The British Conquest of India (1798-1806)
I. Background & Grand Strategy
Hi, and welcome to Strategy Stuff. When it comes to conquest in the late 18th Century, we usually think first of Revolutionary France and its attempts to establish hegemony over Europe. But during the same period, Britain – or more accurately its East India Company – also conquered out a hegemony in South Asia, one that was just as extensive and certainly longer-lasting than the French attempt.
In a series of wars between 1799 and 1806, British Indian forces decisively defeated almost all their indigenous rivals on the subcontinent: most notably the Sultanate of Mysore in the south, and the Maratha Empire in the center and north. In the process, British rule expanded throughout the coasts and up the Ganges River, seizing many old and famous states along the way. By the end of the period, there was no longer any doubt: Britain alone dominated this ‘Jewel in the Crown’.
These events are usually interpreted as an inevitable consequence of European military superiority, but in fact, throughout this period most British strategymakers opposed and even tried to stop expansion. That it happened anyway was arguably due to one man – the chief official of India, Richard Wellesley, the Earl of Mornington – and his desire to conquer the subcontinent for his own political gain.
Ironically, India would give a
bigger boost to the career of Richard’s younger brother, Arthur Wellesley,
later to achieve military fame as the Duke of Wellington. To minimize
confusion, this video series will refer to Richard as ‘Mornington’ and Arthur
anachronistically as ‘Wellington’. Together, they – alongside other generals
and officials – would not only produce a seminal example of European
imperialism, but also forcibly induct South Asia into the European world order
and lay the groundwork for the modern states that exist there today.
This is Part I of a five-part series, where we will go over the situation in India during the 1790s, as well as examine why Britain embarked on conquest.