Sepoy mutiny

India's first contact with the 'modern' west was through the prism of colonialism. The traditional rulers of India were inclined to see the Europeans as new rivals in the age-old struggle for political dominance that pitted one kingdom against another, and whom they tried to neutralise through the time-tested stratagem of political alliances, sometimes fighting the British and sometimes allying with them. The Battle of Buxar, fought in 1764, was perhaps the only instance where major Indian political rivals united against the emerging superpower. Such untiy among the Indians was very furtutios because from the battle of Buxar uptil the sepoy mutiny no such exaple was present in the colonial history of India. The rulers of India could not see that the British represented a qualitatively different and technologically far better political foe against who even a united front would probably have been inadequate. The writing on the wall was clear from the Battle of Adyar, where a small posse of modern troop easily defeated a much larger native army. Tipu Sultan alone clearly perceived the true nature of the new threat and consequently tried to quickly assimilate the new technology and modernise his administration with French help. Given the long distances between Britain and India, the limited British presence and the poor state of communications, British Rule in India could not be, and was not, based on force alone. It was strongly buttressed by the force of ideas. The intellectual response to British rule was, therefore, more credible, for it sought deeper explanations for the facile dominance of the West over such an old and great civilisation. It attempted necessary corrections to plug weaknesses in Indian society so that it could stand up to the new onslaught. It combined a critique of indigenous society with ideas such as religious universalism, humanism and rationalism, derived from the European Renaissance. (MADHURIMA, 186 ) For their part, many British lawmakers in favor of this policy called "progress" not only planned to impose its laws and technologies, but also their values. India would then be a country dominated but redeemed from their sins. Local customs that conflicted with Christian beleifs and sensitivity were sometimes rightly outlawed, banned, for example, burning widows on the husband's cremation. Charles Grant was not alone in thinking that Providence had brought the British to India for carrying out grand designs: "Should not we conclude that our Asiatic territories ...