Military Synthesis in South Asia: Armies, Warfare and Indian Society, c. 1740-1849

Following the rapid collapse of the Mughal Empire after 1707, the Mughal Successor States attempted to modernize their state apparatus and their armies. Both the Indian kingdoms and the British-led East India Company (EIC) attempted the construction of hybrid military organizations. How, then, can one explain the continuous military victories of the EIC? For opening up new dimensions on the military supremacy of the Europeans in Afro-Asia, the analytical tool of Military Synthesis might be more useful than the concept of Military Revolution or Military Evolution. This essay focuses on the period from the 1740s to 1849.