Stories from the ancient and mighty civilisation of India, from classical mythology to the Mughal Emperors, the East India Company and the British Raj.
In 1840, Secretary at War Thomas Macaulay treated the Union Jack
like a bully’s visiting card, but backbencher William Gladstone believed it deserved better.
26
The First Opium War
ByJawaharlal Nehru
In 1840, the British Government declared war on the Chinese Empire over their
harsh treatment of drug smugglers from Bengal.
27
One Man Army
ByEdward Fraser
The fort at Budge Budge near Calcutta proved stubborn against the
massed artillery of the East India Company, but a tipsy seaman took it all by himself.
28
The Lessons of Empire
ByW. Somerset Maugham
The British Empire’s hostile breakup with India should have taught everyone two things: money cannot buy love, and power does not command respect.
29
The Considerate Queen
BySir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III
When the young Aga Khan visited London in 1898 he was
presented to Queen Victoria, and found her cultural sensitivity deeply touching.
30
‘Kings in Our Own Right’
ByRudyard Kipling
Two former soldiers in India find British bureaucracy
cramps their style, so they set off to become kings of their own land.
