| Martial Race |
Article Index for Martial |
Website Links For Martial |
Information AboutMartial Race |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT MARTIAL RACE | |
| military history of india | |
| indian caste system | |
| racism | |
| prejudices | |
|
CRITERIA Martial Race was a designation created by officials of British India . In India, the British faced fierce resistance in some regions while they easily conquered some other regions. This led the British to look closely at some of the South Asian races. The British officials described these races as naturally warlike and Aggressive in Battle , and to possess qualities like Courage , Loyalty , Self Sufficiency , Physical Strength , Resilience , Orderliness , hard working, fighting tenacity and Military Tactics . The martial races were supposedly tall, broad-shouldered, light-skinned and capable of enduring hardship. Unlike the martial races, the inhabitants of the hot, flat plains of the country were supposedly unwarlike, flabby, darkskinned and therefore unfit for military service. Still others were excluded due to their "ease of living" or branded as seditious agitators. However, they were regarded as smarter and sometimes more cunning when compared to the martial races. Apart from their physique, the martial races were regarded as politically subservient or docile to authority. The British recruited heavily from these Martial Race s for service in the Colonial Army .''Glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and NWFP , H A Rose'' This Doctrine of martial races postulated that the ability and desire of the soldier was inherited and that most Indians, with the exception of the specified castes, did not have the requisite Gene s that would make them warriors.Sahib and Sepoy: An Inquiry into the Relationship between the British Officers and Native Soldiers of the British Indian Army Jeffrey Greenhut Military Affairs, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jan., 1984), Pg 15 Critics of this theory state that the The British, sensing the inequalities and fierce loyalty to one's tribe and caste of the diverse natives of the subcontinent, found opportunity to use it to their own great advantage. These already wide divides were fertile breeding ground to inculcate pride in one's identity based on race and physical attributes. This served the British in two ways. On the one hand this made sure that there was no repeat of the Indian Rebellion Of 1857 by ensuring there was no unity among the different subjects of the Raj. On the other hand it encouraged a sense of competition among the different 'races'. And the British found willing Indians to aid and abet it in the suppression of the rebellion to begin with. A British general and scholar, Lieutenant General Sir George Fletcher 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"''.The Armies of India. 1911. London: Adams and Charles Black. To this end, it became British policy to recruit from only those who 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 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."''Dr. Jeffery Greenhut "The Imperial Reserve:The Indian Corps on the Western Front, 1914-15. "The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, October 1983. The geography and culture of these martial races had common marks, such as hilly and mountainous terrain, a basis as The Martial Race theory has also been described as a clever British effort to Divide And Rule the people of India for their own political ends."Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat by Richard H. Shultz, Andrea Dew (Pg 47) The British who were the most enthusiastic proponents of this , the Indian Army abandoned this theory and recruitment took place without Discrimination . RACES DESIGNATED BY THE BRITISH AS MARTIAL RACES '']] British declared martial races Each of the following groups are mentioned in the ''Annual Class Return, 1925, pp 96-99''. See Refs also: Restricted Peasants and the Restraint of Imperial Power, Indian Army and the Making of Punjab, 2003, R. K. Majumdar. See: Punjab Alienation Land Act XIII of 1900 (Lahore Amrit Electric Press, 1924), Appendix A, Notified Tribes, pp 146-149, Nihal Chand Anand. A Handbook of fighting Races of India, 1889, p 81/82, 179/181, P. D. Bonarjee. See also: The Martial Races of India, George Fletcher (Sir), MacMunn, 1933. Cf also: Wealth and Welfare, p 214, Calvert.. Listed below in alphabetical order:
Unlike the martial races, the inhabitants of the hot, flat plains of the country were supposedly unwarlike, unfit for military services. Still others were excluded due to their "ease of living" or branded as were called non-martial with many derogatory remarks about their looks, ethnicity and history. The people of East India were also not considered "martial races", despite the fact that the most powerful empire in Ancient India , the Maurya Empire , originated in Eastern India from the kingdom of Magadha (in modern Bihar ). Even the Maratha s were classified as non-martial, ignoring the Maratha Empire or the Maratha Regiment's valiant contribution against the Turk s during the First World War , when they were recruited by the British Indian Army . The Poorabiya Regiment , where the Bihar i Rajputs and Bhumihar Brahmins made up bulk of the army, faced total annihilation during three Anglo-Afghan Wars and mass desertions during others and caused much loss of face to British Army. Therefore these were replaced with other Kshatriya agricultural castes of Eastern Uttar Pradesh . The Nair s of Kerala were initially included in the list, however after the Nairs of Travancore rebelled against the British under Velu Thampi Dalawa , they were recruited in lower numbers. MODERN USAGE Though seldom used in today's context, it was used until the early of 1947 and 1965 proved otherwise as Pakistan Army lost more men and land than India.According to sources in Indo-Pakistani War Of 1965 Pakistani fatalities range between 30% - 200% higher than Indian fatalities including the Operation Gibraltar . in its many attempts to gain the entire Kashmir region.Pakistan backed troops were always the first to be sent into Kashmir during 1947, 1965 and in 1999 Kargil Conflict with aims of capture, instigation and intrusions. For details/sources, see relevant articles. The Pakistan Army was also accused of Bias and Racism by the Bengalis of East Pakistan who felt humiliated by this dubious theory that was being floated in West Pakistan , that they were not "martially inclined" compared to the Pashtuns, Balochs and Punjabis. Library of Congress studies Pakistan author Hasan-Askari Rizvi notes that the limited recruitment of Bengali personnel in the Pakistan Army was because, the West Pakistanis "could not overcome the hangover of the martial race theory".Military, State and Society in Pakistan by Hasan-Askari Rizvi, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-23193-8 (Pg 128) This was to be one of the factors for the Bangladesh Liberation War , where Bengalis aided by the Indian Military defeated the Pakistan Army in just a Fortnight , which subsequently lead to the taking of nearly 1 Lakh (100,000) Pakistani soldiers as Prisoners Of War - the largest Surrender since World War II . Defense writers in Pakistan have noted that the defeat was partially attributable to the flawed "Martial Races Theory" which merely led to " Wishful Thinking " that it was possible to defeat the Indian Army. Pakistan's Defense Journal Since then, the "martial race" theory was rarely, if ever, used at all by Pakistan. Arun Shourie an Indian writer, journalist and politician (former Minister of Communications and Information Technology) refers to the Sikhs as 'having retained a false pride in martial temperament and abilities'. Arun Shourie, Lessons from the Punjab, in The Punjab Story, edited by Amarjit Kaur et al., Roli Books International, 1984, pages 178-179 The tenth Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed that one Sikh was equal to sava lakh (one hundred twenty five thousand) and a fauj-a one man army. Ranbir S. Sandhu, Sant Janail Singh Bhindranwale - Life, Mission, and Martyrdom, Sikh Education and Religious Foundation, Dublin, Ohio, 1997, page 10. The Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was reported to have said 'One Sikh could easily reckon with thirty-five Hindus.' Kuldip Nayar and Khushwant Singh, Tragedy of Punjab, Vision Books, New Delhi, 1984, page 27 This characterization of Sikhs is particularly strong within the Hindutva movement, which emphasizes Hindu Nationalism . SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|