E-Books →Adam Smith and the East India Company

Situating Smith within broader eighteenth-century debates on trade, colonial policy, and the moral legitimacy of empire, this study reinterprets his position on the East India Company's monopoly, the integration of Indo-European commerce, and the consequences of territorial acquisition in India. Challenging prevailing historiographical interpretations, it offers a new reading of Smith's views on the transfer of Indian territories to the British Crown. Although Smith neither visited India nor engaged directly in colonial administration or trade, his sustained interest in Indian affairs profoundly shaped his thinking on governance, commerce, and imperial reform. The book highlights Smith's recognition of India's wealth, his awareness of the strategic importance of the East Indies trade, and his call for institutional reforms to reconcile the East India Company's interests with Britain's evolving imperial responsibilities. In doing so, it dispels the assumption that Smith's theories were detached from the economic and political realities of empire and instead positions him as a key figure in the intellectual history of imperial thought. Bridging the fields of economic thought, imperial history, and Indian historiography, this book offers a fresh perspective on Smith's enduring relevance.
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