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Module - III Colonial Era and the Indian Sepoy

Military History of the
Colonial Era

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Note
COLONIAL ERA AND THE

INDIAN SEPOY

From our previous lessons we learnt about how the military system came into existence
in India and what changes took place over the centuries. In this lesson let us try to
understand how the Europeans came into India and ruled our land and in the process
laid the foundation for the Indian army, capable of fighting modern day wars.
As you know, India has its natural mountain barriers in the North called the Himalayas
and in the South flanked by the Arabian Sea in the West and the Bay of Bengal in the
East, thus forming a peninsular India. It is a land of a multi cultural and multi ethnic
society with a variety of religions and languages.
After the Mughal rule the English started colonizing India. India then was not a one-
nation country with a strong central army or King. This existence of many smaller
states favored the European settlements. First came the Portuguese, followed by the
French and the British.

Objectives

After studying this lesson you will be able to:
 explain the history of colonial rule in India;
 describe the establishment of the three Presidencies- Madras, Kolkata and
Mumbai;

 identify the events leading to the formation of the 'Native Indian Army' by the
English and trace the rank structure in the British army.

9.1 History of Colonial Rule

From the military history point of view it is important to review the prevailing situation
in India when the Europeans set foot here. Throughout history from ancient times,
small kingdoms were comparatively weaker and hence were exploited and conquered.
India was a fragmented state, which allowed the British to exploit, and this was the
only reason why they succeeded in enslaving the country. There were the Jats, Marathas,
Nizam, Rajputs etc. Unfortunately they were not a one big kingdom but

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MILITARY HISTORY