Paper short abstract

Prior to independence nationalist politicians were united in their criticism of the divide and rule structure of the colonial Indian army. I examine why, despite this, successive governments have not decided radically reshaped India's 'martial class' military.

Paper long abstract

Prior to independence nationalist politicians were united in their criticism of the divide and rule structure of the colonial Indian army, and argued that India could not survive as a democracy without that institution's radical reform. Yet after independence successive governments have not carried out dramatic reforms, and the colonial 'martial class' regiments remain in place today. I take advantage of hithero untapped archival and pension records to provide a detailed picture of the ethnic and regional recruitment patterns of the post-war Indian army.I examine how and why these regiments have survived, and why a democratic state has decided not to radically reshape a colonially-structured military.