Journal of military history, lvi1 (1993), 447 80. tan, tai-yong, 'an imperial home-front punjab and the first world war

1. Letter to Journal of Military History
critiquing. Tan, Tai-Yong, 'An imperial home-front:
Punjab and the First World War published in
Journal of Military History, LVI1 (1993), 447-80
The below letter was sent to the Journal of Military
History but not published citing flimsy reasons that it
is too long.
Essentially theknow all editorial board of this biased
US journal was not willing to accept any criticism or
analysis.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sir,
I was deeply impressed by the excellent article by Mr
Tan, Tai-Yong published in your journal, the readers who
have a pretty vague idea about the subcontinent and may
form outwardly correct but essentially erroneous
conclusions, which may be unfair to Punjab's role in Indo
Pak history. I may add that my intention in making these
points is in no way to prove that the worthy author does
not know his subject. Indeed as earlier stated, I have been

2. deeply impressed by his grasp of Indian history and some
very thought provoking remarks that he has made about
the civil military relations in Punjab. The author has done
an excellent job despite the fact that it is no mean job to
understand Punjab history while being based away from
there.
Firstly the politics of Punjab right from the advent of the
Muslim invaders in the tenth century was highly
complicated. It was this particular situation which played
the most significant role in Punjab's remaining loyal in First
World War rather than all British measures. The British it
may be noted inherited the situation once they annexed
Punjab in 1849. They exploited it to full advantage. Punjab
was initially a Hindu majority province in the tenth century.
By the seventeenth century it became a Muslim majority
area as a result of efforts of Muslim missionaries. This has
been well covered by various British authors like "The
Preaching of Islam" by the famous Professor T.W Arnold
of Magdalene College, a distinguished figure of the
"School of Oriental Studies" at the University of London
(Page-197 - Aligarh - The First Generation - David
Lelyveld-Princeton University-1978). The foundation of the
Sikh religion in the early sixteenth century by Guru Nanak
(1469-1538) and his successors further complicated the
communal equation. The Sikhs a purely Punjabi religion

3. came in conflict with the Muslim Mughal Government at
Delhi from the period 1581-1606 (Refers-page-245-
Cambridge History of India-The Mughal Period). They
were ruthlessly persecuted from 1606 to 1799 by first the
Mughals till 1748 and then by the Afghan raider Ahmad
Shah Abdali. The Sikhs retaliated most resolutely and
brilliantly and resorted to guerrilla warfare as a result of
which they became masters of Muslim majority Punjab by
1809 under the brilliant Ranjit Singh. The US readers may
note that the Sikh number never exceeded the figure of
10.5% of the total population of Punjab. (Census Report of
Punjab-1881-Lahore. Pages-14 & 15-David Lelyveld-Op
Cit and Page-8- Prelude to Partition-David Page-Oxford
University Press-Karachi-1987). The Sikhs whose holy
places had been desecrated by the Muslims during the
period of conflict from 1606-1748 retaliated by turning
many Muslim mosques into stables and military stores
magazines during their rule, which lasted, from 1799-
1849. Once the English East India Company got involved
in the Second Sikh War the Muslim feudals who were
initially Sikh vassals like the Taiwan's etc now defected to
the British side and played an active role in assisting the
British in the final conquest of Punjab. The Punjab
Muslims about 54% of the province as it was in 1919
welcomed the British conquest of Punjab and hailed it.
The British followed a clever policy of rehabilitating the
Sikhs and also restoring Muslim places of worship. A

4. subtle development followed. The Sikhs and Muslims
competed with each other in loyalty to the British, the
Sikhs in order to regain a part their lost total dominance
and the Muslims to gain their due share in terms of share
in the population which had been denied to them since
1799. It was this complex equation that ensured that
Punjab stayed loyal in 1857 and in WW One. The
evidence about Muslim Sikh hatred may be gauged from
the 1947 riots in which at least a million people were killed
in Punjab once the British left India. The Punjabi Hindus
who were about 33.46% of the population gained the most
right from 1606 till 1947. Initially they stayed loyal to the
Mughals and retained their prosperous status. Later the
Sikhs found the Hindus better subjects than the Muslims
and patronized them. Under the British also the Hindus
being a largely urban community gained the maximum
advantages accruing from Western education and
commerce and stood out as the richest and most
educated community of Punjab in 1947.
A word about the observation on page-409-that the status
of the rural notables in Punjab did not deteriorate like that
of their counterparts in United Provinces (UP). This was a
different story. The UP Taluqdars gained as much out of
British rule as the Punjabi feudals. After all the province
stood second after Punjab in recruitment drive in the army.

5. The decline of the United Provinces feudals started only
after 1947 once the urban dominated Indian National
Congress instituted land reforms that deprived these
feudals of a large part of their land. The difference
between Punjab and UP was the fact that UP by virtue of
having been colonized some 73 to 46 years (depending on
the region) earlier than the Punjab had a much larger
literacy (Western Education) rate and a much larger Hindu
middle and independent professional and business class
which was educated and the feudals despite continuous
patronage by the British failed to do as well in Punjab in
the elections. In addition the province as compared to
Punjab had a much larger industrial base and thus a very
large industrial worker class. The Punjabi feudals had little
future in Pakistan too since the majority province East
Pakistan was not feudal dominated. However, the Punjabi
feudals by combining with the civil military elite of West
Pakistani origin coerced the East Pakistanis to renounce
their actual majority in 1956 and thus ensured that the
feudal hold was retained in Pakistan. They also
collaborated with all Pakistani military governments and
maintained their pre-1947 hold.
It is stated in the article that "Yet, despite all of this, the
colonial state in the Punjab seemed to have emerged in
1919 very much intact and unweakened in any way". It did

6. not happen this way. British repressive policies in Punjab
brought them in conflict with the more aware urban
populations of cities between Rivers Jhelum and Sutlej as
a result of which the British were confronted with the first
serious anti-British political agitation in Punjab as a result
of which martial law was imposed in Punjab. Property
worth many millions was destroyed or looted (including an
American missionary's house and his mission's excellent
hospital which was giving free treatment to the poor in
Chuhar Kanna). (Refers-Page-271- "Disorders Inquiry
Committee-1919-1920-Report" - British Perspective-
Volume Two -Superintendent Government of India Press-
Calcutta-1920). Amritsar city was handed over to the army
where at least 379 peaceful demonstrators were killed
(Refers-Page-187-1919 Disorders Inquiry Committee
Report) by the British-Indian troops, communications all
over the province were attacked (Refers-Page-railway
stations were attacked and Gujranwala town was bombed
by the Royal Air Force. Summary Military courts were set
up which sentenced 108 people to be executed out which
at least 23 were maintained while remaining were
converted to transportation for life to the Andaman Islands!
(Refers-Page-235-1919 Disorders Inquiry Committee
Report-Op Cit). At least 258 people as per official report
were sentenced to be flogged from 5 to 30 times (Page-
231-1919 Disorders Inquiry Committee report) and a large
number were publicly flogged with posteriors naked ( I can

7. send you some photographs if you like). Other
punishments like crawling in the streets rather than
walking were imposed on common people! In short a
province that had been most loyal to the Empire was
handled so injudiciously by two hot headed Irishmen i.e.
Governor Michael O Dwyer and Brigadier Dyer that the
British lost a great part of the goodwill that had been
created through tangible well meaning and just measures
of so many Britishers from 1849 till 1919! Such was the
Punjabi indignation that Michael O Dwyer the hero of the
article was shot to death by a Punjabi student studying
engineering in London in 1940! The student who was
hanged within a month stated at his trial that he was
avenging Jallianwalla Firing and the outrages committed
on Dyers orders in 1919. The urban population was
alienated and the anti-British congress emerged as the
second largest party in the 1936 elections. The British
policy was efficient but short sighted and in the long run
failed as later events proved. The Punjab disturbances of
1919 shook their confidence and certainly weakened their
hold on India. In Second World War their recruiting drive in
Punjab was based on the slogan of self-rule and was a
negation of all imperialist ideals! The Duke of Connaught
on eve of inauguration of the Indian Legislature stated that
"the shadow of Amritsar lengthened over the fair face of

8. India" (Refers-Page-347-India-A Modern History-T.G.P
Spear-University of Michigan-Reprinted India-1989).
There is another important point that the writer has
missed. Punjab as a province was a British creation.
There were at least four different ethnic groups in Punjab.
The Punjabis in the areas between Indus and Sutlej and
Jamna rivers in the northern half of Punjab, the Hindustani
enclave of Ambala division which was not Punjabi, the
Seraiki speaking areas of the south, again distinct from
Punjabis and the pastoral Baloch tribes in the southern
part of the province. The major recruitment took place only
in two of these four ethnic groups i.e the Punjabis and the
Hindustani districts, which had been transferred to Punjab
as a punishment for having taken part in the rebellion of
1857. Chhottu Ram who belonged to this region was not a
Punjabi. Then there was another major motivation in
joining the army i.e. economic. This motivation had an
important region specific characteristic, which has not
been described by the author. This was confined only to
districts with rain irrigated and barren lands north of river
Jhelum including northern part of Shahpur and one
subdivision of District Gujrat which is south of river
Jhelum, or to the Hindustani districts (Hissar, Rohtak
Gurgaon and large parts of Karnal) of the south east part
which consisted of the most barren and non-productive

9. land of the province. The areas south of these rivers were
less keen in contributing recruits for the fighting arms.
Thus Lahore district's performance was most pathetic;
keeping in view the fact that it was population wise one of
the biggest districts of Punjab did not contribute as many
recruits as expected. Thus the British report of Services
Rendered by the Lahore district observed that "As
compared with other districts the recruiting activities of
Lahore district were not as good as could be desired. The
villagers in the neighbourhood of Lahore city did not
readily enlist in the combatant ranks, they made too good
a living as daily labourer in and about the city to think of
entering the service" (Refers-Short Record of the War
Services Rendered by the Lahore District-1914-1919-
Compiled in the Deputy Commissioner's Office, Lahore,
Punjab-Printed at Mufeed I Aam Press-Lahore-1919-
Punjab Public Library-World War One Section-Lahore).
There was a very important qualitative motivational
difference in the motivation to join the army in the Sikhs
and the Punjabis, which should have been pointed out.
The Sikh motivation to join the army had a definite link
with their minority status. This produced in them an
intense feeling to improve their political and economic
standing vis-a-vis the two larger groups i.e. the Punjabi
Muslims and Hindus. Thus the Sikhs despite being only

10. around 10.5% contributed 88,000 combatants to the army
while the Muslims despite being a 54% group contributed
only 136,000 recruits! This had two reasons first was the
Sikh preponderance in fighting arm units before the war
over the Punjabi Muslims as well as their feeling of relative
insecurity as a minority community. Despite all this loyalty
the Sikh quota was relatively reduced after the war
because of the significant role that some Sikhs had played
in the Ghadar Movements. Here it would be interesting for
the American readers to note that it was the liberal
influence of USA which induced the Sikhs who had settled
in California to embark on the Ghadar Movement. The
Ghadar party had its base in the US West region, where it
was founded on 21 April 1913 at Astoria (Oregon State) by
Punjabi immigrants (mostly Sikh who had reached
California as farm labourers or exiles before WW One)
Refers-Page 262-A Dictionary of Modern Indian History-
Parshotam Mehra-Oxford University Press-Madras-1985).
The author did not discuss the role of the British system of
class composition of Indian units in preventing rebellion.
The same is true for the activities of the Ghadar Party
activists in the army and certain military mutinies in units
recruited from races inhabiting Punjab and their effect on
the class composition of the post-1918 Indian Army have
also not been discussed. The British were greatly helped

11. in the mixed class composition of Indian Army to which
they had resorted from the period 1864-1885. This system
played a major part in preventing mutiny in the Indian
Army. Under this system the vast bulk of cavalry and
infantry units consisted of different companies of various
classes in any single unit. Like a unit with two Sikh and
two Punjabi Muslim Companies. A unit with a Pathan
Muslim and a Dogra Hindu Squadron etc. This ensured
that the Muslims would not combine with the Sikhs and the
Sikhs would be too eager to report in case the Muslims
were up to something nasty! This system proved a
success in WW One. On the other hand the experiment of
having one-class units failed. Thus 129 Baluchis which
was one of the very few "All Muslim Units" was made a
mixed class unit after the war. This happened since many
of its Pathans defected to the German lines in France. The
15 Lancers which was an "All Muslim Unit" was disbanded
after the war since its Pathan Muslim Squadrons resisted
orders to fight the Turks in Mesopotamia. The 5th Light
Infantry which was an "All Muslim Unit" with two
companies of Ranghar Muslims from Punjab province
mutinied en masse at Singapore in 1915 and was
disbanded after the war. Thus after the war with the
exception of one infantry unit all fighting arm units were
made mixed class units. The Ghadar Party infiltrators
penetrated Indian Army and did partially succeed in
subverting 23rd Punjab Cavalry (this scribes unit) where at

12. least 12 soldiers were court martialled and executed
(Refers-Page-141-An Account of the Ghadar Conspiracy-
1913-15-F.C Isemonger and J. Slattery-Lahore-1919 and
Page-8-A Short History of 11 Cavalry (Frontier Force-Lieut
Colonel Mohammad Khalid-Privately Published-Quetta-
1999-Copy held by this scribe).
Later research proved that the most crucial role was
played by the pre-war existing Indian Army in October-
December 1914 in Ypres area where the British Second
Corps was at its last gasp at Ypres at a time when in
words of the official British historian, "The position was
critical, for the allies were outnumbered and outgunned.
There was no prospect for several days while it was
known that the enemy was bringing up large bodies of
troops from the east" (Page-23-The Indian Corps in
France-Lieutenant Colonel J.W.B Merwether and Right
Honourable Sir Frederick Smith-John Murray-Ablemarle
Street-London-1919.). The reinforcements later sent
played a significant but not as decisive a role as that by
the Indian Corps at Ypres in October-December 1914.
The real reason why Punjab responded to the British war
effort lay in four factors. Firstly, an excellent British policy
to bring prosperity in Punjab by excavating canals which

13. was initiated in 1852. Recruitment to the army in increased
numbers from 1857, and grant of lands as reward of war
services was initiated in 1858 and brought great prosperity
to the provinces populace residing in the barren poor and
non-productive regions of the northern and south eastern
districts of Punjab. Secondly, the extreme political
backwardness of Punjab in terms of education by virtue of
being the last region to be captured by the British and
being under hold of feudal lords who discouraged spread
of Western education. This system enabled the feudal
lords to act as recruiting agents for their own personal
ends. The disturbances of 1919 it may be noted took place
in the canal-irrigated areas and in cities with the more
aware and educated urban population.
Thirdly, the economic factor of getting land as a reward for
war services also played a major role in the motivation to
get recruited. This again was true for the people from the
barren districts. Finally it was the complex communal
divide of the province with various ethnic and religious
groups and the sharp urban rural divide with the vast bulk
of the illiterate and poor rural population under total
domination of feudal lords and the extremely small
intensely nationalistic and anti-British educated urban
population further reinforced by the highly aware and over

14. enthusiastic idealistic but highly unrealistic US and
Canadian Punjabi Sikh and Hindu Indian community.
The negative result of the whole affair for the British was
the fact that too many expectations were aroused. The
Indians believed in vain that India for its war services will
"take a place among the nations besides Canada,
Australia and New Zealand, but India was bitterly
disappointed" as one Britisher admitted. (Refers-Page-
411-A Matter of Honour-Philip Mason-Jonathan Cape and
Bedford-London-1974) Once these expectations were not
fulfilled disturbances started in India and these started
from Punjab which had suffered the most in terms of
casualties in the War in 1919. The foundation of modern
anti-British political mass agitation was thus laid in 1919.
The British were forced to introduce legislative
government, forced to grant Indians commissions in the
Armed Forces which the military establishment had
successfully resisted from 1757 to 1917. In short the price
that they paid was too heavy and counter-productive.
Michael O Dwyer the hot blooded Irishman mishandled
everything.
India in 1919 was an explosive place. While about 60,000
Indian soldiers had died in WW One, some sixteen million

15. Indians during the same period had died of Influenza !
This was a greater number than total dead in all countries
in WW One due to the war ! (Refers-Page-155-English
History-1914-45-A.J.P Taylor-Penguin Books-England-
1977). The seeds of the anti British Indian politics were
planted by Michael O Dwyer and Dyer through out of
proportion enthusiasm in the recruiting drive and in unduly
repressive measures in 1919. The British held on to India
for 28 more years but they had lost the goodwill and great
admiration for their policies in Punjab so painstakingly
planted by a long list of British administrators from 1849 to
1914 through justice and fair play it takes many decades
to grow a forest but just one matchstick to burn the work of
centuries.
How do I sum it up as a Pakistani? The only gainers in the
whole process were not the common men in Punjab but
the Punjabi Muslim feudals who have survived till todate
and even today constitute an important political force in
Pakistani politics. They fooled the British and the Pakistani
masses whose leaders they became after 1947. These
Punjabi feudals served the Sikhs even when Sikhs used
the Muslim mosques as stables! They switched over to the
British side once the Sikh State was destroyed in 1849.
They served the British once the Bengal Army under a
Muslim leadership rebelled in 1857. They served the

16. British in WW One and Two and got huge economic
rewards in return. About three years before Pakistan's
creation they switched on to the Muslim League a largely
urban dominated party in 1944-47 and pushed the
relatively more enlightened Punjabi Muslim urban elite
aside ! In the period 1951-58 they betrayed the Muslim
League and joined the civil military bureaucratic clique of
Pakistan. Todate their achievements include collaboration
with all martial law governments and dominance of all
democratically elected governments of Pakistan including
the present military government! I am a great admirer of
late Abraham Lincoln but I must admit as the Punjabi
Muslim feudals have proved that sometimes some people
manage to fool all the people all the time!
Kind Regards
Major Agha Humayun Amin (Retired)
Pavocavalry@hotmail.com