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00:00Just over 400 years ago, a group of London merchants arrived here on the Indian coast,
00:09hoping to do some peaceful trading.
00:11Those early pioneers dreamt of making huge profits.
00:17From humble beginnings, this ragtag band of adventurers
00:20secured land from Indian rulers, formed alliances with local craftsmen,
00:26and built from scratch a commercial enterprise to export goods to Britain.
00:32The East India Company was part of this tremendous globalisation of the world,
00:36which really started in the 17th century and speeded up in the 18th and 19th centuries.
00:41Over 200 years, the company grew into a commercial titan.
00:45Its wealth rivalled that of the British state.
00:49It had its own army and eventually ruled over 400 million people.
00:56Its trade was vital to Britain's commercial success,
01:00and its shares were the centre point of London's financial markets.
01:04It revolutionised the British lifestyle.
01:08The East India Company changed the way we dress, it changed the way we eat,
01:12it changed the way we socialise.
01:14And, by accident, created one of the most powerful empires in history.
01:19They were instrumental in making Britain the maritime superpower.
01:26They helped lay the foundations for our own global trading system today,
01:30and they also helped to make English the world's language.
01:34Every step of the company's rise is recorded in a unique archive.
01:39What a lucky fellow you are, Charlie, going to India.
01:43You lead such a luxurious life.
01:44Why, you dog, when you come home, you'll be a rich man.
01:49But the letters and diaries also chart its fall into profiteering, nepotism and corruption.
01:55Every ancient friend of the family hoped I should live to be a major general.
01:59And eventually, a chilling story of drug running and faming.
02:03Numbers of famishing wretches followed our army
02:06for the sole purpose of existing on the offal of the camp.
02:08This is the story of the greatest company the world has ever known.
02:24This is where it all started.
02:27On December 31st, 1600,
02:29the East India Company was established by Royal Charter in London
02:32and granted a monopoly on trade with the East by Queen Elizabeth I.
02:37It was the beginning of a new age in Britain's history,
02:41an age of speculation and profit, enterprise and competition.
02:47Capitalism would change forever the lives of its people and politics.
02:52Trade would make Britain great
02:54and turn London into the richest city in the world.
02:59The company built a series of massive warehouses
03:03across the city of London to store its goods.
03:05There was Lime Street, Fenchurch Street, Seething Lane.
03:09Then when they filled up,
03:10they built more warehouses near the Tower of London
03:12and here on Cutler Street.
03:14These buildings were filled with muslins, calicoes and silks
03:18from India and the Orient.
03:22Thanks to the East India Company,
03:24exotic goods like spices from Indonesia,
03:27tea and porcelain from China
03:28became part of everyday life.
03:30Every year, huge merchant ships of the East India Company,
03:35known as East Indiamen,
03:37would leave from right here,
03:38loaded down with silver bullion and British merchandise,
03:42heading up the Thames and out to sea
03:44to trade with the East.
03:48On board were young men filled with hope.
03:51Who they were and what happened to them
03:53are questions we can now answer.
03:55Thousands of them left behind an extraordinary record
03:59of their daily lives
04:00in documents now held at the British Library.
04:03Snakes have been found in the beds
04:05where gentlemen were about to repose.
04:07A lady was called in by her servant
04:09to see a snake that lay contentedly
04:10between two of her infants
04:12while sleeping in a small cot.
04:14This perilous situation produced the utmost anxiety.
04:17In following their dreams,
04:19these young men would inadvertently forge an empire.
04:22Wealth and honour will pour upon me
04:25and to crown my felicity,
04:27some high-born damsel will eventually become my life.
04:30An empire that would create thousands of winners,
04:33but millions of losers.
04:35The Vulture, rising reluctantly from its bloody banquet,
04:39flapped its broad wings in anger
04:41and joined the wild cross with discordant cries.
04:45Wills, diaries, letters,
04:47more than 100,000 manuscripts
04:49fill nine miles of shelving.
04:51The letters and diaries
04:53of the people who lived and died
04:56under the company's flag
04:57are the lost voices of the East India Company.
05:02Historian Robert Hutchinson
05:04has spent six years studying them.
05:07There are thousands upon thousands
05:09and thousands of wills of company employees
05:12and all of them give insight into life working for the company.
05:19Most of these documents have never been seen before.
05:22They put us in direct contact with the men and women of the company,
05:26a unique glimpse of our social history.
05:28They're very graphic accounts
05:31of the attitudes and the beliefs
05:33and the commitment
05:35to the lives they'd made for themselves in India.
05:40They are extraordinarily graphic.
05:43You've been through all of them?
05:44Not all of them,
05:45but it's a lifetime's work.
05:49They're just fragments of personal testimony,
05:51but pieced together,
05:53they paint a vivid portrait of daily life
05:55in the service of the Honourable Company.
05:57I'm with these letters and diaries.
06:02I'm going to go on a journey
06:03to retrace the footsteps of this band of adventurers
06:05charting the rise and fall
06:07of the world's greatest company.
06:24One country above all
06:25would play a pre-eminent role
06:27in that story
06:28and become the jewel
06:32in the company's crown,
06:34India.
06:42Our story began in 1639
06:44at an unlikely spot
06:46on the east coast,
06:48a place that became known
06:50as Madras Patna.
06:54When the company arrived here,
06:55it wasn't pursuing dreams of conquest or empire,
06:59but looking for a secure base
07:01from which to conduct trade.
07:03And one of its employees,
07:04Francis Day,
07:05was convinced
07:06that this was the right spot.
07:07And with good reason,
07:12this is the Coromandel Coast,
07:14a name synonymous with diamonds,
07:17pearls,
07:17and the finest cotton.
07:20In mid-17th century Europe,
07:22Indian cotton was the height of fashion.
07:24It was cheap, colourful,
07:26and hard-wearing.
07:27A fortune could be made exporting it.
07:30Francis Day claimed a section of beach
07:34and set up shop,
07:36though he may have had other things on his mind.
07:38This lusty young man had a girlfriend nearby,
07:43and he was keen to see her as often as possible.
07:45He even threatened to resign
07:47unless the company accepted his suggestion.
07:50Not for the last time,
07:51human history turned
07:52on an affair of the heart.
07:53But this was hardly the place
07:57to start a trading post.
07:59A dangerous sandbar just off the coast
08:01would cause ships to capsize or run aground.
08:05And if you made it ashore,
08:07it wasn't much better.
08:09They have no drinkable water
08:11within a mile of them,
08:13the sea often threatening destruction on one side,
08:16and the river in the rainy season
08:17inundations on the other.
08:20The sun from April to September scorching hot.
08:23Madras Patnam is one of the most incommodious places
08:26I ever saw.
08:30Incommodious or not,
08:32the company had established
08:33a vital foothold in South India
08:35and began to trade.
08:39They brought in what was the chief product
08:41of this area,
08:43from their point of view,
08:44weavers and dyers
08:45to manufacture handloom cloth.
08:48And this was the biggest export from here.
08:51Within a year,
08:52300 Bengali weavers had set up shop
08:55alongside a motley crew
08:57of publicans and prostitutes.
09:00A handful of Englishmen
09:01were busy exporting cloth and spices
09:03back home for sale in London,
09:05much to the delight
09:06of the company's shareholders.
09:07They could send their ships out here,
09:12fill the holes with spices
09:13and hopefully return rich men.
09:16Now, it's a very lucrative trade
09:17and it's one that had been exploited
09:19by other European powers
09:20for quite a long time now.
09:22But by making it a monopoly,
09:23they could ensure there'd be no domestic opposition
09:26to threaten the shareholders' profits.
09:30Even so,
09:32the company's investors
09:33were taking a huge gamble.
09:34Each voyage could take two years or more,
09:37a long and tense wait
09:39to see a return on investment.
09:43Along the way,
09:44there would be potential loss of ships
09:46through storms,
09:48there could be piracy,
09:49there could be conquest
09:50by local rulers, etc., etc.
09:52So this was a very high-risk venture.
09:56But one that paid dividends
09:58from the beginning.
09:59When company ships first returned
10:01from the East Indies in 1607,
10:03investors had hit the jackpot.
10:08Ah, that single voyage
10:09netted an absolutely vast amount of money
10:11because of these clothes.
10:13A single cargo of this
10:15ensured that the investors
10:16made a 230% profit,
10:18bringing them £36,000,
10:20that's tens of millions
10:22in today's money.
10:23It's hard to comprehend
10:24just how much of a revolution this was,
10:27something that we now take for granted.
10:29Used in medicine as a painkiller,
10:32clothes were so highly prized
10:34they were literally
10:35worth their weight in gold.
10:42With the construction of a warehouse
10:44and several homes,
10:45the company was turning
10:46three miles of beach
10:47into commercial real estate.
10:49Trade was valuable,
10:51so they protected their new settlement
10:52with a stockade
10:53and called it
10:54Fort St George.
11:00The original Fort St George
11:02was built on this spot.
11:03Now, it's been massively
11:04strengthened and enlarged
11:05over the years,
11:06but it took 14 years to build
11:08and the East India Company
11:09directors bitterly complained
11:11about the cost.
11:12But this was like a big security barrier
11:14for their warehouse.
11:14Madras was the springboard for expansion.
11:20Within 50 years,
11:21the company was building
11:22two further settlements,
11:24which they called Bombay
11:25and Calcutta.
11:30These three urban centres
11:32certainly owe their existence
11:34to the East India Company.
11:35They didn't exist before.
11:38They grew out of small trading posts,
11:42which were gradually fortified,
11:45became more residential.
11:47Indian communities moved in,
11:49servicing the needs of the company
11:51and British trade.
11:53And, yeah, absolutely crucial.
11:56In the early years,
11:57these three forts
11:58had very small garrisons.
11:59About 550 men were serving here
12:03at Fort George
12:04in what was then Madras.
12:06Less than half of them
12:07were European troops.
12:08The rest of them
12:08were locally recruited Indians.
12:10The merchants were to trade,
12:12not a fight.
12:14The trouble was
12:16this was a dangerous place
12:17to do business.
12:18Competition from other European traders
12:21was fierce.
12:22Skirmishes were common.
12:24Thick walls
12:24were a necessary precaution.
12:27When you come up here
12:28to this battlement,
12:29you get such a sense
12:30of the defensive power
12:31of this fort.
12:32I mean, look at these walls.
12:33They're comfortably 30 metres thick,
12:35sloping here
12:36so that any cannonballs incoming
12:38will bounce harmlessly
12:39over the heads of the defenders.
12:40And each of these embrasures here,
12:42these V-shaped embrasures,
12:43would have had a big, heavy cannon.
12:45And these cannonballs
12:46would have flown out through here
12:48an interlocking field of fire,
12:50making sure that anyone
12:51approaching these fort walls
12:53would have been obliterated.
12:55It's an incredibly tough position to take.
12:57With the consent of the local Indian ruler,
13:01the settlement grew rapidly.
13:05By 1700,
13:07Madras Patnam
13:08had become a bustling town
13:10with 80,000 inhabitants.
13:12Trade was booming.
13:15Goods were now flooding back
13:17from here to Britain
13:18and were having a profound effect
13:20on the British lifestyle.
13:21Can I have a single tea, please?
13:26It was the beginning of new kinds of diets,
13:29of choice, of consumerism.
13:32People could now choose
13:33to have sugar from the West Indies,
13:35pepper from India.
13:37It was also the start
13:38of the Brit's obsession
13:40with hot drinks.
13:42Tea and coffee arrived for the first time.
13:43Thanks very much.
14:00Gingham, silk, muslin, calico.
14:03Back in Britain,
14:04the company was importing
14:05a cavalcade of rich new fabrics.
14:09Bowled over by the exquisite skill
14:10of India's craftsmen,
14:12the British public went crazy.
14:1518th century Indian textiles
14:17held at London's
14:18Victoria and Albert Museum
14:19revealed an impressive range
14:21of techniques were used
14:23in their manufacture.
14:26All these objects
14:28are made of chintz,
14:29which is basically cotton,
14:31which has been hand-painted
14:34rather than printed.
14:36The Indians managed to find ways
14:39of dyeing cotton,
14:41so the colours remained brilliant
14:43and were colour fast.
14:45So that was very exciting
14:47for people in the West.
14:49Cheap, washable and hard-wearing,
14:52they made a huge impact.
14:54Less formal clothing
14:55became acceptable and fashionable,
14:58and it certainly worried
14:59the British textile industry,
15:02as they were very fearful
15:04that there would be no demand
15:06for their own wool
15:07and linen products.
15:10And at one point,
15:11it caused such a sensation
15:12and so much fear
15:15amongst the silk workers
15:16that they tore the clothes
15:18off people's backs.
15:19Really?
15:19Because they thought
15:20their livelihoods were threatened,
15:22so it was that dramatic.
15:24Company merchants were quick
15:26to respond to the consumers'
15:27changing tastes.
15:28The East India Company
15:31would report back regularly
15:33after every shipment
15:34to Britain from India,
15:36saying,
15:36well, we like this,
15:37but these didn't sell so well,
15:38and could you do
15:39more of the floral sprigs,
15:41or could you do
15:42more of this colour?
15:44The long cloth you sent us
15:46proved so very coarse,
15:48ill-washed and packed,
15:49that it is unfit
15:50to be sent home.
15:51Our money is much better
15:53than such trash.
15:55The British retail fashion industry
15:57was born.
16:00Pyjamas, bandanas, dungarees,
16:03dozens of new words
16:04entered the English dictionary.
16:06Demand for Indian textiles
16:08was so great,
16:09it threatened to destroy
16:10Britain's industry.
16:12Everything that used to be
16:13made of wool or silk,
16:16relating to either
16:17the dress of women
16:18or the furniture of our houses,
16:21was supplied by the India trade.
16:25The government even passed
16:27a law to ban people
16:28from wearing Indian textiles,
16:30but it didn't work.
16:32Testimony to the rising power
16:33of the consumer.
16:38Over the next hundred years,
16:40sales of Indian textiles
16:42would generate 60%
16:43of the company's income.
16:46By 1700,
16:48it was operating
16:4922 trading posts
16:51across India.
16:53Calcutta was one of the biggest.
16:54The company's star
16:55was rising fast.
17:01But investors
17:02were about to be handed
17:03a commercial opportunity
17:04beyond their wildest expectations.
17:06For 200 years,
17:20India had been part
17:21of a vast empire
17:22ruled by a powerful dynasty.
17:25The Mughals had imposed
17:26a centralised government,
17:28built imposing monuments,
17:30and unified the country
17:31with a road system
17:32and single currency.
17:37The population was huge
17:39compared with Britain's.
17:40It was about 140 million.
17:42Britain then had
17:43about 4 million.
17:45The economic position
17:47was it was
17:48the second largest economy
17:50in the world,
17:51reputedly,
17:53with about 25%
17:55of the world's GDP.
17:56For the first few decades,
18:00the mighty Mughals
18:01barely even noticed
18:02the East India Company.
18:04The British didn't cause trouble,
18:06and besides,
18:07they paid good money.
18:09The Mughal Empire
18:10had a tax
18:11on imports of bullion,
18:13so they were doing quite well
18:14out of the company,
18:15bringing in all this
18:16silver and gold.
18:18They were also selling
18:19the company,
18:20trading concessions,
18:21and wherever they were able
18:24to set up factories,
18:25they had to pay for it.
18:27So it was quite a good
18:28sort of source of income
18:29for the empire.
18:33But in 1707,
18:35the Mughal Empire
18:36began to disintegrate.
18:39When the last great
18:41Mughal emperor,
18:42Aurangzeb,
18:42died,
18:43his successors
18:44were unable
18:44to hold his empire together,
18:46and power devolved
18:48into a patchwork
18:49of competing regional states.
18:52Obsessed with its own problems,
18:53therefore,
18:54the empire
18:54didn't have time
18:55to worry about
18:56the little old
18:56East India Company.
19:01Amid the confusion,
19:02a deal was signed.
19:04In exchange for an annual fee,
19:07the East India Company
19:08was granted the right
19:09to trade,
19:10duty-free,
19:11across the state of Bengal.
19:13No gift could have been greater.
19:15Company merchants
19:16previously restricted
19:17to the coast
19:18could now do business
19:19across an entire province.
19:22And as the Mughal Empire
19:23weakened further,
19:25the company expanded.
19:29The East India Company
19:30was sucked into this vacuum.
19:32It would back
19:32one local claimant
19:34to a throne
19:35against another,
19:36and in return
19:36for its support,
19:37it would be given
19:38land holdings
19:39or trading concessions.
19:40that meant
19:41within decades,
19:42the East India Company
19:43was becoming
19:44a sovereign entity
19:45in its own right,
19:47had the power
19:47to raise revenue,
19:49to make war and peace,
19:50to mint its own coins,
19:51to administer justice.
19:53The East India Company
19:54was becoming a state.
19:58A state
19:59that by 1800
20:00would rule
20:01140 million people
20:03across 94,000 square miles
20:06and command an army
20:08a quarter of a million strong,
20:11all controlled
20:11by 159 civil servants
20:13in a London office
20:14some 14,000 miles away.
20:18Their headquarters,
20:19East India House,
20:19has long since disappeared
20:20under this towering structure,
20:22the Lloyds Building.
20:24It was from here
20:24that the company was run.
20:26As its ships
20:27scoured the world's oceans,
20:29they were controlled
20:30by directors
20:31elected by shareholders
20:32who were known collectively
20:33as the Court of Directors.
20:36There would be weekly
20:38board meetings
20:38of their directors,
20:39there would be
20:40quarterly auctions
20:41of the company's products,
20:42and then annual general meetings,
20:44which would often be
20:44ferocious affairs
20:45where shareholders
20:47would be fighting
20:47over the size of the dividend.
20:54Share dealing,
20:55corporate governance,
20:57annual accounts,
20:58the company would help
20:59develop all the paraphernalia
21:00of modern business,
21:01turning London
21:02into the world's
21:03commercial capital.
21:06In India,
21:13the company's affairs
21:14were generating
21:14a mountain of paperwork.
21:16Every transaction
21:17recorded for scrutiny
21:19back in London.
21:20So it needed a large body
21:22of able young men
21:23to keep everything in order.
21:27This awe-inspiring building
21:29was the nerve centre
21:30of the East India Company's
21:32affairs in Bengal.
21:33In here were based
21:35a group of men
21:35known as the writers.
21:36They were bean counters
21:37and clerks,
21:38noting down minutes
21:39of meetings
21:40and financial transactions,
21:41all the tedious
21:42day-to-day business
21:43of the East India Company.
21:48For the well-connected
21:49young Britain
21:49of the 1700s,
21:51a job with the company
21:52was a free ticket
21:53on the gravy train.
21:54To get a job as a writer,
21:57all you had to do
21:57was ingratiate yourself
21:58and one of the company directors.
22:00They were free
22:01to give the jobs
22:01to whoever they chose
22:03and that meant
22:03that family connection
22:05counted for everything.
22:06They gave them
22:07to their sons,
22:09their cousins,
22:10their nephews
22:10and their associate sons.
22:13Things like merit
22:14or experience
22:16counted for nothing.
22:18I shall be placed
22:19on the staff,
22:20wear a cocked hat
22:21and laugh at
22:22the Governor-General's jokes
22:23and a capital appointment
22:25will follow in due course.
22:29The pay wasn't great
22:30but you could do
22:31a bit of wheeler dealing
22:32on the side.
22:33Private trading
22:34was a good way
22:35for the young men
22:36to supplement their incomes.
22:38The company did allow it
22:40but there were rules.
22:41A captain was allowed
22:42to have a portion
22:43of his cargo
22:44to be reserved
22:45for his own private business
22:46and the young writers
22:48out here were allowed
22:49to trade in certain commodities.
22:51Spices, diamonds
22:52and textiles
22:54woven with gold
22:55and silver thread.
22:56It was a nice little earner.
22:58They lend money
22:59to Indian nobles
23:00at extortionate interest rates,
23:01they speculate,
23:02they profiteer
23:03and they engage in trade
23:05and they use
23:06the East India Company
23:06monopolies
23:07and its political power
23:08to create
23:10very favourable
23:11trading conditions
23:12for themselves.
23:21But a career in India
23:22came with considerable risk.
23:25None of the company's men
23:26were prepared
23:27for the dangers
23:28of a tropical climate.
23:31They were greeted
23:32on arrival
23:32by a withering barrage
23:35of heat and disease.
23:37It was said
23:38that during the hot season
23:39here in India
23:39it was as dangerous
23:40a place as anywhere
23:41in the world
23:42for humans to live.
23:47Here I passed
23:48the night in a bed
23:49which might be called
23:50a chop house
23:51for mosquitoes.
23:51The intemperance
23:52of the climate
23:53together with
23:54the excessive heat
23:55of the sun
23:55are very noxious
23:57to our health.
23:58I had so bad
23:59a night of it
23:59I really expected
24:00it to be my last.
24:02My stomach is so weak
24:03it refuses everything.
24:04Many who came
24:07to Calcutta
24:08ended up here
24:09in South Park Street
24:11Cemetery.
24:14There's so many stories
24:15of friendships,
24:17love affairs,
24:18families torn apart
24:19by death and disease.
24:21Just pick one out here.
24:23I called John Blackiston
24:24who was a junior officer
24:25in the company's army.
24:26And he had a friend
24:27who he looked up to
24:28who was a few years
24:28his senior
24:29called Lieutenant Rowley
24:30who was an engineer's.
24:31Rowley got dysentery
24:33and slowly wasted away.
24:35Blackiston wrote
24:36Poor fellow
24:37he expired in my arms
24:40to one so young
24:41as myself
24:42and unaccustomed
24:43to such scenes
24:44this could not
24:46but be a most
24:47painful circumstance.
24:54People grew to accept
24:55that death
24:56could be sudden.
24:57We've known instances
24:59of dining with a gentleman
25:00at midday
25:01and being invited
25:02to his burial
25:03before suppertime.
25:06Calcutta historian
25:07Sudip Bhattacharya
25:09is researching mortality
25:11amongst the early settlers.
25:13The cemetery
25:14was opened in 1767
25:16and burials took place
25:18until 1790.
25:20So it's got a short period?
25:22Yes, that's a very short period
25:23which only goes
25:24to demonstrate
25:25the mortality,
25:26the high mortality.
25:30There's one here
25:33that you might
25:33be interested in.
25:34He was sincerely
25:35and universally regretted
25:37by Europeans
25:37and natives.
25:39Superintendent
25:39of the police
25:40in Calcutta.
25:41So it affected everybody.
25:43Just because you were
25:44high and mighty
25:44didn't mean you weren't
25:45going to get sick?
25:45No, no.
25:46For instance,
25:47here you have a judge.
25:48He was one of the
25:49first judges
25:50of the Supreme Court
25:51of Judicature
25:52in Bengal.
25:53They lacked the science,
25:54they lacked the knowledge
25:56about how to combat
25:58these microbes.
25:59So everyone was
26:00in the same boat.
26:01Yes.
26:10The worst period
26:11for sickness
26:12was of course
26:13the monsoon
26:13between June and September.
26:16If you managed
26:17to survive September,
26:18around the 15th of October,
26:19they would celebrate
26:20the fact that
26:22they had survived.
26:23And a number of deaths
26:24took place in September.
26:26Many people died.
26:28In one year alone,
26:30more than a third
26:31of Calcutta's
26:32European population
26:33died during the rainy season.
26:35The average lifespan
26:37of a Briton in Bengal
26:38was said to be
26:39two monsoons.
26:41The company regularly
26:42shipped blank tombstones
26:43from England
26:44to meet demand.
26:49This is the dark twin
26:51of the East India Company's
26:52success.
26:53This is the one
26:54they probably wouldn't
26:55have wanted to talk about
26:56when they were recruiting
26:57those young men
26:58full of hope
26:59to come out here
26:59and grow rich
27:00and powerful.
27:06The company tried to help.
27:08It supplied ships
27:09and factories
27:09with vast quantities
27:11of wine
27:11in the mistaken belief
27:13that alcohol
27:13would promote health.
27:14It didn't help much
27:17but the men
27:18couldn't have been
27:19more pleased
27:20and when the cellars
27:21ran dry
27:21there was always
27:22the local brew.
27:24Toddy,
27:25made from
27:25the sap of palm trees
27:27was meant to cure
27:28griping of the stomach.
27:30Then there was
27:30arac,
27:30the locally brewed
27:31fire water
27:32that was supposed
27:33to promote health
27:34in young men.
27:38When it became clear
27:39that Peruvian bark
27:40or quinine
27:41cured fevers
27:43people started
27:43taking that
27:44trouble it
27:45it was so bitter
27:45they found
27:46they had to mix it
27:47with sugar,
27:48soda water,
27:49gin and lemons.
27:51The quintessentially
27:52British gin and tonic
27:53had been produced.
27:56When men
27:56weren't busy dying,
27:58shuffling paperwork
27:58or raking in the cash
28:00they were getting smashed.
28:03Hard drinking
28:04was a central part
28:05of their louche lifestyle.
28:10Spent a severe night
28:11of punch
28:12and having sung ourselves
28:13to sleep in our chairs
28:14were awoke next morning
28:15at five by the gun
28:16when we turned
28:17into our several nests
28:18to growl
28:19and keep our burning heads
28:20as cool as the weather
28:21would permit.
28:23Rampant alcoholism
28:24put paid to many
28:25a promising career.
28:28More English fell
28:29in Hindustan
28:30by the intemperate
28:31and injudicious use
28:32of ardent spirits
28:33than by the sword.
28:34drinking, gambling
28:39and brawling.
28:40They were the quintessential
28:41Englishmen abroad.
28:43The staunchly
28:44Protestant company directors
28:46soon realised
28:47they had a problem.
28:49While they cared little
28:50about their employees'
28:51alcoholism,
28:52they did care
28:53about their choice
28:54of women.
28:55Some of them
28:56were apparently
28:57taking up with the locals
28:58or possibly even worse,
29:00the Catholic daughters
29:01of Portuguese traders.
29:03This had to be dealt with
29:04and the company came up
29:05with a brilliant suggestion
29:06which was pack a ship
29:07full of British women
29:08and send them out here.
29:10What could possibly go wrong?
29:13The answer was
29:14just about everything.
29:16One lady traveller
29:17divided these women
29:18into two groups.
29:21Old maids
29:22of the shriveled
29:22and dry description
29:23and girls
29:25educated
29:25merely to cover
29:26the surface
29:27of their mental deformity.
29:29When the women arrived
29:30they behaved
29:31just as wildly
29:32as the men,
29:33forming relationships
29:34with locals
29:35and having a great time.
29:36The plan
29:37was abandoned immediately.
29:38The East India Company
29:39realised
29:39they should stick
29:40to shipping out tweed.
30:00company servants
30:07had no need
30:08of a matchmaker
30:08in any case.
30:10They were busy
30:11forming attachments
30:12of their own.
30:14The allure
30:14of Bengali women
30:15was proving
30:16as potent
30:17as the local firewater.
30:22The attachment
30:23of many European gentlemen
30:24to their native mistresses
30:25is not to be described.
30:26an infatuation
30:28beyond all comparison
30:29often prevails.
30:36Many company men
30:37adopted the local
30:38tradition of polygamy.
30:41I have known
30:42various instances
30:43of two ladies
30:44being conjointly
30:45domesticated
30:45and one
30:46of an elderly
30:47military character
30:48who solaced himself
30:49with no less than
30:5016 of all sorts
30:51and sizes.
30:58Many of these
30:59relationships
31:00lasted a lifetime.
31:05Thousands
31:06of company servants
31:07provided generously
31:08for the future
31:09of their Indian mistresses
31:10and offspring
31:10in wills held
31:12at the British Library.
31:14So here we have
31:16Matthew Leslie
31:16who calls himself
31:18by his Muslim name
31:19Mir Mohammed Hussein Khan
31:22and he talks about
31:23his wife
31:24and he talks about
31:25his three mistresses
31:27all of whom
31:28receive
31:29quite large sums
31:30of money.
31:31His late wife
31:32Zeram
31:33for her soul
31:34and separate use
31:35of benefit
31:3620,000 sickle rubies
31:38to be paid
31:39straight after his death.
31:40The same sum of money
31:41is invested
31:42in company bonds
31:43and quarterly payments
31:45made in every year.
31:47The same kind of thing
31:48goes on
31:48for his other girls
31:49and the amount
31:50seems to be going down
31:51here so there's a
31:52sense of favouritism.
31:54There's a league
31:54table of favouritism here.
31:56So here is
31:57Hira Beely
31:58she gets
31:5912,000
32:00rather than
32:0120,000
32:01and quarterly payments
32:03so you can see
32:04his favouritism
32:05decreases
32:06but
32:07not only has he got
32:08four mistresses
32:08but
32:09he's also
32:10in his world
32:11mentions
32:12if there's any
32:12of the young girls
32:13living in my family
32:14living in his house
32:15maybe with child
32:17at the time
32:18at the time
32:18of my
32:18decease
32:19if they give birth
32:21within the requisite time
32:22after he died
32:23he's going to acknowledge
32:24that they're
32:25his children
32:26and he leaves
32:26money to them
32:27and his
32:28executors
32:29will have
32:29discretion
32:30to determine
32:31whether or not
32:32such child
32:33or children
32:33were or were not
32:35begotten by me.
32:36So that's pretty brutal
32:37if they look like him
32:38they get the cash.
32:39Absolutely
32:39and he leaves
32:4053,000
32:41in ready cash
32:42in his will
32:4453,000 pounds
32:46sterling that is
32:47not rupees
32:47and today
32:49in economic
32:50power
32:51that's worth
32:52about 62 million pounds.
32:55The East India Company
32:56had serious misgivings
32:58about its employees
32:58cohabiting with local women
33:00but then again
33:02knowledge of local markets
33:04was good for business.
33:06Liaison with
33:08indigenous women
33:09teach men languages
33:10so the company
33:11really has a vested interest
33:12in these relationships
33:13being close
33:14and tight knit.
33:18By the middle
33:19of the 18th century
33:2090% of company
33:22employees in India
33:23had local partners.
33:26Many could now
33:27afford several mistresses
33:28and a house
33:29full of servants.
33:31Right, let's go.
33:36But something odd
33:37was going on.
33:38They'd arrived here
33:39as humble merchants
33:41but their newfound wealth
33:42was having a bizarre effect.
33:45They adopted the ostentatious
33:47flamboyant lifestyles
33:48of an Eastern prince
33:49surrounding themselves
33:50with armies of servants
33:51being carried from place
33:52to place
33:53in a palaquin.
33:54The pomposity
33:55and extravagance
33:56of these white Mughals
33:57knew no bounds.
33:59Much to the annoyance
34:01of their fellow countrymen.
34:03Many of the British inhabitants
34:05affect great splendour
34:07in their mode of living.
34:08They assume an air
34:09of much consequence
34:10and often treat
34:12the rest of their countrymen
34:13with supercilious arrogance.
34:15I think this is my favourite picture
34:17from the period.
34:18It shows a man
34:18who looks like
34:19a Mughal Emperor
34:20sitting on a cushion
34:21smoking a hookah
34:22tended by servants
34:23master of all he surveys
34:24in his luscious robes
34:26and turban.
34:27But that is no Mughal Emperor.
34:28In fact
34:29it's an accountant
34:30from Yorkshire.
34:31His name's John Womwell.
34:33He's living the dream.
34:37While some lived
34:39like overblown Maharajas
34:40others
34:41like Major General
34:42Charles Stewart
34:43engaged with India
34:44on a more profound level.
34:47Charles Stewart
34:48came out here
34:49from his native island
34:50aged 19
34:51and immediately
34:52fell in love
34:53with the place.
34:53He had a house
34:54here on Wood Street
34:56which he turned
34:56into a museum
34:57filling it up
34:58with Indian artefacts
34:59and carvings.
35:01He was happy
35:01to show anybody around
35:02and share his passion
35:04for all things Indian.
35:08Stewart found
35:09the exoticism
35:10of Hindu myths
35:11irresistible.
35:12Whenever I look
35:13around me
35:14in the vast region
35:15of Hindu mythology
35:16it appears
35:17the most complete
35:18and ample system
35:19of moral allegory
35:20that the world
35:20has ever produced.
35:24Stewart's encounter
35:25with India
35:26changed his life.
35:28Within a year
35:28of his arrival
35:29he had discarded
35:30Christianity
35:31and become a Hindu.
35:36Hindu Stewart
35:37as he became known
35:38learned the local languages
35:40dressed like a local
35:41would have been
35:41very comfortable
35:42in places like this.
35:43He took a local woman
35:44as a wife
35:45and had a brood
35:45of mixed race children.
35:47He even hired
35:48a group of Brahmins
35:49Hindu scholars
35:50to prepare
35:50the family's food
35:51in a traditional Hindu manner.
35:53Stuart wasn't unusual
35:59in embracing his new home.
36:02Many Britons and Indians
36:03accepted each other
36:04in an atmosphere
36:05of mutual understanding.
36:06The British came to India
36:11before the 19th century
36:12very much as explorers
36:14adventurers
36:15and people out
36:16to make their money
36:16and they encountered
36:17a very old
36:18and very complex civilization
36:19and they were often
36:21impressed by it
36:22and so they didn't feel
36:23that they were
36:23in any way superior
36:24to Indians
36:25they were just simply
36:25one of a number
36:26of groups jostling
36:27in India
36:28to try and earn a living
36:29and to try
36:29and make their way.
36:32And in the final analysis
36:33integration
36:34was good for business.
36:38In any case
36:39the company's attention
36:40was focused
36:41on a far bigger problem
36:42an escalating
36:43military confrontation
36:44with the French.
36:47The British and French
36:48had set up trading posts
36:49within a few miles
36:50of each other.
36:51The French at Pondicherry
36:52and Chandanagor
36:54the British at Madras
36:56and Calcutta.
36:57In 1756
36:59rivalry exploded
37:01into open warfare.
37:04Driven by antagonism
37:05over colonial interests
37:06the Seven Years' War
37:08raged from Europe
37:09to North America
37:10and across the world's oceans.
37:16But in India
37:17the ultimate prize
37:19was control over trade.
37:27The merchants
37:29of the East India Company
37:30had traditionally
37:31tried to avoid war.
37:32Its costs were certain
37:33but its outcomes
37:34far less so.
37:35It's bad for business.
37:37But as the French
37:38grew more threatening
37:39in the subcontinent
37:40the company realised
37:41it needed to get more serious
37:42about the military
37:43side of things.
37:44And the motley crews
37:45guarding its forks
37:46in India
37:47weren't up to scratch.
37:48What it needed
37:49was a serious
37:50standing army.
37:51The company decided
37:54to strengthen
37:55its garrison
37:56at Fort St George.
37:57In January 1748
37:59150 British troops
38:01arrived in Madras
38:02led by Major Stringer Lawrence
38:04an irascible old soldier
38:06known affectionately
38:08as Old Cock.
38:10He's 50 years old
38:12he's fought
38:12in the lowlands
38:13in Spain
38:14and also
38:14in the Jacobite Rebellion
38:16and he
38:16is a man
38:17with great knowledge
38:18of military affairs
38:19and his job
38:20is really
38:20to reform
38:21the company troops
38:23out in India.
38:28He begins
38:28by forming them
38:29into companies
38:30each commanded
38:30by an officer
38:31and those companies
38:32are equipped
38:33trained
38:34and disciplined
38:34exactly like
38:35British troops
38:36would be
38:36and of course
38:37the end result
38:37of all of this
38:38is it becomes
38:38a much more effective
38:40fighting force.
38:44His new army
38:45was led by
38:46European officers
38:47but most of the troops
38:49were Indians
38:49known as sepoys
38:50from the Persian word
38:52for soldier.
38:54Stringer Lawrence
38:55is seen as the grandfather
38:56of the modern Indian army.
38:58Many units
38:59are the direct descendants
39:00of those he founded
39:01250 years ago.
39:06One young soldier
39:08in Lawrence's new army
39:09was the future
39:10national hero
39:11Clive of India.
39:14Robert Clive
39:15was from a family
39:16of provincial gentry
39:17as a young boy
39:19who was a bit of a terror
39:19and loved getting
39:20into fights
39:21and he was expelled
39:21three times from school
39:23so his father thought
39:24nothing much would come
39:25of him
39:26and they might as well
39:26gamble
39:27and send him out
39:27here to India
39:28join the East India Company
39:30which made men
39:31or broke them.
39:33At first
39:34Clive had been
39:34desperately homesick
39:36and hated the searing heat.
39:39If I should be so blessed
39:41as to revisit again
39:42my own country
39:43but more especially
39:44Manchester
39:44the centre of all my wishes
39:46all that I could hope
39:48or desire for
39:49would be presented
39:50before me in one view.
39:52He was known as a man
39:53who had a relatively
39:54short temper.
39:55He was
39:56as we discover
39:57in his later career
39:58a man with tremendous energy
40:00vigour and resolution
40:01and this must have seemed
40:03a pretty crushing way
40:04to begin his career.
40:07Clive would be
40:08the driving force
40:09in transforming
40:10the company
40:11from commercial giant
40:12to the dominant
40:13political power
40:15in India.
40:17In 1756
40:19his great adversary
40:20was the Mughal ruler
40:22of Bengal.
40:25Siraju Daula
40:26loathed the British
40:27and bitterly resented
40:28the company's hold
40:29on Calcutta.
40:31In June
40:32he attacked the city.
40:35Calcutta fell
40:36within hours
40:37and on the evening
40:39of June 20th
40:40146 British prisoners
40:42were taken
40:43to Fort William
40:43now the site
40:46of the government
40:47post office.
40:49100 yards
40:50from this spot
40:51stands a grim reminder
40:53of what happened next.
40:56The most vivid account
40:57we have
40:58was left by a man
40:58called John Zephaniah
40:59Holwell
41:00he'd been the chief
41:01magistrate of Calcutta
41:02who'd been left
41:02in charge
41:03and he and his men
41:04were marched
41:05into a cell
41:06just 18 foot wide
41:08at gunpoint.
41:09It became known
41:10simply
41:10as the Black Hole
41:12and what happened
41:13in there
41:13became one of the most
41:14infamous stories
41:15in the whole
41:16of British imperial history.
41:18It's said the prisoners
41:26crushed together
41:27suffocating
41:28and fighting
41:28to stay upright
41:29were gripped
41:30by claustrophobic terror.
41:32The heat
41:35was almost
41:36unbearable.
41:38Try and slake
41:40his thirst
41:40Holwell
41:41took off
41:42his sweat-soaked shirt
41:43and rang it out
41:44into his mouth.
41:46Other people
41:46trampled
41:47on the
41:48weakened bodies
41:49of their comrades
41:50desperately trying
41:50to reach
41:51the two small windows
41:52at the top
41:53of the wall
41:53and gulp down
41:54some fresh air.
41:56It was a night
41:57of unspeakable
41:58suffering
41:58and cruelty.
42:00When the doors
42:04were flung open
42:05at dawn
42:05the next day
42:06the cell
42:07was filled
42:07with corpses.
42:09To Holwell's
42:10horror
42:10just 23
42:11had survived.
42:14Towards the end
42:15of the account
42:16this particularly
42:16memorable line
42:17he writes
42:18But oh sir
42:19what word
42:20shall I adopt
42:21to tell you
42:21the hole
42:22that my soul
42:23suffered
42:23at reviewing
42:24the dreadful
42:25destruction
42:26round me?
42:27I will not
42:27attempt it
42:28and indeed
42:29tears
42:30stop my pen.
42:33The news
42:34of what had
42:35happened
42:35to their
42:35fellow countrymen
42:36at the hands
42:37of a barbarous
42:38Indian despot
42:39electrified congregations
42:41right across Britain.
42:43This after all
42:44was a generation
42:44that were starting
42:45to believe
42:45that Britons
42:46never, never,
42:47never shall
42:48be slaves.
42:51The story
42:52of the black hole
42:52left a deep scar
42:54in the British psyche
42:54for generations.
42:56To Victorian
42:58schoolchildren
42:58the events
42:59of 1756
43:00were as familiar
43:01as the Battle
43:02of Hastings.
43:03But historians
43:04like Sushil Chowdhury
43:06believe Holwell's
43:07account can't be trusted.
43:09Holwell first mentioned
43:10that in the black hole
43:12165
43:13or 175
43:15people
43:16were confirmed.
43:17Later
43:17when he revised
43:19the number
43:20he said
43:20it's 146
43:21and out
43:22of 146
43:2323
43:24were alive
43:26but
43:26123
43:27died.
43:28So you don't think
43:29there could have been
43:29that many people
43:30packed into that
43:31smaller space?
43:31It was impossible
43:33to put in
43:34146
43:36people
43:36in that small room
43:37which is
43:3818 feet
43:39by
43:3914 feet
43:40and then
43:41he said
43:42he knew
43:42most of the people
43:43but it was
43:44pitch dark
43:45it was impossible
43:45for anyone
43:46to recognise
43:47people there
43:48and then
43:49he said
43:49he looked
43:50at his watch
43:50how could
43:51he look
43:51at his watch
43:52you know
43:52it's fabrication
43:53no doubt.
44:04What we don't know
44:05for sure
44:05is how many
44:06actually perished
44:06that night.
44:07The numbers
44:08range from
44:09three
44:09to over a hundred
44:11I suspect
44:11it's somewhere
44:12in between.
44:13What is not
44:13in question
44:14is that this
44:14was an atrocity.
44:15Was it deliberate?
44:16Almost certainly not.
44:17It was unfortunate
44:18that this small
44:19airless room
44:21it was
44:21it happened
44:22on an incredibly
44:23hot and humid night
44:24some of the people
44:25inside were already
44:26wounded from the
44:27battle that had
44:27taken place
44:28and there were
44:28bound to be
44:29some fatalities
44:30but that there
44:31were so many
44:33was a point
44:34taken very seriously
44:35by the British
44:36the remaining British
44:37in India
44:38and also the British
44:38back home
44:39and there was
44:40very much a sense
44:40that they wanted
44:41revenge.
44:48the British
44:49and the British
44:50and the British
44:50and the British
44:51determined to
44:52reassert supremacy
44:53Clive recaptured
44:54Calcutta
44:55and confronted
44:56Siraj
44:57at a village
44:57called Plasi
44:58120 miles
45:00north of the city
45:01in what would
45:01become a decisive
45:02moment in the
45:03history of the
45:04East India Company
45:05at Plasi
45:12Clive was
45:13terribly outnumbered
45:14by more than
45:1510 to 1
45:16but Clive had a plan
45:17that didn't just rely
45:18on military might
45:19alone
45:19he'd been in secret
45:21correspondence
45:21with one of the
45:22Nawab's key
45:23lieutenants
45:24the commander
45:24of his cavalry
45:25a man called
45:26Mir Jafar
45:27the deal is done
45:29between Clive
45:30and Mir Jafar
45:30that a certain
45:31key part of the
45:32fight
45:32Mir Jafar
45:34will come on
45:35to his side
45:35in other words
45:36he'll leave his
45:36chief
45:37and then return
45:37for putting him
45:38on the throne
45:39the company
45:39will not only
45:40be paid vast
45:41sums of money
45:41and we are
45:42talking about
45:42fantastical sums
45:43but also it will
45:45be given a free
45:45rein in terms
45:46of its trade
45:47it was all over
45:55in a matter of
45:55hours
45:56but it had
45:57little to do
45:57with military
45:58might
45:58Mir Jafar
45:59the traitor
46:00had been paid
46:01off
46:01and he ensured
46:02that the majority
46:03of the Nawab's
46:03troops
46:03took no part
46:05in the battle
46:05he was then
46:06installed
46:07as Britain's
46:08puppet
46:08this opened up
46:10the richest
46:10province of India
46:12to the company
46:13Robert Clive
46:14regarded this
46:15Machiavellian
46:16manoeuvring
46:16as the pinnacle
46:17of his career
46:18Clive and the company
46:22were now rich
46:24better still
46:25in exchange
46:25for a single
46:26payment
46:26of £270,000
46:28the company
46:30was granted
46:30the right
46:31to manage
46:31the Diwani
46:32or the revenue
46:33and civil
46:34administration
46:34of Bengal
46:36this allowed
46:39them to collect
46:40the land tax
46:41from the entire
46:41population of Bengal
46:4310 million people
46:44it effectively
46:45turned them
46:45into the
46:45de facto
46:46government
46:47Robert Clive
46:48estimated
46:49that it would be
46:50worth
46:50£1.7 million
46:52every year
46:54with control
46:55over the revenues
46:56of India's
46:57richest province
46:58the company's
46:59role had
46:59profoundly changed
47:01there's the point
47:03at which
47:03the East India
47:04Company
47:04really moves
47:05from being
47:05a trading
47:06enterprise
47:07to an actual
47:08ruler of territory
47:09the Diwani
47:12was a license
47:12to print money
47:13after the costs
47:15of administering
47:16Bengal
47:16had been met
47:17the company's
47:18profit margin
47:19was 49%
47:20the commercial
47:21floodgates
47:22had opened
47:23in 1766
47:28news of the
47:29Diwani
47:30reached London
47:31the prospect
47:32of massive
47:33financial gains
47:34in Bengal
47:35pushed the
47:36company's
47:36share price
47:37through the roof
47:38now this is
47:39partly fuelled
47:39by Clive
47:40who wrote
47:40to his friends
47:41from India
47:42advising them
47:43to buy stock
47:44and he wrote
47:44to his own
47:44attorneys as well
47:45telling them
47:46to make huge
47:47purchases
47:47on his behalf
47:49not surprisingly
47:50other British
47:51and foreign
47:51investors
47:52followed suit
47:52Robert Clive
48:01returned home
48:02a national hero
48:04with a personal
48:05fortune equivalent
48:06to 38 million
48:07pounds today
48:08and a generous
48:09income from
48:10land holdings
48:10in Bengal
48:11he went on
48:12a spending spree
48:13he bought a raft
48:15of properties
48:16including his
48:17childhood home
48:17Steich Hall
48:18which he renovated
48:19for his father
48:20and then he bought
48:21this place
48:21Walcott Hall
48:22for the princely sum
48:24of 90,000 pounds
48:26not bad for 6,000 acres
48:33Clive began transforming
48:35his new home
48:35into a lavish palazzo
48:37with one of the
48:38finest gardens
48:39in England
48:39after ruling a state
48:42four times bigger
48:43than Britain
48:44Clive was determined
48:45to forge a political
48:46career back
48:47in the old country
48:48his new
48:49Shropshire pile
48:50came with an added
48:52bonus
48:52Walcott Hall
48:56had traditionally
48:56been owned
48:57by the powerful
48:58Walcott family
48:59and they'd been able
49:00to nominate
49:00the area's MPs
49:02when they fell
49:03badly into debt
49:03Clive saw his chance
49:05he bought the estate
49:06and with it
49:07came control
49:07of the local
49:08parliamentary borough
49:09that allowed him
49:10to basically appoint
49:11his cousin
49:12as the MP
49:13for the next 50 years
49:15Clive's money
49:16ensured that his family
49:17continued to live
49:18in style
49:18and they continued
49:19to control the politics
49:21of the local area
49:22Clive added
49:25half a dozen seats
49:26in Shropshire
49:27and further estates
49:28in Devon
49:29Monmouth
49:29and Surrey
49:30to a bulging
49:31property empire
49:32he was just one
49:35of a number
49:36of company men
49:36who'd grown
49:37fabulously wealthy
49:38in Bengal
49:38and then had returned
49:39home to improve
49:41their status in life
49:42they'd bought
49:43their way
49:43into the aristocracy
49:44they'd bought
49:45influence
49:46and power
49:46they became known
49:49as nabobs
49:50a term synonymous
49:52with vanity
49:52and absurd pretension
49:54they're perceived
49:57to be too rich
49:58for their own good
49:59to wear their diamonds
50:00too ostentatiously
50:01to wear textiles
50:03from India
50:04concerns about
50:06so-called oriental
50:07despotism
50:07that they may have
50:08brought back
50:09from the Mughal empire
50:11in India with them
50:12all of those
50:13so great concerns
50:13for people
50:14the nabobs represented
50:16the East India Company
50:17at its most venal
50:18and corrupt
50:19a direct threat
50:21to the social
50:22and political order
50:23there was a concern
50:25that not only
50:26were they bringing
50:26back great wealth
50:27but they were also
50:28infiltrating parliament
50:29with these sort of
50:30oriental corruption
50:31and asiatic practices
50:33of government
50:34which were viewed
50:35with a great deal
50:35of sort of concern
50:36and skepticism
50:36and anxiety
50:37by the ruling elite
50:39in Britain
50:39by the 1780s
50:41they had become
50:42a powerful minority
50:43with one-tenth
50:45of the seats
50:45in parliament
50:46but their good fortune
50:52would soon end
50:53a natural calamity
50:59was about to throw
51:00the honourable company
51:01into the biggest crisis
51:03in its history
51:04famine had long
51:10been a part of life
51:10in Bengal
51:11but one that began
51:13in the late 1760s
51:14was turned into
51:16a full-blown
51:17humanitarian disaster
51:18by the East India Company
51:20it's hard to come to terms
51:23with even after
51:23all these years
51:24but while the nabobs
51:25were back in Britain
51:26buying stately homes
51:27throwing parties
51:28filling them with
51:29silver, wine and art
51:31the people of Bengal
51:32who were paying
51:33for all that
51:34were experiencing
51:35some of the most
51:36appalling conditions
51:37in Mansionable
51:38a prolonged drought
51:45and a poor harvest
51:46caused a famine
51:48that continued
51:48for three long years
51:50the worst
51:51in living memory
51:52the agony
51:56of the Bengali people
51:57is described
51:57in vivid detail
51:58the East India Company
52:03watched
52:03and recorded
52:04everything
52:057600 dying
52:08in Calcutta
52:09in the last
52:09six weeks
52:10double that number
52:12in other towns
52:13in the province
52:13and then these
52:15chilling
52:15terrible
52:16awful words
52:17hunger drives
52:19many of them
52:20to such distress
52:21that the strongest
52:23frequently
52:23in some parts
52:24of the country
52:25fall upon the weaker
52:27and devour them
52:30we're talking
52:30about cannibalism
52:31we're talking
52:32about cannibalism
52:33here
52:33they're forced
52:34into those
52:35kinds of
52:36horrible
52:37means of staying alive
52:38and then
52:39in contrast
52:40the next paragraph
52:41says
52:41balls
52:42concerts
52:43and all public
52:44entertainments
52:45ought to subside
52:46at this time
52:47of general scarcity
52:48but I'm sorry to say
52:50they have not
52:52and under the doors
52:53and windows
52:54of these places
52:54of amusement
52:55lie many dead bodies
52:57and others
52:58again
52:58in all the agonies
52:59of death
53:00despair
53:01and want
53:02so as you're going
53:03out to a concert
53:04or something
53:05you're stepping over
53:05destitute dead
53:07and dying people
53:07piles of dead people
53:09did the East India Company
53:10help or did they
53:11make things worse
53:11they made things worse
53:13they raised the taxes
53:14on agricultural produce
53:16they banned the hoarding
53:17of rice and grain
53:18which were traditionally
53:19used to tide
53:20over the population
53:22through periods
53:23of scarcity
53:24they ripped up
53:25some of the food crops
53:26to plant
53:27much more profitable
53:28indigo
53:29and even more
53:30profitable opium
53:31and finally
53:33some of their
53:34junior servants
53:36started to speculate
53:37and profiteer
53:39from the sale
53:40of rice
53:42and grain
53:44selling it out
53:45of the province
53:45at grossly
53:47in fated prices
53:48the letters reveal
53:51where the company's
53:52priorities really lay
53:53while they lament
53:57the distresses
53:58which the inhabitants
53:59may be reduced
54:00thereby
54:01they can't
54:02divest themselves
54:04of anxious
54:05apprehensions
54:06concerning the effects
54:07which a continuation
54:08of the drought
54:09may have
54:10on the collections
54:11of our revenues
54:12so they're thinking
54:14profits
54:15rather than
54:17disaster relief
54:20it's estimated
54:23that between
54:23two million
54:24and ten million
54:25people died
54:26a salutary lesson
54:28on the dangers
54:29of unchecked
54:30corporate power
54:31you have streams
54:34and streams
54:34of people
54:35who are dying
54:35walking to
54:36company officials
54:37saying help us
54:38you know
54:39you are now
54:39the rulers
54:40you need to do
54:41something
54:41you have responsibility
54:43for us
54:43and the british
54:43do very little
54:44nobody was ultimately
54:47brought to account
54:48for it
54:49but there was
54:49certainly a sense
54:50that the nature
54:52of east india company
54:53government
54:53at the time
54:54had exacerbated
54:56the famine
54:56that it had made
54:57things worse
54:58if it hadn't
54:59actually caused it
55:00the famine
55:06was a human
55:07tragedy
55:08and a financial
55:09disaster
55:10the bengal economy
55:12collapsed
55:12the company's
55:14income plummeted
55:15its share price
55:16crashed
55:16and all dividend
55:18payments were suspended
55:19the bubble was burst
55:21people wanted to know
55:23why
55:23how could this have
55:24happened
55:24parliament set up
55:25its own inquiry
55:26and a scapegoat
55:27was lined up
55:28robert clive
55:30britain's richest man
55:32he became seen
55:36as the leader
55:37of the nabobs
55:38and was nicknamed
55:39lord vulture
55:40denounced for enriching
55:43himself with indian loot
55:44clive was hauled
55:46before parliament
55:47he asked his accusers
55:49to remember the situation
55:51that he'd been in
55:51an opulent city
55:53had lain at his mercy
55:54he'd been shown
55:55through vaults
55:55full of treasure
55:56gold and precious
55:57stones on every side
55:58he finished by saying
56:00by god mr chairman
56:01i stand astonished
56:03at my own moderation
56:04well if clive was
56:06greedy or corrupt
56:08he certainly wasn't
56:09the only one
56:09in the house of commons
56:10he was acquitted
56:11in fact
56:12he was even thanked
56:13for services
56:14to his country
56:15but like a plot twist
56:18in a victorian melodrama
56:19his life ended in tragedy
56:21in november 1774
56:24clive was found dead
56:26at his london home
56:27he'd suffered depression
56:29for much of his life
56:30and he'd become
56:31an opium addict
56:32it's very likely
56:33that he committed suicide
56:35dr samuel johnson wrote
56:37that his crimes
56:38had driven him
56:38to slit his own throat
56:40it was a scandalous
56:42and pitiful end
56:43to a life of extraordinary
56:45if controversial achievement
56:47accused of corruption
56:50incompetence and greed
56:51the company's reputation
56:53was in tatters
56:54and there was worse to come
56:56the crisis that was affecting
56:58the company
56:59really came to a head
57:00in 1772
57:01where there was a failure
57:03of a major scottish bank
57:04the air bank
57:05which created a credit crunch
57:07about 30 other banks
57:08in fact failed
57:09and that led to a major shortage
57:11of money in the economy
57:12the company had to
57:13go repeatedly
57:14to the bank of england
57:15for loans
57:15to tide them over
57:16they were very indebted
57:17now starved of funds
57:20the world's greatest company
57:22had run out of cash
57:24there was only one possible way out
57:27massive government bailout
57:29for reasons that are
57:30spookily familiar
57:31it was decided
57:32that the east india company
57:34was too big to fail
57:35the british government
57:38rescued the company
57:39with public money
57:41today equivalent
57:41to 176 million pounds
57:44but its powers
57:47were progressively curtailed
57:48the india act of 1784
57:52transferred its executive management
57:54to an independent board of control
57:56answerable to parliament
57:58all kickbacks were banned
58:01the british state
58:04was now pulling the strings
58:05instead of chances like
58:08robert clive
58:09the british government
58:10would now send out
58:11its own more reliable people
58:13to run india
58:14the governor general
58:15here in calcutta
58:16would rule supreme
58:17given sweeping new powers
58:19in revenue
58:20diplomacy
58:21and war
58:22it was nothing less
58:23than the birth of empire
58:25and dan snow
58:35continues his journey
58:36next wednesday at nine
58:38more history on bbc 4
58:40tonight
58:40with the truth behind
58:41the legend of genghis khan
58:42at 11
58:43but next here on bbc 2
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