An Era of Darkness
The British Empire in India
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An Era of Darkness
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Narrated by:
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Sagar Arya
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Written by:
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Shashi Tharoor
About this listen
In 1930, the American historian and philosopher Will Durant wrote that Britain s conscious and deliberate bleeding of India... [was the] greatest crime in all history . He was not the only one to denounce the rapacity and cruelty of British rule, and his assessment was not exaggerated. Almost 35 million Indians died because of acts of commission and omission by the British in famines, epidemics, communal riots and wholesale slaughter like the reprisal killings after the 1857 War of Independence and the Amritsar massacre of 1919. Besides the deaths of Indians, British rule impoverished India in a manner that beggars belief. When the East India Company took control of the country, in the chaos that ensued after the collapse of the Mughal empire, India's share of world GDP was 23 per cent. When the British left it was just above 3 per cent.
The British empire in India began with the East India Company, incorporated in 1600, by royal charter of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I, to trade in silk, spices and other profitable Indian commodities. Within a century and a half, the Company had become a power to reckon with in India. In 1757, under the command of Robert Clive, Company forces defeated the ruling Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal at Plassey, through a combination of superior artillery and even more superior chicanery. A few years later, the young and weakened Mughal emperor, Shah Alam II, was browbeaten into issuing an edict that replaced his own revenue officials with the Company s representatives. Over the next several decades, the East India Company, backed by the British government, extended its control over most of India, ruling with a combination of extortion, double-dealing, and outright corruption backed by violence and superior force. This state of affairs continued until 1857, when large numbers of the Company s Indian soldiers spearheaded the first major rebellion against colonial rule. After the rebels were defeated, the British Crown took over power and ruled the country ostensibly more benignly until 1947, when India won independence.
In this explosive book, best-selling author Shashi Tharoor reveals with acuity, impeccable research, and trademark wit, just how disastrous British rule was for India. Besides examining the many ways in which the colonizers exploited India, he demolishes the arguments of Western and Indian apologists for Empire on the supposed benefits of British rule, including democracy and political freedom, the rule of law, and the railways. The few unarguable benefits of the English language, tea, and cricket were never actually intended for the benefit of the colonized but introduced to serve the interests of the colonizers.
Brilliantly narrated and passionately argued, An Era of Darkness will serve to correct many misconceptions about one of the most contested periods of Indian history.
©2016 Shashi Tharoor (P)2017 Audible, Inc.What listeners say about An Era of Darkness
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Harish Pande
- 12-05-23
A must listen for everyone
Very detailed accounts of impact of colonisation and gives honest opinion in most cases of the British and Indian politicians of the era. It is a must listen/read for everyone.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ingale
- 26-11-23
Glory of India looted by British
Mr. Tharur is a great author, explains in detail how British systematically looted India.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- P Pramod
- 10-12-18
Dark history
I felt like I have been cheated by my government by hiding the atrocities of the imperial English rule. Its such a shame that we as Indians are not even made aware about the clinical process adopted by the East India company / British government to decimate and discard our traditions and values. Even to this day, our education system is following the slavery model..
I feel, this book should be considered as a text book for Class VIII and above by retaining the sections where the author refers to the British rule alone... all references to the post Independence rule should be removed since they appear to be biased
I also don't appreciate the author when he points out a particular Indian Government when he refers to Hindus.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-09-20
State of dilemma
Narrator was fantabulous,I would rather call him a perfect orrator I have ever heard even the content is mindblowing
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sneha
- 30-03-20
Excellent
Excellent facts and stats!!!! Amazing book...Worth a read for sure...Kept me engrossed... Waiting for more titles
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Gokul U.
- 15-03-19
Thoroughly researched and described
The first two chapters start out with a lot of statistics and data which can be repetitive. The fourth chapter onwards become much more interesting. The book could have been condensed a bit but it was definitely worth the listen.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- snehil agrawal
- 28-09-19
Brilliant piece on British Raj
Mr. Tharoor very logically demolishes all the western claims of imparting democracy, railways, industries, technology during the darkest era of Indian history "The British Raj". In reality India was just an instrument to fulfill Britain's and EIC's rapacity at the expense of millions of lives as they religiously destroyed existing customs, technology, kingdoms and left us with a crack that never seems to be healing for a foreseeable future.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Praveen
- 08-02-20
An insight into British rule
This books gives a dose of what British rule was like. I am able to ascertain the impacts of the same. However, listening to books doesn't give the same feel as reading books...
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dr Sugandhi
- 03-09-21
Must read
Must read for the generations of Indians who are fed the notion that India flourished under the British and still thank British for getting us railways etc
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Nachiiketas
- 09-07-19
Brilliant Read
one of the best books on british colonialism in India. Tharoor builds a comprehensive case
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