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 […]
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Tag Archives: History
Company Bahadur Part 7 The Conquest of Mysore Section I: Background
May 1, 2024 
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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 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 readingCompany Bahadur Part 5 English Administration Up To 1774
March 8, 2024 0 Comments
Canberra, 08 March 2024 The evolution of the territorial administrative mechanisms of the English East India Company can be divided into several parts, with the first part being from their inception to 1774, when Lord North’s Regulating Act of 1773 came into force in the sub-continent. Till that time the Company traded and acquired territory […]
Continue readingCompany Bahadur Part 4 Early Company Leadership Section II: … And Some of the Good Ones
March 4, 2024 0 Comments
Canberra, 04 March 2024 As the Company evolved as a territorial ruling entity, several young Englishmen were either sent by their parents or guardians or volunteered and were selected through the application of influence to become ‘officials’ of the Company in India. Most were from the upper middle-class strata of English society, which subsequently went […]
Continue readingCompany Bahadur Part 2 Clive’s Last Hurrah
February 16, 2024 0 Comments
Canberra, 16th February 2024 The Directors of the English East India Company in London had been assured that Mir Jafar would compensate the Company with a gift amounting to roughly one million pounds sterling. However, this payment was not forthcoming while the bills for the military campaigns were increasing, a situation that led the Directors […]
Continue readingIndian History Volume XI Part I Immediate Post-Plassey Period
January 27, 2024 0 Comments
Goa, 27 January 2024 The exact date for the start of the English period in Indian history is difficult to determine. The period could be considered to have started with the eruption of the Anglo-French rivalry in the sub-continent, which was in itself an extension of the War of Austian Succession in Europe that started […]
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