Revisiting British–India’s Military Historiography

Abstract

The British-officered Indian Army (colonial Indian Army/Sepoy Army) was the principal pillar of the British Empire in India. This force constituted the main item of expenditure in the state budget. Modern historical writing on the Indian colonial armed forces started in the 1970s. This survey is organised along four interrelated themes of war and the British–Indian state, British–Indian armed forces and Indian society, warfare and British-India’s military culture, and finally the British–Indian military as a combat organisation. It charts the trends and shifts in historical writings in the field of British-era Indian militaries.