Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c51.s4.2

v4.c51.s4.2

This intellectual and temperamental defect of the pure Indian military classes threw the artillery branch of the native princes from the days of the Mughal empire onwards, into the hands of Goanese and French half-castes with hardly any Indian fit to occupy any position of command or responsibility, such as that of gun-layers. The Indian element in our artillery in the 18th century were golāndāzes, i.e., mere transport coolies and occasionally third class gunners for firing salutes.