Views On Subduing Insurgencies
General Napier put down several insurgencies in India during his reign as Commander-in-Chief in India, and once said of his philosophy about how to do so effectively:
- The best way to quiet a country is a good thrashing, followed by great kindness afterwards. Even the wildest chaps are thus tamed.
which may help explain why he felt rebellions should be suppressed with such brutality.
He also once said that:
"the human mind is never better disposed to gratitude and attachment than when softened by fear."
An implementation of this theory would be after the Battle of Miani, where most of the Mirs surrendered. One leader held back and was told by Napier:
Come here instantly. Come here at once and make your submission, or I will in a week tear you from the midst of your village and hang you.
He also mused that:
"so perverse is mankind that every nationality prefers to be misgoverned by its own people than to be well ruled by another"
Read more about this topic: Charles James Napier
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