Divide and rule

The Company's agents, still looking like traders, began building political relationships with local rulers, offering military support to some against their rivals.

That one move changed their position. They were no longer foreign visitors; they were players in Indian political conflicts, and then power brokers within them.

They also used rivalries between regional rulers and quarrels over succession inside ruling families, so as to gain from the conflicts. This is 'divide and rule'.

The chapter notes they were just as skilled at using divisions within Indian society, finding and often encouraging tensions between religious communities.

The Battle of Plassey in 1757 shows the method complete. Tensions grew between Siraj-ud-daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, and the Company officials led by Robert Clive.

Clive's answer was not to raise a bigger army. He found unhappy people inside the Nawab's own court, and made a secret plan with Mir Jafar, the Nawab's military commander, promising to make him the new Nawab in exchange for betrayal.

At Palashi (Plassey, as the British spelt it), about 150 km north of present-day Kolkata, Mir Jafar's forces made up most of the Nawab's army. On the day, they simply stood aside.

The British won despite their smaller numbers. Even today, 'Mir Jafar' in India means 'traitor'. And by acting as kingmakers, the Company gradually took control of larger and larger territories.