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War & Conflict: - The Vellore Mutiny

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One hundred and ninety-eight years after the first British ships arrive in Surat in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and some two hundred and six years after the formation of the British East India Company, and post the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British East India Company would gain control of India. The British East India Company after it had gained control of the country would tighten its grip on the nation. In order to maintain its grip, the East India Company employed young men to serve in its army, and these men were known as sepoys. The sepoy battalions that served the British East India Company were never officially formed but were recruited when the need arose to serve in the army that the British East India Company maintained in India, to not only counter threats from other European nations that were seeking to gain access to the lucrative Indian market but to also counter any threats that may arise from local principalities, and to put down any revolts. The se...
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War & Conflict:- The Sepoy Mutiny

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In 1600 the British East India Company was established to secure the lucrative South Asian spice market. Eight years later, in 1608, the first British ships arrived in Surat in the Western Indian state of Gujarat. What followed next was a series of battles to establish trading outposts in the subcontinent that would culminate in the Battle of Plassey, in 1757, in which the Nawab of Bengal would be defeated, and the British East India Company would gain control of the states of Bengal, Orissa, and Bihar. Following its victory, the British East India Company would continue to expand and soon the whole of India would come under its control. In the years that followed, the British East India Company would strengthen its hold on India, and in order to further its ambitions it would appoint agents that would be authorized to collect taxes on behalf of the British East India Company and the implementation of this system, which was known as the zamindari system, would put a strain on laborers...
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Dowry

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The issue of dowry has long cast a shadow on the Indian wedding scene and despite the passage of time there appears to be no respite for girls born in lower income families. Parents who want to marry their daughters off are sometimes forced into making payments that are beyond their means and a failure to do so can lead to abuse and other forms of mistreatment in the hands of husbands or in-laws. Approximately 8,000 deaths are recorded each year as being dowry related, some are suicides and others are the result of abuse. The figure however does not accurately reflect the number of women that are impacted by this rather unwholesome practice and it would be fair to say that the figure in reality is much higher because many of these cases go unreported sometimes due to fear of reprisals. Some of these women are educated, professional women, who are more than capable of bringing home a decent wage but in many instances that doesn’t seem to make all that much of a difference because despi...
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War & Conflict:- The Battle of Kohima

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The battle of Kohima is dubbed one of the bloodiest battles of the second world war, and it would be fair to say that it was the bloodiest battle fought by British soldiers in the war. In March 1944 in order to stop the allies from refurbishing the Chinese Nationalists Army that was fighting the Japanese in China, and in order to replenish their own dwindling supplies and boost the morale among Japanese troops stationed in Burma, the 15th Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) under the command of Lieutenant-General Renya Mutaguchi, crossed the Indo-Burmese border, to take Imphal, secure Manipur, and from there push on to the rest of India. The plan was twofold, the bulk of the troops were to push on to Imphal, and encircle the British and Indian soldiers that’d formed a defensive perimeter around the town, while the 31st division of the 15th IJA was to push on to Kohima, and cut the supply route to Imphal. Supplies to Imphal at that stage were being transported by road to Imphal from Dimapur. ...
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War & Conflict: - Battle of Sangshak

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In March 1944, members of the 15th Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), under the command of Lt. Gen. Renya Mutaguchi crossed over from Burma to India, to Manipur with the intentions of taking control of the numerous allied airstrips that were being used to refurbish the Chinese Nationalists Army that was fighting the Japanese in China, and stripping the numerous supply depots that were located in Imphal and other parts of Manipur, the IJA was running short of supplies, the battle in the Pacific was not going Japan’s way, and it was having difficulties refurbishing its troops. Part of the Japanese plan was to cut off the supplies to Imphal that was transported by road from Dimapur for British and Indian troops belonging to 4 corp. of the 14th British Army that’d set up a defensive perimeter around Imphal, and isolate Imphal before converging on it, and with this in mind, Japanese troops advanced towards Kohima. The Japanese however had to adhere to a strict timeline, because they were runnin...
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War & Conflict: - Battle of Imphal

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The battle of Imphal occurred in March 1944. Japanese troops had secured Burma, and despite the heavy fighting, British and Indian troops were unable to hold on to Burma, partly because of the intensity of the attacks and partly because they had little support from the locals who were weary of British rule and extended their support to the invading Japanese army. British and Indian troops were forced to retreat into Indian territory. Scattered and shattered, low on morale and equipment, they regrouped around Imphal. At the same time the allies were regrouping in Manipur to try and retake Burma. Manipur housed numerous supply depots and airfields from where allied planes could take off and drop supplies into China, and refurbish the Chinese resistance movement, and should the tide of battle turn, it would serve as a launching pad from where British and Indian troops could launch strikes into Burma. From the Japanese perspective, Imphal was crucial because its capture would not only all...
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War & Conflict: - The Assam Rifles

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The Assam Rifles (Rifles) is the oldest paramilitary force in India. They were formed in 1835, approximately 190 or so odd years ago, under the central armed police forces. They were known locally as the “cachar levy”. The Rifles were formed in Shillong, the capital of the state of Meghalaya, and the city is still the headquarters of the Rifles. The Rifles were initially tasked with protecting British tea plantations and settlements from attacks by local tribesmen. From there, the Rifles evolved to become a frontier force that was responsible for securing the northeastern borders of India, and in 1870 elements from the Rifles were merged into three Assam Military Police Battalions, and approximately 3,000 men from these battalions were later absorbed into the British Army during the first world war; a lot of these men were sent to various parts of Europe and Asia. These men, many of whom were Gurkhas, performed valiantly and were conferred numerous awards for bravery and gallantry, an...
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