Punjab in first world war and what Singapore University Professors orf American Journals who publish them dont understand or wont admit

3. INTELLECTUAL DISHONESTY OF JOURNAL OFMILITARY HISTORY OF USA
MAJOR AGHA H AMIN (RETIRED)

5. IN 2001 JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY OF USA PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE WITH MANY BASIC
HISTORICAL AND ANALYTICALMISTAKES BY PROF TAN TAI YONG OF SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY.

6. I SENT THE LETTER CRITICISING THE ARTICLE BUT THE JOURNAL SIMPLY DID NOT PUBLISH MY
CRITIQUE .
INSTEAD THE WRITER WASAWARDED THE MONCADOPRIZE OF 2001.
Sir,
I was deeply impressed by the excellent article by Mr "X" 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 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 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

7. 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 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. 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.

8. 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 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 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 India" (Refers-Page-347-India-A Modern
History-T.G.P Spear-University of Michigan-Reprinted India-1989).

9. 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 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 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

10. 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 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 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

11. 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 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 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 Indians during the same period had died of Influenza !

12. 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 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