Book SummaryThe Anarchy, by William Dalrymple

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Anarchy

How did a trading company, ostensibly formed for commerce, come to rule most of the Indian subcontinent and its millions of people for over 50 years? In The Anarchy, historian William Dalyrmple charts the rise of the English East India Company (EIC) during the 17th and 18th centuries, from a small outfit of merchants into the imperialist superpower that established British colonial rule in India.

Dalrymple is an award-winning Delhi-based historian who grew up in Scotland and has written extensively on European colonialism in the Eastern hemisphere, including documentaries for radio and television. His work draws heavily on Mughal and French primary sources to present a fuller picture than previous histories, which relied primarily on English sources.

Dalrymple explains that the EIC rose by exploiting a period of chaos and instability in India—when the once-powerful Mughal Empire had collapsed into smaller regional kingdoms that vied among themselves to fill the power vacuum. In the midst of this anarchy, the EIC forged alliances, backed coups, installed puppet rulers, leveraged new military technology, and built the largest army on earth.

Furthermore, the company exploited its position as a joint-stock company—a role that afforded it independence from the oversight of the British government, but still entitled it to lobby its government for bailouts and military support. The EIC's rule dramatically...

The Anarchy Summary Part 1: Setting the Stage (Early 17th to Mid 18th Centuries)

Before we chart the EIC's rise to power, we'll provide some context on conditions in India during the 17th century and what made it so attractive to British merchants. First, we'll discuss how England took notice of the wealth in India and began trading within the powerful Mughal empire. Then we'll explore the collapse of this empire, which created the conditions for the EIC's rise.

England Sets Its Sights on India’s Wealth

Dalrymple explains that English traders were attracted to India’s vast wealth. By the 16th and early 17th century, the Mughal empire in India was one the richest on earth, second only to Ming China. The Mughals were a powerful Muslim ruling class that governed most of what’s now modern India through a network of tax collectors and officials backed by vast armies. Nobles, called Nawabs, ruled individual provinces and sent tribute back to the capital in Delhi. With India’s fertile soil for agriculture, vast workforce, and highly developed culture of artisans, the Mughal empire had become a major exporter of textiles and spices.

(Shortform note: The Mughals [originally arrived in India from central Asia during the early 16th...

The Anarchy Summary Part 2: The Company Rises to Power in Bengal (Early to Mid-18th Century)

While the EIC didn't cause the collapse of the Mughal empire, Dalrymple asserts that it became the primary beneficiary. No longer constrained by the powerful Mughals, the EIC expanded its trading operations and military capacity, adding forts and recruiting locals to serve as infantry. The EIC set its sights on Bengal, a wealthy province on India’s northeastern coast. In this section, we'll explore the series of events that allowed the EIC to take advantage of political chaos to rise to power in Bengal.

(Shortform note: Historians attribute Bengal's wealth to a vibrant combination of industries, including textiles, shipbuilding, grains, fruits, and finance. Mughals conquered the region during the 16th and 17th centuries and built up its economy by clearing jungles and importing laborers for agriculture.)

Event #1: The English East India Company...

The Anarchy Summary Part 3: The Company Rules Bengal (Mid- to Late 18th Century)

Now that we’ve discussed the EIC’s rise to power in Bengal, we’ll explore how it maintained power and governed the province. We’ll also describe the consequences of its policies, which drained the economy of Bengal, led to a disastrous famine, and triggered a financial crisis in Europe. Finally, we’ll discuss Britain’s reaction to company rule, which led to a shift toward more government oversight for the EIC.

How Did the Company Govern?

Dalrymple states that the EIC established rule over Bengal by carefully maintaining the old Mughal hierarchies. The tax collectors, soldiers, petty officials, and law agents were all the same as before. However, EIC men now sat at the top of every hierarchy.

This was done because 1) the company didn't have enough personnel to run the Bengal state on its own, and 2) EIC members knew that ordinary Bengalis would be less likely to revolt if the new regime looked more or less like the old one. The EIC also consolidated its rule by maintaining alliances with the Mughal princes it had just defeated.

A second key component of the EIC's governance consisted of systematically draining wealth from the Bengal economy. Though it now ruled...

The Anarchy Summary Part 4: The Company Rises to Power in India (Late 18th to Early 19th Centuries)

Bengal wasn't the only part of India where the EIC had established itself by the time of the Bengali Famine and Britain's reassessment of its interests. Dalrymple states that the company had also begun asserting itself on the larger stage of regional powers vying for control of the greater Indian subcontinent. In this section, we'll take a look at the parallel empire building that paved the way for government control when Parliament ratcheted up its oversight of the EIC in the ensuing years. Specifically, the EIC rose to power in greater India through a series of wars against two major powers: the Mysore Sultanate and the Maratha Confederacy.

Conflict #1: The Anglo-Mysore Wars (1767-1799)

First, the EIC fought a series of wars against the Mysore Sultanate, leading to a dramatic expansion of its territory and resources. Dalrymple clarifies that the Mysore Sultanate was a powerful kingdom based in southern peninsular India and ruled during the late 18th century first by Hyder Ali and then by his son Tipu Sultan. The Mysore Kingdom commanded significant resources: It possessed superior numbers of troops and had narrowed the gap in military technology and tactics...

The Anarchy Summary Part 5: Consolidation of British Power (Early to Mid-19th Century)

A private corporation, initially created for trade, now controlled half a million square miles and ruled over millions of subjects. Dalrymple explains that in 1803, the EIC consolidated its power by once again installing a puppet ruler who could lend a veneer of legitimacy to its regime. To do so, the company turned once more to Shah Alam, the exiled Mughal prince who had played a similar role in legitimizing the company's rule in Bengal and by now was an old man. The EIC tried to publicly frame its rule as a "reinstatement" of Shah Alam and a restoration of Mughal power—though in reality, the old Mughal state was now firmly under British command.

Dalrymple asserts that the EIC’s consolidation of power ultimately cleared the way for British rule in India. As we mentioned earlier, the British Parliament had already started questioning the wisdom of trusting Britain’s most important colony to a private company, and the increasing government oversight slowly transformed the company’s administration...

Shortform Exercise: Reflect on the Themes of The Anarchy

This exercise will give you a chance to reflect on the major themes of The Anarchy and your interpretation of key events.

Compare the English East India Company to multinational corporations today. In what ways are they different, and in what ways are they the same?