This book firmly roots the history of the British Indian sepoy in India'a medieval past.

It does so by exploring the ways in which the Indian regiments of the East India Company were formed over its first sixty years, when the Company was attempting to establish itself as a successor to the Mughal empire, as well as to the regional principalities of Northern India.

Following the Mutiny of 1857, various factors impelled the British to turn to the province of Punjab in north-western India as the principal recruiting ground for the Indian Army. This book examines the processes by which the politics and political economy of colonial Punjab was militarised by the province`s position as the `sword arm` of the Raj. The militarisation of the administration in the Punjab was characterised by a conjunction of the military, civil and political authorities. This led to the emergence of a uniquely civil-military regime, a phenomenon that was not replicated anywhere else in British India, indeed in the Empire. Analysing these events, this book: - Studies the manner in which the Punjab became the main recruiting ground for the Indian Army - Looks at how certain districts were selected for military recruitment, and the factors motivating the `military classes` among the Punjabis to join the Army - Discusses the effects of the First World War on the recruitment process in the Punjab - Highlights the role the civil-military regime played in the politics of the Punjab, its survival after the Second World War and the manner in which it handled the demand for Pakistan and the subsequent partitioning of the province.

British military history in India has been amply documented, but From Sepoy to Subedar by Sita Ram is the only published account by an Indian soldier of his experiences serving in the East India Company’s Army. These memoirs cover a span of more than forty years of active service, and provide a fascinating insight into the lives of the Indian soldiers serving under the British.

Founded by Sayyid Ahmad (1786-1831) of Rae Bareli, the Wahhabi Movement in India was a vigorous movement for socio-religious reforms in Indo-Islamic society in the nineteenth century with strong political undercurrents. It stood for a strong affirmation of Tauhid (unity of God), the efficacy of ijtihad (the right of further interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah, or of forming a new opinion by applying analogy) and the rejection of bid'at (innovation). It remained active for half a century. Sayyid Ahmad's writings show an awareness of the increasing British presence in the country and he regarded British India as a daru'l harb (abode of war). In 1826 he migrated and established an operational base in the independent tribal belt of the North Western Frontier area. After his death in the battle of Balakote, the Movement slackened for some time but his adherents particularly Wilayet Ali and Enayat Ali of Patna revived the work and broad-based its activities. The climax of the Movement was reached in the Ambeyla War (1863) during which the English army suffered serious losses at the hands of the Wahhabis. This led the Government to take stern measures to suppress the Movement. Investigations were launched, the leaders were arrested and sentenced to long-term imprisonments and their properties confiscated. That broke the back of the Movement but it continued to be a potential source of trouble to the government. The Movement does not fit in neatly in any one of the groups and categories into which the history of the early resistance to British rule has been divided by some of the writers on the subject. It cut across some of them time-wise and theme-wise. The existing studies on the subject do not offer a comprehensive profile of the Movement and fail to analyse its nature and the reasons for its failure politically. This well researched study drawing on a vast array of contemporary records, many of them for the first time, seeks to fill this gap and presents an integrated account of the rise and growth of the Movement, its operation over the entire area and period of its existence, its impact and reasons for its failure. Please note: This title is co-published with Manohar Publishers, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

A comparative study of how the British managed the expansion of empire in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.