This study traces the origins of the Indian National Army in the imagination of Iwaichi Fujiwara, a young Japanese intelligence officer, and the relationship between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Indian National Army as it evolved under the leadership of Bengali revolutionary, Subhas Chandra Bose. The study is unique in its use of Japanese archival sources for analysis of the relationship between Japanese policy formulation and the Indian independence movement in its military phase.
Steven I. Wilkinson explores how India has succeeded in keeping the military out of politics, when so many other countries have failed. He uncovers the command and control strategies, the careful ethnic balancing, and the political, foreign policy, and strategic decisions that have made the army safe for Indian democracy.
On The Right Of 16-17 January 1941, Subhas Chandra Bose Secretly Left His Elgin Road Home In Calcutta And Was Driven By His Nephew, Sisir, In A Car Up To Gomoh Railway Junction In Bihar. Before His Departure He Wrote A Few Post-Dated Letters To Be Mailed On His Return To Calcutta In Order To Give The British The False Impression That He Was Still At Home. This Volume Opens With One Such Letter And Is Indispensable For All Intrested In Modern South Asian History And Politics, As Well As Nationalism And International Relations In The Twentieth Century.
A unique examination of the role of the Indian army in post-World War II India in the run-up to Partition. Daniel Marston draws upon extensive archival research and interviews with veterans of the events of 1947 to provide fresh insight into the final days of the British Raj.
Among the more improbable events of the Asia-Pacific Theater in World War II was the creation in Singapore of a corps of female Indian combat soldiers, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (RJR). They served under Indian freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose in the Indian National Army. Because the creation of an Indian all-female regiment of combat soldiers was a radical military innovation in 1943, and because the role of women in today’s broader context of Indian culture has become a prevalent and pressing issue, the extensive testimony of the surviving veterans of this unit is timely and urgent. The history of these brave women soldiers is little known, their extraordinary service and the role played by Bose remains largely unexplored. In the years since the RJR surrender in 1945, the story of Subhas Chandra Bose and the Rani Regiment of female combatants as signature symbols of both the national fight for independence and of Indian women’s struggle for gender equality has taken on aspects of myth. Lengthy interviews with the veteran Ranis together with archival research comprise the evidence that separates the myth of the Bengali hero and his jungle warrior maidens from historical fact, and this resulting book presents an accurate narrative of the Ranis. The facts are nearly as impressive as the legend.
Operating from outside their homelands, exile armies have been an understudied phenomenon in history and international politics. From avoiding the fate of being a mere tool for a patron power to facing issues regarding their military efficacy and political legitimacy, exiled armies have found their journey home a tortuous one. This collection of essays covers the experience of exiled forces in the Second World War, principally in Europe, and also covers their activities around the globe during the Cold War and beyond.
This is a path breaking book by a former General that seeks to evaluate Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as a military leader and indeed, the First Supreme Commander of India. Netaji was instrumental in India getting her freedom. It is the first professional attempt to evaluate the military performance of the Indian National Army (INA) in World War-II and its significant impact on the Freedom Struggle. The book has gone into great details about each and every engagement fought by the INA. This meticulously researched book seeks to reopen a significant historical debate about how India got her freedom. A succession of court historians have tried to craft a narrative that India had obtained her freedom entirely by the soft power of Ahimsa/non-violence and Satyagraha; and that hard power had no role to play whatsoever. There is also the dark secret about what finally happened to Bose. The author is pessimistic about the unearthing of the real truth as many critical Indian files have been destroyed. To get at the whole truth, we need access to Russian, Japanese and British archives. The author has analysed a wealth of data. It leaves us with some most disconcerting and horrible speculations about what happened to the man who in truth, got us our freedom. His legacy was buried and marginalised by a set of non-violent pretenders who expended inordinate amounts of energy in fighting the ghosts of the INA. Today, India as a nation needs to squarely face up to the truth. Bose, indeed was the icon of Indian nationalism. Today, we need to revive his legacy in the backdrop of an ugly debate that seeks to splinter the nation state in India under the pretext of free speech. Treason and treachery continue to flourish in India. That is why we need to revive the ardent nationalism of Bose - an Indian Samurai par excellence.
This is the story of the women from the Indian Subcontinent who fought against British imperial power from the 1600s until the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. It begins by looking at the Partition of India, and the unique impact this had on women who – in addition to the displacement and violence which affected millions of South Asians, suffered uniquely through a campaign of rape, abduction, and forced suicides which left a lasting impact on the souls of women from every community. It then seeks to shine a light on the often-forgotten story of these women – who were not just passive victims of British, and later, communal violence, but who fought alongside (or sometimes at the head of) their male counterparts to secure the fall of the British Raj and the independence of their own nation. The stories of up to forty women, are examined, from various religious and racial communities across South Asia who advocated for Indian Independence and should be remembered and celebrated as influential freedom fighters in the same way that their male contemporaries have been. The book concludes by briefly examining the role of women in Indian nationalist movements today, and how this can be traced to the precedent set by their ancestors during the colonial era.
