The Empire of the Nabobs. A Short History of British India

ThisThe Empire of the 1'fabobs revolt agaiptist the towns took the form of a religious reaction a return to the simple tenets of primitive Judaism exactly as at a later period in Europe the struggle of the merchant class against the feudal aristocracy took toe form of Puritanism an alleged return to the simplicity of the Old Testament as apposed to the subtleties and corruption of the Roman Chu [...] Production was for use and not for the market: the peasant worked the land to maintain himself and his family as well as to maintain the feudal baron and his retainers: the craftsman fashioned the clothing the tools and the weapons necessary to the community in return for which he was prvided with food; and the baron with his army of retainers gave protection to the community from outside ag [...] The predatory conduct of the nobility the insecurity of the roads and the prevailing peasant unrest led the merchants to attack the feudal political system by advocating the principle of central government. [...] The growth of monopolies is a characteristic of social decay and the disintegration of feudal society led to the centralization of economic power in the Church The Church was not only by far the largest landowner owning for example a third of the land of England but it had also the largest share of inteeational trade as well as the monopoly through its Jews and Lombards of finance Further [...] Sharing the common exaggerated view of the size of Asia and believing that it was to be found on the other side of the Atlantic the Court of Spain fitted out an expedition under the command of a Genpese seaman Columbus who sailed across the Atlantic in the hope of reacing Japan but instead discovered the island of Hispaniola off the American coast.