MILITARY GEOGRAPHY AND TRANSFORMATIONAL TRAJECTORY OF THE PUNJAB (1849-1947): AN APPRAISAL

Abstract

This study investigated how the making of modern Punjab, its political configurations, social relations, and economic lives were affected by military geography and shaped by ethos of militarism and militarization instituted by the British Indian Empire. Military geography of Punjab and its effects on the lives of the people and landscape was under researched in the history of Punjab’s human geography and even in urban studies and sociology of change. In such a context, the proposed study is a significant attempts to unravel the role of militarism, military activities and related developments in shaping the colonial times and spaces. Though it looks at the specific military history of Punjab in this connection, which in itself would be a significant contribution, at a larger level the work will emphasise on the colonial military history of British India and consequent transformations driven by military geography with a considered position that the whole Indian sub-continent did not follow a single and pre-determined historical trajectory in this regard. The original contribution of this work lies particularly in the arrangement and manifestation of cartographic presentations and historical accounts in context to military activities. It also gives a new background to the ways through which military geography can be defined. The definition has moved on just from ‘the effect of v geography on military activities and militarism’ to ‘the ways in which military activities are geographically constituted’ to the proclamation of ‘space and power’. This work is integrative and based on the appraisal of the background of conversion of Punjab into garrison state and the observation effect of military activities on the landscape. Those landscapes are selected, mapped, interpreted and contextualised for detailed study. It gives the expression of reality of the impact of military activities on social, economic and spatial sphere. While transformation of selected cantonment towns are examined in two chapters to decipher this phenomenon but the work retains military geography of Punjab in entire scene.