18th century Asian armies

The 18th century would surely vary. Also are we talkng about individual armies or entire states?

In quality the Sikh army at the end of the century would be the most powerful, but I doubt they'd win a war against the entire resources of China.

In the middle of the century it would surely be the Burmese, the most forgotten empire in Asia. They conquered Thailand and beat both China and India in the space of a few short years.

In the early part of the century, it must surely be the Maharatha Empire.

Also the Afghans are worth a mention, they beat the Sikhs and Maharathas on many an occaision.

The question I find interesting is how did these armies compare to European armies of the time, in quality?

Yes, that is quite like the situation was there...

only ofcourse if they have the gunpowder needed.

Originally posted by Iranian41ife iran actually had a very strong army in the 18th century which was some what up to european standards, but not completely there. then eventually it got degraded to the point where we could barely fight the russians in the early 19th centure

In 18th century, Shah Mahmud Hotak (of Afghanistan) defeated the Iranian army and seized the throne of Persia in 1722.
He did all this with small number of Afghan pessants though later he was crushed by Nadir Afshar but still you shouldn't forget that.
Therefore, I would say that the Iranians were week enough in the 18th century rather than 19th century.

Originally posted by Gharanai Originally posted by Iranian41ife iran actually had a very strong army in the 18th century which was some what up to european standards, but not completely there. then eventually it got degraded to the point where we could barely fight the russians in the early 19th centure In 18th century, Shah Mahmud Hotak (of Afghanistan) defeated the Iranian army and seized the throne of Persia in 1722. He did all this with small number of Afghan pessants though later he was crushed by Nadir Afshar but still you shouldn't forget that. Therefore, I would say that the Iranians were week enough in the 18th century rather than 19th century.

iran was in turmoil at the time was it not?

anyway, iran defeated the portugese, russians, and the british a few times in Persian Gulf region and northern iran.

so it doesnt matter whether afghanistan was able to make a move that was successful or not, the point is that while while other nations were falling left and right to imperialist europe, iran was never captured by them. the reason is because irans navy and army was strong enough at the time to defeat them.