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Adam Smith argued that the Bengal Famine of 1769 would have been much less of a tragedy under a free trade policy.
… Scottish economist Adam Smith, a severe critic of colonial greed and the East India Company … Some improper regulations, some injudicious restraints, imposed by the servants of the East India Company upon the rice trade …
The Bengal Famine of 1769 was a humanitarian catastrophe and an ugly blot on Britain’s colonial record. Scottish economist Adam Smith, a severe critic of colonial greed and the East India Company, believed that it would have been no more than a manageable food-shortage had the Company pursued a policy of free trade.
Posted December 29 2017
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Economist Adam Smith warned that when Western commercial interests get involved in policy-making abroad, war and want are sure to follow.
… In 1757, a Government-backed trade agency called the British East India Company achieved such commercial and military superiority in India that its board members appointed princes … Twenty controversial years later, Scottish economist Adam Smith warned that a company set up to make profits for European clients should not and could not run India for the Indians … It is the interest of the East India Company … But if the genius of such a government, even as to what concerns its direction in Europe, is in this manner essentially and perhaps incurably faulty, that of its administration in India is still more so …
In 1757, a Government-backed trade agency called the British East India Company achieved such commercial and military superiority in India that its board members appointed princes, conquered territories, and dictated social and economic policy. Twenty controversial years later, Scottish economist Adam Smith warned that a company set up to make profits for European clients should not and could not run India for the Indians.
Posted May 15 2023
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Robert Clive turned seven hundred frightened recruits into crack troops by sheer force of personality.
… By the Spring of 1752, the power of the French in India was waning, thanks to young Robert Clive of the East India Company’s militia … He took measures to prevent the enemy from learning that they were too late, laid an ambuscade for them on the road, killed a hundred of them with one fire, took three hundred prisoners, pursued the fugitives to the gates of Chingleput, laid siege instantly to that fastness, reputed one of the strongest in India …
By the Spring of 1752, the power of the French in India was waning, thanks to young Robert Clive of the East India Company’s militia. Now he was utterly exhausted, and ready for home; but he reckoned he had strength and time enough to capture a couple more forts and still marry Margaret Maskelyne in Madras before his ship sailed.
Posted April 17 2016
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In 1840, the British Government declared war on the Chinese Empire over their harsh treatment of drug smugglers from Bengal.
… Opium grown in India was smuggled into China by British merchants to feed the addiction of millions of Chinese … Matters became worse after 1834, when the British Government put an end to the monopoly of the East India Company in the China trade …
The Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856-60 were a miserably low point in British history, as Jawaharlal Nehru makes painfully clear in this passage. Opium grown in India was smuggled into China by British merchants to feed the addiction of millions of Chinese, until the problem became so bad that the Chinese imperial government was obliged to step up efforts against the smugglers.
Posted June 12 2021
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The Maharaja of Jodhpur called on his subjects to do their bit and stop the Nazis.
… Already many thousands of Indians had volunteered to help stop Nazi Germany from taking Britain’s place as India’s Presiding Power … Up to now many millions of us in India have watched the war from afar …
On May 15th, 1942, Maharaja Sir Umaid Singh of Jodhpur spoke at the inauguration of the National War Front in Jodhpur. Already many thousands of Indians had volunteered to help stop Nazi Germany from taking Britain’s place as India’s Presiding Power, and now His Highness addressed himself to those left behind.
Posted February 18 2019
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The Indian Mutiny began with a revolt among disgruntled soldiers, and ended with the making of the British Raj.
… By 1857, the East India Company, a British government agency, had been running India for a hundred years … The revolt, however, spread all over the United Provinces and Delhi and partly in Central India and Bihar … For many months British rule in North and Central India hung almost by a thread … This barbarous behaviour naturally set up the backs of the British people in India … The Revolt of 1857-58 was the last flicker of feudal India … The Revolt also put an end to the rule of the East India Company in India … the old title of the Caesars and of the Byzantine Empire, adapted to India …
By 1857, the East India Company, a British government agency, had been running India for a hundred years. The Company’s ruthless acquisition of territory, and its high-handed treatment of respected figures and institutions, alienated Indians of all classes; and that May, soldiers in the Company’s militia rose up against their officers. Jawaharlal Nehru explains what happened next.
Posted May 12 2023