India And World War 1

This is the first cultural and literary history of India and the First World War, with archival research from Europe and South Asia.

Drawing on untapped new sources, the first global history of the Indian Expeditionary Forces in World War I While their story is almost always overlooked, the 1.5 million Indian soldiers who served the British Empire in World War I played a crucial role in the eventual Allied victory. Despite their sacrifices, Indian troops received mixed reactions from their allies and their enemies alike-some were treated as liberating heroes, some as mercenaries and conquerors themselves, and all as racial inferiors and a threat to white supremacy. Yet even as they fought as imperial troops under the British flag, their broadened horizons fired in them new hopes of racial equality and freedom on the path to Indian independence. Drawing on freshly uncovered interviews with members of the Indian Army in Iraq and elsewhere, historian George Morton-Jack paints a deeply human story of courage, colonization, and racism, and finally gives these men their rightful place in history.

Contributed articles analyzing the impact of the World War I on Indian socioeconomic life.

Third place in the 2022 SAHR Templer Best First Book Prize More than one million Indian soldiers were deployed during World War I, serving in the Indian Army as part of Britain's imperial war effort. These men fought in France and Belgium, Egypt and East Africa, and Gallipoli, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. In Indian Soldiers in World War I Andrew T. Jarboe follows these Indian soldiers--or sepoys--across the battlefields, examining the contested representations British and Indian audiences drew from the soldiers' wartime experiences and the impacts these representations had on the British Empire's racial politics. Presenting overlooked or forgotten connections, Jarboe argues that Indian soldiers' presence on battlefields across three continents contributed decisively to the British Empire's final victory in the war. While the war and Indian soldiers' involvement led to a hardening of the British Empire's prewar racist ideologies and governing policies, the battlefield contributions of Indian soldiers fueled Indian national aspirations and calls for racial equality. When Indian soldiers participated in the brutal suppression of anti-government demonstrations in India at war's end, they set the stage for the eventual end of British rule in South Asia.

The Period Covered In This Book Is The Most Constructive Period In The History Of The Freedom Movement In India. The Hindus, The Muslims, The Moderates And The Extremists All Came Closer And Stood On A Common Platform For The Fulfillment Of Their National Aspirations. This Period Is Particularly Significant For The Fact That It Paved The Way For The Foundation Of The Gandhian Era, Over Which The Super Structure Of The Real Freedom Movement Of India Was Raised. It Will Not Be Exaggerating To Say That If The First World War Opened Grounds For The Historic Movement Of Gandhiji The Second World War Aimed The Final Blow For The Ultimate Liquidation Of The British Rule In India. An Interesting Episode Has Been Explored In This Book For Those Who Are Keen To Follow The History Of The Growth Of Nationalism In Modern India.The Book Is Based On Materials Collected From Such Sources As The Private Papers Of The Governor Generals, Parliamentary Papers, Home Political Proceedings, Report Of The Army In India Committee, Indian Sedition Committee Report, Report On The Indian Constitutional Reforms, Indian Industrial Commission Report, Moral And Material Progress Reports, Report Of The Administration Of Lord Hardinge, Report Of Me Administration Of Lord Chelsford, Report Of The Indian Fiscal Commission And Other Official Reports, Proceedings Of The Indian National Congress, Writings And Speeches Of The National Leaders And Contemporary Journals And Newspapers.

This book recasts the role of the Indian Army on the Western Front, questioning why its performance was traditionally deemed a failure.

Barkawi re-imagines the study of war with imperial and multinational armies that fought in Asia in the Second World War.

"First published in Great Britain in 2015 as The Raj at War by The Bodley Head"--Title page verso.