The Price of Empire: Britain's $45 Trillion Heist and the Case for Reparations

In the early morning hours of 19th October,2025, an incident took place as if right out of Now You See Me 2 or Ocean’s 8, “priceless jewels” were stolen from the Louvre in Paris, France, causing a massive outrage and national trauma, mobilising millions to recover what had been stolen. However, there is quite an asymmetry in the worldwide reaction to theft. The stolen jewels from the 19th century were described by international media as a barbaric assault on the European heritage, but what about the daily assaults carried out throughout the mid 18th,19th and 20th centuries?

It is the most potent declaration of the original, fundamental theft that a modern British museum's choice to restore just seven precious goods is considered a 'breakthrough. ' The moral calculus is still fundamentally flawed: the modern thief is viewed as a criminal, but the colonial government, which presided over the looting of $45 trillion and the desecration of sacred places, is nevertheless seen as a kind protector of the loot.  

The Plunder Architect 

The British presence in India was built upon its plunder, which was carried out initially by the East India Company (EIC), the supreme corporate organisation, rather than by the Crown. This privately held firm, which was owned by London shareholders, moved beyond its beginnings as a simple trading business for tea, cotton, silk, and spices. It developed into a quasi-governmental war apparatus with the ability to declare war, enforce laws in another country, and command a large private army. According to historian William Dalrymple, this was a business that could overthrow monarchs. The EIC developed into a predatory organisation that answered solely to its stockholders. This shift has left an indelible linguistic legacy. 

Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the EIC's rapacity in Bengal led to the widespread use of the Hindustani word for plunder, loot, in the English language. The moral decline is summed up beautifully by Dr Shashi Tharoor, who says, “As far as the loot is concerned, by the way, it’s an Indian word that the British took into their dictionaries as well as their habits.” In 1765, this private business was granted the unheard-of power to tax a sovereign population in Bengal in order to further its own commercial interests by acquiring the Diwani, or the right to collect tax revenue. This marked the beginning of a process of extraction that persisted unabated from 1753 to 1924.  

Economic Vandalism 

Compared to prior examples of foreign domination, the economic magnitude of the British endeavour was unprecedented. Between 1765 and 1938, according to economists, especially Utsa Patnaik, Britain stole about $45 trillion (in today's currency) from India. When compared to the current annual GDP of the United Kingdom, this massive amount is about seventeen times greater. The drain of wealth was a complex, self-sustaining scam, not a straightforward tax. The system worked by using the infamous tax-and-buy fraud as well as the Home Charges mechanism. British administrators would collect taxes in rupees from Indian people and then use that same tax money to buy Indian products like cotton, silk, rice, and raw materials for export to Britain. 

As a result, Indian manufacturers were never actually compensated for their exports; rather, their labour and goods were effectively bought using their own tax money, which was obtained under duress. The economic ruin in India was made plain by its global position. When the British arrived, India's share of the global economy was around 23%, but by the time the British left, that share had fallen to less than 4%. India's once-world-leading textile and shipbuilding industries were decimated when the British simultaneously imposed high tariffs on finished Indian goods and inundated the Indian market with tax-free British products. In addition to supporting the British Industrial Revolution, this brought the subcontinent under control and made it a source of inexpensive raw materials. The British amassed enormous wealth by establishing empires of soil and causing the outright moral, economic, and physical ruin of their Indian subjects.  

The Human Cost 

The most condemning proof against the imperial agenda is its intentional disregard for human life, which led to man-made starvation. This moral atrocity is brought to life by the Bengal Famine of 1943. According to scientific research, the catastrophe was not caused by drought, but by a severe and intentional policy error. Historians estimate that between one and three million people died from starvation and disease. The government's refusal to stop grain exports or seek relief supplies, the British refusal policy of seizing rice and boats, and wartime inflation caused a man-made catastrophe. The wartime cabinet of Prime Minister Winston Churchill intentionally disregarded pressing demands for food deliveries, and Churchill's personal disdain for the Indian people only served to reinforce the cold logic behind the deaths. 

Churchill was famous for downplaying the gravity of the situation, claiming, “famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits.” And, when confronted with the misery, reportedly asked, “Why hasn’t Gandhi died yet? “ As a horrifying, documented instance of the widespread massacre of the morals ingrained in the colonial administration, the policy of prioritising military and European stockpiles over the sustenance of millions of Indians is a blatant example. 
 
The Cultural Desecration 

The robbery was an intentional attack on India's cultural and spiritual independence, not just a monetary crime. Stealing artefacts that were not museum pieces but rather living representations of cultural and spiritual continuity was part of the act of plundering culture. This included priceless jewellery and symbols of conquest, such as the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which was seized from the young Maharaja Duleep Singh, as well as massive quantities of gold and other valuable stones taken from royal treasures. Since the Temple Deities and Sacred Art, such as Chola bronze statues and sculptures from sites like the Great Stupa of Amaravati, were live deities whose removal destroyed communal spiritual ties, it is seen as an act of cultural and religious desecration. 

Additionally, the complete handover of authority was represented by the capture of the entire treasury and royal regalia of Tipu Sultan as prize money following the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799, which were considered Artefacts of Sovereignty. In addition to physical items, intellectual property and traditional knowledge in fields such as metallurgy and medicine were taken from India and used for the benefit of Western schools without any attribution or payment.  
  
The battle for reparations is a plea for a fundamental shift in morality, not a political compromise. Voluntary repatriations made by organisations such as Glasgow are modest and few, and they should be viewed as implied confessions of theft rather than acts of charity. They acknowledge the illegitimacy of their original acquisition by voluntarily returning a few stolen artefacts. The enormous crime that is still unaddressed is simply brought into greater focus by this little act. The absolute least that is necessary in order to recognise the severity of the historical harm and the enormous, irreparable harm that was caused is restitution. They should be thorough and include an unqualified formal apology from the British government, the complete and thorough return of all important cultural and spiritual items, including the Koh-i-Noor, and a sizable financial contribution from the UK to a joint UK-India development or educational fund to mitigate the lasting and severe consequences of colonial impoverishment. 

The concept is what counts, as Dr Tharoor put it: We must recognise the moral debt and address the economic crime. The colonial state, which was the historical thief, must ultimately be held accountable, while the modern thief is pursued and punished. The absolute minimum necessary to settle the accounts of the biggest and longest-running heist in history is reparations, not a gift.