UPSC Mains 2022 · GS I · Q2 · 10 marks · 150 words

Why did the armies of the British East India Company – mostly comprising of Indian soldiers – win consistently against the more numerous and better equipped armies of the then Indian rulers ? Give reasons.

हिन्दी में

अधिकांश भारतीय सिपाहियों वाली ईस्ट इंडिया की सेना क्यों तत्कालीन भारतीय शासकों की संख्याबल में अधिक और बेहतर सुसज्जित सेना से लगातार जीतती रही ? कारण बताएँ ।

Modern Indian History

How a topper answered the closest question

Toppers wrote this one in a test series: “What were the structural and tactical reasons for the ascendancy of the British East India Company armies over the native Indian states in the mid-19th century? Examine critically.”

AakritiAIR 93 · CSE 2025 · 164 wordsTheir whole copy

Opening

The British East India Company army gradually overtook India with support from Crown & in spirit of colonial-ism in mid 19th century.

Reasons for the ascendency

(A) Structural

Body · points

(1) Policy ecosystem

  • eg. The Subsidiary Alliance system had stripped the native state of their army or any true power. (2) Crown support → Armies were sent by the crown to administer "British territories in India". (3) continued political fragmentation & lack of a true sense of unity
  • eg. EIC could buy off parties from Revolt of 1857 like Talukdars & orthodox groups.

(B) Tactical / operational (1) Weak leadership & organi-zation while British EIC had exceptional abilities eg. Campbell as military leader (2) Resources of E.I.C. were superior (3) An effective communica-tion system with the company (4) Indigenous support eg Sikhs & gurkhas supported them

Close · a summary

Mid-19th century saw an easy ascendancy of the company army, which impacted the structure of India. Had it been resisted by Indian native states, history would've been different.

How toppers approach this question, and more on its topic: open the question.

Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Main) Examination 2022, General Studies Paper I, Q2. The paper on upsc.gov.in. Themes and links to toppers’ answers are by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.