British ascendancy in the world was preceded by over two centuries of colonial intervention in Asia during the course of which the strength and independence of sovereign nations and polities in the region were undermined-their economies subjugated, their military strength weakened, and their societies penetrated. In The Colonial Subjugation of India, eminent historian Amar Farooqui tells the story of the formation of the British empire in India and presents a minutely detailed narrative of the violence inflicted on the people of this part of the world to conquer it and the instruments of coercion that were put in place to rule over it. Beginning with the arrival of Portuguese, Dutch, French, and, finally, British mercantile ships in the Indian Ocean throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this book charts the course of Britain's rise as the dominant colonial power in the Indian subcontinent.