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Martial Race or Martial races theory is an ideology based on the assumption that certain ethnic races were more martially inclined as opposed to the general populace or other races. This was a term originally used by the British Empire who observed that the Scottish Highlanders were more fierce in battle than the others on the British Isles, a concept applied to the Indian scenario. The entire Indian ethnic groups were divided into two categories: Martial and Non Martial. The martial race was typically brave and well built for fighting but were also described as "unintelligent". The non martial races were those whom the British believed to be unfit for battle because of their sedentary lifestyle. Of late, this concept has been dismissed as an Imperialistic thought based on racial stereotypes and laced with gender bias.

Criteria

Martial Race was a designation created by officials of British India. In India, the British faced fierce resistance in some regions while they easily conquered some other regions. This led the British to look closely at some of the South Asian races. The British officials described these races as naturally warlike and aggressive in battle, and to possess qualities like courage, loyalty, self sufficiency, physical strength, resilience, orderliness, hard working, fighting tenacity and Military tactics. The martial races were supposedly tall, broad-shouldered, light-skinned and capable of enduring hardship. Unlike the martial races, the inhabitants of the hot, flat plains of the country were supposedly unwarlike, flabby, darkskinned and therefore unfit for military service. Still others were excluded due to their "ease of living" or branded as seditious agitators. However, they were regarded as smarter and sometimes more cunning when compared to the martial races.

Apart from their physique, the martial races were regarded as politically subservient or docile to authority. The British recruited heavily from these Martial Races for service in the colonial army. This doctrine of martial races postulated that the ability and desire of the soldier was inherited and that most Indians, with the exception of the specified castes, did not have the requisite genes that would make them warriors. Critics of this theory state that the Indian rebellion of 1857 may have played a role in reinforcing the British belief in Martial races. During this event some Indian troops (known as "Sepoys"), particularly in Bengal, mutinied, but the "loyal" Punjabis, Dogras, Gurkhas and Garhwalis did not join the mutiny and fought on the side of the British Army. From then on, this theory was used to the hilt to accelerate recruitment from among these races, whilst discouraging enlistment of "disloyal" Bengalis and high-caste Hindus who had sided with the rebel army during the war.

The British, sensing the inequalities and fierce loyalty to one's tribe and caste of the diverse natives of the subcontinent, found opportunity to use it to their own great advantage. These already wide divides were fertile breeding ground to inculcate pride in one's identity based on race and physical attributes. This served the British in two ways. On the one hand this made sure that there was no repeat of the Indian rebellion of 1857 by ensuring there was no unity among the different subjects of the Raj. On the other hand it encouraged a sense of competition among the different 'races'. And the British found willing Indians to aid and abet it in the suppression of the rebellion to begin with. A British general and scholar, Lieutenant General Sir George Fletcher MacMunn (1869-1952) noted in his writings "It is only necessary for a feeling to arise that it is impious and disgraceful to serve the British, for the whole of our fabric to tumble like a house of cards without a shot being fired or a sword unsheathed". To this end, it became British policy to recruit from only those who they classified as members of the 'Martial Races' and the practice became an integral part of the recruitment manuals for the Army in the British Raj. "The Martial Race theory had an elegant symmetry. Indians who were intelligent and educated were defined as cowards, while those defined as brave were uneducated and backward."

The geography and culture of these martial races had common marks, such as hilly and mountainous terrain, a basis as hunting or agricultural societies and a history of conflict, whether internally or with external groups. A case in point are the Gurkhas, who challenged British imperial expansion and gained the respect of their enemies for their fighting prowess and tenacity, thus earning them their reputation and their continued employment in the British Army. Some authors like Heather Streets rebuff this Martial Races Ideology stating that the military authorities puffed up the images of the martial soldiers by writing regimental histories, and by extolling the kilted Scots, kukri-wielding Gurkhas and turbaned Sikhs in numerous paintings. The Martial Race theory has also been described as a clever British effort to divide and rule the people of India for their own political ends."

The British who were the most enthusiastic proponents of this nineteenth century ideology, however had mixed views of these so called martial races. They were regarded as valiant and strong but also equally intellectually challenged, lacking initiative or leadership qualities to command large troops. The martial races were also regarded as politically subservient or docile to authority. For these reasons, the martial races theory did not apply in the case of officer recruitment, which was based on social class and loyalty to the British Raj. One source calls this a "pseudo-ethnological" construction, which was popularised by Frederick Sleigh Roberts, and created serious deficiencies in troop levels during the World Wars, compelling them to recruit from "nonmartial" races. In fact, Winston Churchill was reportedly concerned that the theory was abandoned during the war that he wrote to the Commander-in-Chief, India that he must "rely as much as possible on the martial races". After Indian Independence, the Indian Army abandoned this theory and recruitment took place without discrimination.

Races designated by the British as martial races

"Rajputs" (anonymous, c.1860)
From the collection of the British Library

British declared martial races . Listed below in alphabetical order:

Unlike the martial races, the inhabitants of the hot, flat plains of the country were supposedly unwarlike, unfit for military services. Still others were excluded due to their "ease of living" or branded as seditious agitators. The Dravidian people were called non-martial with many derogatory remarks about their looks, ethnicity and history.

The people of East India were also not considered "martial races", despite the fact that the most powerful empire in ancient India, the Maurya Empire, originated in Eastern India from the kingdom of Magadha (in modern Bihar).

Even the Marathas were classified as non-martial, ignoring the Maratha Empire or the Maratha Regiment's valiant contribution against the Turks during the First World War, when they were recruited by the British Indian Army.

The Poorabiya regiment, where the Bihari Rajputs and Bhumihar Brahmins made up bulk of the army, faced total annihilation during three Anglo-Afghan Wars and mass desertions during others and caused much loss of face to British Army. Therefore these were replaced with other Kshatriya agricultural castes of Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The Nairs of Kerala were initially included in the list, however after the Nairs of Travancore rebelled against the British under Velu Thampi Dalawa, they were recruited in lower numbers. Apart from India, the British also classified the Jews as a non-martial race in the 1930s, but this was also disproved when Israel won all its wars against other nations since its inception, including the historic Six Day War.

Modern usage

Though seldom used in today's context, it was used until the early 1970s, especially by the Pakistan Military which believed that since the Pakistan Army comprised soldiers of the "martial races", they should easily defeat India in a war, especially prior to the Second Kashmir War Based on this belief in the martial supremacy, it was popularly hyped that one Pakistani soldier was equal to four to ten Hindus/Indian soldiers (including a large number of Sikh soldiers and officers), and thus numerical superiority of the foe could be overcome. However, the Indo-Pakistan Wars of 1947 and 1965 proved otherwise as Pakistan Army lost more men and land than India. in its many attempts to gain the entire Kashmir region.

The Pakistan Army was also accused of bias and racism by the Bengalis of East Pakistan who felt humiliated by this dubious theory that was being floated in West Pakistan, that they were not "martially inclined" compared to the Pashtuns, Balochs and Punjabis. Pakistan author Hasan-Askari Rizvi notes that the limited recruitment of Bengali personnel in the Pakistan Army was because, the West Pakistanis "could not overcome the hangover of the martial race theory". This was to be one of the factors for the Bangladesh Liberation War, where Bengalis aided by the Indian Military defeated the Pakistan Army in just a fortnight, which subsequently lead to the taking of nearly 1 lakh (100,000) Pakistani soldiers as Prisoners of War - the largest surrender since World War II.

Defense writers in Pakistan have noted that the defeat was partially attributable to the flawed "Martial Races Theory" which merely led to "wishful thinking" that it was possible to defeat the Indian Army. Since then, the "martial race" theory was rarely, if ever, used at all by Pakistan.

Arun Shourie an Indian writer, journalist and politician (former Minister of Communications and Information Technology) refers to the Sikhs as 'having retained a false pride in martial temperament and abilities'. The tenth Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed that one Sikh was equal to sava lakh (one hundred twenty five thousand) and a fauj-a one man army. The Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was reported to have said 'One Sikh could easily reckon with thirty-five Hindus.' This characterization of Sikhs is particularly strong within the Hindutva movement, which emphasizes Hindu nationalism.

See also

References

  1. Rand, Gavin (March 2006). "Martial Races and Imperial Subjects: Violence and Governance in Colonial India 1857–1914". European Review of History. 13 (1). Routledge: 1–20. doi:10.1080/13507480600586726.
  2. Martial Races: The military, race and masculinity in British Imperial Culture, 1857-1914 By Heather Streets
  3. Glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and NWFP, H A Rose
  4. Sahib and Sepoy: An Inquiry into the Relationship between the British Officers and Native Soldiers of the British Indian Army Jeffrey Greenhut Military Affairs, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jan., 1984), Pg 15
  5. Country Studies: Pakistan - Library of Congress
  6. The Armies of India. 1911. London: Adams and Charles Black.
  7. Dr. Jeffery Greenhut "The Imperial Reserve:The Indian Corps on the Western Front, 1914-15. "The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, October 1983.
  8. Book review of Martial Races: The military, race and masculinity in British Imperial Culture, 1857-1914 By Heather Streets in The Telegraph
  9. Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat by Richard H. Shultz, Andrea Dew (Pg 47)
  10. Prostitution, Race and Politics: Policing Venereal Disease in the British Empire By Philippa Levine, Pg 284
  11. Ethnic Group Recruitment in the Indian Army: The Contrasting Cases of Sikhs, Muslims, Gurkhas and Others by Omar Khalidi
  12. Ethnic group recruitment in the Indian army: The contrasting cases of Sikhs, Muslims, Gurkhas and others by Omar Khalidi
  13. Country Data - Based on the Country Studies Series by Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress
  14. The Magic of Indian Cricket: Cricket and Society in India By Mihir Bose After, Pg 25
  15. Each of the following groups are mentioned in the Annual Class Return, 1925, pp 96-99.
  16. See Refs also: Restricted Peasants and the Restraint of Imperial Power, Indian Army and the Making of Punjab, 2003, R. K. Majumdar.
  17. See: Punjab Alienation Land Act XIII of 1900 (Lahore Amrit Electric Press, 1924), Appendix A, Notified Tribes, pp 146-149, Nihal Chand Anand.
  18. A Handbook of fighting Races of India, 1889, p 81/82, 179/181, P. D. Bonarjee.
  19. See also: The Martial Races of India, George Fletcher (Sir), MacMunn, 1933.
  20. Cf also: Wealth and Welfare, p 214, Calvert.
  21. Handbook of the Panjáb, Western Rajpútáná, Kashmír, and Upper Sindh, 1883, p 61, John Murray (Firm).(It is also important to note that in this reference, the Arains are also described as the blood cousins of the Jatts (ibid p 61)).
  22. The Punjab Alienation of Land Act XIII of 1900, Appendix A, Notified Tribes, pp 146-149, Nihal Chand Anand.
  23. Annual Class Return 1925, pp 96-97.
  24. The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab, Chapter Recruited Peasants and the Restraint of Immperial Power, (Edition) 2003, p 105, R. K. Mazumder.
  25. Ethnic Group Recruitment in the Indian Army by Dr. Omar Khalidi
  26. Ethnic Group Recruitment in the Indian Army by Dr. Omar Khalidi
  28. Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat Richard H. Shultz, Andrea Dew: "The Martial Races Theory had firm adherents in Pakistan and this factor played a major role in the under-estimation of the Indian Army by Pakistani soldiers as well as civilian decision makers in 1965."
  29. An Analysis The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857-59 by AH Amin The army officers of that period were convinced that they were a martial race and the Hindus of Indian Army were cowards. Some say this was disproved in 1965 when despite having more sophisticated equipment, numerical preponderance in tanks and the element of surprise the Pakistan Armoured Division miserably failed at Khem Karan
  30. United States Library of Congress Country Studies Most Pakistanis, schooled in the belief of their own martial prowess, refused to accept the possibility of their country's military defeat by "Hindu India"
  31. Indo-Pakistan War of 1965
  32. End-game? By Ardeshir Cowasjee - 18 July 1999, Dawn (newspaper)
  33. India by Stanley Wolpert. Published: University of California Press, 1990. "India's army... quickly dispelled the popular Pakistani myth that one Muslim soldier was “worth ten Hindus.”"
  34. According to sources in Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Pakistani fatalities range between 30% - 200% higher than Indian fatalities including the Operation Gibraltar.
  35. Pakistan backed troops were always the first to be sent into Kashmir during 1947, 1965 and in 1999 kargil conflict with aims of capture, instigation and intrusions. For details/sources, see relevant articles.
  36. Library of Congress studies
  37. Military, State and Society in Pakistan by Hasan-Askari Rizvi, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-23193-8 (Pg 128)
  38. Pakistan's Defense Journal
  39. Arun Shourie, Lessons from the Punjab, in The Punjab Story, edited by Amarjit Kaur et al., Roli Books International, 1984, pages 178-179
  40. Ranbir S. Sandhu, Sant Janail Singh Bhindranwale - Life, Mission, and Martyrdom, Sikh Education and Religious Foundation, Dublin, Ohio, 1997, page 10.
  41. Kuldip Nayar and Khushwant Singh, Tragedy of Punjab, Vision Books, New Delhi, 1984, page 27

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