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Ethnicity, Religion, Military Performance and Political Reliability — British Recruitment Policy and The Indian Army — 1757-1947
This article is an attempt to evaluate British recruitment policy in relation to "Ethnicity" , "Religion" , "Military Performance" and "Political Reliability". "Recruitment Policy" remains a hotly debated subject and one which has been subjectively abused to prove or disprove essentially biased and ethnically or religiously motivated pre-conceived notions.
BACKGROUND
There was no recruitment policy once the English East India’s three presidency armies were created in the period 1740-57. The Sepoy Army or the Native Units as the Britishers called them were the brainchild of Lord Clive as far as the English were concerned. Clive started the recruitment of Indians because they were "readily available" in vast numbers , "were cheap in terms of pay and allowances" , "easier to manage than European troops" and "ready to fight for anyone who was a good paymaster". Thus the Bengal Army was not organised on ethnic or religious lines down till section level . As the English Company conquered India political considerations became more and more important and by 1849 political considerations were far more important than the commercial considerations which were paramount in 1757-70 when the sepoy army was created. This was because the English Company was increasingly perceived as the de facto ruler of India during the period 1757 to 1849. It started suddenly with Clive’s victory over the Nawab of Bengal in 1757 and successively became more and more obvious through military triumphs against Nawab of Oudh (1764), Mysore (1799), Marathas (1803), Sindh (1843) and finally the Punjab and the Trans Indus Frontier in 1849.
The First Afghan War of 1839-41 was the first crucial event as far as the British recruitment policy was concerned. Cases if " Mutiny " and "Insubordination" suddenly made the Britishers realise that the "Hindustani Sepoy" the backbone of its main army the "Bengal Army" could no longer be taken for granted! It was a classic story of successive change in perceptions! In 1757 the Indian needed the English Company more than the English Company needed it! The English East India Company then was the best paymaster in India! At this time ironically the Native was often viewed as an antidote to Europeans1 who were " more difficult to manage" and had many times mutinied against their European employers! At this time the Britishers were not particular about “ethnicity” or "religion" although the Hindustani Rajput or Hindustani Pathan Muslim or Rohilla Muslim was preferred over the Madras troops because of height and bearing! Later British recruitment policy went through many major changes and this process continued right till 1947.
British recruitment policy was based on many considerations and every policy decision was taken with a certain rationale in mind. Unfortunately many myths and misconceptions were accepted as the ultimate truth in India and these in turn gave birth to essentially fallacious and erroneous perceptions. We will examine the various myths, misconceptions and sweping judgements connected with British recruitment policy in the succeeding paragraphs and present the reader with certain facts which will disprove many misconceptions pertaining to British recruitment policy in India.
Being from a service family which had deep connection with the pre-1857 Bengal Cavalry and which switched over to the "Punjab Police Service" in and immediately after 1857 once many of the finest Bengal Cavalry units simply disappeared from history, British recruitment policy always intrigued me. I heard countless discussions about it from hundreds of Ranghar veterans of WW One and Two. These veterans narrated many things which at that time appeared very strange in today’s Pakistan which has been brainwashed by murder of history undertaken by self-styled guardians of ideology! Most painful of all were the memories of the “Red Year” i.e 1857 as narrated by my grandfathers elder brother as he had heard them from many ancient Ranghars whose villages were burnt by the Punjab Frontier Force in 1857! His account of how this scribe’s great grandfather became a Punjab Police in Dinga and Chauntra all the way from Delhi territory! My maternal grandfather’s descriptions of why the Shinwari Pathans of Sikandara Rao (an ancient cavalry village of Hindustani Pathans which produced one Pakistani armoured corps senior ranking officer too) stopped enlisting in the post-1857 Bengal Cavalry was particularly painful! Risaldar Ashiq Ali’s memories as narrated to him by his grandfather as to how the famous cavalry village of Jamalpur in Hissar district was burnt in 1857 by 15 Lancers and some other Punjab Cavalry units was again traumatic. Ironically many cavalrymen of Jamalpur had been the original cadre employed by the British to raise Punjab Cavalry units and the Guides in the pre-1857 era.This, however, may be the subject of a future article! I may add that 15 Lancers in which I served in 1988 did partially atone for the sin of burning the Ranghar Muslim village of Jamalpur when its Pathan Squadrons (Punjabi Squadrons remaining loyal) rebelled against the British in Mesopotamia in WW One! The quest to write on this subject began in 1976 and it took 24 years to gather data, which even at this stage may be not wholly correct.
The British recruitment policy went through six major changes/periods from 1757 to 1947 :--
a. 1757-1849-No Precise Policy and Sucessively greater Hindustani Hindu Domination
b. 1849-1858-Introduction of Punjabi Sikhs Muslims and Pathans
c. 1858-1885-Continued Hindustani Hindu Domination with a higher Punjabi presence
d. 1885-1914-Punjabisation of the Army with bias in favour of Sikhs, Virtual Punjabisation of Madras Army with near elimination of Madrasis, Punjabisation/Reduction of Bombay Army and reduction of Hindustani Hindus into a minority
e. 1914-1939-Greater Punjabisation with bias in favour of Punjabi Muslims and relative reduction of Sikhs
f. 1939-1947-Broad based policy with Punjab in lead but great diversification all over India
INITIAL PHASE-1757-1849
NO PRECISE POLICY AND SUCCESSIVELY GREATER HINDUSTANI HINDU DOMINATION
The English East India Company raised three regionally and ethnically distinct forces in India during the period 1740-1757. The initial object in raising these forces was purely defensive but from 1757 onwards it became increasingly offensive. These three forces were the Madras Bengal and Bombay Armies raised to defend the company’s interests in its Madras Bengal and Bombay Presidencies. All three had their own C in C and were under the Governor of the respective presidency. Initially the Bengal Establishment was under Madras Presidency 2, however, later on the C in C of Bengal Army was placed higher in precedence/command and functioned also as the overall British C in C in India.
The following table illustrates the various changes in the size (Native Troops only) of the three presidency armies:--3
| Chart No. 1 |
| ARMY 1796 1805 1857 REMARKS |
| BENGAL ARMY 24,000 57,000 118,663 |
| MADRAS ARMY 24,000 53,000 49,737 |
| BOMBAY ARMY 9,000 20,000 31,601 |
Initially the Madras Army was the largest but after 1757 the Bengal Army grew rapidly while from 1799 onwards the Madras Army’s growth stopped while the Bombay Army’s importance was reduced after the Third Maratha War of 1817. The Bengal Army as the table illustrates had already become the largest Army by 1805 and by 1857 was larger than the combined strength of the Madras and Bombay Armies. The reason for this was the fact that the presidency armies were regulated by the nature of threat and the Madras and Bombay Armies expansion was stopped after the principal Indian states like Mysore or Maratha Confederacy were completely eliminated in 1799 and 1817 respectively. On the other hand the Bengal Army steadily expanded since the major external threats to the Company i.e Sikh Punjab, the Trans Indus Frontier Tribes and the Russian Empire were opposite the Bengal Army area.
Recruitment was done regionally initially and there were no class or ethnic quotas in the presidency armies although the Madras Army was organised in a somewhat class pattern. Thus Syed Ahmad Khan’s observations about 1857 Rebellion that “Government certainly did put the two antagonistic races into the same regiment, but constant intercourse had done its work and the two races in a regiment had almost become one. It is but natural and to be expected, that a feeling of friendship and brotherhood must spring up between the men of a regiment, constantly brought together as they are. They consider themselves as one body and thus it was that the difference which exists between Hindoos and Mahomeddans had, in these regiments, been almost entirely smoothed away.” 4
The Bengal Army consisted of Hindustanis from the Indo-Gangetic Plain and was predominantly Hindu as far as “Infantry” the largest arm and predominantly “Muslim” as far as “Cavalry” the much smaller arm was concerned. This was because the Hindustani Pathan and Ranghar/Kaimkhani Muslims looked down upon infantry as an arm unfit for their social status. This prejudice as we shall subsequently discuss, remained with the Hindustani/Ranghar/Kaimkhani Muslims right till 1947.
The Madras Army was again a Hindu dominated Army but surprisingly had a far higher proportion of Muslims in infantry than the Bengal Army!5 This may have been because of economic reasons, since the social status of the Muslims in the Madras Presidency was not as high as in the Bengal Presidency area. The reader may note that the Madras Army Cavalry like the Bengal Army Cavalry was again a Muslim dominated arm. The Madras Cavalry had a high proportion of Hindustani Pathans and Ranghars 6 and this is the reason why the only major disaffection in Madras Army in 1857 took place in the Madras Cavalry.7
The Bombay Army unlike the Bengal and Madras Armies was a Hindu dominated army in both cavalry and infantry.8 However, the Bombay Army did have some purely Muslim infantry units (Baloch Category) from 1844-45.9 The Bombay Army, although Maratha dominated had a sizeable representation of Hindustani Hindus in its infantry10 and this is the reason why some Bombay Infantry units rebelled against the British in 1857.
SECOND MAJOR PHASE 1846-1858
INTRODUCTION OF PUNJABI SIKHS MUSLIMS AND PATHANS AND RECOGNITION OF GURKHAS AS GOOD INFANTRY SOLDIERS IN PLAINS
The year 1846 was an important year in terms of British recruitment policy for two reasons. First was the British decision to recruit Sikhs (Irregular Units) in their Bengal Army. The second was being the decision to recruit Gurkhas who fought brilliantly against the Sikhs at Sobraon.11
Till 1846 the British did not follow any specific recruitment policy. However, a succession of mutinies, mostly in the Hindustani dominated Bengal Army, over pays and allowances, led to some changes in perceptions and Sir Henry Hardinge was the first British Viceroy who okayed a policy to induct Punjabis (Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus) and Pathans (in 1846 roughly bracketed by the British in the Punjabi category) in the army. This was a policy decision based on the fact that the new British frontier now was the Sutlej and Beas River and it was necessary to have troops who knew the area and were good soldiers. This happened in 1846 once vide GGO dated 30 July 184612 two predominantly Sikh “Irregular Infantry” units i.e. “The Regiment of Ferozepur” and “The Regiment of Ludhiana” from the Jat Sikhs of Sutlej river and surrounding country were raised. In addition later in December the same year in accordance with G.G.O Foreign Department No. 2457 dated 14 December 1846 it was decided to raise a "Frontier Brigade" consisting of one light field battery of artillery and four regiments of infantry and also “Corps of Guides” for general service.13 The Corps of Guides was also not Pathan or Punjabi Muslim in majority as many in Pakistan may think but contained Sikhs, Pathans and Punjabi Muslims.
Hardinge went further and okayed a brilliant political decision to rehabilitate the Khalsa Sikh Army. In accordance with G.G.O of 14 December 1846 1st Sikh Infantry was raised at Hoshiarpur, 2nd Sikh Infantry at Kangra, 3rd Sikh Infantry at Ferozepur and 4th Sikh Infantry at Ludhiana."The Corps of Guides" was raised at Mardan. Contrary to common myth which led many like Stanley Wolpert to conclude later that the British were aided by Delhi at Sikhs, the class composition of the newly raised Sikh infantry units was "never wholly Sikh, nor even did the Sikhs preponderate in all units even at the start14 the reason for calling them Sikh Infantry was the fact, that they were raised mainly though not wholly from the troops of the Sikh Army disbanded as per the peace terms of the First Sikh War. Thus in 1862, class composition of the 1st Sikh Infantry was: Sikhs—4 Companies,1 and — Company—Punjabi Muslims,1 Company—Trans Indus Pathan Muslims,1 Company—Hindustani Muslims and — Company—Dogra Hindus. The 2nd Sikh was mostly Dogra Hindu with some Pathans, the 3rd Sikh had 5 Companies—Sikhs, 2 Companies—Pathans, 2 Companies—Punjabi Muslims and 1 Company—Dogras.15
The British had been deeply impressed by the "Military Effectiveness" of the Punjabi Sikhs in the First and Second Sikh Wars. Dalhousie the young British viceroy was a great pragmatist. He decided to rehabilitate the Sikhs after the final conquest of Punjab in 1849. Dalhousie also ordered the raising of an irregular force under Punjab Board of Administration known as the Punjab Irregular Force, or P.I.F or simply from 1851 as the P.I.F.F.E.R abbreviated later as FF.16 Thus a large number of ex-Sikh Khalsa Army units (Sikh majority but with Punjabi Muslim presence) were simply re-raised with the designation "Frontier Force" in 1849.17 The readers may note that the task of the units with “Sikh” designation was general duties in Punjab and Frontier while the specific task of the “Frontier Force” was the protection of the frontier between Kashmor and Malakand.
The Britishers had realised as the Cambridge History states around 1849-50 that “in each regiment men of different races should be enlisted, so as to lessen the risk of mutinous combination”18. In 1849-50 following the annexation of Punjab the Bengal Army was rocked by a series of mutinies, since the allowances for serving in foreign territory, Punjab no longer being foreign territory were abolished. A general rebellion was avoided through careful and resolute handling by Sir Charles Napier the C in C Bengal Army. Sir Charles Napier the C in C India and the C in C Bengal Army saw a Hindustani Mutiny very clearly and warned his countrymen in 1850 that “a mutiny with the sepoys is the most formidable danger menacing our Indian Empire”.19 Dalhousie as a matter of fact thought that the ratio of British troops vis-a-vis Indian troops should be higher and unsuccessfully requested the British government to increase this ratio.20
Lord Dalhousie, however, was the first Viceroy who embarked on a deliberate policy to include Punjabis in the army and to change the policy of total reliance on the Hindustanis as far the company’s major army i.e. Bengal Army was concerned. Some readers peculiarly the biased readers in Pakistan fed on official propaganda and a vulgarised local version of “The Pakistani Martial Races Theory" may think that Dalhousie hated the Hindustanis and loved the Punjabis! Dalhousie did not love the Punjabis but he certainly hated relying on the Hindustanis alone! This was not as simple as this! Dalhousie the great anti-Feudal was a great pragmatist! Dalhousie simply believed in local participation and ensuring that no trained armed men was unemployed! Wherever he went he followed a policy of taking everyone in the same boat. A man of great genius and vision Dalhousie strongly urged the British Government to have Indian participation in the East India Company's Indian Government! This was with prophetic foresight rather than benefit if hindsight, long before Syed Ahmad Khan came to a similar conclusion in his famous “Causes of the Indian Mutiny”! Once Oudh was annexed in 1856 Dalhousie ordered raising of a totally Hindustani force consisting of ex-soldiers of Oudh Army known as “Oudh Irregular Force”. 21 The force again under command the civilian administration was larger than the "Punjab Force and consisted of some fifteen units.
The readers may note that the Frontier Force and Sikh Infantry units were not regular army units but an irregular force under the Punjab Civilian Board of Administration. In this regard Dalhousie’s first step towards reduction of Hindustani domination was an order that laid down that each Bengal Infantry unit must have 100 Sikhs. The aim of this step was twofold i.e. to rehabilitate the Sikhs a fallen but brave adversary and to have an alternate to the Hindustani troops, who were becoming more and more difficult to manage. The Hindustanis resented inclusion of 100 Sikhs in each Bengal Infantry unit. The Hindustani troops complained that the Sikhs were unclean and smelled "horribly" because of their custom of dressing their long hair with curd!22 The underlying and real grievance, off course, was the fact that the East India Company had discovered an alternative source of recruitment.
It was indiscipline and political considerations and not any martial fervour as many in Pakistan or Indian Punjab may like to believe that were the cardinal factors in change of British policy. Dalhousie was the first man in authority who saw things as they were and initiated a policy! Before Dalhousie we may even state that there was no tangible recruitment policy based on long-term political considerations. Dalhousie observed that "The discipline of the army, from top to bottiom, officers and men alike is scandalous".23 The pre-1857 Bengal Army in words of John Lawrence was "one great brotherhood, in which all members felt and acted in union".24 The readers may note that the Punjabis and Pathans became so called "Martial Races" only when this great brotherhood revolted against the English Company in 1857! Dalhousie was very clear about the Hindustani troops potential and urged in 1856 that the number of Punjabis and Gurkhas in the Bengal Army should be increased vis a vis the Hindustanis.Dalhousie thus stated " We must be strong,not against the enemy only , but against our population, and even against possible contingencies connected with our native army”.25
The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857-58 was a traumatic and bloody event in Indian history. It confirmed Dalhousie’s misgivings about the Hindustani soldier and acted as the propellant that produced a major change in British recruitment policy. Ironically from the Indo Pak point of view , by a twist of historical circumstances , Punjab was a thoroughly disunited and politically confused province in 1857.The Punjabi Muslims the majority group hated the Punjabi Sikhs, were grateful to the British Company for having liberated them and freed many of their places of worship which were used as stables and gunpowder magazines by the Sikhs ! The Sikhs again hated the Punjabi Muslims and also the Hindustani sepoys who had acted as traitors( in Sikh eyes) in fighting for the English Company against the Sikhs in the two Sikh wars. The Hindustanis were three fourth Hindu and linguistically and culturally different , so there was little that they had in common with the Punjabi Muslims . The Hindustani Hindus who followed the Hindustani (Ranghar and Pathan Muslims) in the rebellion were united, since they had served in the same regiments for 100 years!
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