“The ruin, which we have brought on an unfortunate country, will recoil upon ourselves.”
- Alexander Dow, East India Company military officer
”Efforts to save a powerful British company from collapse set in motion a chain of events that led to the Boston Tea Party.
- Samuel Scott circa 1732.
Moghul Emperor Shah Alam transfers tax collection rights to Robert Clive of the East India Company.
- Benjamin West, British Library
Globalization
In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter for the “Governor and Company of Merchants of London, Trading into the East-Indies.” By the 1760s, the “East India Company” had become enormously profitable, trading not only in tea but also silk, cotton, spices, saltpeter (for gunpowder), gold and silver. With military capabilities greater than the armies of many countries, it ruled over 20 million people in Bengal, India.
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, gained personal wealth while establishing control of Bengal for the East India Company. His neglect during the Indian famine is widely condemned today.
- National Portrait Gallery, London
Troubled and Troublesome
A disastrous famine struck India in 1769. It was made worse by the corruption and indifference of East India Company managers. Over a million died while they stockpiled grain, withheld relief, and insisted on the continued payment of taxes by their Indian subjects. In order to survive Indian men sold family members - girls first, then boys, then wives. The East India Company was threatened with collapse, creating enormous losses for English banks and investors.
CRUEL AND UNUSUAL
At this time the East India Company was importing tea from China. Large Indian plantations came later. To help reduce financial losses, the company pursued a strategy of selling opium to China.