Two-thirds of the Company servants who came out never made it back

Friday, March 24th, 2023

Serving with the East India Company was extremely dangerous, William Dalrymple explains (in The Anarchy):

Death, from disease or excess, was a commonplace, and two-thirds of the Company servants who came out never made it back — fewer still in the Company’s army, where 25 per cent of European soldiers died each year.

Comments

  1. Ezra says:

    Malaria in particular? Half of all humans that have ever lived [about 100 billion] have either died from malaria or from malaria complications.

  2. Jim says:

    That’s an excellent point, Ezra. Fortunately, we can completely solve the malaria problem by repopulating Africa with Swedes. This plan, properly executed, will be very much like the triumphant return of the horse to the Great Plains of North America.

  3. Jim says:

    “One Billion Swedes.”

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