The Prince Who Beat the Empire - by Moin Mir (Paperback)

About the Book

New paperback edition - An acclaimed story of empire and resistance. The rebel prince who beat the world's most powerful corporation. 'A wonderful book' Dominic West.

Book Synopsis

An acclaimed history of empire and resistance: this is the moving story of the rebel prince who beat the world's most powerful corporation. The ships of the East India Company first docked at India's shores in Surat in the early 17th century. In time, through astute politics and military power, the Company became masters of this great port. But the Company came not with the intention of building Indian maritime trade, but with the single-minded goal of destroying its trading prowess. By 1800 the port was completely annexed, through a Treaty that gave protection to future generations of the local Nawab rulers. But, as elsewhere in India, the Company violated its promises. It stopped the family's income, usurping its palaces, estates, jewellery and possessions. This left the infant granddaughters of the last Nawab on the brink of destitution. But in an unprecedented counter-attack, the father of the two girls stood to defy the Empire and expose its corruption overseas to the British at home. Travelling to London, he would shatter the Company's reputation. His campaign for justice would call for the end of British rule in Hindustan. Not only did the prince win back the family's possessions for his daughters but found true love in Victorian England.

Review Quotes

'A gripping untold history which Moin Mir has written with great knowledge and flair. Meer Jafar Ali Khan achieved what no other Indian prince was able to: the political defeat of the East India Company in the House of Commons. The British political establishment, convinced by his passionate fight for justice, rose for the first time in favour of an Indian and against their own empire. This is a stirring historical book.'--JESSICA DOUGLAS-HOME, Author of A Glimpse of Empire

'A moving story, and a deeply sympathetic hero: courageous, gentle and magnificently stylish, who took on and defeated a monolithic tyrant and also found love in Victorian England. This is a wonderful book.'--DOMINIC WEST, Actor in The Affair, 300, The Wire

'Moin Mir weaves a fascinating tale of triumph and fortitude, reanimating in delightful prose a forgotten chapter from our colonial past. Painstakingly crafted and richly researched, this is the remarkable story of a quest for justice against the might of empire, and of the travails of an Indian prince who stood up for that which was his by right.--Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire