12. The East India Company’s Army and Navy continued to grow after the Seven Year’s War
The Seven Year’s War, known in North America as the French and Indian War, was fought on the Indian subcontinent as well. There it was fought primarily using the private armies of the East India Company, supported by its ships, which included the armed merchant ships known as East Indiamen, as well as warships purchased by the company. The influence of the EIC was strong enough that sailors on its ships were made exempt from the Royal Navy’s practice of impressment – the forced conscription of sailors to man its ships. The EIC enjoyed the exemption throughout the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.
By the end of the Seven Year’s War the EIC commanded 26,000 troops, mostly Sepoys, in India and under Clive and his successors it continued to expand. The American Revolutionary War was fought in India as well, between French and British entities, and the EIC used the conflict to further expand its territories and the military strength to defend them. Originally established as security forces, by the end of the Revolutionary War 70,000 trained and well-armed troops served in the armies of the EIC, divided among the Presidencies of the subcontinent under British control (Bombay, Madras, and Bengal).