preview

Britain made India poor

Back in the 17th century, India was a treasure chest, with a GDP around ten times bigger than Britain's, and a buoyant manufacturing sector. Then came the East India Company, Robert Clive's military triumphs and almost a hundred years as the "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Raj.

By the time Gandhi and Nehru finally achieved Independence in 1947, much of India had been ravaged by famine and reduced to penury, and many amongst India's English-speaking elite had been bludgeoned into believing in the superiority of Western values.

Those who defend the legacy of Empire claim that it provided India with education, infrastructure and an end to years of murderous banditry and Muslim tyranny. Do they have a case? And who's to blame for the humanitarian disaster and enduring disputes which were caused by Partition?