Description
Book SynopsisIn the Indian Army of the British Raj, the officer corps was reserved for the governing race, (i.e. the British). Only in 1917, a mere thirty years before India won 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, this book 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 policy-makers 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, this monograph is
Trade ReviewCarefully researched and written, Indianization, the Officer Corps, and the Indian Army: The Forgotten Debate, 1817-1917, offers readers an insight into the important, and often forgotten `pre-history’ of the Indianization of the army. This book does an excellent job of exploring the tensions within a military establishment that at once championed a return to `traditional’ rulers and the incorporation of `martial races’ into the Indian army while riddled with a deep-seated racism and elitism that blocked any moves toward Indianization until absolutely required. -- Erica Wald, University of London
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Defining and Conceptualizing the Forgotten Indianization Debate Chapter 1: Contexts of the Forgotten Indianization Debate, 1600–1914 Chapter 2: The Idea of Indianization and its Enemies, 1817–1898 Chapter 3: The Imperial Cadet Corps: its Formation and Pedagogy, 1900–1915 Chapter 4: Future Recruitment, Future Employment and the Future of the Corps, 1902–1915 Chapter 5: War and the Window of Opportunity, 1914–1917 Chapter 6: Little Grace in the Giving: Indianization Policy, 1917–1940 Conclusion: Of “Psychological Moments” and “Persistant Agitation”
