The Anarchy; book review

“The #Anarchy; The relentless rise of The East India Company” by William Dalrymple.

These are the lessons that I have learnt from this brilliant book.

This book is about the 17th and 18th century India and tells us how a small trading company (East India Company) from London ended up conquering the whole of Mughal India; the richest and most powerful empire in the world at the time.

I always thought of East India Company as the ugly villains, british soldiers, who came from the west disguised as traders who lied and deceived the Mughals and besieged India; a peaceful and thriving empire under the just rule of Mughals. I was wrong.

Mughals were fractured, broken, weak, morally bankrupt and had no authority over India. The individual provinces were almost independent under their governors; who were themselves mostly corrupt, cowards and selfish. They were happy to make alliances with their worst enemies and sell their people off for their thrones.

The East India Company and the british were the bravest, the most disciplined, politically astute and technologically the most advanced. They fought battles in which they were outnumbered massively but still won. Even their morals were of a higher standard then majority of native Indians.

Yes british were selfish & looted India leading to famines in which millions perished. They impoverished and enslaved the whole sub continent and turned the richest and the most powerful into poor no ones. But they were the best of the lot.

India at the time was truly in a state of “Anarchy”. There was no significant rule of law. Looter armies from Afghanistan and the north used to come like barbarians and kill, rape, besiege, burn and loot the villages and cities regularly. There was no stability or peace.

The rise of East India Company was inevitable and unstoppable. It had to happen that the fittest survives and those who failed to evolve get condemned to the dustbin of history by ruthless natural laws of competition.

The rise of East India Company and the british rule in India for 200 years was a good thing in the long term.

“In order to rise from its ashes, the phoenix must burn.”

And that phoenix of Mughal India is #NayaPakistan inshaAllah.

Regards, Shoaib.