This is a cross-cultural study of the political economy of war in South Asia. Randolf G. S. Cooper combines an overview of Maratha military culture with a battle-by-battle analysis of the 1803 Anglo-Maratha Campaigns. Building on that foundation he challenges ethnocentric assumptions about British superiority in discipline, drill and technology. He argues that these campaigns, in which Arthur Wellesley served with distinction, represent the military high-water mark of the Marathas who posed the last serious opposition to the formation of the British Raj. Dr Cooper asserts that the real contest for India was never a single decisive battle for the subcontinent. Rather it turned on a complex social and political struggle for control of the South Asian military economy. The author shows that victory in 1803 hinged as much on finance, diplomacy, politics and intelligence as it did on battlefield manoeuvre and war itself.
This is a cross-cultural study of the political economy of war in South Asia. Randolf G. S. Cooper combines an overview of Maratha military culture with a battle-by-battle analysis of the 1803 Anglo-Maratha Campaigns. Building on that foundation he challenges ethnocentric assumptions about British superiority in discipline, drill and technology. He argues that these campaigns, in which Arthur Wellesley served with distinction, represent the military high-water mark of the Marathas who posed the last serious opposition to the formation of the British Raj. Dr Cooper asserts that the real contest for India was never a single decisive battle for the subcontinent. Rather it turned on a complex social and political struggle for control of the South Asian military economy. The author shows that victory in 1803 hinged as much on finance, diplomacy, politics and intelligence as it did on battlefield manoeuvre and war itself.
Über den Autor
Randolf G. S. Cooper is a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.
Zusammenfassung
This is a cross-cultural analysis of the political economy of war in South Asia. It combines Maratha military history with a battle-by-battle analysis of the 1803 Campaigns in which Arthur Wellesley served with distinction. Dr Cooper challenges theories of British superiority in discipline, drill and technology and asserts that these campaigns constituted the last serious military obstacle to the formation of the British Raj. The real contest for India was not confined to the battlefield but involved complex social and political struggles for control of the South Asian military economy.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
List of maps; Acknowledgements; A note on transliteration and references; List of abbreviations used in the references; Introduction; 1. Maratha military culture; 2. British perceptions and the road to war in 1803; 3. The Deccan campaign of 1803; 4. The Hindustan campaign of 1803; 5. 'Coming in'; 6. The anatomy of victory; Appendix I: chronology of Anglo-South Asian wars; Appendix II: British troop strengths and casualties for the Hindustan and Deccan campaigns 1803; Appendix III: Governor-General Wellesley's 'Maratha' proclamation of 1803; Appendix IV: mercenary pension records; Appendix V: the Marathas' employment of mercenaries in historic perspective; Glossary; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
