Martial race
Martial race was a designation which was created by army officials in
According to modern historian Jeffrey Greenhut on military history, "The Martial Race theory had an elegant symmetry. Indians who were intelligent and educated were defined as cowards, while those defined as brave were uneducated and backward". According to Amiya Samanta, the martial race was chosen from people of mercenary spirit (a soldier who fights for any group or country that will pay him), as these groups lacked nationalism as a trait.[4][5] British-trained Indian soldiers were among those who had rebelled in 1857 and thereafter, the Bengal Army abandoned or diminished its recruitment of soldiers who came from the catchment area and enacted a new recruitment policy which favoured castes whose members had remained loyal to the British Empire.[6][page needed]
The concept already had a precedent in Indian culture as one of the four orders (
Following Indian independence, the Indian government in February 1949 abolished the official application of "martial race" principles with regard to military recruitment, although it has continued to be applied formally and informally in certain circumstances.
Criteria
In their attempts to assert control after the
British general and scholar Lieutenant-General George MacMunn (1869–1952) noted in his writings "It is only necessary for a feeling to arise that it is impious and disgraceful to serve the British, for the whole of our fabric to tumble like a house of cards without a shot being fired or a sword unsheathed".[14] To this end, it became British policy to recruit only from those tribes whom they classified as members of the 'martial races', and the practice became an integral part of the recruitment manuals for the Army in the British Raj.
The British regarded the 'martial races' as valiant and strong but also intellectually inferior, lacking the initiative or leadership qualities to command large military formations.
Critics of the theory state that the Indian rebellion of 1857 may have played a role in reinforcing the British belief in it. During this event the troops from the Bengal Native Infantry led by
Some authors, such as Heather Streets, argue that the military authorities puffed up the images of the martial soldiers by writing regimental histories, and by extolling the kilted Scots, kukri-wielding Gurkhas and turbaned Sikhs in numerous paintings.[18] Richard Schultz, an American author, has claimed the martial race concept as a supposedly clever British effort to divide and rule the people of India for their own political ends.[19]
Tribes and groups designated as martial races
In British colonial times
British-declared martial races in the Indian subcontinent included some groups that were officially designated instead as "agricultural tribes" under the provisions of the Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900. These terms were considered to be synonymous when the administration compiled a list in 1925. Among the communities listed as martial were:[20][21]
- Ahir
- Arain
- Awan
- Baloch
- Brahmins[22]
- Dogra
- Gakhar
- Gurjars
- Janjua
- Jat
- Kamboh
- Khokhar
- Labana
- Mahton
- Mughal
- Saini
- Pathan
- Rajputs
- Rowthers
- Qureshi
- Sial
- Syed
Communities that were at various times classified as martial races include:
- Sudhan Pathan[26][27][28]
- Bhumihar Brahmins[29]
- Garhwali[30]
- Gowdas[31]
- Gurkhas[32]
- Kumaoni[33]
- Kurmi[34]
- Marathas[35]
- Mohyal Brahmin[36]
- Naga people[34]
- Mukkulathor[34]
- Nairs[37]
Post-colonial period
India
India was quick to formally disclaim the martial races theory after gaining independence. The largest single source of recruitment for the British Indian Army had come from Punjab, with Sikhs and Punjabi Muslims particularly preferred, with the result that at independence over 90% of the new Indian Armed Forces' senior officers came from East Punjab, and were Punjabi Sikhs despite the fact that it made up just 5% of the new country's population.[38] Recognizing the destabilising potential of an unrepresentative armed forces, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru soon urged the Commander-in-Chief, India and Defence Secretary to undertake "large scale reform to the armed forces”.[39]
However, while most caste or tribal bars on recruitment were lifted, recruitment in regions populated by the former "martial races" was progressively intensified, with the result that by the beginning of the 1970s, India had more than doubled the number of "martial class" units. The
Explicit ethnic- or caste-based requirements have nevertheless persisted amongst some military formations. The most notable instance is the
Pakistan
At independence, the new
This imbalance created tensions, particularly amongst the
Furthermore, it has been alleged that the continued influence of the theory among the command of the
In contemporary Pakistan, army recruitment still reflects the biases of "martial races" theory, with a considerable over-representation of ethnic
See also
References
- S2CID 144987021.
- ^ ISBN 9788188789092.
Apart from their physique, the martial races were regarded as politically subservient or docile to authority
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-94447-2.
The Saturday review had made much the same argument a few years earlier in relation to the armies raised by Indian rulers in princely states. They lacked competent leadership and were uneven in quality. Commander in chief Roberts, one of the most enthusiastic proponents of the martial race theory, though poorly of the native troops as a body. Many regarded such troops as childish and simple. The British, claims, David Omissi, believe martial Indians to be stupid. Certainly, the policy of recruiting among those without access to much education gave the British more semblance of control over their recruits. [...]Garnet Wolseley, one of Britain's most admired late nineteenth-century soldiers, published a damning essay on "The negro as soldier" in 1888, and though his focus was on the African command with which he was most familiar, his dismissive comments are typical of those used against nonwhite soldiers more broadly. While "the Savage" lacked intelligence, was riddled with disease, and enjoyed human suffering, the Anglo-Saxon craved "manly sports" that had developed in him a "bodily strength" unmatched by any other nation.
- ^ Greenhut, Jeffrey (1983) The Imperial Reserve: the Indian Corps on the Western Front, 1914–15. In: The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, October 1983.
- ISBN 978-81-7648-166-3.
Dr . Jeffrey Greenhut has observed that " The Martial Race Theory had an elegant symmetry . Indians who were intelligent and educated were defined as cowards, while those defined as brave were uneducated and backward. Besides their mercenary spirit was primarily due to their lack of nationalism.
- ISBN 978-0-7190-6962-8. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-13681-957-5.
- ISBN 978-1-78093-820-2.
- ^ MacMunn, George Fletcher (1979). The Martial Races of India. Mittal Publications.
- ^ "No More Class Composition in Indian Army" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 1 February 1949. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Lakshmi, V. Vidya (1 June 2016). "Pakistan Army: Martial Race or National Army?". Mantraya. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ a b Dr. Omar Khalidi. "Ethnic Group Recruitment in the Indian Army: The Contrasting Cases of Sikhs, Muslims, Gurkhas and Others". www.defenceindia.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.Archived 20 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Greenhut, Jeffrey "Sahib and Sepoy: an Inquiry into the Relationship between the British Officers and Native Soldiers of the British Indian Army". (In: Military Affairs, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jan. 1984), p. 15.
- ^ MacMunn, G. F. (1911). The Armies of India; painted by Major A. C. Lovett. London: Adam & Charles Black.
- ^ Country Data Archived 14 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine – Based on the Country Studies Series by Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress.
- ^ Bose, Mihir. The Magic of Indian Cricket: Cricket and Society in India; p. 25.
- ^ "Pakistan - THE BRITISH RAJ". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- The Telegraph.
- JSTOR 10.7312/shul12982.
- ISBN 9788178240596.
- ^ MacMunn, George Fletcher (1979). The Martial Races of India. Mittal Publications.
- ISBN 978-1-78093-820-2.
- ISBN 9781351294584.
- ^ Shukla, S. P. (1985). India's freedom struggle and the role of Haryana. Internet Archive. New Delhi : Criterion Publications : Distributed by Deep & Deep Publications.
- ^ MacMunn, George Fletcher (1979). The Martial Races of India. Mittal Publications.
- ^ Kapur, Manohar Lal (1980). History of Jammu and Kashmir State: The making of the State. India: Kashmir History Publications. p. 51.
- ISBN 9781849043427.
- ISBN 978-0-19-579622-3
- ISBN 9788178241098.
- ISBN 9788178240596.
- ^ Historical Records of the XIII Madras Infantry. W. Thacker. 1898. p. 191.
…Coorg for the purpose of trying to induce Coorgs and Gaudas to take service , but , after working the whole of Coorg , one recruit only , a Gauda , was obtained . According to the report of the native officer in command of the party , the inhabitants of Coorg , although a warlike race , are much…
- S2CID 162319158.
- ISBN 9788174360403.
- ^ ISBN 9788178357751.
- ^ Creative Pasts: Historical Memory And Identity in Western India, 1700-1960 From book: "In the early twentieth century, the Marathas were identified as a "martial race" fit for the imperial army, and recruitment of Marathas increased after World War I."
- ISBN 978-0143029946.
Punjabi Mussalmans and Khalsa Sikhs were declared 'martial races' for recruitment to the army or the police; only one small Hindu caste, the Mohyal Brahmins, qualified as martial.
- ISBN 0-8039-9581-4.
- ISBN 9780674967007.
- ^ a b c Guruswamy, Menaka (16 July 2016). "Why the Indian army needs to abandon the colonial concept of 'martial races'". The Scroll. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- JSTOR 3557805. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- Indian Express. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "Library of Congress studies". Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
- ISBN 0-312-23193-8.
- ^ Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat Richard H. Shultz, Andrea Dew: "The Martial Races Theory had firm adherents in Pakistan and this factor played a major role in the under-estimation of the Indian Army by Pakistani soldiers as well as civilian decision makers in 1965."
- ^ United States Library of Congress Country Studies Archived 19 July 2012 at archive.today "Most Pakistanis, schooled in the belief of their own martial prowess, refused to accept the possibility of their country's military defeat by 'Hindu India'."
- ^ Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 Archived 9 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "End-game?" By Ardeshir Cowasjee Archived 23 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine – 18 July 1999, Dawn.
- ^ India Stanley Wolpert Published: University of California Press 1990. "India's army... quickly dispelled the popular Pakistani myth that one Muslim soldier was 'worth ten Hindus.'"
- ^ ISBN 0-8157-1502-1pp. 103–104.
- ^ "Pakistan's Defence Journal". Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 29 February 2008.
Further reading
- Cohen, Stephen P. (May 1969). "The Untouchable Soldier: Caste, Politics, and the Indian Army". The Journal of Asian Studies. 28 (3): 453–468. JSTOR 2943173. (subscription required)
- Cohen, Stephen P. (1971). The Indian Army. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Chowdhry, Prem (May 2013). "Militarized Masculinities: Shaped and Reshaped in Colonial South-East Punjab". Modern Asian Studies. 47 (3): 713–750. S2CID 145147406.