Unconventional Warfare

Small Wars and Insurgencies in the India-Myanmar Borderland (1914–1945)

Pum Khan Pau

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040317617
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

The book probes the lesser-known history of the Great Wars in the India-Myanmar borderland from the perspective of the indigenous people of the area. It critically studies how the indigenous hill people saw the Wars as an opportunity to defend their land and free themselves from the bondage of colonial rule. The volume provides an in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of unconventional warfare during the First and Second World Wars, where conventional methods of fighting seemed to be irrelevant in the mountainous Indo-Burma frontier, and studies the role played by the indigenous hill people who had traditional expertise in jungle warfare.

An important contribution to indigenous studies, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of history, Northeast India, frontier studies, military history, insurgency and counterinsurgency, colonialism, tribal studies, and the history of modern Southeast Asia.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. Understanding Warfare in Hill Society
• 2. ‘Petty Warfare’ on a Colonial Frontier
• 3. War Within a War: Labour Corps and Local Response
• 4. Divided Loyalties? Propaganda and Indigenous Response
• 5. Behind the Enemy Line: Local Levies and Guerrilla Warfare
• 6. Caught Between Empires: The Politics of Zo Participation
• 7. Transborder Road: Logistics and Local Participation on the Tedim Road
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index