Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c29.s3.6

v2.c29.s3.6

The impact of European civilization and of the European military system on India in the middle of the 18th century hit the Rajput warrior class hardest of all. [Ch. 6 § 1.] Their arms and method of fighting proved manifestly out of date. Their strict isolation within the narrow and obscure nooks of their homeland prevented them from acquiring the new knowledge or moving with the times. In their ignorance some of their princes vainly sought to strengthen themselves by hiring mercenaries with a thin tincture of European military knowledge and led by officers with second-hand European training. Every Portuguese half-breed, or even a pure Native Christian of Goa when dressed in a cast off European military costume, was believed to be a master of the new war, and was commissioned to raise a sepoy battalion for the local Hindu prince and thereby deepen the insolvency of his State, without really adding to its strength in any way.