 The author's thesis is that militarism has been a way of life there from time immemorial.Chaudhuri gives an account of various anthropological subgroups dominating the Indian subcontinent and the struggles between classes from the arrival of Aryans to later settlements of Huns in western India.The book argues against the "pacifist" theory of India as being a peace-loving nation further cemented by the principles of nonviolence preached by Gandhi.