European Mercenaries in the Indian Armies

Abstract

The eclipse of Mughal power as the central authority began from the second half of the seventeenth century. By the time of the eighteenth century, and particularly from its second half, the local potentates began to empower themselves to defend as well as to expand their power. For this, they resorted to strengthen their armed forces. Thus, they employed Europeans as mercenaries in their armies. These mercenaries were considered superior in artillery and better in organizing the militia. Their interests also affected the colonial powers. In this article, the social and geographical background of the mercenaries has been discussed. An important part of the study is their role in the armies of their employers. The salaries and perquisites received by them have been taken into account. These payments were an additional channel of drainage of Indian wealth to Europe.