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A review by aayjaysbookshelf
The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire by William Dalrymple
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
My first ever proper history read and what a read it was! Took me 3 whole months to finish this book, and I doubt if it could have been done any earlier. It's a wonderful read, but do expect it to be quite dense owing to its genre.
Dalrymple's Anarchy is a book not just about the East India Company but also of India's own history as a whole, starting from 1600s with the glorious Mughal rule and ending at 1800 with the official end of a free nation state of India. Dalrymple's writing flows in an easy, narrative way, and even though it did get very dense with all the details, but the story like characteristic of this book made it much more palatable than had it been a regular history book. The different dynasties under the Mughal rule were introduced as characters with their own circumstances and nuances, and each character's storyline followed throughout the book and concluded appropriately. The effect of Afghan invasion, Maratha raids and rules, Bengal's decisive role, the Sultans of Mysore, Mughal's power and eventual helplessness, and the rise of East India Company from a mere trading company to a global conglomerate runs parallel throughout the book. The writing is compelling, and the details harrowing, specially the chapters on Bengal famine and the Corpse of India.
It was also eye-opening in a lot of ways. Reading this book made me realize that the commonly attributed lament about Englishmen using 'divide and rule' strategy to break the subcontinent is not entirely true. No one could have possibly just come as an outsider and broken the largest empire of its time that easily, if it were not already broken from inside. The truth is, India was already DIVIDED in spirit by the many civil wars and that gave the outsiders an opportunity to infiltrate and RULE. An empire ruling over almost an entire continent had needed far capable and strong leaders and a much greater unity for it to stay intact and that was not possible with differing powers rising up on their own and claiming their separate rules.
Overall, a very good read. A slow, deliberate one that gives you a detailed insight into the many perspectives and events that unfolded the path for an outside company to fix its talons in Mughal India and change it into British India, the effects of which remain to date.
Dalrymple's Anarchy is a book not just about the East India Company but also of India's own history as a whole, starting from 1600s with the glorious Mughal rule and ending at 1800 with the official end of a free nation state of India. Dalrymple's writing flows in an easy, narrative way, and even though it did get very dense with all the details, but the story like characteristic of this book made it much more palatable than had it been a regular history book. The different dynasties under the Mughal rule were introduced as characters with their own circumstances and nuances, and each character's storyline followed throughout the book and concluded appropriately. The effect of Afghan invasion, Maratha raids and rules, Bengal's decisive role, the Sultans of Mysore, Mughal's power and eventual helplessness, and the rise of East India Company from a mere trading company to a global conglomerate runs parallel throughout the book. The writing is compelling, and the details harrowing, specially the chapters on Bengal famine and the Corpse of India.
It was also eye-opening in a lot of ways. Reading this book made me realize that the commonly attributed lament about Englishmen using 'divide and rule' strategy to break the subcontinent is not entirely true. No one could have possibly just come as an outsider and broken the largest empire of its time that easily, if it were not already broken from inside. The truth is, India was already DIVIDED in spirit by the many civil wars and that gave the outsiders an opportunity to infiltrate and RULE. An empire ruling over almost an entire continent had needed far capable and strong leaders and a much greater unity for it to stay intact and that was not possible with differing powers rising up on their own and claiming their separate rules.
Overall, a very good read. A slow, deliberate one that gives you a detailed insight into the many perspectives and events that unfolded the path for an outside company to fix its talons in Mughal India and change it into British India, the effects of which remain to date.