expansion. They view the British not as a monolith, but rather as internally
divided over a number of fundamental issues. They study the motives of each
of the various elements within the East India Company and the British
Government. Further, many scholars locate the annexations in India within
changing, global economic and political systems. Many of them see
embodied in the East India Company forces new to India and to the world.
Advantages of the English The political, economic and social changes
within Britain and other parts of Europe as well during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, were reflected in the organisation and personnel of the
Company.
Military organisation and technology developed in Europe, gave the
Company unforeseen advantages in its confrontations with the Indian states.
The new world system, centered on Britain, transformed India’s traditional
commercial and political position, in addition to the changes going on within
India itself.
Social and technological changes within England undoubtedly enabled the
Company to mobilize its resources and choose elements of Indian society for
the conquest of the subcontinent.
The social revolution in Britain by which the commercial middle class gained
power, and the military and technological developments by which the British
navy and the East India Company army gained supremacy over European and
Indian powers in South Asia, are important issues.
In other words, a newly aggressive, dynamic British nation-state altered
Asian trade patterns and profit flows to the relative determent of the states of
India. Eventually, commerce and seizure of cash and land revenues enabled
the Company to build a ‘rationalised’, bureaucratic administration and a
strong, European-style army with uniformly disciplined and regularly paid
Indian troops.
Disadvantages of the Indians In contrast, the dominant classes within the
Indian polities continued to be the traditional aristocracy including rulers,
courtiers, military officers, administrators, and hereditary landlords.
Nevertheless, within Indian society, new economic and social forces were
rising. An enveloping commercialisation changed the relationship among the
various groups in society.