Ten Cities That Made an Empire
There is a view among the British, however, that the Raj was entirely beneficial to the Indian people. Many of those who voted in the 2016 Referendum, to leave the European Union, would probably endorse that opinion. Such individuals have been tempted by the idea that Britain can be ‘great’ again, that she can somehow return to those glorious days
... See moreAnne Davison • THE MUGHAL EMPIRE ('In Brief' Books for Busy People Book 7)
Only seven years after the granting of the Diwani, when the Company’s share price had doubled overnight after it acquired the wealth of the treasury of Bengal, the East India bubble burst after plunder and famine in Bengal led to massive shortfalls in expected land revenues. The EIC was left with debts of £1.5 million and a bill of £1 million* in u
... See moreWilliam Dalrymple • The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire
When Harilal and his peers had first arrived on the island in the 1960s and early 1970s, it was a British colony under ninety-nine-year lease from China. The turnover date of 1998, when communist China would take over capitalist Hong Kong, had seemed sufficiently distant. Who knew; perhaps Britain would buy the colony outright, or China would lose
... See moreMinal Hajratwala • Leaving India: My Family's Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents
Two months later the Defence broke – or was cut – from her moorings and also came into Dutch possession. Using these ships and their crews as bargaining counters the Dutch commander opened negotiations; if Courthope would relinquish Run he would return both prizes and prisoners. Many of the prisoners also wrote urging compliance. They were being wr
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