Inglorious Empire: What the British did to India. By: Dr. Shashi Tharoor

Time spent reading: 11 Hours

I was listening to an interactive session between Dr. Tharoor and Sudha Murthy; a prolific writer in her own right. As they were discussing books and writing, Mrs. Murthy teased Dr. Tharoor saying he writes such good English that the common Indian needs a dictionary to read what he writes.

I decided to read one of his work and break it down for my followers as it is right up Dushyykrights alley.

"passionately argued book [which] provides a crushing rebuttal of such ideas with regard to India" - The Guardian

Short Summary

Dr. Tharoor made a speech at an Oxford Union Debate on weather “Britain owe reparation (make up for wrongs done or harms caused) to its former colonies? Dr. Tharoor came in at the fag end of the debate and in a passionate, calm, humorous yet though provoking speech presented an argument that won over the debate for his side.

His speech became an overnight sensation on Youtube and won him many accolades including a mention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who congratulated him on “Saying the right Thing at the Right place”. Dr. Tharoor’s publisher friends persuaded him to convert the speech into a book and that is how this book was conceived.

The book is not a complete story of the British Rule in India, it is simply India’s experience of it. The book is divided in 8 section (1) The Looting of India (2) Did the British Give India Political Unity? (3) Democracy, the Press, the Parlimentary System and the Rule of Law (4) Divide Et Impera (Divide and Rule) (5) The Myth of Enligtened Desposition (6) The Remaining Case for the Empire (7) The (Im) Balance Sheet: A Coda (8) The Messy Afterlife of Colonialism. In each of these short sections Dr. Tharoor break down the brutal, inhumane and racist rule of the British in their time and in very tangible terms presents to the reader the truth. He begins with the East India Company entering India and ends with the hurried exit of the British from it.

Through out the book he presents arguments and back them with hard evidence in shape of recorded books of ledgers , testimonies in the British parliment and letters by Viceroy’s and other senior officials. This book is ideal as a reference point on the effects of the British Raj in India. I recommend this book to everyone just for us the understand our History as an Indian

My Review

All of us have been taught about the British rule in India during our school days. We were taught about the brutalities and the murders and rightfully about the heroics struggle for freedom. After reading the book however I feel there were two key elements that were not forced on or focused in our primary education

(1) That India’s History is not linear. We were taught about the rulers from Afghanistan coming and looting and pillaging the cities of Delhi and going back with more riches than can be accounted for. Then came the Mughals and then after defeating them came the British. This is not true. In between for many years India and its states were governed by capable kings and years.

(2) We were never given the true context to understand the damages that British caused to India. A comparative chart gives voice to my meaning. In 1CE, as Christanity lay literally in swaddling, clothes, India accounted for 33% of the Global GDP, while UK, France and Germany combined scored barely 3%. By1700, the figures were 25% and 11% by 1870 at the Empire’s peak, 12.5% for India and 22% for the 3 European countries.1913 with India’s further impoverishment. 9% verses 22.5% . In 1950 just after the British left India stood at 4%.

Born in London, UK, and raised in India, Tharoor graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1975 and culminated his studies in 1978 with a doctorate in International Relations and Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. At the age of 22, he was the youngest person at the time to receive such an honor from the Fletcher School. With an exceptional education like that it is no wonder Dr. Tharoor uses a type of English that is not commonly used in everyday speech. I promise you this, the explanation of very word that he uses in book can be found on google and broken down into further simplicity for your understanding.

Please do not make the mistake of randomly turning the pages of the book, reading a couple of line and getting intimidated by the language. Dr. Tharror has something to tell us, he is has done a fantastic job in presenting it with a lot of context, examples and details. You as an Indian will be poorer for not reading it. The flow of event in the book is linear and you will not be required to turn the pages back and forth to keep track.

My Take

The book to me was gut wrenching, eye opening and very frustrating. The book is littered with quotes from various High-ranking British officers who present their astonishment at so few Britishers and British forces are able to hold on to such a large population. The wrenching accounts of the famines in British ruled India many of whom could have been avoided by a willing and human administration kept me awake at nights.

History repeats itself and the civilization that does not learn from its previous mistakes is bound to repeat the same mistakes again. This book has a detailed account of how the British broke down various flourishing and world leading industries in India; Handloom and Ship building for example and flooded the markets with their own inferior products forcing Indian’s to purchase overpriced British products while paying a premium at the same time destroying the well-established and blooming local industries. Today in Modern India we are enabling the Chinese to do the same thing that the British did to the cotton and cloth industry in India. If we as a society are not conscious in our spending habits, we will soon be filling the coffers of the Chinese manufactures and while leaving many industries in India by the way of Micromax or Nokia.