Until well into the twentieth century, pack animals were the primary mode of transport for supplying armies in the field. The British Indian Army was no exception. In the late nineteenth century, for example, it forcibly pressed into service thousands of camels of the Indus River basin to move supplies into and out of contested areas—a system that wreaked havoc on the delicately balanced multispecies environment of humans, animals, plants, and microbes living in this region of Northwest India. In Animal Labor and Colonial Warfare, James Hevia examines the use of camels, mules, and donkeys in colonial campaigns of conquest and pacification, starting with the Second Afghan War—during which an astonishing 50,000 to 60,000 camels perished—and ending in the early twentieth century. Hevia explains how during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a new set of human-animal relations were created as European powers and the United States expanded their colonial possessions and attempted to put both local economies and ecologies in the service of resource extraction. The results were devastating to animals and human communities alike, disrupting centuries-old ecological and economic relationships. And those effects were lasting: Hevia shows how a number of the key issues faced by the postcolonial nation-state of Pakistan—such as shortages of clean water for agriculture, humans, and animals, and limited resources for dealing with infectious diseases—can be directly traced to decisions made in the colonial past. An innovative study of an underexplored historical moment, Animal Labor and Colonial Warfare opens up the animal studies to non-Western contexts and provides an empirically rich contribution to the emerging field of multispecies historical ecology.

Since its foundation in 1747, Afghanistan has seen seemingly limitless wars waged by the central government to consolidate its control over the country as well as rampant tribal warfare. There have been three Anglo-Afghan Wars (1839-42, 1878-79 and 1919); a Russian-backed Marxist government in Kabul battled a coalition of tribal armies, which was soon followed by the Taliban takeover. Now, in the midst of a war against terrorism, the United States is backing another central government in yet another sporadic struggle. All the information currently available on the endless chain of wars stretching over two and a half centuries is traced in The A to Z of Afghan Wars, Revolutions and Insurgencies. It consists of the American involvement in Afghanistan since October 2001 as well as individual campaigns, including tactics and logistics of skirmishes, the weapons used, and biographical entries on the significant leaders involved in the battles. Extensive analysis of regional and ideological divisions within the country and the external forces that have brought around conflict in this remote, mountainous region, in addition to a chronology of the encounters, an extensive bibliography, and numerous maps and illustrations make this crucial volume indispensable.

Volume 4 of 4. The January and July issues of the Indian Army List contain not only the distribution of officers on the active list of the Army in India, including officers of British army regiments, battalions etc stationed in India, but are supplemented by the addition of Orders of Knighthood, Honours and Awards, including Foreign Orders, by the non-effective officer list and the War Services of officers of the Indian Army. Details of each officer include dates of birth (except for wartime commissioned officers), date of first commission, of appointment to the Indian Army and dates of promotion. Officers are grouped according to their rank and by seniority within that rank, and are again shown under their regiments/battalions. In the case of British units, their date of arrival in India is shown, and with Indian units their date of formation and changes in title since, plus details of the backgrounds of men recruited, e.g. Sikhs, Punjabis, Dogras, Rajputs, etc. This army list also includes all native Viceroy Commissioned Officers - Subadar Majors, Subadars and Jemadars - and their war services, Major HQs and their staffs, divisional and brigade commanders and their staffs, schools, colleges, Administrative Departments of the Army are all shown. Non-regular Indian Defence Force units such as 22nd Bengal and North-Western railway Battalion, and the Indian Army Reserve of Officers are all there, along with British Warrant Officers serving in departments of the Indian Army. In 1914 there were 116 Indian and 10 Gurkha Regiments, all with one battalion apart from the cavalry, 32 Indian and one Gurkha regiment had been formed and the majority of the original regiments had raised second and sometimes third battalions. This splendid four-volume work reflects the tremendous contribution made by the Indian Army to the Empire's war effort. A full index is included.

This up-to-date, comprehensive, thematically indexed bibliography devoted to Afghanistan now and yesterday will help readers to efficiently find their way in the massive secondary literature available. Following the pattern established by one of its major data sources, viz. the acclaimed Index Islamicus, both journal articles and book publications are included and expertly indexed. An indispensable entry for all those taking professional or personal interest in a nation so much the focus of attention today.

At the height of the 'Great Game' in Central Asia, in the run up to World War I and the aftermath of the second Afghan War, the region of Afghanistan became particularly significant for both Great Britain and Russia. Afghanistan and the Defence of Empire explores the relationship between British and Afghan rulers, during the crucial period of the reign of Amir Habibullah Khan, as the British sought to safeguard their Indian Empire from the threat of Imperial Russia. With Russia's defeat at the hands of the Japanese in 1905 and the rise of Germany as a superpower, the need to end the rivalry took on the utmost importance: efforts which culminated in the singing of the Anglo-Russian Convention in 1907. As the history of Afghanistan becomes ever more crucial for the understanding of its present military and political situation, this book will be of vital interest for students of History, Central Asian Studies, Military History and International Relations.