Canberra, 15 May 2024 Haidar Ali’s easy conquest of Bednore and the sack of Calicut, along with the calculated cruelty and religious bigotry that he displayed, alarmed the other powers in South India. Nizam Ali, who had become the Nizam of Hyderabad after deposing his brother installed by the French, and Madhav Rao, the Maratha […]
Continue readingWhispering Thoughts No 49 Sudan – The Forgotten War Part I: The War So Far
May 13, 2024 
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13 May 2024 Mid-April marks the completion of a year of the raging civil war in Sudan. The war has caused a full-fledged humanitarian crisis and brought hidden, but long-standing, political and ethnic tensions into sharp focus. Sudan, located in north-east Africa, one of the largest resource-rich countries in the continent, covers 1.9 million […]
Continue readingWhispering Thoughts No 48 Military History Part III: Modern Trends
May 6, 2024 0 Comments
06 May 2024 From the mid-19th century, military history emphasised theoretical analysis of conflict at the expense of recording the events of a war. As mentioned in Whispering Thoughts No 47, Jomini and Clausewitz were pioneers in the field, moving the narrative away from the use of mathematical laws of war towards employing historical […]
Continue readingCompany Bahadur Part 7 The Conquest of Mysore Section I: Background
May 1, 2024 0 Comments
Kiama, NSW, 1 May 2024 Peninsular India, the South, has always been distinct—culturally, linguistically, and socio-economically—from North India, pursuing its own individual path and nurturing separate characteristics; a phenomenon that is perhaps true even today in the 21st century. The region has always maintained its own power structure, being partially subordinate to the hegemons of […]
Continue readingWhispering Thoughts No 47 Military History Part II: The Philosophy
April 25, 2024 0 Comments
25 April 2024 The study of military history is encompassed in a broad philosophical and methodological perspective. However, its philosophical underpinnings produce several questions that must be answered to have a clear understanding of the depth of the subject. What is the philosophy of military history? What are the basic assumptions that military historians […]
Continue readingWhispering Thoughts No 46 Military History Part I: The What and The Why
April 20, 2024 0 Comments
20 April 2024 War is undoubtedly the most complex human activity, especially since its inherent characteristics of danger, friction, and chance bring about an assured uncertainty to its conduct. In war, it is difficult to accurately predict the end-state—the unknowns tend to make achieving the desired goal a difficult task. A tried and tested […]
Continue readingCompany Bahadur Part 6 Warren Hastings Section IV: End of an Innings
April 18, 2024 0 Comments
Canberra, 18 April 2024 While hastings was in Benares, the new Councillor, John Macpherson arrived in Calcutta from England. He had earlier served in Madras and had established himself as Hastings’ friend. However, Macpherson was an adventurer who was prone to making shady financial deals and was known to accumulate personal wealth. Even so, Macpherson […]
Continue readingWhispering Thoughts No 45 Making Peace with Oneself
April 13, 2024 1 Comment
13 April 2024 As the autumn of life inevitably turns to winter, it is but natural for a person to revisit past experiences. Predictably and inevitably, introspection unconsciously creeps into the reflections, a process that cannot be denied. As and when one gets a chance to have a few quiet and honest days to […]
Continue readingCompany Bahadur Part 6 Warren Hastings Section III: A Star Ascendent
April 11, 2024 0 Comments
Canberra, 11 April 2024 The trial and execution of Raja Nand Kumar turned Hastings’ official fortunes. Although the Council continued to oppose and criticise his actions, their obstructiveness was ineffective. They had lost their ability to control or even repudiate the GG’s actions. Francis tried to re-introduce Clive’s dual-government system, purely because Hastings had abolished […]
Continue readingWhispering Thoughts No 44 Taiwan – The Flashpoint? Part III: Crystal Gazing
April 5, 2024 0 Comments
05 April 2024 The 2024 elections in Taiwan exposed the emerging generational and socio-economic fault-lines in the country. There is growing demand for greater governmental accountability and more progressive economic reform to address the high-income trap leading to the unsustainable entitlements that accompany it. Solutions to these vexing challenges will need strong political will […]
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Sanu Kainikara 
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