The Deadline of Destiny: How London's Budget Hour sealed India's fate (From the Archives)

Santosh Kumar Verma | January 11, 2026 10:13 PM

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) On April 4, 1811, in the House of Commons in London, the Chancellor of the Exchequer rose to perform a formality mandated by law. It was a routine step, yet the quiet words he spoke sent a shiver through the East India Company (EIC) directors and heralded a massive storm of financial, commercial, and political upheaval that had profound and devastating consequences for the millions of people in India.