The term ‘ACKNOWLEDGEMENT’ has always struck me as a misnomer that carries with it more an obligatory recognition of debt than the valued recognition that appreciation implies. How to convey the gratitude that comes from those treasured friendships nourished by trust and care that in turn enable bolder ventures and more engaged critique?

Ever since I stumbled upon those uncatalogued files of the Political (War) Department of the period 1914–1921, in 2002, at the Maharashtra State Archives, Mumbai, it became a passion and an obsession to know more about India's staggering contribution in terms of manpower, material, finance and labour to the war effort in the First World War. What pained me the most was that in the 700 odd universities in India, we do not teach even a sub-topic about Indian role in the First World War. Why this memory amnesia has been one question I have not been able to sufficiently fathom. With the passage of time, the brunt of this obsession of mine was borne by my post-graduate students at the University of Mumbai and by my friends to whom I narrated the new-found information, and who heard me without making sullen faces. It is to them I owe my gratitude for their appreciation and encouragement.

My first thanks must go to the Heras Institute and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust who awarded me a fellowship by invitation to complete this volume. Their encouragement, financial support and trust in me finally shaped this volume. A different set of thanks are due to Dr Joan Dias, [Page xviii]my esteemed friend and the Director of the Heras Institute, and Dr Angelo Menezes, the Principal of St Xavier's College, Mumbai, without whose help, kind words and time, this volume would not have been possible.

Many of my peers in the profession have rendered me invaluable help by giving me encouragement and providing me proper insights into this study. They are: respected Lord Bhikhu Parekh, a political theorist and Labour member of the House of Lords; late Professor G. P. Deshpande; late Professor Y. D. Phadke; late Professor Ram Bapat; Professor Dr Usha Thakkar, Director, Mani Bhavan; Professor Y. Vaikuntham of Hyderabad; Professor R. C. Thakran of Delhi University; Dr Bruce Meyer of Georgian University, Barrie, CA; Professor Sanjoy Bhattacharya of Cambridge University; Dr Rajkumar Hans; Dr Radhika Singha of Jawharlal Nehru Uiversity; Professor Raja Dixit and Dr C. R. Das of Pune University; Professor Umesh Bagade of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University; Dr Vedpal Rana of Delhi University; Dr Arun Bhosle of Shivaji University; Dr Ramdas Bhatkal, eminent political scientist and owner of Popular Prakashan; and my former colleagues at the University of Mumbai—Professor Vasanti Damle and Professor Kishor Gaikwad, Professor Krishna Pannikar, Dr Kultar Singh Cheema, Ms Asmita Mohite and Ms Megha Bhagat.

I owe special thanks to Mr Ramu Ramnathan, playwright, columnist and a theatrical director of repute, whose innate interest in the topic was a source of unceasing encouragement.

My special thanks to those friends who gave me, all these many years, their constant moral support every morning at the MIG Club at Bandra—Dr Nimish Sampat, Uday Ajgoankar, Prem Sumaria-Shah, Suresh Jaju, late Gurvinder Singh Sahni, Dr Chandrakant Patankar, Dr Vijay Deshmukh, Dr Prakash Gawankar, Dr D. V. Chandran, Niket Dave, Vikram Bhanushali, Akhilesh Raju and Manish Bubna. Their unremitting love and affection helped me maintain my mental balance in the face of physical and mental adversities. I also owe a lot of moral gratitude to Dr Shailesh Deolankar, Dr Damodar P. Wagle, Sudhir Bailur, Professor Sharad Mestry and Dr Jayant Deshpande of [Page xix]Thane, Dr Flory Dsouza, Professor Mandar Thakur and Dr Madhumita Bandopadhyay.

My deepest appreciation goes to the staff of the Maharashtra State Archives, in particular, Shri Thomre, Mrs Surve and Shri Pawar, who have always been helpful; and to Inspector Arjun Walekar, Vijay Kadam and Mrs Namrata Alaknure, ACP of Maharashtra State Police Headquarters without whose help this volume would not have taken shape.

I am very grateful to Shri Nitin Chitnis, a well-known photographer, for spending so much time for me.

My son Aditya and daughter-in-law Vaidehi make my world afresh with love and life-force every day.

I am equally grateful to Shri Abhijit Baroi and his team at SAGE Publications for their unstinted support for the publication of this work.

To them and many others who have assisted along the way, know that you have all in your way contributed to whatever virtues this volume may possess; its failures, to trot out yet another of those age-old yet unavoidable clichés, are all solely due to its author.