04-28-2009, 10:32 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-"Airavat"+-->QUOTE("Airavat")<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-"surinder"+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("surinder")<!--QuoteEBegin-->Johann,
For some ill-informed Hindus an argument I have heard quite commonly is that "Gee thanks for the British, for they got us rid of the Mughals". Which again is patently not true. If the British had never set foot on India, Indian had already taken care of the Mughal rule.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The real story in pre-British India is the decline in <i>military power</i> of the Muslims. Horse-archery which had previously set them apart from the indigenous powers lay in the dustbin of history, while regular cavalry was mauled by increasingly accurate artillery and lethal infantry fire, and was useful only for plundering.
The Muslim rulers in the Gangetic plains: Nawab of Bengal-Bihar, Nawab of Awadh, and the Muslim rulers in the south: Nizam of Hyderabad and Nawab of Carnatic, all depended on indigenous infantry officered by Europeans for their power.
The decline in the effectiveness of cavalry also affected the indigenous powers like the Rajputs, Marathas, Sikhs; and even when the latter two adopted infantry formations and artillery organized on European lines, the officer class that controlled these were foreigners. But the biggest change brought about by the new system of war was EDUCATION. Our traditional warrior classes utterly despised education and book learning, while the control of munitions, increasing diversification of the artillery arm, managing a salaried class of soldiers, required officers well-educated or at least well-informed on the latest developments in science and mathematics.
By contrast our traditional warrior classes learned their military skills: riding horses, wielding sword and lance, and even using firearms, in hunting and war. Military service was paid for by grants of estates, which had to be physically occupied by the grantee, in order to collect revenue and feed himself and his followers. When the indigenous power failed to provide for its warrior class, they mounted their horses and engaged in plunder, or formed into groups that fought to dominate the failed central government. And this failure and turmoil was apparent in both the Muslim as well as the indigenous powers, which is why the 18th century in India is called the period of The Great Anarchy.
British occupation ended this anarchy, ensured internal peace, and orderly administration. The military and economic exploitation of India by the new rulers is of course well-documented but the fight against them was led by the new educated middle-class and not by the old order.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
For some ill-informed Hindus an argument I have heard quite commonly is that "Gee thanks for the British, for they got us rid of the Mughals". Which again is patently not true. If the British had never set foot on India, Indian had already taken care of the Mughal rule.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The real story in pre-British India is the decline in <i>military power</i> of the Muslims. Horse-archery which had previously set them apart from the indigenous powers lay in the dustbin of history, while regular cavalry was mauled by increasingly accurate artillery and lethal infantry fire, and was useful only for plundering.
The Muslim rulers in the Gangetic plains: Nawab of Bengal-Bihar, Nawab of Awadh, and the Muslim rulers in the south: Nizam of Hyderabad and Nawab of Carnatic, all depended on indigenous infantry officered by Europeans for their power.
The decline in the effectiveness of cavalry also affected the indigenous powers like the Rajputs, Marathas, Sikhs; and even when the latter two adopted infantry formations and artillery organized on European lines, the officer class that controlled these were foreigners. But the biggest change brought about by the new system of war was EDUCATION. Our traditional warrior classes utterly despised education and book learning, while the control of munitions, increasing diversification of the artillery arm, managing a salaried class of soldiers, required officers well-educated or at least well-informed on the latest developments in science and mathematics.
By contrast our traditional warrior classes learned their military skills: riding horses, wielding sword and lance, and even using firearms, in hunting and war. Military service was paid for by grants of estates, which had to be physically occupied by the grantee, in order to collect revenue and feed himself and his followers. When the indigenous power failed to provide for its warrior class, they mounted their horses and engaged in plunder, or formed into groups that fought to dominate the failed central government. And this failure and turmoil was apparent in both the Muslim as well as the indigenous powers, which is why the 18th century in India is called the period of The Great Anarchy.
British occupation ended this anarchy, ensured internal peace, and orderly administration. The military and economic exploitation of India by the new rulers is of course well-documented but the fight against them was led by the new educated middle-class and not by the old order.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->