The Coolie's Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914-1921

by Radhika Singha

Though largely invisible in histories of the First World War, over??550,000 men in the ranks of the Indian army were non-combatants. From the porters, stevedores and construction workers in the Coolie Corps to those who maintained supply lines and removed the wounded from the battlefield, Radhika Singha recovers the story of this unacknowledged service.
The labor regimes built on the backs of these 'coolies' sustained the military infrastructure of empire; their deployment in interregional arenas bent to the demands of global war. Viewed as racially subordinate and subject to 'non-martial' caste designations, they fought back against their status, using the warring powers' need for manpower as leverage to challenge traditional service hierarchies and wage differentials.
The Coolie's Great War views that global conflict through the lens of Indian labor, constructing a distinct geography of the war--from tribal settlements and colonial jails, beyond India's frontiers, to the battlefronts of France and Mesopotamia.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India, Indian Literature

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2020

About the author

Radhika Singha is Professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Her research interests focus on colonial crime and criminal law, identification practices, colonial governmentality, and the history of borders and border–crossing in South Asia. The mobilization of human, fiscal and material resources from South Asia for World War one has become an intersecting research track.

Reviews

[Karandeep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well researched and interesting to read about a certain part of Colonial Indian History that's not really documented by the mainstream media.

But very dry as well.

[Indumugi C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-popping history of Indian labour in world war one. Extremely academic but the research that has gone into writing this book is so stunning. Meticulous references that one cannot avoid but read along with the content.

[Ritesh Nag · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books narrates the uncharted story of Indian labour (aka Coolie) in world war one. I am sure this book is a result of a lot of hard work and research (hats off to the writer fo pulling up that)

Although for a non-history background writer, this book could have been written a way to make it a easy read (like Guns, germs and steel).

[Stevie · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’m giving this book like. 77.5. it has so much detailed information and i love that and the work the author put in with research on a subject that hasn’t been explored enough that being said- it was so hard to read bc it just felt dry and dense. i think if you’re truly passionate about a bottom-up history of Indian laborer contributions in the first world war i recommend…otherwise