Hybrid Logistics and Small War: The Chin-Lushai Expeditions along the India-Burma Frontier, 1888–1892

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Army in India launched several “small wars” (Callwell’s term). Historians have concentrated on the small wars along the North-West Frontier. This article shifts the focus to the east to understand how the Army in India’s troops were supplied and transported while fighting small wars along the North-East Frontier between 1888 and 1892. When colonial troops were deployed in difficult terrain with a hostile climate, proper logistical support was vital for the maintenance of military effectiveness. Callwell rightly noted that small wars are actually campaigns against nature. This article shows that an amalgam of indigenous (South Asian) and imported European elements resulted in the emergence of a hybrid logistical apparatus to sustain the British-Indian forces along the India-Burma Frontier.