Kaushik Roy - Indian Army and the First World War

Indian Army and the First World War

Indian Army and the First World War

191418

KAUSHIK ROY

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ISBN-13 (print edition): 978-0-19-948565-9

ISBN-10 (print edition): 0-19-948565-8

ISBN-13 (eBook): 978-0-19-909367-0

ISBN-10 (eBook): 0-19-909367-9

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CONTENTS

This volume deals with the structure and functions of the Indian Army during the First World War. The Indian Army is treated as an institution and the focus is on its social and military (operationaltactical) dimensions. I have attempted to introduce a comparative angle by contrasting the functioning of the Indian Army with that of the other armies which fought in the Great War. The aim is to highlight the commonalities and uniqueness (if any) present in this colonial institution. In this book, the terms Great War, World War I, and First World War are used interchangeably. Further, instead of Turks, I have used the term Ottomans. The latter term is more appropriate in the context of the First World War since the Ottoman Empire, despite being run by the Turks, was a multiethnic entity. An academic volume published during the centenary year of the First World War (that is, 2018) will be of value to both military libraries and those interested in British imperial history in general and military history in particular. Since this book deals mostly with regions outside India, we can assume that it will find a market beyond South Asias libraries. Further, the analysis of military operations given in the form of a narrative might also engage general literate readers interested in war history.

Kaushik Roy

April 2018

For the last ten years, I have been researching on the role of the Indian Army in the Great War and have written some articles on this subject. Initially, I started working on Indias role in First World War owing to Professor Ian Becketts encouragement. My thanks go to the commissioning editor of Oxford University Press, who first encouraged me to write a volume on the Indian Armys activities during the First World War. This volume is designed as a prequel to my volume titled India and World War II: War, Armed Forces, and Society, 193945(Oxford University Press, 2016). I am grateful to my students Moumita and Arka for doing archival work in New Delhi, India, on my behalf. Credit is due to my friend Gavin and my PhD student Siddhartha for supplying me with some documents from England. I am indebted to Professor Jeremy Black, who took the trouble of reading the manuscript and providing fresh insights. I am also grateful to the undergraduate students in the Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, with whom I interacted in 2015 while teaching a course on the First World War. And I need not thank her. It goes without saying that all faults are mine alone.

Kaushik Roy