From the dawn of civilization to the present time, warfare in South Asia has been conducted by large armies. Neither the warlords nor the polities have had to resort to conscription to fill the ranks of the forces. Even during the two World Wars, when British-India maintained an army whose size exceeded one million, the Raj did not have to resort to conscription. The only exceptions are some of the insurgent armies of present-day South Asia who enforce conscription because of the limited regions under their temporary control. None of the polities in history have had any difficulties in hiring Indian military manpower owing to several reasons. The huge demographic resource of the subcontinent is an important factor. Even now the Indian economy is mostly agrarian. And surplus manpower from the agrarian sector provides an available pool for the recruiters. More than 10 per cent of the armed male population in the rural sector who could not be absorbed in agriculture, manufactured their own muskets and swords and were always available as ‘hired guns’ till late eighteenth century. Unlike in early modern Europe, military service has always been popular in the subcontinent.

However, certain nuances in the recruitment policies continue to operate even today. The landless agricultural labourers are denied entry in the armies. Despite the presence of underemployed and unemployed proletariat, the military forces in India for most of the time did not recruit from the cities and towns.