Business

William Dalrymple’s Anarchy

Every once in a while, very rarely, in fact, one reads a book so powerful that it is impossible to review it, at least until the dust that has caused its scattered disturbance begins to settle. It can happen when something causes anger, disgust, amazing admiration, or pure emotion. And it’s not often that such a book makes it to the nonfiction section, even rarer that it might be pulled off the shelves labeled Economic History.

But William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy is such a book. Anarchy should be more literally titled The Company, since it presents the story of a single business entity, expressed in the form of a biography of a being that had a life of its own. The title conveys the author’s final judgment on this entity, but, given the detail of its history, it is probably an understatement, even generous in its acknowledgment.

The book tells the story of the East India Company, the British one, not the Dutch one, not the French one. Surely there are similar corporate biographies elsewhere. They may even exist, but we can be sure that the impact, while possibly qualitatively similar, would be quantitatively less significant. The bare facts and unvarnished history of this company begins with its founding in the City of London at the end of the 16th century as a joint venture by a group of investors. It grew through its involvement in the spice trade and slavery in the 17th century, before reaching near-imperial status in the 18th century, when it effectively ruled India. It continued to expand in the 19th century until its implosion in the middle of the century, when its sheer size brought it down, after it was unable to cope with the fallout from the Indian mutiny, which its own practices and policies could be said to have caused. The book’s title, Anarchy, clearly indicates the author’s position that this group was morally and economically a different type of entity than a company, but the work is far from controversial. The term ‘company’ suggests at least some level of organization, cooperation, or community. But, as Adam Smith noted in his Wealth of Nations, the defining characteristics of this enterprise were personal gain, corruption, war, violence, and political intrigue, always aimed at furthering its own already monopolistic position. . I underestimate

In fact, William Dalrymple makes little use of Smith’s judgment of the company’s activity, even though it fits perfectly with the characterization he offers. It is nothing less than a strength of his analysis that secondary sources of criticism, such as Smith’s, are largely ignored. Throughout, William Dalrymple relies on primary sources that relate directly to the company’s dealings in British politics, Indian politics and international trade. Listing such areas of activity might suggest that an air of legitimacy surrounds this corporate presence, but rest assured, this company was involved in mass murder, murder, exploitation, profiteering, deceit, and the list could become a trespass gallery. of rogues. . People who doubt this analysis may recall the opinion published by Smith in 1770 that this, the only multinational corporation in existence at the time, represented the anathema of free trade, competition or economic health, and the epitome of corruption, deception and bribery. and this from the person who exalted the concept of free trade.

Two particular points are lodged in the memory after reading this book. The first is a single number, a medium. There was a time, in the early 19th century, when half of Britain’s wealth (then, of course, there were no GDP figures) was derived from the activity of this company. They were selling drugs in China at the time and it was profitable, even though they had to fight wars against the Chinese state to retain the right to do so. The second is the role the company played in the creation, for that may be the only word, of the Bengal famine, which was the largest recorded famine in Indian history. Let’s ignore the firing of people with cannons, double dealing and cheating, along with the expected naked exploitation and personal profiteering, all of which also had their impact on UK politics and economics.

Anyone who thinks this could be a dry, overly detailed, dry analysis of history should ignore their fears and let this book enlighten them. Anarchy is a complete revelation of colonial history, the origins of wealth in our colonial societies, and the consequences for the colonies. It should be read by everyone, especially those who can admit even a residual pride in Britain’s imperial past.

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