From Sepoy To Subedar: Being The Life And Adventures Of Subedar Sita Ram, A Native Officer Of The Bengal Army, Written And Related By Himself (routledge Library Editions: British In India)

British military history in India has been amply documented, but From Sepoy to Subedar by Sita Ram is the only published account by an Indian soldier of his experiences serving in the East India Company's Army. These memoirs cover a span of more than forty years of active service, and provide a fascinating insight into the lives of the Indian soldiers serving under the British. In tracing the development of India from British colony to self-governing independent republic, this book, first published in 1974, combines examples of what this has meant to individual Indians, whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, with an outline of India's history from the end of the nineteenth century to the death of Nehru in 1964. This set of previously-out-of-print titles reissues a selection of classic works on India. These range from works on the Indian princes, the palaces of the Raj, the plight of the untouchables, Congress, and British attitudes and politics. Taken together, these books form an essential reference source. Subedar is a historical rank in the Indian Army, ranking below British commissioned officers and above non-commissioned officers.