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India was not only weak at this time it was also divided among many competing local leaders. The fragmentation of the Mughal Empire meant that there was a great deal if instability over much of Indian. The local rulers fought each other endlessly, Muslim and Hindus fought each other and their co-religionists. Warfare was endemic in much of the sub-continent by the early decades of the eighteenth century. <ref> Spear, p. 98 #.</ref>" . Many Indians welcomes the stability that the British brought, especially in the late eighteenth century, although they resented the various taxes that were imposed on them, by the foreigners. The British adopted a very clever strategy in India when it came to administering their new found territories. They did not directly administer the majority of their new territories at least at first. They often left the local rulers in place, with all their privileges and wealth. They also did not interfere with the local landowning elites. The British tended to rule through these elites. They used them to collect taxes and enforce law and order, and in return, they were allowed a measure of autonomy in their local areas. These tactics meant that many local Indian elites, both Hindu, and Muslim, accepted British influence <ref> Spear, p. 98 #.</ref>". Instead of simply annexing many of the states, they made an agreement with the local Rajs, Nawabs, and Sultans. They agreed not to attack local rulers as long as they made the British their heirs. This meant that many small states were bequeathed to the British upon the death fo a ruler. The British also entered into treaties with local rulers, which allowed them to peacefully absorb these territories. They would agree to station military forces in a princely state and would not seek taxes but some territory. They also appointed a 'resident' to advise the ruler. Slowly, the local rulers found that they were becoming the mere puppets of the East Indian Company.

==Lack of a National Consciousness==