India at War

A History of the Battles that Shaped Modern India | Indian Military History, Empires, Battles and Nation Building

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‘A thought-provoking and important contribution to our understanding of India’s past’—Shashi Tharoor, author, parliamentarian and public intellectual

‘A valuable contribution to India’s military history by one who has seen war at close quarters’—Shiv Shankar Menon, former national security adviser and former foreign secretary of India

‘“A must” not only for students of military history but for all citizens of India’—Major General Ian Cardozo (retd)

‘Pillay writes with the heart of a soldier, the rigour of a historian and the probing lens of a scholar’—Probal Dasgupta, scholar and author

India’s story has never been one of uninterrupted peace or of permanent defeat. It is the story of a civilization that has endured invasions, empires, partitions and wars, yet has never surrendered its identity. Across millennia, kingdoms rose and fell, frontiers shifted and conquerors came and went. India was wounded at times, divided at others, but always capable of renewal.

From ancient battlefields to the World Wars, where Indian soldiers fought under a foreign Crown, and to the mountains of Kashmir, where they defended a newly independent India, generations answered the call of duty. Their courage shaped history far beyond the subcontinent, yet many of their stories faded into obscurity. The history of India’s wars is therefore not merely a record of battles fought, but a testament to a people who refused to forget who they were. It restores these forgotten stories to their rightful place in India’s civilizational journey.

More than a chronicle of campaigns and commanders, India at War explores memory, sacrifice, resilience and the enduring spirit of a civilization. It explores how India survived when many empires vanished into history and why its identity endured despite centuries of conflict.