India, its administration & progress / Sir John Strachey.

  • John Strachey
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: India, its administration & progress / Sir John Strachey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    479/552 page 449
    retainers of the chiefs and nobles, and nearly the whole of the men whom we should class as police. Among all the armies of the Native States, that of Gwalior is the most completely organised. It consists of about 11,000 men, of whom about 6000 are cavalry, all fairly drilled and disciplined, with several fully- equipped batteries of artillery. A very small part of the Gwalior troops consists of men recruited in that country. The great majority of them come from our territories, and chieflv from the classes which before the mutinies of 1857 supplied the bulk of our Bengal army. The Government of Sindhia is, as I shall show, that of a foreign Maratha dynasty; the people are unwarlike and disinclined for military service. The strength of the forces which may be, maintained is_ regiiTatecTTy treaty with the British Government. The largest of the armies of the Native States is that of the Nizam of Haiderabad, also a foreigner in the country belonging to him. It is so heterogeneous a body that it is difficult to state its numbers, but that part of it which may with some show of reason be called an\army has been estimated at about 45,000 men. A portion of it has been reorganised and improved. Many of these troops are foreign mercenaries from distant parts of India, and many are Pathans from our northern frontier. While they perform no useful service to the Nizam, it has been necessary to watch and overawe them, and the necessity has been imposed on us of always keeping a large force of British and Native troops at Haiderabad. A Native force, called the Haiderabad Contingent, consisting formerly of more than 7000 men of all arms, under the command of British officers, but recently reorganised and reduced in numbers, has also been maintained by our Government 2 G
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