Page:History of India Vol 8.djvu/209

Rh and armies to whom the English found themselves opposed in the middle of the eighteenth century. This inherent feebleness of the Hindus, and their inability to govern or defend their possessions, obviously explains why the English, who could do both, so rapidly made room for themselves in a country which, though rich and populous, was, in a practical sense, masterless.

AN INDIAN MOHAMMEDAN HELMET.

It must also be remembered that Bengal and the other provinces bordering on the sea in which the English won these facile triumphs were far more defenceless than the inland country, partly through the dilapidation of the central power, partly because the people of those tracts are naturally less warlike than elsewhere, and partly by the accident that they just then were very ill governed. The army of the later Moghul emperors had always been bad; yet until Aurangzib died it was quite strong enough to repulse any small expeditionary force descending upon the coast. Nor could such a stroke as Clive's at Plassey have been attempted with impunity if Bengal had happened to possess a vigorous and capable viceroy; for a few years later our first campaigns against Hyder Ali in the south and the Marathas in the west showed us that under competent