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Vital force falls back having secured India (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spirit

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'vital force' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

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(Other definitions for spirit that I've seen before include "The sort of drink" , "Courage, energy" , "Soul - ethos" , "Life-giving force" , "Gusto" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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