 From the mid @-@ 15th century to the mid @-@ 18th century , according to historian Burton Stein , rulers of states in southern India commenced financing wars on a different footing than had their predecessors . To varying degrees , all the rulers of the Mysore and Coorg region — the Vijayanagara emperors , the Wodeyars of Mysore , the Nayakas of Ikkeri , the Subahdars of Sira , and the Rajas of Coorg — fall under this category . A similar political system , referred to as " military fiscalism " by French historian Martin Wolfe , took hold in Europe between the 15th and 17th centuries . During this time , according to Wolfe , most regimes in Western Europe emerged from the aristocracy to become absolute monarchies ; they simultaneously reduced their dependence on the aristocracy by expanding the tax base and developing an extensive tax collection structure . In Stein 's words , 
