Empire, Same Today as Yesterday

 

One of podcasts I’ve begun listening to as of late is Empire with Anita Anand and William Dalrymple. They explore stories of the history of various empires, historical contexts, impacts on the lives of everyday people, their rise and fall. Most recently I listened to their series on Palestine. Fascinating and horrible.

 I am back to the beginning learning about the East India Company, not unlike the Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada, where a corporation takes control of a territory/country to bleed its people and land dry for the benefit of a few shareholders. As the podcasters pointed out, the East India Company (EIC) had no compunction to care about the welfare of the people it controlled. It was this relentless pursuit that caused tremendous amounts of pain and suffering and began the British empire’s government to enter India in droves to establish a semblance of order.

India was at the time, in the 1700s, divided by numerous factions that fought against each other. And in this vacuum of unity, a ruthless military man, Robert Clive, working for the EIC, took control of Bengal with a few dozen soldiers who wielded firearms which had not yet become standard in India. Clive did not follow the generally accepted “gentlemanly” mode of warfare, foregoing discussion and lining up against one side against the other, but fought at night, and attacked in the fog of the morning. Through his rule by fear, the EIC enslaved thousands of Bengali weavers stealing their labour and lives to enrich shareholders back in England.

 We should not be surprised that empire continues to work in the same way today. This is its way.

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