Andrea Major: The East India Company changed the way we dress ... the people who had close daily contact with the Indian soldiers were the refuse. Were the worst of the lot and they didn ...

Under Clive, the East India Company built up its private army to 260,000 soldiers, double the size of the British Army, and became ‘too big to fail’. Again, the modern parallels are ominous.

By 1857, the sepoys in the East India Company’s army began a rebellion after a rumour spread about a new rifle they would be receiving. To load the rifle soldiers believed they would have to ...