Chaos: The Catastrophic Rise of the East India Company

The British East India Company was a notorious pioneer in the colonial exploitation of the entire Indian subcontinent. In the 17th and 18th centuries, India was not ruled by another state, but by a private, profit-driven corporation based in London. In a sweeping historical panorama, bestselling author William Dalrymple, in cinematic style, recounts the company’s unprecedented and bloody rise to become the dominant global trading power. For the first time, Dalrymple also addresses the Indian perspective, making this original sin of British colonialism understandable in all its brutality.

In October 1764, the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor Shah Alam II on the battlefield and established 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 was no longer just a trading company, but an aggressive colonial power. Over the following decades, it subjugated most of India south of Delhi, becoming a notorious pioneer in colonial exploitation. In William Dalrymple’s excellent book, the perspectives of the Mughals and the local population are given due weight. Drawing on numerous unpublished sources in Urdu, Persian, and Punjabi, the author brings the dramatic events to life through the eyes of those involved.