In the Indian Army of the British Raj, the officer corps was "reserved for the governing race", (i.e. the British). Only in 1917, a mere thirty years before India won freedom, did the Raj permit Indians into the Army's officer corps, thus slowly beginning its Indianization. Yet it is often forgotten that this decision was the culmination of a hundred-year-long debate. Based on meticulous archival research in Britain and India, this book breaks new ground by offering readers the first detailed account of this generally forgotten debate. It traces the myriad schemes and counter-schemes the debate generated, the complex twists and turns it took, and how it engaged both British policy-makers anxious to maintain control, as well as nationalist Indian leaders agitating for greater self-government. This work also offers insights into the martial races concept, the 1857 uprising, and the impact of Anglo-Indian ideology upon the Indian Army. Clearly written and carefully argued, this monograph is an original and defining contribution to military/war and society history, the history of colonial India and its army, the history of British empire, the history of racism, and to civil-military relations.

Since September 2001, the Western public has found a renewed interest in South Asia. On the border between the Muslim and non-Muslim world, the region has seen its strategic importance to the West heightened, while the fact that the two major competing regional powers, Pakistan and India, each possess nuclear weapons has raised new anxieties. Given the importance of South Asia to current global conflicts, 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 later evolved into the states of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. In chapters devoid of academic jargon, the book provides lucid introductions to various topics, from the rise of the British East India Company, to the Indian Army in the First World War, to the current tensions between India and Pakistan in Kashmir. With chapters written by established experts, the book makes important contributions to the study of modern South Asian history, British Imperial history, and the history of war and society. It will appeal to students, scholars and laypersons alike with an interest in the social, political and military history of the region. Chapters in the book document the rise of the British East India Company and the uprising of 1857-59, in which the largely Bengali army rose up against the British officer corps, and the subsequent decision by the British Crown to take direct control of India and its army. Further chapters document the colonial Indian Army's role in British imperial wars in Afghanistan and in World Wars I and II. Half of the book explores the development of national armies for India, Pakistan, and, later, Bangladesh, giving accounts of the wars that have torn South Asia since independence, including the Indo-Pakistani wars, the India-China War, and the Sri Lankan War, the continuing conflicts over Kashmir, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

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.