The volumes of the Project on the History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization aim at discovering the main aspects of India’s heritage and present them in an interrelated way. These volumes, in spite of their unitary look, recognise the difference between the areas of material civilization and those of ideational culture. The Project is not being executed by a single group of thinkers and writers who are methodologically uniform or ideologically identical in their commitments. In fact contributions are made by different scholars with different ideological persuasions and methodological approaches. The Project is marked by what may be called ‘methodological pluralism’. ‘Historical Perspectives of Warfare in India’: Some Morale and Materiel Determinants seeks to survey and interpret the history of war-making in India from the earliest times. It takes note of the special features of geopolitical, strategic and tactical preferences and compulsions of warfare in different temporal, spacial as well as socio-religious contexts. The supra-physical as also the hardware components are examined and the distinguishing features of the Indian experience are highlighted. Army organisations and operational doctrines are focussed upon instead of individual battles, which are discussed only to illustrate a point. Covering a vast canvas, the specialist contributors have given a general broad brush treatment to the subject, going into details in specially interesting topics. Features well known and common to warfare in almost all countries in the given epoch have been flown over to keep the book well within a reasonable size. The editor’s "Introduction" attempts to provide a synthesized overview of Indian armies over the centuries.
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