As one might expect in a novel that explores the opium trade and British rule in India just before the First Opium War, colonialism and imperialism are important themes in the novel. It is important to note that these are two separate concepts, and that we see both at work here, even if the terms are often used interchangeably. The best way to think about how they differ is to consider imperialism to be an ideology of control, while colonialism is the way that ideology manifests.

British rule in India is an example of colonialism—Indians are subjects of the British Empire, and much of the first two parts of the novel deals with the effect of that control within Indian borders. For example, Neel discovers just how flimsy his believed power is in Calcutta as soon as he crosses the English, and while we don’t fully see the fallout of that, it’s understood that the sale of his estates will devastate the many who depend on those estates remaining within the family. Likewise, Deeti’s village struggles year after year under the British, who force everyone to grow poppy for the production of opium rather than crops that might actually let them sustain themselves.