The history of warfare is closely linked not only with political history but also with cultural and socio-economic history. In ancient India, the importance of military power was seen as an important aspect of statecraft. The development of ancient Indian military thinking was the culmination of various social and political thinking that emerged within Indian society.

This book traces the evolution of theories of warfare in India from the dawn of civilization, focusing on the debate between Dharmayuddha (Just War) and Kutayuddha (Unjust War) within Hindu philosophy. This debate centers around four questions: What is war? What justifies it? How should it be waged? And what are its potential repercussions?

The title aspires to present a panorama of India’s yet to be fully discovered martial heritage, denoted by its unconquerable ancient epoch, a critique of the generally misread medieval age vicissitudes, followed by a survey of the contemporary & post-independence travails and triumphs. Not a historical narrative, it attempts to define what constitutes India’s natural-born military mind, how it evolved and breasted the world-conquering armies, followed by critical glimpses of the past ordeals, besides its uncelebrated defiance & conquests. The venture culminates in defining the nation’s prospective defence and development policy imperatives, for its emerging global role. It is rare in providing in one volume India’s scintillating perspective of the past, present and the future. The ardent quest, spanning over twelve years, is a reflective blend of a review of the Vedas, the Epics, relevant Shastras & other select material of help, with the author’s long years of rich military operational, planning and instructional experience. Poring over its pages answers many elemental questions, coming naturally to a lay reader, student, research scholar, man-at-arm, defence analyst and the policy maker. The thesis fills a gap by covering a wide range of archeological, historical, politico-military, socio-cultural and strategic and warfare issues, besides dispelling certain myths, which tend to demean India’s way of life and war fighting. The scrutiny of the post-independence wars comes to several untold finds. An exclusive study on ‘what motivates men in combat’ gives the subject an added depth. A lucid account of the nuances of the vital subject, bolstered by an unflagging perceptive probe, makes it an absorbing study.

The Indian Army was one of the most important colonial institutions that the British created. From its humble origins as a mercantile police force to a modern contemporary army in the Second World War, this institution underwent many transitions. This book examines the Indian Army during the later colonial era from the First Afghan War in 1839 to Indian independence in 1947. During this period, the Indian Army developed from an internal policing force, to a frontier army, and then to a conventional western style fighting force capable of deployment to overseas’ theaters. These transitions resulted in significant structural and doctrinal changes in the army. The doctrines, and tactics honed during this period would have a dramatic impact upon the post-colonial armies of India and Pakistan. From civil-military relations to fighting and structural doctrines, the Indian and Pakistani armies closely reflect the deep-seated impact of decades of evolution during the late colonial era.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of warfare in Ancient India, covering military strategies, tactics, and weaponry used during various time periods. Dikshitar examines key battles, such as those fought during the Mauryan and Gupta empires, and discusses the importance of factors such as terrain and logistics in determining the outcome of war. A must-read for anyone interested in Ancient Indian history or military history in general. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru helped create the myth of a nonviolent ancient India while building a modern independence movement on the principle of nonviolence (ahimsa). But this myth obscures a troubled and complex heritage: a long struggle to reconcile the ethics of nonviolence with the need to use violence to rule. Upinder Singh documents the dynamic tension between violence and nonviolence in ancient Indian political thought and practice over twelve hundred years. Political Violence in Ancient India looks at representations of kingship and political violence in epics, religious texts, political treatises, plays, poems, inscriptions, and art from 600 BCE to 600 CE. As kings controlled their realms, fought battles, and meted out justice, intellectuals debated the boundary between the force required to sustain power and the excess that led to tyranny and oppression. Duty (dharma) and renunciation were important in this discussion, as were punishment, war, forest tribes, and the royal hunt. Singh reveals a range of perspectives that defy rigid religious categorization. Buddhists, Jainas, and even the pacifist Maurya emperor Ashoka recognized that absolute nonviolence was impossible for kings. By 600 CE religious thinkers, political theorists, and poets had justified and aestheticized political violence to a great extent. Nevertheless, questions, doubt, and dissent remained. These debates are as important for understanding political ideas in the ancient world as for thinking about the problem of political violence in our own time.

**Short-listed for the Society for Army Historical Research UK's Templer Medal Best First Book Prize, 2020** In the Indian Army of the British Raj, the officer corps was “reserved for the governing race”— in other words, the British. Only in 1917, a mere thirty years before India won its 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, Indianization, the Officer Corps, and the Indian Army 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 policymakers 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, it 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 civil-military relations.