The Stolen Wealth of India During British Rule
Though it is a bitter history of India, we Indians overcame that.
Everyone knows the history of India. But not all knows how much wealth
it gave to this world. I don�t mean the literature and culture it taught
to this world. I mean the real wealth, the money, the gold and diamonds
stolen, looted by the British rulers, when they ruled India for nearly
200 years.
During the mid of 1770�s, the western countries, especially Britain had
Industrial revolution and it was completely financed by the money
looted from India. Even William Digby and British historian agreed that
without the �Venture Capital� which was looted from Bengal, the
Industrial Revolution might not have happened. In 1957, the Battle of
Plessey happened among the Nawab of Bengal and British rulers. But
Robert Clive defeated the effort of evicting the British rule. During
this battle, Bengal got looted completely.
The looted money and wealth were then showered in the industrial
revolution, which helped in the inventions like �The spinning Jenny� in
the year 1764, �The water Frame�, a machine to spin cotton threads in
the year 1769, �The Steam Engine� in the year 1785 and a lot more.
Apart from financing the British people to develop their inventions and
economy, the wealth of India also helped Americans also to grow
economically. During 19th century, USA levied heavy and stiff tariffs on
any goods that are imported from Britain. Since Britain didn�t have any
problem for wealth and money, as it was flowing from India, which they
absorbed completely. So they didn�t care about the high taxes. So, the
prosperity of India was shared with America also by the British rulers.
One more Englishman mentioned in his note about India, �Even after
sucking the entire wealth of India, our government is still giving more
sufferings to the people of India by forcing them to by their products
like dresses which they wove by the inventions sponsored by Indian
money. How people of hot country can wear a dress woven for a cold
country like England?� and so on�
Anglophiles� note of apology says �British colonial rule in India was
the organized banditry that financed England�s Industrial Revolution�.
The British rulers even took over the technology of India, along with
money. Will Durant, an American Historian mentioned in his note �India
was flourishing in Ship building besides the expertise of making steel
and textiles. But all got ruined when British took over those
technologies�
Only few knows that the birth place of the world famous Kohinoor
diamond (which means Mountain of Light), which is currently a part of
the Royal British Crown Jewels, is India. This 105 carat diamond was the
largest one at that time and it was kept by various Mughal Emperors.
But it was later looted by the East Indian Company, which was then
gifted to Queen Victoria when she was declared as �Empress of India� in
the year 1877.
Roughly it has been estimated as one trillion dollar money that was
looted by the British rulers in that 200 years ruling, apart from some
other wealth like gold, diamonds and raw materials which got
transported. India remains as a �Developing Country�.
Note: As I said earlier, though this is a bitter history, we Indians
over came that and currently don�t have any hatred towards people of
Britain. So, this is just a piece of old prosperous India�s story, I
felt sharing.