Category: EMPIRE

EP055 INDIA SERIES 02 THE ORIGINAL CORPORATE RAIDERS

In today’s episode, I’m taking you on a journey back in time to explore the Honourable East India Company (EIC), focusing on its monumental role during the Victorian era. We’ll dive deep into its interactions with the Mughal Empire, its profound influence on art, the Maratha Wars, and the governance under Governor Hastings. Join me as we uncover the legacy of what was once the world’s most powerful corporation and its foundational impact on the British Empire in India.

Introduction

  • I start with a brief overview of the EIC’s origins and its meteoric rise to power, setting the stage for a saga of commerce, conquest, and culture.
  • I reflect on the company’s unique status as a corporate behemoth wielding the might of a sovereign nation.

The Victorian Era and the EIC

  • I delve into how the EIC evolved during the Victorian era, influencing and being influenced by British colonial policies in India.
  • I share thoughts on Victorian society’s fascination with India, from tea to textiles, and how this shaped British culture and perceptions.

Art and the East India Company

  • Art holds a mirror to history, and in this segment, I explore the EIC’s impact on art in Britain and India.
  • I discuss the patronage of Indian artisans by the company and the introduction of Indian aesthetics to the British isles.
  • Highlighting notable artists and works, I reveal stories of cultural fusion that still resonate today.

The EIC and the Mughal Empire

  • The declining Mughal Empire presented both an opportunity and a challenge for the EIC. I recount how the company navigated this complex relationship to expand its territories.
  • Key battles and treaties illustrate the delicate dance of diplomacy and warfare.

The Maratha Wars

  • The Maratha Wars were a turning point for the EIC. I share insights into the military engagements that reshaped the Indian subcontinent’s power dynamics.
  • The outcomes and strategies of these conflicts offer lessons in resilience and strategy.

Governor Hastings

  • Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India, is a figure of controversy and reform. I take a closer look at his tenure, exploring his reforms, the controversies he was embroiled in, and his contributions to the EIC’s dominion in India.
  • Reflecting on Hastings’ legacy, I ponder the complexities of governance and morality in the context of empire.

Conclusion

  • I wrap up by considering the enduring impact of the EIC on both India and Britain, contemplating the historical lessons we can draw from this extraordinary chapter in global history.

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE or you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP054 INDIA SERIES 01 THE BASICS

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Join me as I embark on a captivating journey through India’s vibrant history and cultural intricacies during the Victorian era. Join me as I start uncover the complexities of the Victorian’s in India.

Delve into some fascinating transformations of place names that shaped India’s identity during this era. Explore the reasons behind these changes and their enduring impact on the country’s cultural fabric.

I provide a succinct yet comprehensive overview of India’s history up to the Victorian era from cave paintings to the first great civilisation.

Explore the simmering tensions between Hindu nationalism and the Muslim population, dissecting the socio-political nuances that left an indelible mark on Victorian-era India and continue to resonate today.

Immerse yourself in the diverse geographical landscapes that define India, from the majestic Himalayas to the tropical coastlines. Explore how India’s geography intertwined with its history and Victorian experience

Finally discover an intriguing array of potential topics that will be further explored in upcoming episodes. From the East India Company’s influence to social reforms, industrialization, and cultural exchange, oh and of course sex and cricket.

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps.

To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE or you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. 

EP041 ROOTS OF BLOOD

With the hardships of the voyage across the ocean over, the settlers had to build a life in South Africa. An unsettled land, with slavery, war, opportunity, growth and social conflict, early colonial South Africa was no paradise for the rich and idle of Britain. For the lucky and hard working, their were opportunities and fortunes, but for most their was only dust, sweat and blood.

This episode covers

  • Intro & reviews.

  • A new land.

  • Opportunities for all

  • Order & the social hierarchy; know your place.

  • The 80:20 rule

  • Missionaries & evangelism

  • Slavery & Empire

  • Xhosa & settler relations

  • Language evolves

  • Growth and danger

  • Rise of the Zulu

  • The great Boer Trek

  • A profitable war

 

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com.

The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria Podcast. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP040 ACROSS THE SEAS

An empire lives on the backs of people; its own or those it conquers. For the British, South Africa needed colonists to clear the forests, build the farms, and man the armies. But getting them from Britain to South Africa was no easy task. Learn about the hard start to a colonists voyage from the frozen Thames to the heat of the tropics to the far south, and for the unlucky, the horrors of being lost at sea.

This episode covers

Intro & reviews.

An insatiable need for manpower.

The horror of slavery in early South Africa.

The 1820 settlement scheme organisation and planning

The colonists; almost honest and upstanding.

The ships; HMS Weymouth.

What was the voyage like.

The horror of the Abeona.

Life aboard, and the people.

A glympse of the future.

Patreons special promo.

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP039 BLOOD ON THE LAND

The story of the British Empire in South Africa continues. The first battles were being won, but the cost was blood on the soil, spilt by the British and shed by the native peoples as well as the soldiers in red. This episode covers

Intro & reviews.

Col Graham and the imperial mindset.

Warfare is a continuation of culture by other means.

The clash between British and Xhosa mindsets.

The problems perspectives on history can cause.

War, brutality, and the British establishment.

The New Men: Lord Somerset & Dr Barry.

What Florence Nightingale thought of the Doctor.

Well that is a mystery.

Lord Somerset has a plan.

Come settle me boyo’s, there’s land for all.

A new utopia.

History of Africa Podcast promo.

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP038 A TOEHOLD IN AFRICA

The British Empire was vast, but it didn’t spring up over night. South Africa was a vital imperial staging post, then a fledgling colony. The story of how it got to be is intimately linked to the land and the people. Start the next series on empire, this episode covers

Intro and reviews

Why South Africa?

Mythbusting: Africa, a continent of cities and kingdoms.

The many African migrations throughout History.

South Africa: The land – beauty and danger.

Islands and ship wrecks.

The Dutch arrive, and the Napoleonic Wars.

Ours by right of conquest – the British take the Cape from the Dutch.

The Dutch Boer migrations begin.

The Xhosa & War.

The British decide to remove the Xhosa from the neutral zone.

Col Graham and the first British Imperial War in South Africa.

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP037 INSIDE THE GATES OF HELL

Prison is never nice, but the Victorian prison of Port Arthur in Van Diemen’s Land combined starvation, deprivation, desperation, and isolation. It was considered a hell on Earth. This episode covers:

  • Intro & reviews.
  • Guest podcast promo’s
  • A vision of a better future.
  • Reality check – isolation and mental health
  • Narrowly avoiding prison
  • The problems of institutionalisation
  • Post release problems
  • A modern inmate speaks out.
  • Convict labour, exploitation capitalism, big companies, echos of slavery.
  • The convict melting pot
  • A dispossible labour force.
  • Convicts and convict ancestors – image and identity in Australia.
  • The unfortunate Hannah Herbert, an epitaph

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. If you want to support the show on patreon, or you can go to Patreon and search for age of victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP035 THE UNFORTUNATE HANNAH HERBERT

How does it feel to be cast out? To lose everything you’ve ever known and be sent to the ends of the world? Want to understand what being a convict transported to Tasmania feels like? This show is for you. It covers;

– Intro & reviews.
– Introducing Hannah to the Court.
– How did it feel to be a convict?
– Her voyage.
– Another convict – Linus Wilson Miller.
– His feelings & has journey.
– The legal problems caused by convicts
– An uneasy melting pot.

 

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.

You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. Or reach me on the Facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria.

Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee.

If you want to support the show on patreon, click here, or you can go to Patreon and search for age of victoria podcast or my name. 

EP034 HOW TO BUILD HELL

The journey into Empire continues as we look at Tasmania, known as Van Diemen’s Land. Here the European settlers, the indigenous people, the convict system, the bush rangers, the lure of food, the battle for land, resulted in war, conquest and genocide. The birth pang of a new world was one of agony, yet the future of a unique culture and the amazing beauty of the island were in stark contrast to the declared British ambition of making it the ultimate penal hell. Join me for the complex and painful settlement of Tasmania, and its incorporation into the Empire.

  • This episode covers

  • Guest promo and thank you’s.

  • The brief history of Tasmania and the amazing geograph and ecosystem.

  • Settlement and strategic necessity – keeping the French out.

  • First contact goes wrong – the Risdon Cove Massacre.

  • Mad Tom loves a drink.

  • Governor Sorrell vs the outlaws.

  • The sad death of the Tasmanian Whisky Industry – murdered in 1839

  • The Black War begins – the stage is set for genocide.

  • Tools of the trade – muskets & raiding.

  • A terrible place for a soldier – why colonial Van Diemen’s Land was feared.

  • What was left after? A land of possibilities.

  • The forgotten – listening to the descendants.

Thanks for your listening. I hope you enjoy. If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes, it takes less time than making a coffee. If you want to support the show on patreon, just click here, or you can go to Patreon and search for age of victoria podcast or my name.

EP033 (PT2) WHO OWNS THE LAND?

The journey into Empire continues as we look more closely at the Australia’s, and the difficult issues of landownership, native rights, and how land can tie to identity. I also cover the culture clash between the Europeans and the Indigenous Peoples. This is part 2, which covers more of the background of Empire in the Australia’s, the First & Second Fleets, the impact of liberalism and the difference in world views between the Europeans and the Indigenous Peoples, the lure of food, the battle for land, the place of science and the timeline leading to the early Victorian Era in the Australia’s. If you haven’t listened to pt1 yet, I suggest you do that before listening to this.

Thanks for your listening. I hope you enjoy. If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes, it takes less time than making a coffee. If you want to support the show on patreon, just click here, or you can go to Patreon and search for age of victoria podcast or my name.

EP033 (PT1) WHO OWNS THE LAND?

The journey into Empire continues as we look more closely at the Australia’s, and the difficult issues of landownership, native rights, and how land can tie to identity. I also cover the culture clash between the Europeans and the indigenous aborigines. This episode then breaks and in part 2, it will cover more of the background of Empire in the Australia’s, the impact of liberalism and the difference in world views between the Europeans and the Aborigines, and the timeline leading to the early Victorian Era in the Australia’s.

This part covers

  • Thank you’s to Patrons, and listener reviews.

  • Elaboration on listener feedback/comments.

  • The complexity of ethnic identity in the UK.

  • The idea of conquest as a legitimate means of ownership

  • Indigenous rights as a concept

  • The culture clash between Europeans and the Aborigines at a high level

  • Terra Nulis and settlement.

  • To whom the law applies

  • The first steps to human rights

  • Break for end of part 1.

Thanks for your listening. I hope you enjoy. If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes, it takes less time than making a coffee. If you want to support the show on patreon, just click here, or you can go to Patreon and search for age of victoria podcast or my name.

EP032 PHILOSOPHY OF EMPIRE – THE VALUE OF LIFE?

To understand the past, sometimes we need to examine our values and subject them to philosophical analysis. The British Empire was a complex, varied entity that stretched across the world and changed over the centuries. How do we understand the mindset of those people in the C19th who created it, or lived in it? This episode is designed to get you thinking and analysing big questions and unpleasant moral problems. Ultimately the answers will be down to your judgements. Be warned some material is upsetting and contains references to genocide, racism, slavery, the holocaust, abortion and critiques of religion. I hope you find it stimulating.

Topics
  • Thank you’s to Patrons, and some listener reviews.

  • The complexity of Empire, and the settler empire.

  • How common were empires?

  • Are people innately warlike and violent?

  • Is life important; the need for philosophy.

  • Is life important; what would God do, and does that make it ok?

  • Is life important; building a moral framework for atheists.

  • The worst pub bore ever – drunken philosophy.

  • The economic value of life.

  • If your people are starving, is it immoral not to invade another country?

  • The right to liberty and freedom to do what you want except when you can’t.

  • Heuristics, mental shortcuts, and cognitive biases; how bad decision making affects empires.

  • The power and danger of othering.

  • Look him in the eyes as he dies.

  • Gengis Khan, and how to turn genocides into hero worship.

  • The dangers of anarchy, law and order.

  • Some impacts of Empires; feeding the hungry, and killing other people.

  • Final thoughts.

Thanks for your listening. I hope you enjoy. If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes, it takes less time than making a coffee. If you want to support the show on patreon, just click here, or you can go to Patreon and search for age of victoria podcast or my name.