In some parts of Asia and Africa, the colonial power completely demolished the indigenous state that existed, and replaced it with its own officials and practices

However, in India, the British did not use the same strategy. Explain the reason for this
course of action adopted by the British in India.

What will be an ideal response?

In some parts of Asia and Africa, the colonial power completely demolished the
indigenous state that existed, and replaced it with its own officials and practices. In
India, however, the British East India Company wanted to easily and cheaply establish its
own control and raise revenue during the wars and great insecurity of the late
eighteenth century. This led to the British rulers initially adapting local law and order
institutions, and land and tax collection practices, rather than getting rid of them. The
result was that the British Raj relied on pre-existing state-building capacity and local
practices more than most empires, and also that Indians had a larger role in staffing the
colonial administration in India than did local people in many other colonized areas.