Description
Lexington Books Indianization the Officer Corps and the Indian Army by Chandar S. Sundaram
In 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 Armys officer corps thus slowly beginning its Indianization. Yet it is often forgotten that this decision was the culmination of a hundredyearlong 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 counterschemes 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 selfgovernment. This work also offers insights into the martial races concept the 1857 uprising and the impact of AngloIndian ideology upon the Indian Army. Clearly written and carefully argued this monograph 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 to civilmilitary relations.show more