The Garrison State: Military Government and Society in Colonial Punjab 1849-1947

This book examines the impact of the military in the development of colonial Punjab, given the importance of the army as the bulwark of the British Raj in India. The task of maintaining control over the army's primary recruiting base was a matter of extreme gravity for the British. This study examines the processes and extent by which the province was militarized. By focusing on the relationship between the military and the colonial state in the Punjab, this book seeks to enhance our understanding of the nature of the colonial state and the mechanism of imperial governance and control in India and now Pakistan. It also throws light on the historical continuities in the processes of state formation by showing how military exigency impinged upon the functioning and ultimately shaped the character of the colonial state and society in the Punjab, leaving a legacy which has persisted into the post colonial states of South Asia. This study examines the processes that led to the opening of certain districts in the Punjab as a recruiting ground for the Indian Army during the second half of the nineteenth century. It analyses the nature of this military labour market and shows how, although the recruiting ground was a restricted one, the need to maintain it nevertheless influenced key official decisions in the Punjab, most notably the adoption of the Land Alienation Act of 1900 and the repeal of the colonization bill in 1907. During the First World War the need to mobilize and control a substantially expanded recruiting ground led to the integration of the civil administration with its rural intermediaries and the military command into a monolithic edifice, thereby laying the foundations of a civil-military regime in the Punjab.

About the Author :
Tan Tai Yong: Associate Professor of History and Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS). He has written extensively on Sikh and Punjabi history as well as on Southeast Asia and Singapore. His recent publications include 'The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia' (co-authored 2000) and 'The Transformation of Southeast Asia: International Perpectives on De-colonization' (co-edited 2003). He was Head of the History Department at NUS from 2000 to 2003 and is currently serving as Acting Director of the newly established Institute of South Asian Studies at NUS.