Historian, travel-writer and bestselling author William Dalrymple, talks to the Oldie's Editorial Assistant Ferdie Rous about the rise of The East India Company, corporate violence and imperial nostalgia.
Dalrymple's new book, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, is published by Bloomsbury.
The book tells two stories: the rise of the East India Company and the fall of the Mughal Empire. The latter had dominated the subcontinent for over three centuries by the time that the company arrived on Indian shores.
Note: the Diwani, referenced at (22:45), later known as the Treaty of Allahabad, was a permit granted by Shah Alam, in 1764, to the East India Company that allowed them to tax the provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
Radio Oldie