What's new

Punjab and the British Indian Army

.
Any explanation why Jat Sikhs were nearly double than Jat Muslim when the population of Jat Muslim was much more? Sikh Empire's legacy?
The Muslim Rajputs of Haryana, or "Ranghars"

Being a Muslim rajpoot (Rangher) I can proudly say that my forefathers remained the nucleus for all most all the important wars and battles fought
within Indian subcontinent.Even under the british command in Afghanistan,middle east and China.But unfortunately after partition people on both sides of the border forget the services of these brave peoples.
wo jo teri rah men guzar gae wo kidhar gae
yahan shehar men to mazar he kisi aur ka
:cray::cray::cray:


So, what explains Sikh Jats outnumbering Muslim Jats in Army when Muslim Jats were much more than Sikh ones?
Columnist AH AMIN re-interprets the so-called 1857 Indian Mutiny.

Now, the above calculation leaves us with 10,875 which may have been used in the entire fighting distributed in penny packets since major fighting was done at Delhi, Lucknow and Kanpure by irregular units raised in Punjab and Frontier. A glance at units employed at Delhi and Lucknow puts at rest all doubts about the ethnic composition of the native troops:-

Delhi
1st Punjab Cavalry -------------Sikhs - Punjabi Muslims Pathans-Some Hindustani Muslims.
2nd Punjab Cavalry------------ Sikhs - Pathans - Punjabi Muslims - Some Hindustani Muslims
5th Punjab Cavalry As above
Hodson’s Irregular Force------- Sikhs/Punjabi Muslims
Sirmoor Battalion Gurkha
Kumqon Battalion Gurkha
Corps of Guides ----------------Pathan/Sikh/Punjabi Muslims
4th Sikh Infantry-------------- Sikh + Punjabi Muslims
1st Punjab Infantry------------ Sikh - Punjabi Muslims - Pathan
2nd Punjab Infantry ditto
4th Punjab Infantry ditto
Baluch Battalion Baluchis

Note:- It may be noted that the Hindustani Muslims/Ranghars were the nucleus of all new Punjab Cavalry as well as Infantry units raised during the period 1846-56 including the Corps of Guides.

Lucknow - March 1858
1st Sikh Irregular Cavalry------------- Sikh - Punjabi Muslims
2nd Punjab Cavalry-------------------- Sikh - Punjabi Muslims - Pathan
5th Punjab Cavalry--------------------- Sikh - Punjabi Muslims - Pathan
Oudh Irregular Cavalry----------------- Sikh, Punjabi Muslims
1st Punjab Cavalry---------------------- Sikh - Punjabi Muslims - Pathan
Hodson’s Horse-------------------------- Sikh - Punjabi Muslims
Regiment of Ferozepur------------------ Sikh Pure
4th Punjab Rifles------------------------ Sikh - Punjabi Muslims - Pathan
2nd Punjab Infantry ---------------------Sikh - Punjabi Muslims - Pathan

It is interesting to note that 5th Punjab Infantry in its regimental history claims to have killed Subedar Bakht Khan the sepoy leader at Delhi in the Nawab Ganj area in 1858. It was stated in the history of the Frontier Force Rifles compiled by W.E.H. Condon and published in 1953540 that Naik Habibullah and sepoy Fateh Singh of 5th Punjab Infantry killed Subedar Bakht Khan in the Oudh Nepal rain forest area of Terai in 1858 and both of these soldiers were awarded the Indian Order of Merit. John Lawrence the Chief Commissioner of Punjab in his letter dated 25 May 1858 appended in the Punjab Mutiny reports addressed to Mr. Edwonstone, Secretary to the Government of India stated the composition of the Irregular Forces of Punjab as following 541:-

  1. Muslims - Punjabi - 24,027

  2. Sikhs - 13,344

  3. Hillmen - 2,203

  4. Hindustanis - 2,430

  5. Hindus - Punjabi - 5,336

  6. Christians - 16
 
. .
The Forgotten Regiments
Article (PDF Available) · May 2001 with 69 Reads 
Abstract
The Singapore Mutiny - Trailer
Singapore Mutiny - Centennial of the Executions

It is an irony of our history that while grandsons of mutiny worthies and grandees as Indians who remained loyal to the British in 1857 were called, became Prime Minister and President, many real freedom fighters, who played a far more positive role in various real freedom struggles against the British have been either forgotten or totally relegated. On the other hand many opportunists and reactionaries who accepted knighthood and khan bahadur ships at a time when the Non Cooperation/Khilafat Movement was challenging the very foundation of British rule in India are today eulogised as our national heroes and philosophers! No guard of honour is mounted on the grave of Ahmad Khan Kharral the only Punjab notable who challenged the British in 1857 but there are roads in Lahore named in the honour of some who were the most trusted British stooges. There is no monument at Gugera or in Murree for the Kharals or Dhunds (Abbasis) of 1857 but one at Taxila in the memory of the Punjab movable column sent to Delhi in 1857! There are regiments on the other hand who are proud of their march from Marinade to Delhi or for services rendered at Lucknow against the rebels, but hardly anyone in today’s Pakistan knows about regiments which challenged the British Empire at a time when it was said that the sun never set for the British Empire. The First Afghan War is a familiar war of Indo British history. However, hardly anyone in today’s Pakistan knows about the 2nd Bengal Light Cavalry. This unit was sent to Afghanistan in 1839. Unlike the English East India Company’s Bengal Army infantry which was three fourth Hindu the vast bulk of the Bengal Army Cavalry was Muslim; comprising Hindustani Pathan and Ranghar/Kaimkhani/Lalkhani Muslims from modern UP and Hariana Provinces of India. The 2nd Bengal Cavalry disobeyed its officers orders to charge a body of Afghan Horsemen at Perwan on 2nd November 1840! Sir Fortescue the official historian of the British Army found the regiment’s behaviour inexplicable describing it as an incident “which after endless explanations remain always mysterious”. Fortescue was surprised because the 2nd Light Cavalry was an excellent unit in terms of war performance till 2nd November 1840. The unit was disbanded for misconduct. There is one aspect of this unit’s history which was overlooked by British historians. As per Major General Shahid Hamid the unit was raised from Afghans of Kandhari origin settled in Lucknow in 1788 by the Nawab Vizier of Oudh. It was renumbered as the 2nd Bengal Native Cavalry in 1796 and taken over by the East India Company’s Bengal Army .It is possible that the peculiar Afghan origin of the units manpower may have played a part in their reluctance to charge their fellow Muslim Afghans at Perwan! Bahadur Shah Zafar thus remains a much more familiar figure in our folklore than the 3rd Light Cavalry which actually captured Delhi in 1857 and actually goaded and forced the reluctant Bahadur Shah, who was more inclined to enjoy the English East India Company’s pension, into accepting the role of the king who led the last major armed insurrection against the British in India! The 3rd Light Cavalry was raised at Monyah in Oudh in 1797 by Captain J.P Pigot and fought in all major wars of the English East India Company till it rebelled against the British and seized Delhi in 1857! This regiment was a predominantly Hindustani Ranghar and Hindustani Pathan unit of Muslims from the Upper Doab districts of modern UP, Ranghars from Rohtak, Gurgaon and Hissar districts! It was this unit which single-handedly transformed an essentially military revolt into a full-fledged war of independence by rebelling at Meerut and then marching 40 miles to Delhi and seizing it ! The unit withdrew to Lucknow after the fall of Delhi in September 1857 and to the Nepali Himalyan region of Terai in March 1858.The great bulk of its men either died in fighting or because of disease and starvation in Nepal. Some of its troopers returned to Rohtak and died penniless shunned by the society for complicity in the rebellion ! Today no one knows about the glorious role of 3rd Light Cavalry in the freedom struggle. Their exploits are, however, remembered in some Ranghar households from Kanar and Kalanaur from which the greater part of this regiments Ranghars were recruited. Men who should have been national heroes are the heroes of only one small sub caste of Ranghar Muslim Rajputs! 3rd Bengal Native Infantry was one of the most illustrious regiments of the English East India Company’s Bengal Army .It was raised in 1763 at Midnapur near Calcutta by Lieutenant Swinton and was known as "Solteen Ki Paltan". It had the typical class composition of the Bengal Army ie three fourth Hindustani Hindu Rajputs and Brahmans from the Gangetic tract from Bihar to east bank of Jamna and one fourth Muslims from the area between Hissar (in modern Hariana) and Benares. The unit took part in many wars of the East India Company against Marathas Gurkhas and Pindaris. In 1857 it was stationed at Phillaur near and north of Ludhiana . It rebelled against the British on 7th June 1857 and marched along with the Jullundhur Brigade to Delhi . It fought against the British at Delhi while our first Prime Minister’s father was protecting the British line of communications from Lahore to Delhi at Karnal ! After the fall of Delhi it withdrew to Lucknow in September 1857 and to Nepal after the fall of Lucknow in March 1858. The vast bulk of the unit’s rank and file died in fighting or because of starvation and disease in Nepal’s Himalyan Terai rain forest while the remnants were repatriated to India in December 1859 and early 1860 under an agreement between Nepal and British Indian government . Its colours till 1920 were seen at Arsenal Museum Kathmandu and a detailed description of these is given in a book "Nepal" written by Perceval Landon in 1923 . As per Landon the Arsenal Museum also housed the colours of 48th Bengal Native Infantry (raised at Cawnpore in October 1804). This unit was stationed at Lucknow in 1857 and rebelled in June 1857. It finally found its way to Nepal in January 1859 where it surrendered to the Nepali authorities. The war of 1857 was a savage affair as is the case in all civil or revolutionary wars. Both sides took no prisoners and thus the rebels of 1857 decided to withdraw to Nepal rather than surrender and face certain execution . As a matter of fact as per Sir Alexander Cardew the Nepali Regent Jang Bahadur received a petition from 10,000 Sepoys asking for military help and if that could not be given, services of Gurkha officers to command each of the rough remnants of about thirty regiments of the rebel Bengal Army! Jang Bahadur who was a British ally refused and ordered the sepoys to leave Nepal within ten days! Jang Bahadur a staunch Nepali Hindu was, however, a very largehearted man! He allowed the Rebel Leaders including Hazrat Mahal of Lucknow to stay permanently in Nepal and also did not evict the remaining sepoys immediately, since British tempers were high and these sepoys would have been executed en masse . Later these sepoys were disarmed and repatriated in bodies of 1000 each via Segowlee to their villages in 1859-60 . Some however managed to stay in Nepal .
The First World War and the Khilafat Movement are familiar names in Indo-Pak history . Today hardly anyone in Pakistan has heard of the 5th Light Infantry and Mir Mast Afridi. The 5th Light Infantry was another illustrious unit of the Bengal Army . It was raised in July 1803 at Cawnpore by Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) J.M Johnson of the Bengal Native Infantry for service against the Marathas in the Second Maratha War , and was affectionately known by the sepoys as "Jansain Ki Paltan" . The unit fought many wars including the Maratha, Burma and Nepal Wars and was renumbered as 42nd Bengal Native Infantry in 1824. It was stationed at Saugor in Central India alongwith 31 Native Infantry ( still surviving as part of Indian Army and now known as 4th Battalion Brigade of Guards) in 1857. 31 Native Infantry stayed totally loyal but 42 Native Infantry’s four companies rebelled and joined the Nawab of Banda, finally landing up in Nepal. The 42nd, however, survived the rebellion since half of it had remained loyal. The unit was renumbered as 5th Bengal Native Infantry after 1857 and became an all Muslim (Hindustani Ranghar Muslim ) unit in 1892-93. In 1915 the unit was stationed at Singapore and was under orders to move to an unknown destination, which as a matter of fact was Hongkong, but was kept secret from the troops as a secrecy measure! This proved fateful for both the Britishers as well as the 5th Light Infantry! The Ranghar Muslims mistakenly thought that they were about to be sent to Mesopotamia to fight against their brother Muslim Turks and rebelled on 15th February 1915 a day before they were to embark in a ship which was to take it to Hongkong. The unit killed many Britishers and seized Singapore for about two days. Many Punjabi, Jat, Sikhs of the Malay State Forces also joined the rebellion! The rebels also liberated about 300 Germans in a prison camp. These Germans, however, behaved in a most un-German like manner! Only 17 of these Germans joined the rebels. The British, however, crushed the Ranghar Muslim- Jat- Sikh-German rebellion by employing sailors from French, British Russian and Japanese Naval ships. Thus by 18th February the rebellion was totally crushed . 46 soldiers of the 5th Light Infantry died in the fighting or were drowned while attempting to escape, while about 422 were captured alive. The prisoners also included six of the seventeen Germans who had joined the Ranghar Muslim rebels of 5th Light Infantry ! 202 indomitable Ranghar Muslims and 11 Sikhs were tried by a Field General Court Martial. 37 of these were sentenced to death and publicly executed by firing squad at Singapore while 89 were sentenced for life and transported to the Andaman Islands. The remnants of the unit who had not rebelled were sent to East Africa and the unit was officially disbanded in 1921-22! Today, hardly anyone in Pakistan knows about these Ranghar Muslim heroes who actively rebelled against the British many years before the Khilafat Movement! Today the descendants of Muslim League loyalists are still enjoying proceeds from the Jangi Inams allotted to their ancestors for services against the Turks in First World War while the 5th Light Infantry is not even remembered as a number. I never heard about the unit in all my thirteen years of service in the Pakistan Army , but only came to know about it through a publication of an Indian communist author in 1994 ! So much for importance of inspiring annals of Indo-Muslim military history in Pakistan!



1915 Singapore Mutiny | Rajput and British Colonialism | Ghadar Party | Kartar Singh Sarabha
 
Last edited:
. .
But Jat was somewhat synonym to a Peasant (Wikipedia states), so how Muslim Jats were pastoralists?

I mean are there some sources that dictates that?

punjabi muslim "rajput" recorded by british were also mostly muslim jats . many of my friends muslim jats like gondals , bajwa , cheema , chattha families served in british army under "rajput" banner , so they can feed their family.

Jatland hryana muslim rajput ranghars are also msulim jaats and share surnames with hryana jats
 
.
1*9aSNxZkFdyewgJGNVITT7w.png

IS it muslims say there is NO CASTE SYSTEM in islam but here only in Punjab region they all claimed Hindu + arab caste system too.
 
.
This is interesting break down, never seen this before. Puts things in perspective. Looks like no single group dominated as one would believe. Yes sikh jats made major part of it but still only 13.6%. I guess this include NWFP pashtuns as well? Overall looks like muslims dominated punjab army in 1931.

1*9aSNxZkFdyewgJGNVITT7w.png


Do you have break down of WW2 composition of punjab army? I remember reading somewhere British promised muslims independent country if they joined army for WW2, which resulted in even more increased recruitment from punjab.
Punjab regiment / 62nd Punjabis were very brutal and washed out opponents during First world war. Don't feel like writing there achievement. Lots of people won't like it ... lol
 
. .
These are not castes. These are tribes. Tribe means a group of people who are believed to be descendents of same ancestor it is like a very a large extended family

Actually Hinduism says there is no Caste system as we have only one system that is VARNA or Occupation... today software engineers/police/doctors all called as one caste group but it corrupted later.

PS: Above i mentioned all are considered as 'Castes', if u agree or not.
 
. . . .
Back
Top Bottom