Andrew, while you're on your reading binge (!), if you haven't yet read it, check out Late Victorian Holocausts, by Mike Davis, which nicely details how the Brits were able to turn India into a 3rd world country. It's a few years old now, but worth its salt on any HTWW bookshelf.

At London's Victoria & Albert museum of applied art, in the India section there's a cabinet made in Mysore at the time of the war--it has a musical instrument inside--in the form of a statue showing a symbolic tiger pouncing on a British soldier!

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/object_stories/Tippoo's_tiger/index.html

I'm very dubious about the GDP figures from 400 years ago. It's got to all be made up of agriculture, unlike the GDP of today as we think of it. I'd like to see a few real economists weigh in on that subject. Also, GDP per capita would be a very important indicator.

I am even more concerned about the undertone of Leonard's article and those of the commentors. They seem glad to be watching the demise of democracy and the rise of tyranny. Moreover, the rise of East, characterized as "Traditional" by Dalrymple, is hardly an argument in favor of it. Slavery is just as "Traditional". If Dalrymple favors a demise of the West, why should Leonard, or I?

Technical note: Do not confuse this William Dalrymple, a historian, with the conservative psychiatrist and writer Theodore Dalrymple.

The article comparing the regime change in Iraq in our times to that of Tippu Sultan is not apt since it lacks key details as to why Tippu was disposed. The traditional rulers of Mysore since the 15th century were Wodeyars. Tippu father, Hyder Ali, was initially employed as a farm hand by one of the nobles of Mysore. Hyder Ali, due to his inherent skills, rose to gain confidence of the ruler and eventually was nominated as the commander in chief of the Mysore Army.

As one would expect, there was a succession crises in the house of the wodeyars. Hyder Ali, then seized oppurtunity the vaccum created and usurped the throne of Mysore. Many marxist historians claim that Hyder Ali was a chosen successor to the Maharaja. This claim does not stand the test of truth because succession during those times were only within the family and it is obvious that Hyder Ali was an usurper since he appointed a lot of Muslims from Persia and elsewhere as his key staff, bypassing the native hindu elites employed by the kingdom of Mysore.

After loss of their kingdom, the hindu wodeyars entred into a treaty with the British requesting the latter to defeat and expell Tippu Sultan. The British succeeded and we in Mysore inherited a very enlightened monarch who introduced for the first time hydroelectricity in Asia, telephones, modern steel, aernautics, all with the blessings of the British.

Little wonder Bangalore is more attuned to San Francisco these days instead of Riyadh.

Regards,

Malolan Cadambi,

Bangalore.

we're talking about the period of 1600-1870. look at what the UK produced in those years! shakespeare, austen, blake, dickens; modern democracy; ending of slavery for the first time; newton,darwin,maxwell; coal,steam,steel. now what *would* have another oppressive autcratic moslem state have produced in the same time period. (no, you can't *actually* go back and change things, but the best guess, since it was before, and remained after, is... stagnancy).

Andrew:

If you're on an India kick, check out Suketu Mehta's excellent non-fiction Maximum City which is about modern day Bombay. It is one of the best books I've read over the past 12 months.

It also prompted me to read Shantaram, autobiographical fiction about India - highly recommended - as well as Sacred Games, straightforward fiction about Bombay that was reviewed here at Salon.

Brain candy!

Samlor: and for more eye candy, The Ground Beneath Her Feet. But the movie - to star Rushdie's gorgeous wife - has been stalled. Why ... ?

To have aided the British in securing Arabia against the Turks at the time of WW I is not something I could view as positive enough to override a previous relagation to third world status, especially as T.E. Lawrence himself later - but by the time of his unexpected death - found the result to be dispicable.

But the Russians are gonna save your a#$ since we won't.

Andrew, Andrew, Andrew - Mital lives in London and has devoured Pennsylvania, northwestern N.Y., West Virginia, eastern Ohio, among the other places where resources are getting sequestered. You'd potentially find a lot more of honest value about MITAL on the internet (open source) instead of a book (paid source).

Andrew - did you study modern languages at UofF ?

On the "decided" human-caused Global Warming / Climate Change consensus :

http://www.oism.org/pproject/

letter of Past President, National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A

http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p357.htm

... and another 17,000 U.S. scientists (66% with advanced degrees). Given the project's provenance, it's a good bet many signatories are registered as Democrats, as much as it may pain them to see their otherwise favored, purported liberal media, asleep (Salon) at the wheel.

The consensus which matters, as objective, is that there is NOT a human-caused Global Warming / Climate Change crisis ............

I'm happy you have discovered him, I hope you enjoy his work as much as I have. I highly recommend 'In Xanadu' as a perfect summer vacation read, or just to inspire wanderlust.

His more recent books are densely packed with primary source material. But his writing style just pulls you along like you are reading a fantastic novel.

There are also some earlier Iraq-focused essays of his that are well worth a read, a few of them are in the guardianunlimited archives.

Enjoy!

Little wonder Bangalore is more attuned to San Francisco these days instead of Riyadh.

Is Bangalore where those demolition thingies--Bangalore Torpedoes--originated?

As a Bay Area native I'm as pleased as punch that Bangalore people prefer San Francisco to Riyadh--though of course the snarky thought goes through my mind "who the hell wouldn't".

Just one more dumb question. Since India's now the Workshop Of The World, could you throw a few jobs our way? Pleeeez?

Jest askin'...