Ram Mohan Roy and the Bengal Renaissance
Scholar of Persian, Sanskrit and English, enemy of sati and censorship, founder of the Brahmo Samaj, Ram Mohan Roy began the reconquest of the Indian mind.
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How the British Taxed the Land: Zamindari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari
Zamindari, ryotwari and mahalwari were three philosophies of rule imposed on the Indian village, and their consequences outlived the empire that designed them.
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1818: The Year the Company Became India’s Master
With the Peshwa's surrender in 1818 the Company stood without rival from the Sutlej to the sea. The age of conquest was over and the age of consequences began.
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The Anglo Maratha Wars: The Fall of the Last Indian Rivals
Three wars over forty three years decided whether Marathas or the Company would inherit the Mughal world. Assaye and 1818 gave the answer for a century.
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Wellesley and the Subsidiary Alliance: Empire by Contract
Wellesley's subsidiary alliance made Indian states pay for the armies that subjected them, an empire acquired by contract, prince by prince and clause by clause.
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Tipu Sultan and the Fall of Srirangapatna
Modernizer, hard master and unyielding enemy of the Company, Tipu Sultan chose the breach at Srirangapatna in 1799 and died the tiger of his own maxim.
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Haidar Ali: The Soldier Who Made the Company Tremble
Haidar Ali built Mysore into a military state that dictated peace at the gates of Madras and destroyed a British army at Pollilur. His weapon was time, and it ran out.
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The Trial of Warren Hastings: An Empire in the Dock
For seven years Burke arraigned Warren Hastings before the Lords in the name of the people of India. The man was acquitted. The doctrine of accountability stuck.
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Pitt’s India Act 1784: The Empire Gets Two Masters
Pitt's India Act of 1784 gave the empire two masters, a Board of Control above the Company, and solemnly renounced the conquests it would spend decades making.
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The Regulating Act of 1773 and the Age of Warren Hastings
Bankruptcy brought the state into India in 1773, and Warren Hastings built the skeleton of British administration amid council wars, trials and duels.
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