The Nitrate That Shaped the World: A Global History of Indian Saltpetre (1700-1850)

Abstract

The central focus of research of this project is saltpetre, the main ingredient for making gunpowder or black powder. Gunpowder played an essential role in shaping the early modern and modern world both politically and economically. It was impossible to produce gunpowder without saltpetre; thus, the importance of saltpetre was paramount during the early modern and later periods. During this period, the primary source of saltpetre was in Bihar (India). Europe never had enough saltpetre deposits to serve the needs of all competing European nations during this period of great imperial competition (1600-1800). Following the need of the European empires, Indian saltpetre became one of the most strategically valuable trading commodities. The demand for gunpowder, a key commodity in global trade including the African and American trades, surged after the 1700s. Concomitantly, the increase also boosted the demand for saltpetre. This project argues that following this great global demand for saltpetre, Indian saltpetre entered the global commodity market and forged a quad-continental trading network encompassing Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The great global demand for saltpetre, its global scarcity, and its availability in India turned Indian saltpetre into a commodity of great historical significance. This project investigates how Indian saltpetre influenced the political and economic activities of the European companies working in India and Indian political and economic authority. This project will show that the immense Indian saltpetre supply and its management enabled England and Europe to produce a huge quantity of gunpowder for trade and war. The gunpowder produced from Indian saltpetre influenced the scale of the African slave trade and helped in the development of the British slave trade centers such as Liverpool and Bristol. This project will further examine how the Indian saltpetre supply influenced the American fur trade, land grab, and American civil war. The main thrust of this project's argument is that influencing important historical events such as British military supremacy, slave trade, the American Civil War, land grabs and the global hunt, Indian saltpetre influenced the course of capitalism. By considering local and global historical causalities and putting local and trans-national archives in dialogue this project aims to look beyond the structuralist and centrist approach to history. It shows how a non-human object like saltpetre influenced grand historical incidents such as the slave trade.