The corporation that changed the world : how the East India Company shaped the modern multinational

2012·7.4 MB·English

by  Robins, Nick

The Corporation That Changed the World
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The CorporaTion ThaT
Changed The World
how the east india Company
Shaped the Modern Multinational
Second edition
Nick Robins
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First published 2012 by pluto press
345 archway road, london n6 5aa
www.plutobooks.com
distributed in the United States of america exclusively by
palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s press llC,
175 Fifth avenue, new York, nY 10010
Copyright © nick robins 2012
The right of nick robins to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, designs and patents act 1988.
British library Cataloguing in publication data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library
iSBn 978 0 7453 3196 6 hardback
iSBn 978 0 7453 3195 9 paperback
iSBn 978 1 8496 4691 8 pdF eBook
iSBn 978 1 8496 4693 2 Kindle eBook
iSBn 978 1 8496 4692 5 epUB eBook
library of Congress Cataloging in publication data applied for
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed
and sustained forest sources. logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are
expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
designed and produced for pluto press by Chase publishing Services ltd
Typeset from disk by Stanford dTp Services, northampton, england
Simultaneously printed digitally by Cpi antony rowe, Chippenham, UK and
edwards Bros in the United States of america
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For our parents and our children
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Contents
List of Tables, Figures, Maps and Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction xi
Chronology xvi
1 The Hidden Wound 1
2 This Imperious Company 19
3 Out of the Shadows 41
4 The Bengal Revolution 61
5 The Great East Indian Crash 84
6 Regulating the Company 102
7 Justice Will be Done 122
8 The Toxic Exchange 145
9 A Skulking Power 171
10 Unfinished Business 199
Epilogue 217
Notes 227
Select Bibliography 245
Index 251
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list of Tables, Figures, Maps
and illustrations
TaBleS
1.1 The changing share of world GDP 1600–1870 7
2.1 Corporate governance compared 28
2.2 The four sources of corporate behavior 34
3.1 Dutch and English East India Company exports from
Asia 1688–1780 58
8.1 Opium exports from India to China 1800–1900,
in chests 157
8.2 Flows of Silver into and out of China 1761–1833 159
FigUreS
2.1 The Company’s share price 1693–1874 31
5.1 The Company’s share price 1757–1784 91
MapS
1 The Company’s world xix
2 India in the late 1760s 65
3 The Company’s London 220
illUSTraTionS
1.1 Spiridione Roma, The East Offering Her Riches to
Britannia, 1778 2
2.1 William Daniell, East India Docks, 1808 20
7.1 Thomas Rowlandson, Billy Lackbeard and Charley
Blackbeard playing at Football, 1784 135
9.1 Unknown, East India House, constructed 1796–1799 178
9.2 Punch, Execution of ‘John Company’, 1857 197
E.1 Statue of Robert Clive, London 218
viii
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acknowledgements
This book started with a walk, and I’d like to express my appreciation
to all those who came all or part of the way with me. None of this
would have happened without my wife, Ritu, who was not just the
inspiration for the book, but its sustainer – providing the patience
and encouragement that brought the journey to an end.
Jane Trowell of Platform in London co-hosted the initial East
India Company walks, which have been such great sources of ideas
and insights into the corporation’s London presence. I’ve also been
inspired by Muhammad Ahmedullah’s work at the Brick Lane Circle
and his tireless efforts to explore the Company’s contemporary
relevance. Satish Kumar first published my initial thoughts on
the Company in the pages of Resurgence magazine, and Mari
Thekaekara then suggested that it should be turned into a book.
David Castle and the team at Pluto Press have been consistently
supportive from beginning to end. As for the book itself, I am
indebted to the Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation based at
Eagle House in Wimbledon for allowing me to use its library during
the summers of 2004 and 2005 to write the first edition. I wish
to thank Huw Bowen for graciously allowing me to read the pre-
publication proofs of his work, The Business of Empire, and Jack
Greene for allowing me to quote from his Arenas of Asiatic Plunder.
Many others read have helped in a multitude of different ways,
notably Belliappa, Jem Bendell, Anu Bhasin, Sushil Chaudhury,
Kate Crowe, Andrea Cunningham, Rajat Datta, Sister Christine
Frost, Ram Gidoomal, Caspar Henderson, Jude Holland, Hameeda
Hossain, Leslie Katz, Peter Kinder, James Marriott, Malcolm
McIntosh, Derek Morris, Prasannan Parthasarathi, Steven Pincus,
Munro Price, John Robins, Richard Sandbrook, Rajiv Sinha,
John Sabapathy, Andrew Simms, Jonathon Sinclair-Wilson,
David Somerset, Sara Wajid, Halina Ward, Georgie Wemyss and
Jon Wilson.
For me, this book is an attempt to grapple with the shared past of
Britain and Asia, confronting the Company’s legacy so that future
interactions can be based on principles of justice. This book is
therefore dedicated to our parents and to our children: Elizabeth
and John, Pushpa and Sushil, and Oliver, Joshua and Meera.
ix
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