Question

Describe the changes that occurred in the composition of the Company’s army.

Answer 1

• In the eighteenth century, changes were made by the Mughal successor states like Banaras and Awadh. Peasants were recruited into the army and trained as professional soldiers.
• The same methods of recruitment were adopted by the East India Company, which later on came to be known as the Sepoy Army.
• From the 1820 s, the cavalry requirements of the Company’s army declined, as warfare technology changed.
• The reasons behind it was, the British empire was fighting in Egypt, Afghanistan, and Burma. The soldiers were armed with matchlocks and muskets.
• A uniform military culture was developed by the British in the early nineteenth century.
• The lives of soldiers were far more regulated; soldiers were inculcated with the European style of discipline, drills, and training.
• While building a force of professional soldiers, the community and caste feeling were often ignored.
• Infantry regiments now became more important and as the military requirements kept changing the soldiers had to keep pace.