The Indian Army with one million men is the third largest in the world. The Indian Air Force is the second biggest aerial armada in Afro-Asia. And the Indian Navy is the most powerful naval force among the Indian Ocean states. To cap it all, India's nuclear arsenal is the sixth largest in the world. In this monograph, an attempt has been made to analyse the historical evolution of independent India's armed forces. The development of the armed forces as an institution, its nature, purpose and the formulation of the doctrines as regards the functions of the Indian military are the central concerns of this volume. It also opens up the question regarding the nature of the Indian state. The methodology followed is an amalgam of organizational culture analysis and history of idea approach. In order to assess India's success in harnessing military power vis--vis other developing countries, a comparative methodology is followed. A proper evaluation of the Indian armed forces' combat effectiveness is impossible without a detailed analysis of the militaries of Pakistan and China. The rigorous analysis of the empirical data will probably provide the Indian strategic managers with some policy relevance. The present volume besides catering to the military officers, strategic analysts and the various institutions specializing in security studies would also be of interest to political scientists and the students of contemporary history.