A Military History of India and South Asia
From the East India Company to the Nuclear Era

Daniel P. Marston (Edited by), Chandar S. Sundaram (Edited by)

9780253219992

Paperback / softback, published 29 April 2008

256 pages, 8 b&w photos, 7 maps
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.5 cm, 0.435 kg

"The foreword by noted South Asian military historian Stephen Cohen points out that in spite of the area being the site of a nuclear confrontation over Kashmir, scholars have neglected the military history of South Asia and have not dealt adequately with the themes developed by the "new military history," such as military organization, the role of caste, defense economics, and civil-military relations. This short book of 13 chapters attempts to rectify that situation. Although it is not a comprehensive history, nine of the short chapters cover the pre-independence period. Chapter 8 deals with Indian National Army claims that the INA hastened the departure of the British. The last four chapters cover the Indo-Pakistani wars (1947-49, 1965, 1971, and Kargil in 1999), India's 1962 "hard knock" from China, the Tamil Tigers, and India's nuclear policy. South Asia is facing "asymmetric" war (conflict between an insurrectionary or separatist group and a modern army), with the threat of conventional and nuclear war always lurking in the background. Intended for general readers, students, and academics, the volume offers fine summaries as well as stimulating case studies. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. —Choice"—R. D. Long, Eastern Michigan University, June 2009
"The historical chapters on the expansion of the East India Company, the martial races and the role of the Indian Army during the First and Second World Wars shed new light on these subjects and make readers aware of new histography.Nov. 2009"—Harsh Pant, Asian Affairs
"Intended for general readers, students, and academics, the volume offers fine summaries as well as stimulating case studies. . . . Recommended."—Choice
". . . one of the first steps towards a deeper understanding of the conflicts in this region as well as helping to reintroduce the study of military history to academia. . . . an insightful and lucid analysis . . . .Vol. 82.3 Fall 2009"—Andre Gerolymatos, Simon Fraser University

A Military History of India and South Asia provides a much-needed overview of the military history of the region since 1700, covering the areas that are today the states of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. In chapters devoid of academic jargon, leading scholars offer lucid introductions to topics ranging from the rise of the British East India Company, to the Indian Army in the First World War, to the rise of national armies and current tensions between India and Pakistan.
Contributors are Rajesh M. Basrur, Raymond Callahan, Bhashyam Kasturi, Daniel P. Marston, Tim Moreman, David Omissi, Douglas M. Peers, Srinath Raghavan, Kaushik Roy, Chandar S. Sundaram, and Channa Wickremesekera.

Foreword (Stephen P. Cohen)
Acknowledgments
Why This Book? (Daniel P. Marston and Chandar S. Sundaram)
1. The Armed Expansion of the English East India Company: 1740s-1849 (Kaushik Roy)
2. The Great Sepoy Mutiny (Raymond Callahan)
3. The Martial Races and the Indian Army in the Victorian Era (Douglas M. Peers)
4. "The Greatest Training Ground in the World": The Army in India and the North-West Frontier, 1901-1947 (Tim Moreman)
5. The Indian Army in the First World War, 1914-1918 (David Omissi)
6. Grudging Concessions: The Officer Corps and Its Indianization, 1817-1940 (Chandar S. Sundaram)
7. A Force Transformed: The Indian Army and the Second World War (Daniel P. Marston)
8. The Indian National Army, 1942-1946: A Circumstantial Force (Chandar S. Sundaram)
9. End of the Raj, 1945-1947 (Daniel P. Marston)
10. The State of War with Pakistan (Bhashyam Kasturi)
11. A Bad Knock: The War with China, 1962 (Srinath Raghavan)
12. Peace through Military Parity? The Tamil Tigers and the Government Forces in Sri Lanka (Channa Wickremesekera)
13. India's Nuclear Policy (Rajesh M. Basrur)
Notes
Index
About the Contributors