War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849

War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849 PDF Author: Kaushik Roy
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 113679087X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
This book argues that the role of the British East India Company in transforming warfare in South Asia has been overestimated. Although it agrees with conventional wisdom that, before the British, the nature of Indian society made it difficult for central authorities to establish themselves fully and develop a monopoly over armed force, the book argues that changes to warfare in South Asia were more gradual, and the result of more complicated socio-economic forces than has been hitherto acknowledged. The book covers the period from 1740, when the British first became a major power broker in south India, to 1849, when the British eliminated the last substantial indigenous kingdom in the sub-continent. Placing South Asian military history in a global, comparative context, it examines military innovations; armies and how they conducted themselves; navies and naval warfare; major Indian military powers - such as the Mysore and Khalsa kingdoms, the Maratha confederacy - and the British, explaining why they succeeded.

War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849

War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849 PDF Author: Kaushik Roy
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 113679087X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book

Book Description
This book argues that the role of the British East India Company in transforming warfare in South Asia has been overestimated. Although it agrees with conventional wisdom that, before the British, the nature of Indian society made it difficult for central authorities to establish themselves fully and develop a monopoly over armed force, the book argues that changes to warfare in South Asia were more gradual, and the result of more complicated socio-economic forces than has been hitherto acknowledged. The book covers the period from 1740, when the British first became a major power broker in south India, to 1849, when the British eliminated the last substantial indigenous kingdom in the sub-continent. Placing South Asian military history in a global, comparative context, it examines military innovations; armies and how they conducted themselves; navies and naval warfare; major Indian military powers - such as the Mysore and Khalsa kingdoms, the Maratha confederacy - and the British, explaining why they succeeded.

Warfare and Politics in South Asia from Ancient to Modern Times

Warfare and Politics in South Asia from Ancient to Modern Times PDF Author: Kaushik Roy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788173049132
Category : India
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
This volume presents fifteen original essays on warfare based on primary sources by scholars from different parts of the world. Spatially, the pieces cover the period from the Vedic to the Nuclear Age. And temporally, they not only cover the whole of the subcontinent but also link the historical trajectory of South-East Asia with that of South Asia. Warfare in this volume has been defined broadly. While some essays focus on inter-state war, others turn the focus on intra-state war. Besides war on land, several contributors also look at the naval dimension. Moreover, all the contributors agree that warfare cannot be separated from the political matrix which surrounds organised violence like the double helix of a DNA molecule. This volume will be of enduring value to scholars of Military History in general and South Asian Warfare in particular.

The Early Modern in South Asia

The Early Modern in South Asia PDF Author: Meena Bhargava
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 100927662X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Did modernity arrive in South Asia with British colonialism? Or was South Asia already modern by then? What might have that modernity looked like? The Early Modern in South Asia engages with these questions. It brings together ten chapters, which collectively trace the contours of South Asia's early modernity between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. They do this by examining the nature of historical change in various domains, including philosophy, warfare, law, environment, politics, violence, religion, and society. The chapters argue that in all these fields, there were noticeable developments during this period, marking a shift from the medieval to the early modern. The introductory chapter contextualizes this by analysing the politics of periodization in history-writing across the world. It discusses the meanings of the relatively new concept of early modernity and the implications of its use for how we understand historical change and continuity in South Asia.

Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750

Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750 PDF Author: Kaushik Roy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780938004
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
A substantial amount of work has been carried out to explore the military systems of Western Europe during the early modern era, but the military trajectories of the Asian states have received relatively little attention. This study provides the first comparative study of the major Asian empires' military systems and explores the extent of the impact of West European military transition on the extra-European world. Kaushik Roy conducts a comparative analysis of the armies and navies of the large agrarian bureaucratic empires of Asia, focusing on the question of how far the Asian polities were able to integrate gunpowder weapons in their military systems. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750 offers important insights into the common patterns in war making across the region, and the impact of firearms and artillery.

Culture, Conflict and the Military in Colonial South Asia

Culture, Conflict and the Military in Colonial South Asia PDF Author: Kaushik Roy
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351584529
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
This book offers diverse and original perspectives on South Asia’s imperial military history. Unlike prevailing studies, the chapters in the volume emphasize both the vital role of culture in framing imperial military practice and the multiple cultural effects of colonial military service and engagements. The volume spans from the early East India Company period through to the Second World War and India’s independence, exploring themes such as the military in the field and at leisure, as well as examining the effects of imperial deployments in South Asia and across the British Empire. Drawing extensively on new archival research, the book integrates previously disparate accounts of imperial military history and raises new questions about culture and operational practice in the colonial Indian Army. This work will be of interest to scholars and researchers of modern South Asian history, war and strategic studies, military history, the British Empire, as well as politics and international relations.

Religious Nationalism in Contemporary South Asia

Religious Nationalism in Contemporary South Asia PDF Author: Andrea Malji
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108911188
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
This Element explores religious nationalism in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism and how it manifests in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. At the core, nationalists contend that the continuation of their group is threatened by some other group. Much of these fears are rooted in the colonial experience and have been exacerbated in the modern era. For the Hindu and Buddhist nationalists explored in this Element, the predominant source of fear is directed toward the Muslim minority and their secular allies. For Sikhs, minorities within India, the fear is primarily of the state. For Muslims in Pakistan, the fear is more dynamic and includes secularists and minority sects, including Shias and Ahmadis. In all instances, the groups fear that their ability to practice and express their religion is under immediate threat. Additionally, Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim nationalists wish for the state to adopt or promote their religious ideology.

The Routledge History of Global War and Society

The Routledge History of Global War and Society PDF Author: Matthew S. Muehlbauer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317533186
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 502

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Book Description
The Routledge History of Global War and Society offers a sweeping introduction to the most significant research on the causes, experiences, and impacts of war throughout history. This collection of twenty-seven essays by leading historians demonstrates how war and society studies have dramatically expanded the chronological, geographic, and thematic breadth of the field of military history. Each chapter addresses the ways in which recent scholarship has integrated cultural, ethical, environmental, medical, and ideological factors to explain both conventional conflicts and genocide, terrorism, and other forms of mass violence. The broad scope of the collection makes it the perfect primer for scholars and students seeking to understand the complex interactions of warfare and those affecting and affected by conflict.

Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500BCE to 1740CE

Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500BCE to 1740CE PDF Author: Kaushik Roy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317586913
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive survey of warfare in India up to the point where the British began to dominate the sub-continent. It discusses issues such as how far was the relatively bloodless nature of pre-British Indian warfare the product of stateless Indian society? How far did technology determine the dynamics of warfare in India? Did warfare in this period have a particular Indian nature and was it ritualistic? The book considers land warfare including sieges, naval warfare, the impact of horses, elephants and gunpowder, and the differences made by the arrival of Muslim rulers and by the influx of other foreign influences and techniques. The book concludes by arguing that the presence of standing professional armies supported by centralised bureaucratic states have been underemphasised in the history of India.

Empire and Gunpowder

Empire and Gunpowder PDF Author: Moumita Chowdhury
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000603970
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
This book focuses on the relation between technology, warfare and state in South Asia in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries. It explores how gunpowder and artillery played a pivotal role in the military ascendancy of the East India Company in India. The monograph argues that the contemporary Indian military landscape was extremely dynamic, with contemporary indigenous polities (Mysore, the Maratha Confederacy and the Khalsa Kingdom) attempting to transform their military systems by modelling their armies on European lines. It shows how the Company established an edge through an efficient bureaucracy and a standardised manufacturing system, while the Indian powers primarily focused on continuous innovation and failed to introduce standardisation of production. Drawing on archival records from India and the UK, this volume makes a significant intervention in our understanding of the rise of the British Empire in South Asia. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of history, especially military history, military and strategic studies and South Asian studies.

Climate of Conquest

Climate of Conquest PDF Author: Pratyay Nath
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199098239
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
What can war tell us about empire? In Climate of Conquest, Pratyay Nath seeks to answer this question by focusing on the Mughals. He goes beyond the traditional way of studying war in terms of battles and technologies. Instead, he unravels the deep connections that the processes of war-making shared with the society, culture, environment, and politics of early modern South Asia. Climate of Conquest closely studies the dynamics of the military campaigns that helped the Mughals conquer North India and project their power beyond it. The author argues that the diverse natural environment of South Asia deeply shaped Mughal military techniques and the course of imperial expansion. He also sheds light on the world of military logistics, labour, animals, and the organization of war; the process of the formation of imperial frontiers; and the empire’s legitimization of war and conquest. What emerges is a fresh interpretation of Mughal empire-building as a highly adaptive, flexible, and accommodative process.