Publisher's Synopsis
Warfare has determined the fate of India from the dawn of civilization. Battles like Tarain and Panipat have altered the course of history. The army has always been one of the biggest government employers and the military constituted the principal item of expenditure for the state. Nevertheless, military history remains marginal within the academic discourse. This work shows the interaction between war as an institution and society. Along with society, ecology remains a crucial integer in shaping the scope and mode of warfare. A long duree approach along with cross-cultural comparisons is undertaken for understanding the specificity of Indian military history. This book is a work of synthesis and argues that several military revolutions had occurred outside India since the time of Alexander.