The forgotten history of Indian troops in China

[Donation]

That's why i always hate the british. They create India, our most annoying enemy locate in our South West, That's why today we are reading this thread, i hate british.

 

[ares]

That's why i always hate the british. They create India, our most annoying enemy locate in our South West, That's why today we are reading this thread, i hate british.

If you knew your history (on how imperial powers exploited your people) then perhaps you would have had more compelling reasons to hate them.

But I doubt you do ..which leads me to believe either you are a kid who hasn't been taught history in school or your there is some thing seriously wrong with your education system.

PS: India has existed long before Britain became Roman colony ..much similar to how Chinese claim ..that China has existed for thousands for years ie just like China ..only the physical boundaries of India have changed over the years.

 

[Sasquatch]

it's not forgotten history, but rather insignificant history. who cares if they were indian? they're just indians in british uniform, serving the british flag.

it's like saying, "the forgotten history of indian servants in china". there were a lot of europeans (especially british) who resided in their little concessions in china and many of them had indian servants, though no one mentions it now, but is it "forgotten history"? or insignificant history?

 

[Sasquatch]

The forgotten history of Indian troops in China.

A photograph from the Shanghai Museum shows Sikh soldiers on duty in Shanghai. Photo courtesy: Colonel G. Jaishankar


For 55 days, the Boxers laid siege to the heart of Beijing.

The rebels, mainly young Chinese farmers and workers, kept more than 400 foreigners holed up in Beijing’s Foreign Legation Quarter. The siege was the dramatic denouement of months of anti-Imperialist and anti-Christian sentiment that swept across China at the turn of the 20th century. Known as the Boxer Rebellion, the events cast a long shadow on Chinese history throughout the 20th century, invoked by later nationalists in their own fight against Imperialism.

The history of the Boxer Rebellion is well known. What isn’t is the crucial role played by troops from British India in lifting the siege, which eventually paved the way for the occupation of Beijing by foreign troops.

Indian regiments made their way to the foreign quarter “crawling through the Imperial sewage canals”, undetected by the Boxers, and were the first troops to come to the aid of the besieged foreigners.

The lifting of the siege was one of only several key instances where Indian troops left an unlikely mark on the course of Chinese history in the early twentieth century.

This forgotten history of regiments from British India has been retraced by Colonel G. Jaishankar, who is currently serving as the Defence Attaché in the Indian Embassy in Beijing.

“Our leaders have been talking about ancient historical and cultural links, but little is known about the far more recent history of Indian troops in China,” he said in Beijing on Wednesday, at a presentation on the history of Indian regiments in China.

On August 4, 1900, a relief force of more than 3000 soldiers from Sikh and Punjabi regiments left Tianjin, part of the larger eight-nation alliance that was dispatched to aid the besieged quarter, where 11 countries had set up legations. Indian troops were also dispatched to guard churches and Christian missionaries, the targets of the Boxer uprisings.

Among the Indians, there was sympathy for the Boxers, Colonel Jaishankar said. Gaddhar Singh, a Rajput who was in Beijing in 1900-01, empathised with Chinese grievances in his accounts, arguing it was an entirely justified peasant rebellion.

The British also dispatched Indian regiments to China leading up towards the Opium War, which ended with the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 and the opening up of Chinese ports to the British.

The British deployed Sikh soldiers as law enforcement officers in ports like Shanghai, where their trading companies had set up a large presence by the early twentieth century. The Sikh soldiers were feared by the Chinese with their imposing figures, so much so that the British deemed that they did not even need guns when on duty, Colonel Jaishankar said, citing records from the time.

The history of Indian troops in China is one that is ignored in Chinese accounts, and is likely a sensitive legacy considering they were often deployed against the Chinese.

It is, nevertheless, a shared history that both countries should remember, Colonel Jaishankar said. “We should not run away from history,” he said. “But we are too swamped with recent events to take an objective look.”

Shared experiences

There were also positive lessons to be remembered by both countries with shared colonial experiences, he stressed.

An example is the Battle of Hong Kong during the Second World War, when Indian and Chinese troops fought together against the Japanese.

The 585 Indians who lost their lives are still remembered today in Hong Kong’s war cemeteries.

Another case in point was in 1994, when the Indian army returned a bell that was looted by British troops from Beijing’s Temple of Heaven when the city was ransacked by foreign troops following the Boxer Rebellion. The bell was later put up for display by the Chinese military.

“The Battle of Hong Kong was a unique event,” Colonel Jaishankar said. “That was the first time in history,” he noted, “that Indian and Chinese troops fought on the same side.”


Source: The Hindu

It seems they are not forgotten then.
they were serving under the British flag.
During the Second World War in Asia and Europe Alliances between different groups to put aside their differences such as the Communist and KMT uniting to Fight the Japanese or the USSR and UK allying to fight Germany.

 

[Sasquatch]

“The Battle of Hong Kong was a unique event,” Colonel Jaishankar said. “That was the first time in history,” he noted, “that Indian and Chinese troops fought on the same side.”

USSR and West fought along side each other they had a common enemy, Just as the KMT and Communist united to Fight the Japanese.

 

[Tractor]

“The Battle of Hong Kong was a unique event,” Colonel Jaishankar said. “That was the first time in history,” he noted, “that Indian and Chinese troops fought on the same side.”

USSR and West fought along side each other they had a common enemy, Just as the KMT and Communist united to Fight the Japanese.

KMT and Communist united?No,such thing never happened,either Indian and Chinese troops fought on the same side.

 

[Sasquatch]

KMT and Communist united?No,such thing never happened,either Indian and Chinese troops fought on the same side.

You sure they put aside their differences to battle a common Enemy.

 

[Tractor]

You sure they put aside their differences to battle a common Enemy.

The had set a common Enemy,but not really fought together even individually.

 

[Sasquatch]

The had set a common Enemy,but not really fought together even individually.

Comparing to the Soviet-Western Alliance in the second world war. is how I would describe the KMT communist Relations.

 

[Tractor]

Well,Soviet and the west fought intensively with Nazi for each's interest respectively,but KMT and CCP just avoid major conflict with the Japanese.