The EIC's Forgotten Financier: Indian Moneylenders

In this episode, Lucas and Luna uncover the hidden role of Indian moneylenders, or shroffs, in powering the East India Company's expansion. While Company histories focus on battles and governors, it was often local bankers who financed armies, collected taxes, and kept the wheels of commerce turning. We trace how shroffs like the Jagat Seth of Bengal bankrolled the Company's conquests, how their hundi credit system moved money across India without coins, and how the British eventually turned on their financiers after the Battle of Plassey. We also touch on the curious case of the Palanpur shroffs and the fate of the Jagat Seth family after the Company tightened its grip. Featuring terms like shroff, hundi, Jagat Seth, Mir Jafar, Siraj-ud-Daulah, and the Battle of Plassey, this episode sheds light on a forgotten pillar of empire. #EastIndiaCompany #IndianMoneylenders #Shroffs #JagatSeth #Hundi #BattleOfPlassey #MirJafar #SirajUdDaulah #Bengal #CompanyBahadur #18thCentury #EconomicHistory #ColonialIndia #BankingHistory #Trade #Empire #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo