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Corruption, Empire and State-Building: An Entangled History of the British and French “Imperial Nation States” and Hyderabad, c.1760–1800

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Corruption, Empire and Colonialism in the Modern Era

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Abstract

In February 1788, the set was staged for the impeachment against Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of the British East India Company. This chapter aims to explain why, disregarding a long-standing argument against “old corruption” in domestic administration and politics, a case of colonial corruption became the most spectacular public scandal in this crucial period of transition from pre-modern to modern times. For a true understanding of the Empire’s return home in scandal’s guise, a multi-perspective approach of the customary separated fields of national and imperial history as well as area studies is necessary. The author therefore provides an entangled history of the British and French “Imperial Nation States” and the South Indian “Princely State” Hyderabad.

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Bührer, T. (2021). Corruption, Empire and State-Building: An Entangled History of the British and French “Imperial Nation States” and Hyderabad, c.1760–1800. In: Kroeze, R., Dalmau, P., Monier, F. (eds) Corruption, Empire and Colonialism in the Modern Era. Palgrave Studies in Comparative Global History. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0255-9_3

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