On Humans19 Jul 2025

Climate, Water, and the Origins of Colonialism ~ Tirthankar Roy

Before they built empires, the Europeans built ports.

Across Africa and Asia, European sailors arrived as merchants. They traded and negotiated. They defended their interests—sometimes with cannon fire. But they were not trying to govern a foreign land.

Yet things changed.

Why?

Historian Tirthankar Roy has a bold new answer.

Roy is a professor at the London School of Economics, where he teaches a renowned course on the economic history of colonialism.

His most recent book isThe Origins of Colonialism. And in it, Roy explains that we cannot understand the origins of European Empires in Asia and Africa by simply zooming into the actions of Europeans. We must understand what happened to the elites of the lands being conquered. And more often than not, that had to do with the rains, rivers, and access to water.

In this episode, Roy explains how his theory sheds light on the rise of the British Empire in India. Along the way, we also sketch many broader ideas about the story of global colonialism, from Chinese ports to the conquest of Burma and from the water problems of Mumbai to the rubber plantations of Congo.

Enjoy!

This is part two of this summer’s mini-series on the way climate has shaped the human story. Curious to hear more? Head to last week’s episode on how an ancient climate change paved the way for the very origins of humanity!

Thoughts about Roy’s points? Or mine? Voice them at OnHumans.Substack.com! (Episode page uploaded within an hour of the episode drop.)

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Check out also the two-part "What About India?" series from this February!

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