1/x Just finished William Dalrymple's brilliant book - The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India company. "On the evening of my visit, I hired a small dinghy to row me upstream. It was an hour before sunset, that beautiful moment north Indians call godhulibela -
2/x cow-dust time - and the Yamuna glittered in the evening light as brightly as a scattering of Mughal gems. Egrets picked their way along the banks, past pilgrims taking a dip near the auspicious point of confluence, where the Yamuna meets the Ganga. Ranks of little boys with-
3/x fishing lines stood among the holy men and the pilgrims, engaged in the less mystical task of trying to hook catfish. Parakeets swooped out of cavities in the battlements; mynahs called to roost. For forty minutes, we drifted slowly, the water lapping against the sides of -
4/x - the boat, past the mile-long succession of mighty towers and projecting bastions of the fort, each decorate with superb Mughal kiosks, lattices and finials. It seemed impossible to imagine that a single London corporation, however ruthless and aggressive, could have -
5/x - conquered a Mughal empire that was magnificently strong, so confident in its own strength and brilliance and beauty. In both India and Britain, people still talk about the British conquering India, but, as this book has attempted to show, that phrase disguises a much more-
6/x - ominous and complex reality. Because it was not the British government that seized India in the middle of the 18th century, but a private company. India's transition to colonialism took place through the mechanism of a for-profit corporation, which existed entirely for -
7/x - the purpose of enriching its investors... Such was the disruption caused in 18th century India by the East India company that a whole new literary genre was invented to deal with it. This is the genre of moralising histories known as the Book of Admonition, or 'Ibrat-Nâma -
8/x - The admonitory purpose of this histories was put succinctly by by Khair-ud-Din Illahabadi, the author of the best known such volume: "'Az farâ-dîd-i sar-guzasht-i guzashtagân, bar khud 'ibrat pazîrâd" - "By considering these past lives, take heed for your own future.”
9/x. It’s spectacular, prescient and completely relevant. Beautifully written; I read it out loud to my 16 year old daughter. I could hear and see this history. Buy a copy (from a local bookstore). And wash your hands and stay home. #theanarchy #wiiliamdalrymple @DalrympleWill
