Kaushik Roy, "War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849," (Routledge, 2011)

This book argues that the role of the British East India Company in transforming warfare in South Asia has been overestimated. Although it agrees with conventional wisdom that, before the British, the nature of Indian society made it difficult for central authorities to establish themselves fully and develop a monopoly over armed force, the book argues that changes to warfare in South Asia were more gradual, and the result of more complicated socio-economic forces than has been hitherto acknowledged.

The book covers the period from 1740, when the British first became a major power broker in south India, to 1849, when the British eliminated the last substantial indigenous kingdom in the sub-continent. Placing South Asian military history in a global, comparative context, it examines military innovations; armies and how they conducted themselves; navies and naval warfare; major Indian military powers - such as the Mysore and Khalsa kingdoms, the Maratha confederacy - and the British, explaining why they succeeded.

• British East India Company and South Asian Warfare
• Military History of South Asia (1740-1849)
• Transformation of Warfare in Colonial India
• Mysore Kingdom, Maratha Confederacy, Khalsa Army
• British Military Influence in South India
• South Asian Armies and Naval Warfare
• Gradual Changes in South Asian Military Tactics
• Indigenous Military Powers vs. British Forces
• Socio-Economic Forces in Indian Military History
• Indian Kingdoms and British Colonial Conquest
• Military Innovations in 18th and 19th Century India
• Global Context of South Asian Warfare
• British Influence on Indian Warfare Tactics
• Comparative Analysis of Indian and British Armies
• Military Conflicts in Pre-Colonial and Colonial India