Book Review | 'Yodha' Is A Mammoth Documentation Of India's Wars And Battles

Battles and wars are companions of mankind. Culture and values survive on the strength of warriors. Wars and battles are still being fought in parts of the world. India has seen many of the wars, as late as the Kargil War, while the 20th century went into the sunset.

If Prithviraj Chouhan had not forgiven Mohammed Ghori after the Battle of Terain, the history of India would have possibly been different. But Chouhan held his value system high, and forgave the invader. The cost of forgiveness was defeat a year later in the second Battle of Terain.

Military historian Shiv Kunal Verma has come out with a mammoth exercise in the documentation of battles and wars in his book Yodha: Illustrated Military History Of India - The Epics (BCE) To The Uprising (1857). This book adds to Verma's several works, including 1962: The War That Wasn't, 1965: A Western Sunrise, Life of an Industani: Six Degrees Separation, and others.
Verma entices readers to engage with the vivid accounts of battles fought in India with as many as 1600 illustrations in the book. The pages become visually appealing as one turns from one battle to another.

It is lamentable that many of the heroes of India are not widely not known. Verma brings them alive by telling tales of their valour. Lachit Borphukan gains the limelight in the book for his military tactics that helped him crush the armies sent by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Borphukan freed Guwahati and parts of Assam from the Mughals on the might of his sheer military tactics.

Aurangzeb had sent a naval fleet from Dhaka under the command of Ram Singh to crush the Ahoms. "In 1671, Ram Singh led a naval fleet along the Brahmaputra River. In the vicinity of Saraighat, they came across the Ahom boats commanded by Lachit Borphukan that were waiting for them," writes Verma in the book.

The author further writes that while "Lachit was very ill, he led from the front, declaring that he would die carrying out his duty for his king and the country, even if it meant doing it alone." The Mughal army fled from the Manas River as Lachit led frontal attacks on the invaders.
Verma rightly states in the book that disunity among the rulers allowed the invaders to set their feet in the country.

The porous frontiers in Afghanistan allowed the invaders to attack India, from Alexander to Taimur and the Mughals. The Porus versus Alexander battle of 326 BCE sets the tone for the book as it gives graphic accounts of military tactics employed by the Macedonian and the Pourava armies.

Indians never gave up in their resolve to evict the invaders. From Qutb-ud-din Aibak to Aurangzeb, they all faced uprisings against the rule of the foreigners. Historians have rightly stated that the invaders proved successful because of their military tactics and war innovations. They ran through the terrains of India with the help of agile armies.

Cavalry played a key role in their victories. The Indian rulers were divided, and they were less innovative in adopting changes in methods and means of war.

Verma brings alive the accounts of the great military achievements of Kanhoji Angre, who had established a ferocious naval fleet. "Kanhoji Angre's success as a naval commander had been spectacular, and by the time of his death in 1729, he had carved out a virtual maritime kingdom for himself. He controlled the entire coastline from Sawantwadi to Bombay, which is the entire coastal belt of Maharashtra," writes Verma in the book.

The book guides readers through the historical events that led to the decline of the Mughals and the gradual expansion of British Rule in India. Verma has analysed the battles to allow the readers to know the circumstances that prevailed in the outcomes of the wars.

The accounts of the 1857 uprising cap the illustrated book by Verma. "There is little doubt that the uprising caught the British completely off guard. In the final analysis, the factors that played a key role in their eventual quelling of the sepoys was the fact that by and large, the Madras and Bombay Presidency armies did not get affected, limiting the uprising to the Gangetic and Indus belts of North India," writes Verma in the book, summing up the reasons that allowed the British to assert its rule in India.

The book is unique in undertaking a humongous exercise to pack battles from the Ramayana to the 1857 uprising. The colourful illustrations deepen readers' interest.

The book, published by Browser, possibly could have done a greater service by also incorporating the battles fought by tribal warriors. The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is encouraging documentation of local icons. Overall, the book helps in adding to the interest of readers in history. Besides, it has the potential to become a one-stop window for students and researchers.      

(The author is a Delhi-based columnist and commentator)