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Caste Conflict and Elite Formation is a study in the social history of Sri Lanka. However, it does not merely document the remarkable successes in business enterprise and in the acquisition of Western-educated professional skills which were achieved by families from the Karava caste during the last two centuries; their advances, and the social and political struggles which accompanied this process, are employed as a window through which a survey of social change in Sri Lanka during the last four hundred years is conducted. The interest of the book extends beyond the many fascinating social incidents, historical trends and channels of elite formation that are described within its pages to a series of controlled comparisons which reveal the factors responsible for the formation of the Karava elite. Thus the book extends the methodological frontiers of the social history of the region. It emphasizes the significance of the patterns of caste discrimination and caste interaction in Sri Lankan politics, and reveals how these patterns were central to the incentives and opportunities which powered the advances of the Karava families. ... Read more

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This edited volume focuses on India's experiences waging counterinsurgency campaigns since its independence in 1947.

Filling a clear gap in the literature, the book traces and assess the origins, evolution and current state of India's counterinsurgency strategies and capabilities, focusing on key counterinsurgency campaigns waged by India within and outside its territory. It also analyzes the development of Indian doctrine on counterinsurgency, and locates this within the overall ebb and flow of India's defense and security policies. The central argument is that counterinsurgency has been an integral part of India's overall security policy and can thereby impart much to political and military leaders in other states. Since its emergence from British colonialism, India's defence policies have not merely sought to protect and preserve India's inherited colonial borders from threats by rival states, but have also sought to prevent and suppress secessionist movements. In countering insurgencies, the Indian state has fashioned strategies that seek to repress militarily any secessionist movement, while simultaneously forging a range of civilian administrative and institutional arrangements that attempt to address the grievances of disaffected populations.

The book highlights key strategic and tactical innovations that the Indian Army and security forces made to deal with a range of insurgent movements. Simultaneously, it also examines how the civilian-military nexus enabled India's policy makers to utilize existing, and formulate novel, institutional means to address extant political grievances. India has been most successful where it has managed to use calibrated force, obtained the trust of much of the aggrieved population and made persuasive commitments to political and institutional reform. Examination of these elements of India's counterinsurgency performance can be compared to counterinsurgency doctrine developed by other countries, including the United States, and thus yield comparative policy prescriptions and recommendations that can be applied to other counterinsurgency contexts.

This book will be of great interest to students of counterinsurgency and irregular warfare, Indian politics, Asian Security Studies and Strategic Studies in general.

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This historical, social and political analysis of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism provides an insider's account of the principal events in Sri Lanka's recent political history. It describes the key figures in the Tamil nationalist movement and the Sinhalese political establishment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Informative but biased
This book would appeal to people who want to know more about the Sinhalese - Tamil conflicts in Sri lanka. The first few chapters are about the Tamil people in Sri lanka, their culture, language, religion and way of life. Their caste structure is explained in detail. I would have loved to see more about their history and the kingdom of Jaffna. The next few chapters are about the political developments of Tamil parties in Sri lanka. Here we come to know about the Ponnambalam brothers, G.G. Ponnambalam, S.J.V Chelvanayakam and other Tamil leaders who fought for Tamil rights in a peaceful manner. The last few chapters deal with the violence that became synonymous with Tamil nationalism starting from the 1970's.

Written by a Tamil, this book is definitely sympathetic to the Tamil cause. The author points out a number of anti Tamil incidents perpetuated by the Sinhala state that sowed the seeds of the present conflict. These range from political repression, such as higher qualifications for Tamil students to be admitted to universities, to barbaric such as the burning of Jaffna public library resulting in the loss of precious Tamil manuscripts and literary works. The author rightly points out that a democracy cannot function properly when the rights of minority groups are suppressed. However the author never condones the terror perpetuated by the LTTE on their own people as well as the Sinhalese. He never mentions the fact that the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was just one of a score of political figures that were brutally assassinated by them. He never talks about the Sinhalese people and why they hate the Tamil people except for saying that the Sinhalese are a majority in Sri lanka with a minority complex. In many places the author is needlessly repetitive and sometimes his language is meandering. Useful to those who are really interested in the subject.

Informative read, good pointers to additional research
I greatly enjoyed this book.A great many of the men I have worked with were Tamil and I felt it important to learn about the events that caused this thing to happen, and learn more about why nothing is really being done to stop it.

But, like many global events, its causes are rooted in the complicated.The author does an excellent job of making this clear for the reader.

Thanks! ... Read more

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This is a well detailed volume on the natural history of Ceylon. It categories the mammals and gives their description and habits. A significant portion of the book has been devoted to the study of elephants; it gives an in depth study about its life, its habits, its structure and notes on the methods of capturing and taming it. The last chapter of the book deals with mollusk, radiate and a caliphate. This book is a reprint of the 1861 edition. With Narratives and anecdotes, this book is illustrative of the habit and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, and insects. It includes a monograph of the elephant and a description of the modes of capturing and training. ... Read more

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY TELLS ITS OWN TALE. AUTHOR DRAWS HIS OWN PORTRAIT VIGOROUSLY AND UNOSTENTASIOUSLY. ... Read more

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"Prince Vijaya Pala of Ceylon 1634-1654". ... Read more

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Product Dimensions: 29x23x5 cm, 868p, Numerous, Illus ... Read more

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Relates to Kotabowa village, Moneragela District of Sri Lanka. ... Read more

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with many illustrations ... Read more

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was launched in 1982 under the editorship of Ranajit Guha as a critique of the two dominant approaches to history-writing in South Asia -the colonialist and the nationalist. Rejecting both approaches as élitist,attempted to recover that space of politics where dominated and marginal groups -the subaltern classes -had tried to assert their own initiative.In its early phase,dealt extensively with the issue of community and violence in the context of peasant uprisings. Once the problems of peasant involvement in the modern politics of the nation were subjected to the same critical scrutiny, complexities in that relationship began to emerge. A new dimension was introduced when gender and national politics came to be taken seriously and in the present volume the whole range of new issues raised by the relations between community, gender and violence are addressed.The question of women and the nation, especially among minorities, features strongly in this work. Qadri Ismail examines the claims of Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka from the standpoint of the Southern Tamil woman; Aamir Mufti looks not at the familiar gendered figure of the nation as mother but, from the standpoint of the rejected minority, at the brutalized prostitute; while Tejaswini Niranjana writes on the "new woman" in contemporary Indian cinema.Further chapters look at women and minorities in the context of the law: Flavia Agnes examines the colonial and nationalist histories of the Hindu law of marriage and women's property, Nivedita Menon critically reviews the Indian debate over the universal civil code, and David Scott discusses, with an eye to Sri Lanka, the concept of minority rights within modern theories of citizenship.The issue of violence is taken up by Satish Deshpande in his study of the imagined space within which the new Hindu Right seeks to assert its dominance, and by Pradeep Jeganathan in his exploration of violence in the cultivation of masculinity. In her conclusion, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak considers the position within a globalized economic space of the "new subaltern" -the Third World laboring woman. ... Read more

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Stunning Essays
Subaltern Studies moves out of history, with essay by literary critics, anthropologists and most importantly, feminists. Some essays are just very good, but those by Jeganathan and Menon are brilliant. You must read this, if you are interested in any kind of post-colonial studies. ... Read more

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This text discusses the principal political and constitutional questions that have arisen in the states of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka following fifty years of independence. In Sri Lanka the pressing problems have been around the inter-ethnic civil war, experiments with constitutional designs, widespread prevalence of corruption and the recrudescence of Buddhist militancy. In India it has been corruption, Hindu nationalism and general political instability. In Bangladesh and Pakistan it has been the role of the military, the state and religion. A general theme is an analysis of the malaise that is prevalent and how and why this was inherited, despite the colonial legacy of parliamentary democracy, the steel framework of a trained bureaucracy, the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

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This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Macmillan in 1880 in 404 pages; Subjects: Villages; Indo-Europeans; India; Sri Lanka; Village communities; Bengal (India); Aryans; History / General; History / Asia / India & South Asia; Law / General; Law / International; Social Science / Customs & Traditions; Social Science / Sociology / Rural; Travel / Essays & Travelogues; ... Read more

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"Ceylon: The Paradise of Adam". ... Read more

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Francois Bernier was a French doctor who, with a desires to see the world, travelled to, and then travelled in India from 1656-1669. This fascinating work written in the form of a series of letters to people back home offers eye witness accounts of the politics and intrigues in the Mugal court just before the capture of the Mugal throne by Aurangzeb. Many incident are described in detail including the war for the throne between the 4 sons of shahjanan. It recounts the splendour of the Mugal court, its courtiers, the occupation of the people of the Mugal empire.Being a doctor he was one of the rare males to be admitted into the zenna (womens quarters)of aurangezeb. Bernier travelled all over the Mugal empire including travelling with the court of Aurangzeb to Kashmir. He gives a vivid description of the cities he visited esp Delhi and Agra and Lahore and details the daily life of the people with amusing anecdotes. It is a revised and enlarged edition based upon Irving Brock's translated by Archibald Constable. ... Read more

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Containing many historical details such as the account of Diu, the taking of Hormuz, and the founding of the Indian ships, this title gives details of the trade supplies and water of the various sea ports mentioned in it. ... Read more

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Written to describe the years between 1845-1852, this book by the famous Samuel Baker describes what he saw and experienced in the Island. The narrative starts from the time he first steps on the island till the time he reaches back to Britain. Through out the book the author offers his insight and opinion on the various aspects of Ceylon that he encounters, be it forests, people, customs, hunting, elephants, insect life, natural scenery, and while describing the ruins he gives a brief account of its history. ... Read more

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includes maps ... Read more