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It does seem that native allies were critical (they are mentioned several times) and parts of the article downplay that.

I have also found the same thing in popular perceptions of the British Empire - it was heavily reliant on native allies to expand, and native soldiers and police to maintain itself (at least in South Asia, which is the bit I know the most about).

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I don't know what you imagine perceptions of the British empire to be but most people don't think the UK sent 10000 ships to India to zerg rush the existing power structures.

Not to that extreme, but I do not think people realise the extent to which the empire relied on local support and structures.

I recently read the second volume (Seven Years in Ceylon) of Leonard Woolf's autobiography and he talks about how an entire country was British run with no military outside a small number in the capital city (and many of the provinces were remote, requiring days of difficult travel back them). There were small numbers (single figures in some) of civil servants in each province, but entire districts were run by a single official.

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