Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores attention to the membership of the 'rebel armies' that conduct low-intensity warfare in modern South Asia and focuses on the recruitment of non-combatants. It starts from 1500 BC when tribal militias came into existence in the subcontinent and brings up the story till present date. The book is a synthesis of existing works and primary research. It shows that far from being an armed mob, the pre-British indigenous armies were capable of manoeuvring and were not technologically stagnant. The book describes Deccan and south India including Sri Lanka under the orbit of study. M. K. Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and the Indian National Congress-led freedom struggle against British imperialism in South Asia resulted in the marginalization of academic study of war in postcolonial India.