The Bankruptcy of India: An Enquiry into the Administration of India under the Crown, including a Chapter on the Silver Question

The Bankruptcy Of India – is a work written by Henry Hyndman, British writer and socialist politician, and published 1886. The three chapters of this small book, respectively entitled The Condition of India, Controversy, and Bleeding to Death, appeared in newspaper form in the nineteenth century, between late 1878 and early 1880. The name "Bankruptcy of India" was proposed by the editor of this Review, Mr. James Knowles. In this book, these articles are reprinted almost as they were then. The author has not changed either the arguments or the numbers. Unfortunately for India, there have been no major reforms since then. With regard to the period that the author was talking about then, his statements remain completely unshakable. For this volume, an Introduction was written, a chapter entitled Continuing Neglect, and a chapter entitled The Silver Question. The author could only hope that whatever defects in matter or style were found in this small volume, it might have some effect in drawing public attention to the irreparable harm that must be done in India by the continuation of the British system of the time. Henry Hyndman was well aware that by pointing out apparent decline and desperate suffering, when writers of the highest official and literary level urged people to observe only improvement and prosperity, he risked being accused of arrogance and ignorance. But the author at least did his best to read everything they wrote, and nine-tenths of his arguments are taken from their own writings and reports. The author was firmly convinced that India was approaching a terrible economic catastrophe, in comparison with which the great Irish famine of 1847 seemed child's play. Moreover, the author believed that no unbiased person could read the official testimony summarized in this volume without coming to the same conclusion.