the military finance of the British. The Company duly rewarded the invaluable services in 1782 by making the house of Gopaldas the government’s banker. Richard Wellesley managed raise Rs 10 million with the support of Marwari bankers of Bengal to fight the Fourth Anglo-Mysore war.

Final nail in the coffin:

Following the victory of the Battle of Delhi, EIC defeated the last indigenous power. Now linked Bengal, Madras and Bombay while imposing itself as Regent under the Mughals.

My only complaints is that the book doesn’t drive into the financial details of the Company despite the wealth information available. A bit of financial history of the Company would have helped us understand the nature of the Company better. Overall an entertaining history book. highly recommended.
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M. Satyanarayana
4.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive on EIC looting India with violence
Reviewed in India on 16 September 2019
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Exhaustive and exhausting book. Main stream is detail of EIC's violence on India and of the loot of India. There are many substreams within. Sometimes substream has enough detail (of Nader Shah) sometimes hop skip (impeachment of Harings). The content itself is covered by many books in the past (books like the Honourable Company by John Keay). After I read & closed the book, I felt it added nothing new to what I know already. Overall, it is story of greed and violence of EIC at one place. I also felt that the book ended suddenly without covering much ground on sepoy mutiny,
11 people found this helpful
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Ayusman
4.0 out of 5 stars A well researched history, with a few errors
Reviewed in India on 30 September 2020
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William Dalrymple is a celebrated author, which is why his faults become all the more noticeable. "The Anarchy" is as well researched as can be desired. One only wishes that the author had been as impartial. There appears a clearly discernible attempt to whitewash some of the controversial characters. The first is Warren Hastings, who is favourably compared to Robert Clive. Dalrymple presents Hastings as a victim of corporate intrigues. Surprisingly, there is no mention at all of Hastings atrocious agent in Bengal - Debi Singh, tales of whose cruelty survives even to this day. The other character whom Dalrymple tries to exonerate is Tipu Sultan of Mysore. In contemporary India, Tipu continues to generate a lot of controversy. Without siding with any one view on Tipu in particular, one can at least draw attention to a misreference to William Wilkie Collins’ novel "The Moonstone" in Dalrymple’s work. John Hardcastle in Wilkie Collins’ novel did not seize the Moonstone or the fabulous yellow diamond from the forehead of the moon god, as Dalrymple seems to imply (p. 352 – 353). The gem in that story was originally seized by the officers of ‘Aurungzebe’ (Aurangzeb), after they demolished the image of the god. It passed to Tipu Sultan who “who caused it to be placed as an ornament in the handle of a dagger”. Again, the diamond was not brought back to Seringapatam at the end of the story by its Brahmin guardians as Dalrymple seems to imply. It was rather restored to the forehead of the moon god whose image rested “on a hill at a little distance from Somnauth” (Somnath). Coming from a writer as great as Dalrymple, such mistakes appear all the more glaring. The book is otherwise good and an entertaining read.
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Chaitanya Sethi
4.0 out of 5 stars A well-researched but slightly dry take on the Raj
Reviewed in India on 18 January 2021
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The history of it is well documented -The British came to Indian shores as mercantile traders and over a span of nearly 350 years(starting from 1600) morphed from traders to soldiers to administrators to ruthless imperial rulers. This book chronicles the time period from 1599 to mid-1830s, a period Mr. Dalrymple believes was one of anarchy where multiple parties were jostling among each other for power and riches with the tide swinging every now and then.

Spread across 9 chapters and 400 pages, this book is an attempt to linearize the chaotic political, economic, cultural, and national dynamics between rulers of the Indian subcontinent, the British, the Dutch, and the French, with the Indian and British characters given the heft of the focus. Pieced together with an extensive array of letters, documents, treaties, books, and gazettes, it is an impressive and exhaustive feat of researching on Mr. Dalrymple's end.

I did have some concerns though - I wasn't sure who was the intended audience for this book. For a history novice like me, it was at times overly detailed and so in-depth that I ended up bored. That I had to retain the names of characters who were briefly mentioned in passing and never heard from again was something that got in my way. The minutiae of the war paraphernalia and the real-time tactics employed for fighting the war was again something which was not to my taste. That I took 25 days to finish this book was somewhat of a red flag because I am not such a slow reader.

That's not to discard the merits of the book - it is well-organized and if you're a history or trivia buff then it's right up your alley. I was done with my reading goal for 2020 so I was fine with reading at a slovenly pace but were I in the midst of reading other stuff, I might have put it aside for something lighter and crisper.
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Rohit
4.0 out of 5 stars good book. but not recommend for first timers, who don't have any idea about British India.
Reviewed in India on 29 August 2020
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Good book. Inspirational writing style.
Since i didn't read historical book, which written in a storytelling manner, so it was fun to read.
On many occasions, Writer try to accommodate different views on many key incidents, which is good but that's also have few problems related to how to look on those views?
So, before reading this book, who don't have any idea about British India. I recommend them to first go through with Vinay Lal's 10 lectures on British India in YouTube & then come back to this.
History is all about facts and when we go back in history, One fact have many references, which recorded in different POVs (rulers/suppressor/suppressed/opponents/opportunist etc..). So, it's up to the writer, that how he represents those views and then draw the conclusion from it.
Devil lies in Details.
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Satyendra Avadhani
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book with Prejudices
Reviewed in India on 21 June 2021
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Good historian- No doubt in it

About the book:
Book contains 522 pages, out of which 115 is reserved ->for notes and references, and another 48 pages for images… so you have to read only around 360 pages..

starting few pages were boring….
book is more b/w Clive vs warren Hastings( so only 4 star)
he hates Clive but shows love towards warren Hastings…
but remember both are pirate bastards only…
Not all Governor generals are discussed…( only few viz. Clive, Hastings, Wellesly)
Achievements of Indians - very less..

off course it will be helpful for those who are preparing for the civil services examinations
Customer image
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book with Prejudices
By Satyendra Avadhani on 21 June 2021
Good historian- No doubt in it

About the book:
Book contains 522 pages, out of which 115 is reserved ->for notes and references, and another 48 pages for images… so you have to read only around 360 pages..

starting few pages were boring….
book is more b/w Clive vs warren Hastings( so only 4 star)
he hates Clive but shows love towards warren Hastings…
but remember both are pirate bastards only…
Not all Governor generals are discussed…( only few viz. Clive, Hastings, Wellesly)
Achievements of Indians - very less..

off course it will be helpful for those who are preparing for the civil services examinations
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kiran
4.0 out of 5 stars Might is Right
Reviewed in India on 26 April 2020
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Wonderfully written book of 18th Century India and it`s conquest by East India Company.Author paints `excesses `of a multinational corporation in 18th century India. However India was for the taking for many european countries (Portugese , French and Dutch and others), I genuinely believe British were the better lot amongst them.
We got
- concept of a country
- basics of democracy
- Discipline instead of ingrained `Jugaad`
-provision of Liberal education-
- respect of Law which is so much important.

If not the EIC , India would have been looted by it`s own kings or by other european countries and the anarchy would have continued. They won simply because of better strategy , carrying other cultures amongst them , largely leaving local customs and religions intact. I was also astonished that British Parliament did try to control EIC even in 18 Century and Wellesley was more of nominee of British Government than that of EIC.
To give examples if Portugese had prevailed India would have become a Roman Catholic country and Tipu Sultan had won India would have become an Islamic Kingdom by force.
So , Mr Dalrymple , don`t carry white man`s guilt , EIC prevailed simply because it was better than others and India is better off with this company than with others during 18 Century.
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DIPTA
4.0 out of 5 stars From a foreigners point of view
Reviewed in India on 3 June 2021
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The book is definitely written from a foreigners point of view who does not know India the way we Indians know or think and it reflects in some paragraphs if you read the whole book.
There are lots of criticism about this book from orientalist.
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Arijit Biswas
4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Nice book
Reviewed in India on 28 October 2020
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I am very happy to have this.. The book is awesome... It put spot light on many unknown things which I knew, wrongly about the whole topic... Writer extremely justify all the real facts about Hindu period, Muslim period and British period....
Customer image
4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Nice book
By Arijit Biswas on 28 October 2020
I am very happy to have this.. The book is awesome... It put spot light on many unknown things which I knew, wrongly about the whole topic... Writer extremely justify all the real facts about Hindu period, Muslim period and British period....
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Arci
4.0 out of 5 stars an excellent narrative on how clive and wellesley conquered india for britain. . .
Reviewed in India on 28 October 2020
Verified Purchase
Epilogue is totally unwarranted. Particularly the views of modern day economists. Leave it to the imagination of the readers to guess things. After all when the reader is allowed to his own conclusions it makes it more interesting A
good book to read. Much better than ' Return of a king'
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