Evolution of Military Cultures in 18th Century India

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.

Global Military Transformations: Change and Continuity, 1450-1800, ed. (Roma: Societa Italiana di Storia Militare), 481-506., 2023

This book chapter etches the contours of early modernity in South Asian warfare. It focuses mainly on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, while outlining the transition from medieval forms of warfare that remained dominant until the fifteenth century. The goal here is not to be exhaustive about the military developments of this period; rather, the aim is to highlight some of the defining shifts of the times as indications of an overall paradigmatic change in the practices of war-making. Adopting a war and society approach, I look at five major dimensions in the following sections – adaptation, organisation, mobilization, environment, and culture. I argue that in all these domains, there were important developments around the sixteenth century, marking an overall shift away from medieval patterns of war-making. The chapter argues that the new paradigm they ushered in comprised South Asia’s version of military early modernity. This phase continued until the mid-eighteenth century, when another set of shifts accompanying the large-scale Europeanisation of South Asian armies jettisoned the early modern tendencies.

Following the rapid collapse of the Mughal Empire after 1707, the Mughal Successor States attempted to modernize their state apparatus and their armies. Both the Indian kingdoms and the British-led East India Company (EIC) attempted the construction of hybrid military organizations. How, then, can one explain the continuous military victories of the EIC? For opening up new dimensions on the military supremacy of the Europeans in Afro-Asia, the analytical tool of Military Synthesis might be more useful than the concept of Military Revolution or Military Evolution. This essay focuses on the period from the 1740s to 1849.

Journal of Contemporary History, 2006

The Battle Tactics of Alexander the Great, 2021

Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire introduced the Macedonian King to a wide range of different cultures, with different ways of fighting war. But in India, he faced a very different enemy. Ancient India had been relatively isolated from the turmoils that had shaped the history of much of Asia and Europe. And as a result warfare on the subcontinent continued to follow the 'heroic', and ritualised modes of combat of older times that had been long abandoned in the west. This paper looks at how the army of King Porus was shaped by Indian history and culture, and the impact that had on how his forces responded to Alexander's invasion.

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

The Medieval History Journal 25 no. 1, 2022

The historiography of the Mughal Empire has gone through many twists and turns since its inception. Significant shifts in terms of methodologies and arguments notwithstanding, a certain elitism has characterised this body of literature. This is manifested by the tendency of most historians to conceptualise the career of the empire primarily in terms of elite action. This elitism has kept the contributions of non-elite groups to the making of the empire fairly obscured. Problematising this lopsided historical understanding, the present article offers a people’s history of the empire by focusing on the domain of war as a case study. It explores the role of two non-elite groups in Mughal military campaigns. These are the common infantry and the logistical workforce. The article discusses their tactical importance, social basis, modes of recruitment, pay, and organisation. It argues that taking cognizance of the contributions of these groups to the processes of war-making and territorial expansion helps us challenge the view of the Mughal Empire being primarily an elite enterprise. It enables us see the broad-based, inclusive, and collaborative nature of Mughal state-formation and empire-building.

Madras Presidency army was the earliest army establishment under the colonial rule in India. While talking about the army, it is necessary to focus on the historiography so that it could form the basis of our understanding of this particular field. The rise of the New Military history again questions of the so called army historiography in alternative way. The conventional method of writing historiography of military history of India has been questioned by the new age military historians. Researchers now somehow influenced by this term and consequently tried to explain the militia in this regard. This short paper will discuss what New Military History is and its application for the reconstruction of the idea concerned with the Madras presidency army. This paper will revisit the history and historiography of the Madras presidency army.