Stringer Lawrence drove the East India Company's professionalization, while Clive helped raise properly formed sepoy battalions. The Bengal, Madras, and Bombay armies developed local identities while retaining artillery, cavalry, and infantry capabilities. Company money equipped a large force in India without requiring the British government to deploy the same number of regular troops. Its purchasing also expanded British arsenals and shipyard capacity, so commercial military demand reinforced national military infrastructure.
Notable Point · 17:24-22:54
How the East India Company built usable armies
Company forces evolved from guards for trading posts into organized presidency armies with trained sepoy battalions and their own support systems.