الفوضى.. الصعود الكارثي لشركة الهند الشرقية

The British East India Company was a notorious pioneer in the colonial exploitation of the entire Indian subcontinent. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, India was not ruled by another country, but by a private, for-profit corporation based in London. In a sweeping historical panorama, bestselling author William Dalrymple narrates in cinematic style the company's unprecedented, bloody rise to become the dominant global business power. For the first time, Dalrymple also addresses the Indian perspective, making understandable this original sin of British colonialism in all its cruelty. In October 1764, the East India Company defeated the young Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II on the battlefield and set up its own government to rule the Indian subcontinent. This government was led by English merchants, and collected taxes with the help of its army. From then on, the company ceased to be just a trading company, but an aggressive colonial force. Over the following decades, the Company subjugated most of India's territory south of Delhi and became a notorious leader in colonial exploitation. In William Dalrymple's wonderful book, the views of the Mongols and locals are given their due. The author relied on numerous unpublished sources in Urdu, Persian and Punjabi, bringing life to the dramatic events through the eyes of its participants.