Part 4/11:
While the Sassoon family's commercial achievements were commendable, they were built upon a troubling foundation—the opium trade. David Sassoon's foray into this lucrative but morally fraught market began following the First Opium War, when British forces compelled China to open its ports for trade. The family's ships, protected by the British military, facilitated the forced cultivation of opium in India and its sale in China, leading to moral dilemmas that contradicted their heritage as practitioners of ancient ethical traditions.