Introduction

The British Raj lasted nearly a century from 1858 to 1947. India was not in the beginning conquered and subjugated by the British government. Instead, it was controlled by a single commercial company operating from London. At its height, the East India Company had a standing army of 260,000 twice the size of Britain's. So how did a one commercial company come to enslave a nation of 200 million people? This episode answers that question with guest William Dalrymple,. The acclaimed historian and travel writer sets out to explain this untold story.