Number of words: 136

The East India Company had originally established itself for trading purposes, and its military establishment was meant to protect this trade. Gradually, and almost unnoticed by others, it had extended the territory under its control, chiefly by taking sides in local disputes, helping one rival against another. The company’s troops were better trained and were an asset to any side, and the company extracted heavy payment for the help. So the company’s power grew and its military establishment increased. People looked upon these troops as mercenaries to be hired. When it was realized that the British were playing nobody’s game but their own, and were out for the political domi- nation of India, they had already established themselves firmly in the country.

Excerpted from pages 300 of ‘Jawaharlal Nehru The Discovery of India, by Jawaharlal Nehru