Radhika Singha
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197525586
- eISBN:
- 9780197554562
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197525586.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
Though largely invisible in histories of World War one, over 550,000 men in the ranks of the Indian Army were followers or non-combatants. From porters and construction workers in the ‘Coolie Corps’, ...
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Though largely invisible in histories of World War one, over 550,000 men in the ranks of the Indian Army were followers or non-combatants. From porters and construction workers in the ‘Coolie Corps’, to ‘menial’ servants and those who maintained supply lines and removed the wounded from the battlefield, Radhika Singha draws upon their story to give the sub-continent an integral rather than ‘external’ place in this world –wide conflict. The labor regimes built on the backs of these 'coolies' had long sustained imperial militarism. This was particularly visible in the border infrastructures put in place by combinations of waged work, corvee, and, tributary labor.These work regimes, and the political arrangements which sustained them, would be bent to the demands of global war. This amplified trans-border ambitions and anxieties and pulled war zones closer home. Manpower hunger unsettled the institutional divide between Indian combatants and non-combatants. The ‘higher’ followers benefitted, less so the ‘menial’ followers, whose position recalled the dependency of domestic service and who included in their ranks the ‘untouchables’ consigned to stigmatised work. The book explores the experiences of the Indian Labor Corps in Mesopotamia and France and concludes with an exploration of the prolonged, complicated nature of the ‘end of the war’ for the sub-continent. The Coolie's Great War views the conflict unfolding over the world through the lens of Indian labor, bringing new social, spatial, temporal and sensory dimensions to the narrative.Less
Though largely invisible in histories of World War one, over 550,000 men in the ranks of the Indian Army were followers or non-combatants. From porters and construction workers in the ‘Coolie Corps’, to ‘menial’ servants and those who maintained supply lines and removed the wounded from the battlefield, Radhika Singha draws upon their story to give the sub-continent an integral rather than ‘external’ place in this world –wide conflict. The labor regimes built on the backs of these 'coolies' had long sustained imperial militarism. This was particularly visible in the border infrastructures put in place by combinations of waged work, corvee, and, tributary labor.These work regimes, and the political arrangements which sustained them, would be bent to the demands of global war. This amplified trans-border ambitions and anxieties and pulled war zones closer home. Manpower hunger unsettled the institutional divide between Indian combatants and non-combatants. The ‘higher’ followers benefitted, less so the ‘menial’ followers, whose position recalled the dependency of domestic service and who included in their ranks the ‘untouchables’ consigned to stigmatised work. The book explores the experiences of the Indian Labor Corps in Mesopotamia and France and concludes with an exploration of the prolonged, complicated nature of the ‘end of the war’ for the sub-continent. The Coolie's Great War views the conflict unfolding over the world through the lens of Indian labor, bringing new social, spatial, temporal and sensory dimensions to the narrative.
Alejandra Dubcovsky
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781496812193
- eISBN:
- 9781496812230
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496812193.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
The rivalry between Britain and Spain serves as the backdrop to Alejandra Dubcovsky’s essay about the limitations of communication between European capitals and the colonial frontier as the aspiring ...
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The rivalry between Britain and Spain serves as the backdrop to Alejandra Dubcovsky’s essay about the limitations of communication between European capitals and the colonial frontier as the aspiring global powers sparred over the construction of a modest British fort. Neither formal diplomatic negotiations in London nor the more informal, spontaneous efforts of local commanders could produce a common framework for the resolution of the dispute. Too often the parties spoke past, rather than with, each other as they each tried to assert their control over a patch of ground on the other side of the sea.Less
The rivalry between Britain and Spain serves as the backdrop to Alejandra Dubcovsky’s essay about the limitations of communication between European capitals and the colonial frontier as the aspiring global powers sparred over the construction of a modest British fort. Neither formal diplomatic negotiations in London nor the more informal, spontaneous efforts of local commanders could produce a common framework for the resolution of the dispute. Too often the parties spoke past, rather than with, each other as they each tried to assert their control over a patch of ground on the other side of the sea.
