Divide et Impera in application in a cavalry regiment

In contrast to recent historiographical trends that seek to emphasise ideological judgements about the use of South Asian labour by colonial authorities, or the rather nostalgic way some tend to view the old Indian Army, this was a force born of necessity and forged by very pragmatic conditions appropriate to its tasks. It was also a force that retained distinct cultural identities, with British encouragement, which reinforced its cohesion. This paper traces the evolution of the army, emphasising the necessity of the changes, to produce, by 1947, a highly successful organisation.

The British Journal of Sociology, 1963

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International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies, 2010

In his carefully researched intervention on a historical moment in Anglo-Indian history, Satoshi Mizutani reveals the results of a conscious effort made by Anglo-Indians to raise a representative regiment within the British armed forces in India and how the notions of 'whiteness' prevailing at the time affected the outcome of this endeavour.

2016

In comparison with the formation and development of the Indian National Army in Southeast Asia, the impact of the Indian Legion during the Second World War in Europe, both in the academia and popular perception has received little attention. While there are a few overviews, specific aspects of the Indian Legion have not been addressed adequately. Military history, especially, has not engaged with this area. Although archival material in Britain and France is yet to be tapped, the files on the Legion held at the Federal Archives in Freiburg 2 and the memoirs of the members of the Legion along with the rich body of sources on its founder, Subhas Chandra Bose (respectfully named Netaji; 1897-1945), can pave the way towards a reconstruction of aspects of the history of the Indian Legion. This chapter is an attempt at such a reconstruction of the Indian Legion’s stationing in France from summer of 1943 up to its withdrawal late in autumn of 1944. A defining factor in the choice of this p...

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume IV: Military Aspects of the Indian Uprising, 2013

The SAGE Team: Shambhu Sahu, Punita Kaur Mann xvi Gavin Rand and Crispin Bates marginal in recent literature. Despite the fundamentally military origins of the rebellion and counter-insurgency, the histories of those who fought in and commanded the belligerent armies, their motivations, experiences and memories have received less scholarly attention than might have been expected. Similarly, while contemporary responses to the military rebellion have been usefully surveyed to reveal various competing narratives of class, gender, locality and religion, the contours of military life and administration during (and after) 1857 are less clearly defi ned. This absence refl ects a wider neglect of the imperial military within the extant historiography: whilst both South Asian studies and 'the new imperial history' have enjoyed signifi cant expansion in recent years, and questions of empire and military power are frequently invoked in wider discussions of modernity and global history, there are, with notable exceptions, relatively few accounts of the military in British India, unquestionably the preeminent imperial military institution of the colonial period. 5

Patterns of Prejudice 46, No. 3-4, 2012

British rule in India was entirely reliant on local troops, and the mobilization and recruitment of Indian communities gave rise to a multiplicity of discourses, traditions and identities reflecting the peculiar relationship between colonial power and indigenous military labour. Through the late nineteenth century, these discourses became increasingly racialized: only certain native communities were deemed to possess the 'spirit' necessary for military service. These so-called 'martial races'* including Nepalese Gurkhas, Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims from the northern and frontier provinces* provided the backbone of the imperial military and played a vital role in defending and extending colonial authority. By the early twentieth century, the racialized nature of soldiering in India was invoked to explain the composition of imperial forces and to legitimize the preservation of colonial rule. While the theory of 'martial races' is the subject of an increasingly diverse literature, relatively little attention has been paid to the practice* and practical origins* of restricted recruitment. In this article Rand and Wagner seek to re-examine the role of martial-race theories in British recruitment policies and practices in colonial India, drawing attention to the incoherence and complexity that marked the relationship between ideas of race and the practicalities of colonial military administration. They focus in particular on long-term patterns of continuities, rather than neat periodizations, and suggest that racialized discourses regarding soldiering have to be considered within the context of mutually advantageous relationships between the colonial state and its indigenous allies.

In comparison with the formation and development of the Indian National Army in Southeast Asia, the impact of the Indian Legion during the Second World War in Europe, both in the academia and popular perception has received little attention. While there are a few overviews, specific aspects of the Indian Legion have not been addressed adequately. Military history, especially, has not engaged with this area. Although archival material in Britain and France is yet to be tapped, the files on the Legion held at the Federal Archives in Freiburg 2 and the memoirs of the members of the Legion along with the rich body of sources on its founder, Subhas Chandra Bose (respectfully named Netaji; 1897-1945), can pave the way towards a reconstruction of aspects of the history of the Indian Legion.

2019

During the Second World War, the Indian Army held back units and soldiers that were not from the so-called “martial races” from frontline combat service. The British “martial races” theory held that only a small number of communities in India were fit for military service and people from all “non-martial” communities should be excluded from the Army. Has the Indian Army, after gaining independence from British leadership, contended the Second World War practice of deploying “martial” units in combat while assigning “non-martial” units to noncombat roles? It has been conclusively demonstrated that “martial race” groups have contended to be overrepresented in the post-colonial Indian Army. However, there has been little study into how the “martial races” theory has continued to affect the Indian Army outside the matter of the recruitment of soldiers. The Indian Army, while being forced by political leadership to open up recruitment to “non-martial” communities, contended the Second Wo...