The Garrison State: Military, Government and Society in Colonial Punjab, 1849-1947(Sage Series in Modern Indian History)

The Garrison State examines the impact of the Indian army in the development of colonial Punjab. It examines the processes and extent by which the province was militarized, analyses the nature of this labour market and shows how the need to control an expanding recruiting ground led to the integration of the civil administration with the military command, therby laying the foundations of a civil-military regime in the Punjab.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction A ′Return to Arms′: Colonial Punjab and the Indian Army Recruiting in the Punjab: ′Martial Races′ and the Military Districts Garrison Province at Work: Punjab and the First World War Maintaining the Military Districts: Civil-Military Integration and District Soldiers′ Boards Managing the ′Martials′: Control and Concessions Securing the Reins of Power: Politics and Punjab′s Rural-Military Elites The Garrison State Cracks: Punjab and the Second World War Conclusion Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Tan Tai Yong is the Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies. He is currently Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore. He has written extensively on South Asian history as well as on Southeast Asia and Singapore. His recent books include Creating Greater Malaysia: Decolonisation and the Politics of Merger (2008); Partition and Post-Colonial South Asia: A Reader (co-edited, 2007); The Garrison State (2005); The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia (co-authored, 2000) and The Transformation of Southeast Asia: International Perspectives on De-Colonisation (co-edited, 2003).

Review :
"Tan Tai Yong has written a clear, solidly researched, new style account. Tan′s well-crafted account brings many threads of the story together. The Garrison State should interest many: South Asia specialists in many disciplines; most students of colonialism and/or military history; and those general readers who wish to penetrate the headlines to understand better the roots of a postcolonial state such a Pakistan." "The book is a valuable addition to not only the history of the Punjab, but also to wider literature on military and British imperial history. It will also be of immense value to political scientists and other scholars of contemporary Pakistan." The author highlights the role that the administration played after the second world war, and the manner in which it handled the demand for Pakistan and the subsequent partitioning of the province. This book will be of interest to historians of the Punjab and political scientists. This study examines how following the Mutiny of 1857 Punjab became the main recruiting ground for the Indian army, and the politics and political economy of the colonial Punjab were militarized. Young’s work…transcends narrow disciplinary divisions and speaks as much to national security studies and international politics as it does to military history.