The Establishment of British Rule

This book deals with the establishment and expansion of British rule from the Carnatic Wars and the Battle of Plassey to the enactment of the Charter Act of 1813, which divested the East India Company of its monopoly over the commerce with England, and opened the chapter of India's 'de-industrialization' through free trade. The monograph examines the military and other causes of British success and the cost of that success that the Indian people had to bear. A long chapter is devoted to the construction of the British colonial administration, from which all Indian elements were, by stages, weeded out. Extracts from sources enliven the narrative; and there are important notes on military technology, the 'subsidiary alliance' system, organization of the Company's 'civil service' and the construction of 'colonial knowledge' about India. Readers will find it a refreshingly lucid and critical account of a crucial phase of India's political history.

Other volumes available in the People's History of India series:

1. Prehistory
2. The Indus Civilization
3. The Vedic Age
4. The Age of Iron and the Religious Revolution, c. 700 - c. 350 BC
5. Mauryan India
6. Post-Mauryan India, 200 BC - AD 300
7. Society and Culture in Post-Mauryan India, c. 200 BC - AD 300
14. Economic History of India, AD 1206-1526: The Period of the Delhi Sultanate and the Vijayanagara Empire
20. Technology in Medieval India, c. 650-1750
25. Indian Economy Under Early British Rule, 1757-1857
28. Indian Economy, 1858-1914
30. The National Movement: Origins and Early Phase to 1918
36. Man and Environment