Dwarakanath left England on 15 October for Paris, where he was received by the
French King, Louis-Philipe at St. Cloudon on 28 October. He returned to Calcutta in December 1842. The business recession of the early 1840s and his newly acquired princely life-style led to the collapse of his business empire and mired him in debt. The accumulated debt at his death was so huge that it took his son,
Devendranath Thakur, almost all his life to free the family from encumberances. It was not only Dwarakanath's business that went into the red in the hard days of early 1840s, but many others like him were ruined due to the depression. Dwarakanath was the product of the depression of 1830-33 and victim of that of the 1840s. But his greatest success lies elsewhere . Collaboration in trade and commerce with the Europeans had long established precedents, but never before had a Bengali received recognition from them as an equal partner. Dwarakanath had broken that tradition and become an equal "partner in empire" by his own right.
Depression of the 1840s
The depression of the 1840s, experienced Australia-wide, was a major halt to rapid economic growth in Van Diemens Land. The continued low price of wood in the London market after 1837, the 1839 English recession, the collapse of the mainland markets for grain and livestock, and the downturn of Tasmanian Capital invested in Port Phillip speculations led to the depression. Goods piled up in shops as lower earning power led to reduced spending . The influx of British capital ceased. Banks restricted credit. By 1843, bankrupcies no longer involved small retail traders and merchants alone, but extended to landed interests. Two Banks were closed.
