Clarify how mid-eighteenth century India was beset with the spectre of a fragmented polity?

Theme

T9 British expansion: fragmented polity, Panipat, why the Company won, Dalhousie

What UPSC asks in this theme

UPSC asks why the East India Company won against larger Indian armies, how 18th-century India was politically fragmented, why Panipat saw repeated battles, and Dalhousie's role.

What to cover

• Decline of Mughals and rise of regional states
• Plassey, Buxar, Anglo-Mysore, Anglo-Maratha, Anglo-Sikh wars
• Reasons for British success: discipline, finance, diplomacy, divisions among rulers
• Panipat: geography and strategic location
• Dalhousie: doctrine of lapse, railways, telegraph, postal reforms

Writing the answer

• Group reasons into military, economic, political and organisational
• Use specific battles as evidence

These notes are for the whole theme, built from all 4 of its PYQs. UPSC does not publish model answers.