ARMY SERVICE AND SOCIAL MOBILITY: THE MAHARS OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, WITH COMPARISONS WITH THE BENE ISRAEL AND BLACK AMERICANS By ARDYTHE MAUDE ROBERTA BASHAM M.A., The U n i v e r s i t y of Manitoba, 1975 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of H i s t o r y ) We accept tb*is t h e s i s as conforming to the r e q u i r e d standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA November 1985 Copyright Ardythe Maude Roberta Basham, 1985 In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f the requirements f o r an advanced degree a t the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree t h a t the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e and study. I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e copying o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the head o f my department o r by h i s or her r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s understood t h a t copying or p u b l i c a t i o n of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l not be allowed without my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . Department o f The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 DE-6 (3/81) ABSTRACT: Army S e r v i c e and S o c i a l M o b i l i t y : The Mahars of the Bombay Presidency, with Comparisons to the Bene I s r a e l and to Black Americans. A number of h i s t o r i a n s have a s s e r t e d that m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e has been an avenue of s o c i a l m o b i l i t y f o r disadvantaged peoples i n m u l t i c u l t u r a l s o c i e t i e s but few d e t a i l e d i n v e s t i g a t i o n s sup-p o r t t h i s a s s e r t i o n . T h i s t h e s i s does so by d e s c r i b i n g the r e l a t i o n s h i p between army s e r v i c e and s o c i a l m o b i l i t y i n the case of the Mahars, an untouchable community of Western Ind i a , who are compared with the Bene I s r a e l , an Indian Jewish community, and b l a ck Americans. The t h e s i s d e s c r i b e s and analyses the s i m i l a r i -t i e s and d i f f e r e n c e s i n the s o c i a l s t a t u s and m i l i t a r y e x p e r i -ences of each community, and assesses the impact of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e on t h e i r s o c i a l and economic s i t u a t i o n s . The Mahars and the Bene I s r a e l served i n the Indian Army up to 1893, when both groups were d e c l a r e d i n e l i g i b l e f o r e n l i s t -ment. The reasons f o r t h i s , and the s t r u g g l e of the Mahars to r e g a i n t h e i r m i l i t a r y e l i g i b i l i t y , are examined and compared with the r e l e v a n t p e r i o d f o r American b l a c k s , the century from the U n i t e d S t a t e s C i v i l War to the beginnings of the C i v i l Rights movement i n the 1950s. Comparative m i l i t a r y pay and b e n e f i t s , the g e n e r a l e f f e c t s of r a c i a l and caste p r e j u d i c e , the " M a r t i a l Races" theory, the r e l a t i o n s h i p between m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e and c i t i z e n s h i p , and the s t a t u s of s o l d i e r s i n t h e i r n o n - m i l i t a r y environments are d i s c u s s e d at l e n g t h i n order to support the t h e s i s that the Mahars b e n e f i t e d most from m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e . They r e c e i v e d economic b e n e f i t s , e d u c a t i o n a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s , l e a d e r s h i p experience, enhanced s o c i a l s t a t u s , and improved access to o f f i c i a l channels. Consequently, they p e r i o d i c a l l y a g i t a t e d f o r r e s t o r a t i o n of the r i g h t to e n l i s t , something they d i d not f i n a l l y achieve u n t i l 1942. The Bene I s r a e l had no r a c i a l or c a s t e stigma to overcome, and were l e a s t a f f e c t e d by the l o s s of m i l i t a r y employment. A c c o r d i n g l y , they made l i t t l e e f f o r t to r e g a i n e n l i s t m e n t s t a t u s . While American b l a c k s de-r i v e d s i m i l a r b e n e f i t s , these were not of c r u c i a l importance f o r improvement of the p o s i t i o n of the e n t i r e b lack p o p u l a t i o n ; m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e was, however, important i n j u s t i f y i n g c l a i m s to p o l i t i c a l e q u a l i t y . Whites r e i n f o r c e d t h e i r dominance with p s e u d o - s c i e n t i f i c b e l i e f s i n t h e i r innate r a c i a l s u p e r i o r i t y which they used to l i m i t the p a r t i c i p a t i o n of the Mahars and b l a c k s i n the m i l i t a r y . But r e c o g n i t i o n as s o l d i e r s had symbolic as w e l l as p r a c t i c a l value i n s t r e n g t h e n i n g the claims of Mahars and b l a c k s to equal s t a t u s i n other areas. Primary sources used f o r the t h e s i s i n c l u d e government documents from the N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s of I n d i a , the Maharashtra S t a t e A r c h i v e s , the U n i t e d S e r v i c e s I n s t i t u t i o n of I n d i a , and the I n d i a O f f i c e L i b r a r y . Regimental and other m i l i t a r y h i s t o r i e s , i n t e r v i e w s , and a v a r i e t y of c u l t u r a l h i s t o r y sources, as w e l l as the standard monographic m a t e r i a l s , have a l s o been used. P r o f e s s o r P. Harnetty i v TABLE OF CONTENTS GLOSSARY v i i i ABBREVIATIONS x i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x i i INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I. ORIGINS AND SOCIAL STATUS 8 I I . EARLY MILITARY HISTORY 24 The Mahars 24 The Bene I s r a e l 42 American Blacks 44 I I I . PROFESSIONALISM AND PREJUDICE: MILITARY SERVICE IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY 59 The Indian Army 60 R a c i a l T h e o r i e s : M a r t i a l Races and the "Gurkha Syndrome" 74 The American Army to 1900 87 Comparison of American and Indian Armies, c. 1865-1914 100 Summary 105 IV. COSTS AND BENEFITS OF MILITARY SERVICE 114 The Indian Army 115 The American Army 155 S o c i a l S tatus and M i l i t a r y S e r v i c e 163 V. FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT TO FIGHT: THE INDIAN ARMY, 1893-1942; THE AMERICAN ARMY, 1918-1945 187 The Mahabaleshwar Committee and Army Re o r g a n i z a t i o n 187 The P e t i t i o n s . . 207 World War I and the 111th Mahars 214 Dr. Ambedkar and Others: Support f o r Mahar Enl i s t m e n t 218 World War II and the Mahar Regiment 221 Black Americans i n Two World Wars 224 V VI. MILITARY SERVICE TODAY 240 The Indian Army 240 The American Army 251 Conclusi o n s 255 CONCLUSIONS 262 BIBLIOGRAPHY 272 Appendix A. NAME AND CASTE IDENTIFICATION 292 B. MILITARY APPOINTMENT OF KAMALNAC WITNAC, JEMADAR, 1847 302 C. MONTHLY COST OF A REGIMENT OF NATIVE INFANTRY . . . 304 D. RANKS IN THE INDIAN ARMY 306 E. DAPOLI SCHOOL DISPUTE 308 Part 1 308 Part 2 311 F. PETITIONS FOR RE-ENLISTMENT 315 Part 1, Walangkar P e t i t i o n 315 Part 2, Crewe P e t i t i o n 322 Part 3, P e t i t i o n of 1921 335 G. QUESTIONNAIRES DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN APRIL-AUGUST 1980 338 Part 1, Q u e s t i o n n a i r e f o r Former S o l d i e r s of the Mahar Community 338 Part 2, Q u e s t i o n n a i r e f o r People having Ancestors i n the Army 339 v i TABLES I. D i f f e r e n t i a t i n g S o c i a l F a c t o r s 18 I I . Breakdown of Bombay I n f a n t r y by Caste and Year . . 65 I I I . Breakdown of Bombay I n f a n t r y by Country and Year . 66 IV. Bombay Army R e c r u i t i n g , 1848-52 68 V. Comparative S e r v i c e C o n d i t i o n s , American to Indian Armies, c. 1865-1914 103 VI. Medals Issued to Bombay Army, 1890-1900 120 V I I . S a l a r y Range of Madras Pensioners i n C i v i l Employment 130 V I I I . F i n a l M i l i t a r y Ranks of Native Normal School Attendees, 1858 147 IX. School Attendance of Regimental G i r l s of the 25th Native I n f a n t r y , Sholapur, 1863 . 152 X. Age and Caste D i s t r i b u t i o n of Regimental G i r l s of the 25th Native I n f a n t r y , Sholapur, 1863 . . . . 154 XI. Length of S e r v i c e i n Years f o r Promotion to Commissioned and Noncommissioned Ranks, Bombay I n f a n t r y 204 XI I . Rates of Promotion to Commissioned and Non-commissioned Ranks, Bombay I n f a n t r y 205 v i i MAPS 1. Map of the Bombay Presidency 9 2. Map of I n d i a 61 GLOSSARY Ba l u t e d a r : a v i l l a g e o f f i c e r or servant r e c e i v i n g a share of the crop, e t c . (Wilson, p. 56) Bara khanna: " b i g dinner"; a l a r g e , formal meal or banquet B a t t a : an e x t r a allowance made to . . . s o l d i e r s . . . when i n the f i e l d , or on other s p e c i a l grounds. (Hobson-Jobson, p. 72) B h i s t i e : w a t e r - c a r r i e r C h a k k i l i y a , Chuckler: tanner or cobbler c a s t e of South I n d i a , corresponding to Chamar or Mochi. Chuprass: a badge-plate i n s c r i b e d with the name of the o f f i c e to which the bearer i s attached. The c h a p r a s i (chuprassy) i s an office-messenger . . . b e a r i n g such a badge on a c l o t h or l e a t h e r b e l t . (Hobson-Jobson, p. 220) C u t c h e r r y : an o f f i c e of a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , a court-house (such as a C o l l e c t o r ' s or M a g i s t r a t e ' s o f f i c e ) (Hobson-Jobson, p. 287) D a c o i t : a robber belonging to an armed gang . . . to c o n s t i t u t e d a c o i t y , there must be f i v e or more i n the gang. (Hobson-Jobson, p. 290) Dipmala: a lampstand to h o l d s e v e r a l small saucer-shaped lamps (dipa) Dooly: a covered l i t t e r or s t r e t c h e r c a r r i e d by 2 or 4 men F e r i n g e e : "European," probably d e r i v e d from P e r s i a n Gurudwara: a S i k h temple H o l i : a s p r i n g f e r t i l i t y f e s t i v a l , c e l e b r a t e d i n March i n n o r t h I n d i a J a t i : subcaste; a d i v i s i o n , u s u a l l y endogamous, of a l a r g e r c a s t e or o c c u p a t i o n a l group. For example: the Mahar caste i s s u b d i v i d e d i n t o a l a r g e number of j a t i s (Mar. zata) which do not intermarry. The t r a d i t i o n a l number i s twelve and a h a l f ; i n f a c t at l e a s t f i f t y c o uld be i d e n t i f i e d , though no more than a dozen would be found i n any one d i s t r i c t . (Robertson, pp. 49-50) i x Jawan: l i t e r a l l y "youth," now a p p l i e d to s o l d i e r s , i n the way one might r e f e r to "our boys i n uniform." I d i d not f i n d any s o l d i e r s or e x - s o l d i e r s using t h i s term f o r themselves, how-ever . K a j i : c h i e f p r i e s t or judge (a Muslim t i t l e adopted by the Bene I s r a e l ) — K e h i m k a r , p. 47. Karkun, Karkoon (Mar.): a c l e r k , a w r i t e r , a r e g i s t r a r ; . . . i n f e r i o r revenue o f f i c e r . . . under the . . . d i s t r i c t c o l l e c t o r (Wilson, p. 261) K u l k a r n i : v i l l a g e r e g i s t r a r and accountant, [who] keeps accounts between the c u l t i v a t o r s and the government (Wilson, p. 300) Lakh: one hundred 1 thousand Mazhbi, Muzbee: "a c l a s s of Sikhs o r i g i n a l l y of low c a s t e , " u s u a l l y descendants of converts from the sweeper caste (Hobson-Jobson, p. 606) Pa r a i y a , P a r i a h : "a low caste of Hindus i n Southern I n d i a . . . one of the most numerous cas t e s . . . . i n the Tamil country"; l o o s e l y used as a synonym f o r "outcaste" or "untouchable". (Hobson-Jobson, p. 678) Parwari: a term p o s s i b l y meaning " h i l l men", or p o s s i b l y s i g n i f y -ing d w e l l e r s o u t s i d e the v i l l a g e w a l l s . Used to designate Mahars i n the m i l i t a r y . P a t i l , p a t e l : the head man of a v i l l a g e ; f o r m e r l y h e r e d i t a r y , o f t e n granted as a reward f o r s e r v i c e ; u s u a l l y with revenue, p o l i c e , and j u d i c i a l powers Pundit, P a n d i t : a man le a r n e d i n S a n s k r i t l o r e (Hobson-Jobson, p. 740) Pu r d a s i , p a r d e s h i : l i t e r a l l y " f o r e i g n e r " ; i n the Bombay Army, a s o l d i e r from N. I n d i a . Many s o - c a l l e d " p a r d e s h i s " were n a t i v e s of the Presidency although t h e i r f a m i l y o r i g i n s were i n North I n d i a . R e s s a i d a r : a n a t i v e s u b a l t e r n of i r r e g u l a r c a v a l r y , under the Ress a l d a r . (Hobson-Jobson, p. 761) Ressaidar, R i s a l d a r : the n a t i v e o f f i c e r who commands a r e s s a l a (troop) i n . . . regiments of " I r r e g u l a r Horse." (Hobson-Jobson, p. 762) Ressaldar-Major: s e n i o r r e s s a i d a r of a c a v a l r y regiment (equiva-l e n t to Subadar-major) X Rumal: l i t e r a l l y a handkerchief; a l s o a p p l i e d to a c l o t h t y i n g up a bundle. Papers i n the Kolhapur S t a t e A r c h i v e s are s t o r e d i n " r u m a l s " — a set of documents wrapped i n heavy c o t t o n c l o t h t i e d up at the top. Rupee: b a s i c u n i t of currency i n I n d i a ; one rupee e q u a l l e d 16 annas; one anna e q u a l l e d 4 p i c e or p a i s a Ryot: "an i n d i v i d u a l occupying land as a farmer or c u l t i v a t o r " ; a peasant farmer. (Hobson-Jobson, p. 777) Sanad: a grant, a diploma, a c h a r t e r , a patent . . . [ i s s u e d ] under the s e a l of the r u l i n g a u t h o r i t y . (Wilson, p. 460) Old c h a r t e r s were o f t e n engraved on copper p l a t e s . In modern times, the Maharajah of Kolhapur had f a c s i m i l e s of important documents engraved on s i l v e r p l a t e s ( l e t t e r to L. J . Mountford, 14 August 1917; Rumal #30, 1917, l e t t e r #6180-81). Sepoy, S i p a h i : P e r s i a n " s o l d i e r , " g e n e r a l l y a p p l i e d to i n f a n t r y p r i v a t e s . S o l d i e r s today s t i l l use the term, although "jawan" i s the o f f i c i a l d e s i g n a t i o n . Sowar: an Indian c a v a l r y trooper Sowkar, saukar: a banker, a d e a l e r i n money and exchanges, a merchant i n g e n e r a l (Wilson, p. 453); a moneylender S i l l a d a r i : a system of i r r e g u l a r c a v a l r y i n which each trooper p a i d f o r h i s own mount S h e r i s t a d a r , S a r i s h t a d a r , H.: a r e g i s t r a r , record-keeper, ap-p l i e d e s p e c i a l l y to the head n a t i v e o f f i c e r of a court of j u s t i c e or c o l l e c t o r ' s o f f i c e . (Wilson, p. 467) Ummedwar, Umedwar: an expectant, a candidate f o r employment, one who awaits a favourable answer to some r e p r e s e n t a t i o n or request (Wilson, p. 532) Watandar: the h o l d e r of a h e r e d i t a r y r i g h t , property, or o f f i c e , w ith the p r i v i l e g e s and emoluments attached to i t (Wilson, p. 557) Zata: Marathi term f o r " j a t i " x i ABBREVIATIONS AGCT - Army General C l a s s i f i c a t i o n Test, used by the U.S. Army to grade r e c r u i t s on t h e i r o v e r a l l education; o f t e n e r r o n e o u s l y assumed to be an " i n t e l l i g e n c e " t e s t . G. I. B i l l - The G.I. B i l l of Rights i s the popular name f o r the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, which p r o v i d e d s p e c i a l a s s i s t a n c e f o r veterans of World War II (En c y c l o p e d i a Ameri-cana) . H. E.I.C. - Honourable East I n d i a Company I. O.L. - I n d i a O f f i c e L i b r a r y I.E.S.H.R. - Indian Economic and S o c i a l H i s t o r y Review M.S.A. - Maharashtra State A r c h i v e s N.A.I. - N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s of I n d i a N.I. - Native I n f a n t r y U.S.I. - United S e r v i c e s I n s t i t u t i o n ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to acknowledge with g r a t i t u d e the a s s i s -tance of many people and i n s t i t u t i o n s with the r e s e a r c h and p r e p a r a t i o n of t h i s t h e s i s , p a r t i c u l a r l y the f o l l o w i n g : The S h a s t r i Indo-Canadian I n s t i t u t e , f o r f i n a n c i a l support, and Mr. P. N. Malik i n New D e l h i f o r advice and p r a c t i c a l a s s i s t a n c e . The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, e s p e c i a l l y Pro-f e s s o r Peter Harnetty and the departments of H i s t o r y and A s i a n S t u d i e s . The N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s of Ind i a , the Maharashtra S t a t e A r c h i v e s , the Un i t e d S e r v i c e s I n s t i t u t i o n and C o l o n e l Pyare L a i , S h r i Vasant W. Moon of Bombay, and many others i n I n d i a . The o f f i c e r s and men of the Mahar Regiment. Ms. C a r r i e Hunter, Ms. Sara R. Lee, and e s p e c i a l l y Mrs. N. P a t t i Kenny, f o r t h e i r work i n p r e p a r i n g the t h e s i s . My husband Robert f o r p a t i e n c e and support' over many years. 1 INTRODUCTION The p r o f e s s i o n a l standing army i s an important f e a t u r e of every modern n a t i o n s t a t e . The p r o v i s i o n of manpower f o r such an army e n t a i l s c e r t a i n o b l i g a t i o n s from the c i t i z e n s of that s t a t e , and may o f t e n confer c e r t a i n b e n e f i t s on those who serve i n the m i l i t a r y . M i l i t a r y s e r v i c e may be p e r c e i v e d as an onerous duty to be avoided i f p o s s i b l e , as a p r i v i l e g e to be fought f o r , or as an o b l i g a t i o n which i s not n e c e s s a r i l y welcomed but i s accepted as a necessary concomitant of c i t i z e n s h i p . For many disadvan-taged groups a l l three of these f a c t o r s may operate. M i l i t a r y s e r v i c e i s c e r t a i n l y onerous i n many cases, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n wartime. I t may seem e s p e c i a l l y hard to men of poor or otherwise disadvantaged c l a s s e s , who may o f f e r t h e i r s e r v i c e s f r e e l y or be c o n s c r i p t e d , thus b e a r i n g a share of the n a t i o n a l defense burden, yet f i n d that i n c i v i l l i f e they are denied some of the p r i v i -leges and b e n e f i t s of c i t i z e n s h i p f o r which they have fought. However, m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n modern s o c i e t i e s , does confer c e r t a i n b e n e f i t s i n terms of education, s p e c i a l i z e d t r a i n -in g , sometimes p r e f e r e n t i a l access to c e r t a i n types of employment and education i n c i v i l l i f e , and an i n c r e a s e d s o c i a l s t a t u s . T h e r e f o r e , there are numerous in s t a n c e s of u n d e r p r i v i l e g e d or depressed c l a s s e s f i g h t i n g very hard f o r the r i g h t to be admitted to the m i l i t a r y as combatants. Most armies have accepted men and sometimes women of low c l a s s as noncombatants, menials, camp f o l l o w e r s and i n other support r o l e s . However, i t i s sometimes 2 o n l y with great d i f f i c u l t y that these people win the r i g h t to be accepted as combat troops and earn whatever s t a t u s and p r i v i l e g e s accrue t h e r e t o . U l t i m a t e l y , the r i g h t to serve i n the m i l i t a r y i s ( i n a democratic s o c i e t y ) i n d i s s o l u b l y l i n k e d with the r i g h t s of f u l l c i t i z e n s h i p . A recent statement, w r i t t e n about women and the m i l i t a r y , a p p l i e s with equal f o r c e to many other m i n o r i t i e s or depressed c l a s s e s . And when i t comes to r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , none i s high e r -or more glamorous - than the n a t i o n ' s s e c u r i t y . The r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r the s e c u r i t y of the country i s the essence of governing and i t i s a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y from which [women] are t o t a l l y excluded. [White] men w i l l t o l e r a t e [women] i n the armed f o r c e s , but not i n the area that counts - combat. They can help, but they cannot share, and u n t i l they can, [women] w i l l be . . . f u l l c i t i z e n s i n name only.1 T h i s d e s c r i b e s e x a c t l y the s i t u a t i o n of many m i n o r i t y groups, and e x p l a i n s why m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e has had a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n t h e i r e f f o r t s to improve t h e i r s t a t u s . The o b j e c t of t h i s study i s t h r e e f o l d . The p r i n c i p a l concern i s to examine i n some d e t a i l the m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y of the Mahars of western I n d i a and to ask why m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e was very important to t h i s community, what b e n e f i t s they r e c e i v e d or hoped to r e c e i v e from m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e , and why at c e r t a i n times they were r e f u s e d admission to the m i l i t a r y . For purposes of compari-son the m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y of the Bene I s r a e l , a l s o of western I n d i a , w i l l a l s o be d i s c u s s e d . By thus comparing an Indian "untouchable" community with another Indian community which i s s o c i a l l y " c l e a n " but somewhat i s o l a t e d by r e l i g i o u s and c u l t u r a l f a c t o r s , i t i s p o s s i b l e to see how m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e may be d i f -3 f e r e n t l y p e r c e i v e d and have d i f f e r e n t e f f e c t s based on s o c i a l f a c t o r s . L i kewise i t w i l l be p o s s i b l e to note what s i m i l a r i t i e s are found i n both cases. Some r e f e r e n c e w i l l a l s o be made to the m i l i t a r y experiences of other low-status groups, p a r t i c u l a r l y b l a c k Americans. A comparison between the Mahars and another Indian low caste community having m i l i t a r y experience would be u s e f u l , but was not p o s s i b l e f o r v a r i o u s reasons. Although other low caste Indians were r e c r u i t e d from time to time, no other "untouchable" community had such a long and unbroken p e r i o d of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e ; nor d i d any other d e l i s t e d community, that i s , one which l o s t i t s r i g h t to e n l i s t , engage i n such a long and determined e f f o r t to r e g a i n access to m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e . The Bombay Army had, f o r i n s t a n c e , r e c r u i t e d Mangs and Ramoshis p r i o r to 1893, but n e i t h e r group appears to have made any p r o t e s t a g a i n s t t h e i r d e l i s t m e n t , p o s s i b l y because so few were a f f e c t e d . Two other low cas t e groups with s i g n i f i c a n t m i l i t a r y experience were the Madras (Queen V i c t o r i a ' s Own) Sappers and Miners, r e c r u i t e d from n a t i v e C h r i s t i a n s and v a r i o u s "untouchable" and low cas t e s , and the Mazhbi Sikhs, r e c r u i t e d i n t o separate regiments between 1857 and 1932. These two groups d i f f e r e d from the Mahars i n important ways. The Madras Sappers and Miners never changed t h e i r caste composition so low caste Madrassis never had to d e a l with the l o s s of m i l i t a r y o p p o r t u n i t i e s . There i s some evidence that "men who served i n Queen V i c t o r i a ' s Sappers and who by o r i g i n were ou t c a s t e s made themselves i n t o a new s u b d i v i s i o n . . . c a l l i n g themselves 'Quinsap' and marrying t h e i r sons o n l y to Quinsap 4 g i r l s . " 2 I f t r u e , t h i s s u g g e s t s t h a t m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e , r a t h e r t h a n e l e v a t i n g t h e s t a t u s o f a l l P a r a i y a s o r C h a k k i l i y a s , c r e a t e d a new somewhat h i g h e r c a s t e , a phenomenon w h i c h d i d n o t o c c u r among t h e Mahars. As f o r t h e M a z h b i S i k h s , i n s o f a r as m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e a f f e c t e d them, i t h e l p e d t o r e d u c e t h e p r e j u d i c e shown t o w a r d s them by o t h e r S i k h s , b u t t h i s was t r u e o n l y f o r t h o s e i n d i v i d u a l s o r f a m i l i e s w i t h m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e ; i t was n o t g e n e r -a l i z e d t o a l l M a z h b i s . 3 T h i s community d i d n o t engage i n any p r o l o n g e d o r o r g a n i z e d a g i t a t i o n f o r r e - e n l i s t m e n t , p o s s i b l y due t o r e l u c t a n c e t o draw a t t e n t i o n t o t h e i r low s t a t u s w i t h i n t h e l a r g e r S i k h community. M i l i t a r y s e r v i c e i n most c a s e s c o n f e r s c e r t a i n b e n e f i t s . T h e s e i n c l u d e a c c e s s t o e d u c a t i o n w h i c h i s s e c u l a r and f r e q u e n t -l y p r a c t i c a l i n n a t u r e , a c c e s s t o government a u t h o r i t i e s , d e v e l -o p i n g a t r a d i t i o n o f m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e ( w h i c h i s , i n most c u l t u r e s , r i g h t l y o r w r o n g l y c o n s i d e r e d t o be o f h i g h e r p r e s t i g e t h a n t h e t r a d i t i o n o f m e n i a l and sometimes d i r t y w o r k ) , a c c e s s t o a r e s p e c t a b l e f o r m o f employment, and a c e r t a i n d e g r e e o f f i n a n -c i a l s e c u r i t y . Of s e c o n d a r y i m p o r t a n c e i n some i n s t a n c e s a r e improvements i n t h e p r o s p e c t s o f o b t a i n i n g l a n d , b e t t e r t r e a t m e n t i n l o c a l c o u r t s , and t h e u n m e a s u r a b l e a s p e c t o f p e r s o n a l s a t i s -f a c t i o n . The m i l i t a r y e x p e r i e n c e o f t h e Mahars and t h e Bene I s r a e l w i l l be c o n s i d e r e d i n d e t a i l , u s i n g b o t h p r i m a r y and s e c o n d a r y s o u r c e s ; an o v e r v i e w o f t h e m i l i t a r y e x p e r i e n c e o f b l a c k A m e r i c a n s , u t i l i z i n g s e v e r a l modern s t u d i e s , p r o v i d e s a b a s i s f o r c o m p a r i s o n . The Mahar o r o t h e r u n t o u c h a b l e o r l o w - c a s t e man s e r v i n g i n 5 the n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Bombay army occupied a p o s i t i o n which encouraged e f f o r t s to improve h i s s o c i a l s t a t u s v i s - a - v i s caste Hindus; l o y a l s e r v i c e under the B r i t i s h j u s t i f i e d c l a ims to equal access to government s e r v i c e s and employment. By l a t e i n the century, many Mahars had come to b e l i e v e that s e r v i c e over a long p e r i o d of years and i n many campaigns had earned them, as a community, c e r t a i n p r i v i l e g e s and had c r e a t e d on the p a r t of the government an o b l i g a t i o n to allow them to continue i n m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e . The government was w i l l i n g to e s t a b l i s h s p e c i a l r e l a -t i o n s h i p s with c e r t a i n communities, n o t a b l y the Sikhs and the Gurkhas, which had been designated " m a r t i a l r a c e s " and were co n s i d e r e d to be of e x t r a o r d i n a r y value as s o l d i e r s , but i t d i d not concede that s i m i l a r r e l a t i o n s had been e s t a b l i s h e d a l r e a d y with the s o - c a l l e d "non-martial r a c e s . " The Bene I s r a e l of western I n d i a , who were never considered "untouchable" but a l s o have never been a p a r t i c u l a r l y w e l l - t o - d o community, seem to have found m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e of value as i n d i -v i d u a l s , but i t was not as c r u c i a l to them as i t was to the Mahars. They were, however, d i s a p p o i n t e d and h u m i l i a t e d at being r e f u s e d access to the m i l i t a r y . The s i t u a t i o n f o r American b l a c k s i s i n many ways much more comparable to that of the Mahars. American b l a c k s served i n every war fought by the United S t a t e s from the R e v o l u t i o n a r y War up to the Vietnam War and continue to serve i n the m i l i t a r y i n l a r g e numbers. However, f o r much of t h i s time o n l y very l i m i t e d numbers of b l a c k s were accepted as combatants; they were f r e -q u e n t l y denied access to o f f i c e r t r a i n i n g and t h e r e f o r e i f they 6 served as combatants at a l l d i d so onl y i n the ranks. Even when t h e i r r o l e as combatants was accepted they served i n segregated u n i t s u n t i l very r e c e n t l y . The f a c t that American b l a c k s under these circumstances continued to a g i t a t e f o r s e r v i c e i n the m i l i t a r y i n d i c a t e s t hat they b e l i e v e d i t was important to j u s t i f y t h e i r c l aims to f u l l c i t i z e n s h i p by being w i l l i n g to shed blood i f necessary. Many b l a c k s f e l t most keenly the i n j u s t i c e of t h e i r having been as w i l l i n g as any white men to serve t h e i r n a t i o n , to r i s k t h e i r l i v e s , and indeed to l o s e t h e i r l i v e s , and yet i n c i v i l l i f e s t i l l to be denied the f u l l p r i v i l e g e s of c i t i z e n s h i p . Although these groups d i f f e r e d i n s o c i a l o r i g i n s and i n the exact nature of t h e i r m i l i t a r y experience, m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e has been an important f a c t o r a f f e c t i n g t h e i r s o c i a l and economic s t a t u s . For the Mahars and f o r black Americans, the i s s u e of equal and e q u i t a b l e access to m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e continues to be important; to t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e governments, que s t i o n s of e t h n i c / racial/communal balance i n the armed f o r c e s continue to be impor-tant i n m i l i t a r y p l a n n i n g . O r i g i n s , m i l i t a r y experience, and s o c i a l impact of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e on these three groups w i l l form the main p a r t of t h i s study. Author's Note: For the sake of s i m p l i c i t y and c o n s i s t e n c y , the terms "Mahar" or "Parwari" and "black American" or "black" have been used through-out f o r these r e s p e c t i v e groups, except i n qu o t a t i o n s from 7 sources which use other terms. No p o l i t i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s are intended, nor does the author int e n d any o f f e n s e to anyone who p r e f e r s another usage. Footnotes 1. R i c h a r d Cohen, "Sharing: The P o l i t i c s of the Shopping L i s t , " Ms., v o l . X I I I , no. 2, August 1984, p. 75. 2. P h i l i p Mason, A Matter of Honour: An Account of the Indian Army, I t s O f f i c e r s and Men"^ (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1976), pp. 147-149. 3. Indera P. Singh, "A S i k h V i l l a g e , " i n T r a d i t i o n a l I n d i a : S t r u c t u r e and Change, ed. M i l t o n Singer ( P h i l a d e l p h i a : The American F o l k l o r e S o c i e t y , B i b l i o g r a p h i c a l S e r i e s , V o l . X, 1959, pp. 276-280. 8 CHAPTER I ORIGINS AND SOCIAL STATUS The Mahars The Mahars, the l a r g e s t untouchable c a s t e i n Maharashtra, are " s a i d to be a composite r e s i d u e of the a b o r i g i n a l t r i b e s d i s p o s s e s s e d by the s u c c e s s i v e waves of Aryan and post-Aryan i n v a d e r s . " 1 They make up about nine percent of the present p o p u l a t i o n of Maharashtra; estimates f o r the l a t e n i n e t e e n t h century vary, but f a l l w i t h i n the range of three to f i v e percent i n the c o a s t a l areas and up to twenty percent i n the i n l a n d d i s t r i c t s of Vidarbha and B e r a r . 2 Estimates of the t o t a l number of Mahars i n 1901 range from one m i l l i o n to 3 m i l l i o n , 3 p o s s i b l y r e f l e c t i n g d i f f e r e n c e s i n the area c o n s i d e r e d (Bombay Presidency o n l y or a l l Marathi-speaking a r e a s ) . There seems to be g e n e r a l agreement t h a t , whatever t h e i r exact numbers, they were and are the l a r g e s t untouchable c a s t e of Maharashtra, second o n l y to the Marathas i n number. Alexander Robertson, who knew them w e l l from many years as a missionary, found the Mahars r e s i d e n t as f a r n o r t h as the Satpura H i l l s , as f a r east as Bhandara d i s t r i c t , and as f a r south as southern R a t n a g i r i , with the l a r g e s t p o p u l a t i o n around Nagpur, and observed t h a t : I t i s l i t e r a l l y t r ue that there i s a Mahar qu a r t e r i n every v i l l a g e w i t h i n the bounds of that t e r r i t o r y where the Marathi language i s spoken; and the Mahar i s thus l o c a t e d not because there are menial d u t i e s to be SOURCE: A n i l S e a l , The Emergence of Indian N a t i o n a l i s m . Cambridge: The U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1968, p. 65. 10 performed i n every v i l l a g e , but because the very o r g a n i -z a t i o n of the v i l l a g e community would be i n e f f e c t i v e u n l e s s the d u t i e s of the Mahars were performed and unless the p r i v i l e g e s of the Mahars were conserved.4 Based on p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y , c a s t e d i v i s i o n s , and occupa-t i o n a l p a t t e r n s , Robertson c o n s i d e r e d Nagpur to be the centre of the Mahar people, and r e l a t e d both the name of the c i t y and the common Mahar a f f i x "nak" to the Naka people, the presumed ances-t o r s of the Mahars. An a l t e r n a t i v e d e r i v a t i o n of "nak" may be from a t r i b a l totem animal, the cobra or p o s s i b l y elephant.^ Other names a p p l i e d to the Mahars a l s o suggest a t r a d i t i o n of a b o r i g i n a l ownership: bhukari, a term a p p l i e d to them by the Mangs (another untouchable c a s t e ) , may mean "dweller on," or " t i l l e r of the land"; parwari, v a r i o u s l y i n t e r p r e t e d as " h i l l men" or "dwellers o u t s i d e the v i l l a g e , " may a l s o d e r i v e from the Greek p a r u a r o i and may r e f e r to the r i g h t to gather g r a i n l e f t on the t h r e s h i n g f l o o r ; and dharaniche puta or "sons of the s o i l , " a term used i n the Ahmednagar d i s t r i c t . ^ I t has been argued that the name "Maharashtra" i s d e r i v e d from Mahar-Rashtra, or "the country of the Mahars," on the analogy of Gujarat from Gujar and Rashtra and Saurashtra or Surat, from the Sauras. An a l t e r n a t i v e etymology e x p l a i n s Maharashtra as Maha Rashtra or "the great country. I f the Mahars were once an e t h n i c a l l y d i s t i n c t people of non-Aryan or pre-Aryan o r i g i n , they are no longer d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e on the b a s i s of p h y s i c a l appearance from Marathas, Kunbis, and other c a s t e s l i v i n g i n the same areas. The most probable e x p l a -n a t i o n i s the obvious one: i n t e r m a r r i a g e or c o h a b i t a t i o n over many g e n e r a t i o n s . Some Mahars i n Gujarat had Rajput surnames 11 such as Chauhan and S o l a n k i , p o s s i b l y i n d i c a t i n g mixed blood, while other Mahar or Dheda f a m i l i e s were h e r e d i t a r y servants of landowning f a m i l i e s and claimed to be r e l a t e d to them.^ S i m i l a r -l y , Mahars i n Berar might be addressed as "brother" by Marathas and Kunbis.^ Many surnames are used by Mahars as w e l l as Marathas and Kunbis, i n c l u d i n g Bhonsle, Jadhava, Gaikwad, Pawar, Shinde and Thorat; others are shared by Mahars and B r a h m i n s . 1 0 Nothing to be found e i t h e r i n w r i t t e n sources or i n the author's p e r s o n a l experience suggests that Mahars can be d i s t i n g u i s h e d from Marathas or Kunbis on the b a s i s of appearance; a l l tend to be d e s c r i b e d ( u n f l a t t e r i n g l y ) as short, dark and homely. At l e a s t one l i t e r a r y source i n d i c a t e s the ease of "passing": K i n c a i d ' s t a l e of a Mahar e n l i s t i n g i n the army as a Maratha by wearing Maratha e a r r i n g s and sectmark.H Personal o b s e r v a t i o n s suggest that i n d i v i d u a l v a r i a t i o n s f a r outweigh any d i f f e r e n c e s i n complexion or f e a t u r e s on a c a s t e b a s i s . The t r a d i t i o n a l r i g h t s and d u t i e s of the Mahars as p a r t of the v i l l a g e o r g a n i z a t i o n may w e l l represent s u r v i v a l s from a time when they owned the land. The d u t i e s i n c l u d e a c t i n g as watchmen, gatekeepers, messengers, p o r t e r s , boundary r e f e r e e s , and guides.-'- 2 T h e i r testimony was v i t a l i n boundary and revenue d i s p u t e s , and as messengers they o f t e n c a r r i e d l a r g e sums of money to the d i s t r i c t t r e a s u r y . T h e i r r e l i g i o u s d u t i e s i n c l u d e d , i n many p l a c e s , l i g h t i n g the f i r s t H o l i f i r e s , and guarding the s h r i n e of the v i l l a g e goddess M a r i a i (probably a p r i m i t i v e p l a c e -d e i t y ) . They were r e s p o n s i b l e f o r removing dead c a t t l e (but not dogs or p i g s ) from the v i l l a g e , and s u p p l y i n g f u e l f o r crema-1 2 t i o n s . 1 - * In r e t u r n they were watandars and b a l u t e d a r s of the v i l l a g e , h o l d i n g a share of the v i l l a g e lands and r e c e i v i n g v a r i o u s payments i n k i n d . Payments i n k i n d , i n c l u d i n g the c a r -casses of dead c a t t l e , l e f t o v e r food, and c l o t h i n g from corpses taken f o r cremation, though c e r t a i n l y of value, o f t e n i n v o l v e d r i t u a l d e g r a d a t i o n . From the p o i n t of view of caste Hindus, even h a n d l i n g , l e t alone e a t i n g , dead cows was and i s one of the most p o l l u t i n g a c t i v i t i e s imaginable; t h i s alone would j u s t i f y (from the Hindu standpoint) c o n s i d e r i n g the Mahars untouchable. Other d u t i e s and payments, while not degrading i n t h i s way, bound the Mahars economically to the v i l l a g e , while not guaranteeing an adequate l i v e l i h o o d . The t r a d i t i o n a l " f i f t y - t w o r i g h t s " of the Mahars (probably an i d i o m a t i c e x p r e s s i o n f o r a l a r g e but i n d e t e r -minate number) had come, by the l a t e n i n e t e e n t h century, to be regarded not as p r i v i l e g e s , but as "chains, b i n d i n g them to s p e c i f i c occupations, s p e c i f i c r e l a t i o n s with non-Mahars, and s t r i p p i n g v o l u n t a r i n e s s from any act, 1 , 1 5 and p e r p e t u a t i n g t h e i r i n f e r i o r s t a t u s i n the v i l l a g e community. In b r i e f , the Mahars i n the l a t e n i n e t e e n t h and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r i e s occupied an ambiguous p o s i t i o n i n v i l l a g e s o c i e t y : untouchable and r i t u a l l y degraded, yet performing func-t i o n s v i t a l to the community; bound to the v i l l a g e economy, but f o r c e d to l i v e o u t s i d e i t s w a l l s ; p o p u l a r l y regarded as d i r t y and quarrelsome, yet p r o v e r b i a l l y f a i t h f u l and trustworthy. The Bene I s r a e l are one of three s u b - d i v i s i o n s of the Indian Jewish community, the other two being the Cochin Jews of K e r a l a and the Baghdadi Jews. The o r i g i n s of the Bene I s r a e l and 13 the Cochin Jews are almost e q u a l l y obscure, although the Cochin Jews have a t r a d i t i o n that t h e i r a ncestors a r r i v e d i n the f i r s t c entury A.D. immediately a f t e r the d e s t r u c t i o n of the temple. 1^ The Bene I s r a e l b e l i e v e they are descended from the Ten Lost T r i b e s of I s r a e l 1 ? which would p l a c e t h e i r a r r i v a l i n Ind i a around 700 B.C. Another and more l i k e l y t r a d i t i o n t r a c e s t h e i r o r i g i n to a m i g r a t i o n of about 175 B.C. 1^ The Bene I s r a e l have a l s o adopted as t h e i r own an o r i g i n myth which resembles that of the Chitpavan Brahmins. A c c o r d i n g to t h i s t r a d i t i o n both groups descended from seven couples who were shipwrecked on the coast l i n e near Bombay. I t i s unclear whether both groups adopted an o r i g i n myth from the same source or whether one group copi e d the other and i f so which a c t u a l l y came f i r s t , or i f i n f a c t there may be some c o n n e c t i o n . 1 ^ There i s no doubt that the Bene I s r a e l have been s e t t l e d i n I n d i a f o r at l e a s t s i x t e e n c e n t u r i e s . T h e i r o r i g i n a l s e ttlements were i n the c o a s t a l d i s t r i c t s of Kolaba and Thana. Throughout most of what i s known of t h e i r h i s t o r y i n I n d i a the Bene I s r a e l were a r e l a t i v e l y poor community. They seem never to have numbered more than f i f t e e n thousand i f indeed there were ever as many as t h i s . 2 ^ T h e i r most c h a r a c t e r i s t i c occupa-t i o n was as o i l p r e s s e r s , and because they observed the Saturday Sabbath they were known as "Shanwar T e l i s , " that i s "Saturday o i l men." Some owned land and i t i s s a i d by Kehimkar that Bene I s r a e l who farmed land would employ Marathas as l a b o u r e r s but not Mahars or Mangs who were co n s i d e r e d to be " u n c l e a n . " 2 1 Some l e a d i n g Bene I s r a e l f a m i l i e s h e l d p o s i t i o n s under v a r i o u s n a t i v e 14 r u l e r s and h e l d grants of land f o r s e r v i c e . For i n s t a n c e , a c e r t a i n Aaron C h u r r i k a r was appointed Nayek or commander of a f l e e t by Khanoji A n g r i a e a r l y i n the seventeenth century. He r e c e i v e d a grant of Inam land which was s t i l l i n p o s s e s s i o n of h i s descendants l a t e i n the n i n e t e e n t h century. The p o s i t i o n of commander of the f l e e t was h e l d by t h i s f a m i l y u n t i l about 1793. 2 2 For a c o n s i d e r a b l e p e r i o d of time the Bene I s r a e l were i s o l a t e d from other Jewish communities and a p p a r e n t l y l o s t much of t h e i r Jewish c u l t u r e . However, i n the ei g h t e e n t h century, a Cochin Jew, David E z e k i e l Rahabi, v i s i t e d the Bene I s r a e l commu-n i t y and taught the fundamentals of Jewish observance. He was the f i r s t of s e v e r a l teachers from Cochin who i n s t r u c t e d the Bene I s r a e l i n proper r e l i g i o u s forms. The Bene I s r a e l have adopted many customs from t h e i r Muslim and Hindu neighbours. The name Bene I s r a e l was probably adopted to r e p l a c e the term Yehudi f o r Jew which was co n s i d e r e d o f f e n s i v e to Muslims. Although as f a r as i s known the Bene I s r a e l were never persecuted i n I n d i a , they would c e r t a i n l y have found i t p o l i t i c to be on good terms with t h e i r nearest neighbours and t h e r e f o r e to a v o i d customs which would be o f f e n s i v e . A r e f l e c t i o n of the Hindu j a t i system i s to be found i n the d i v i s i o n of the Bene I s r a e l i n t o Gora and Kala p o r t i o n s . The Gora or white are those who b e l i e v e that they are of pure Jewish descent, whereas the Kala are the o f f s p r i n g of marriages between Bene I s r a e l men and non-Jewish women. In p o i n t of f a c t there i s l i t t l e observable d i f f e r e n c e between the two communities. The d i f f e r e n c e s are probably due more to t r a d i t i o n 15 than f a c t , and i n modern times t h i s d i s t i n c t i o n has become of l e s s importance.23 The t h i r d Jewish community of any s i g n i f i c a n c e i s that of the Baghdadi Jews. These emigrated from Iraq i n the l a t t e r p a r t of the e i g h t e e n t h century and l a t e r , and tended to move i n t o e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l areas much as the P a r s i s d i d . The best known Baghdadi f a m i l y was the Sassoon f a m i l y of Bombay which became extremely wealthy i n the t e x t i l e i n d u s t r y and was noted f o r c h a r i t a b l e works. The Baghdadi Jews, although r e c o g n i z i n g the Bene I s r a e l as f e l l o w Jews, always h e l d themselves somewhat a l o o f and c o n s i d e r e d the Bene I s r a e l to be d e f i n i t e l y beneath them s o c i a l l y . The two communities have never i n t e r m a r r i e d to any extent.24 During the B r i t i s h p e r i o d the Bene I s r a e l moved i n l a r g e numbers to Bombay and b e s i d e s e n l i s t m e n t i n the army, which became an important new p r o f e s s i o n f o r many Bene I s r a e l , many took up s k i l l e d trades and c l e r i c a l and other government p o s i -t i o n s at a low to medium l e v e l . 2 5 Through contact with C h r i s t i a n m i s s i o n a r i e s , the more prosperous Baghdadi Jews, and American and E n g l i s h Jews, the Bene I s r a e l became much more conscious of t h e i r Jewish i d e n t i t y and of t h e i r t i e s with c o - r e l i g i o n i s t s i n other c o u n t r i e s . O v e r a l l the Bene I s r a e l have been able to assume the s t a t u s of a c a s t e s i m i l a r i n s o c i a l rank to the Marathas; I s r a e l s t a t e s that " i n Kulaba D i s t r i c t the Bene I s r a e l had e x a c t l y the same s t a t u s as the Muslims, and t h i s was c e r t a i n l y not low."26 They have not s u f f e r e d from d i s c r i m i n a t i o n to any marked extent and have g e n e r a l l y f u n c t i o n e d q u i t e w e l l as a j a t i or sub-caste 16 w i t h i n Hindu s o c i e t y , though m a i n t a i n i n g a separate, non-Hindu c u l t u r a l i d e n t i t y . There i s no u n c e r t a i n t y about the o r i g i n s of black Ameri-cans, whose an c e s t o r s were brought to the Americas as s l a v e s i n the seventeenth and ei g h t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s . (The i n t e r n a t i o n a l s l a v e trade o f f i c i a l l y ended i n the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century.) They are t h e r e f o r e an immigrant group, r a c i a l l y d i s t i n c t from the dominant white p o p u l a t i o n . White Americans are of course a l s o an immigrant p o p u l a t i o n , and i n f a c t many black Americans can c l a i m a much longer "American" a n c e s t r y than many whites. However white Americans were able to preserve t h e i r languages, r e l i g i o n s , and c u l t u r e s , at l e a s t at home or i n e t h n i c communities, while b l a c k s were f o r c e d to abandon most of t h e i r own h e r i t a g e and adapt to the European-derived c u l t u r e of t h e i r masters. Although A f r i c a n s l a v e s were o r i g i n a l l y imported to do the hardest and d i r t i e s t kinds of work, were g e n e r a l l y denied access t o e ducation and many forms of employment, and even as freedmen were s e v e r e l y r e s t r i c t e d i n t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s , n e v e r t h e l e s s they d i d f u l f i l l extremely important f u n c t i o n s i n the o v e r a l l economy. Not o n l y as f i e l d workers on p l a n t a t i o n s , but as domestic s e r -vants, s k i l l e d a r t i s a n s , and e v e n t u a l l y i n every occupation where they c o u l d f i n d any k i n d of opening, black men and women pr o v i d e d much of the labour of b u i l d i n g a new country. By the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century, f r e e b l a c k s (many a c t u a l l y of mixed parentage) were a s i g n i f i c a n t c l a s s i n many s t a t e s , and formed the nucleus of a "black b o u r g e o i s i e " i n c l u d i n g business people, c l e r g y , and p r o f e s s i o n a l men and women: on a small s c a l e to be 17 sure, but s t i l l a c l a s s with some economic and p o l i t i c a l i n f l u -ence . In both a b s o l u t e numbers and percentages, b l a c k s i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s occupy a roughly analogous p o s i t i o n to that of the Mahars. Blacks are now estimated to make up about ten percent of the American p o p u l a t i o n , and are the l a r g e s t " v i s i b l e m i n o r i t y . " In 1850, the t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n of the United S t a t e s was over 23 m i l l i o n , with 3,200,000 being s l a v e s . Ten years l a t e r the Con-f e d e r a t e S t a t e s had about 9 m i l l i o n people, over 3.5 m i l l i o n of them blac k , while the North had about 22 m i l l i o n t o t a l . The f r e e b l a c k p o p u l a t i o n can be estimated at perhaps one-half m i l l i o n , g i v i n g a t o t a l b l ack p o p u l a t i o n of n e a r l y 4 m i l l i o n out of 31 m i l l i o n t o t a l . S e v e r a l southern s t a t e s had very l a r g e black p o p u l a t i o n s ; b l a c k s were a m a j o r i t y i n South C a r o l i n a and M i s s i s -s i p p i , and n e a r l y h a l f the p o p u l a t i o n of L o u i s i a n a and Alabama. Some areas of the deep South were 70-90 percent black.27 Blacks were, t h e r e f o r e , very unevenly d i s t r i b u t e d , r e f l e c t i n g the f a c t t h a t s l a v e labour was economically most important i n the c o t t o n b e l t . The r a c i a l s t r u c t u r e and d i s t r i b u t i o n of the American p o p u l a t i o n has changed c o n s i d e r a b l y s i n c e the mid-nineteenth century, with important f a c t o r s being the opening of the American West to settlement, m i g r a t i o n from r u r a l areas to urban-i n d u s t r i a l c e n t r e s , and l a r g e - s c a l e European immigration. These three groups share c e r t a i n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , but d i f -f e r i n other ways. The Mahars are an indigenous p o p u l a t i o n , r a c i a l l y i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e , f i l l i n g v i t a l r i t u a l and s o c i a l r o l e s , but s o c i a l l y and economically depressed. The Bene I s r a e l , 18 while not t e c h n i c a l l y an indigenous group, are l o n g - e s t a b l i s h e d and a l s o not r a c i a l l y d i s t i n c t . They have no r i t u a l l y p r e s c r i b e d r o l e i n s o c i e t y , nor have they s u f f e r e d from s o c i a l or economic d i s c r i m i n a t i o n . Black Americans, as an immigrant group d e l i b e r -a t e l y imported to perform menial work, are both r a c i a l l y d i s t i n c t from the dominant c u l t u r e and have been su b j e c t e d to extreme d i s c r i m i n a t i o n . As Table I shows, Mahars and black Americans have more f a c t o r s i n common than e i t h e r group with the Bene I s r a e l . The most s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e i s i n r a c i a l d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n ; f o r black Americans, t h e i r r a c i a l i d e n t i t y has been an outward and immutable s i g n of the i n f e r i o r s t a t u s assigned to them. The Mahars c o u l d more r e a d i l y attempt to change t h e i r s t a t u s by adopting an o c c u p a t i o n and l i f e s t y l e a p p r o p r i a t e f o r a h i g h e r s t a t u s . TABLE I DIFFERENTIATING SOCIAL FACTORS S o c i a l 1 f a c t o r s I Group 1 R a c i a l l y 1 D i s t i n c t I F u n c t i o n a l l y I necessary 1 s o c i a l r o l e s I Depressed Socio-Economic Status Mahars 1 No 1 Yes 1 Yes Bene I s r a e l 1 No I No 1 No Black I Americans 1 Yes | Yes | Yes Although both communities have a tenuous m i l i t a r y t r a d i -t i o n extending some c e n t u r i e s e a r l i e r , f o r the Mahars and Bene 19 I s r a e l , the p e r i o d from 1800 to 1893 saw t h e i r h i g h e s t l e v e l of p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the m i l i t a r y . T h i s p e r i o d was a l s o marked by an i n c r e a s e d p r o f e s s i o n a l i z a t i o n and modernization of the armies of I n d i a i n terms of t r a i n i n g , equipment and o r g a n i z a t i o n . The l o s s of access to the m i l i t a r y t h e r e f o r e came j u s t when m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e was becoming more a t t r a c t i v e i n terms of pay and p r o f e s -s i o n a l s t a t u s . Both communities were among the "non-martial r a c e s " removed from r e c r u i t i n g r o l l s i n 1893, although not f o r the same reasons. The Mahars a g i t a t e d long and hard f o r the r i g h t to e n l i s t , whereas the Bene I s r a e l , a f t e r an i n i t i a l p r o -t e s t , seem to have dropped the i s s u e of army s e r v i c e . With the formation of the Mahar Regiment i n 1942, the Mahars f i n a l l y achieved the r i g h t to serve as s o l d i e r s . Since Independence, at l e a s t i n theory, e n l i s t m e n t i s open to anyone from any community who meets r e q u i r e d standards; c a s t e , r e l i g i o n , or e t h n i c back-ground are not supposed to be r e l e v a n t f a c t o r s . American b l a c k s have a somewhat s i m i l a r p a t t e r n of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e . Black men, or as the term then i n use was, " f r e e men of c o l o r " served i n v a r i o u s c o l o n i a l m i l i t i a s p r i o r to the American R e v o l u t i o n . Freed b l a c k s and p o s s i b l y some s l a v e s fought i n the American R e v o l u t i o n . Free b l a c k s fought on both s i d e s d u r i n g the American C i v i l War. The r e g u l a r standing army e s t a b l i s h e d by Congress i n 1866 p r o v i d e d a l i m i t e d number of a l l - b l a c k r e g i -ments. Between 1866 and 1914, p a r t i c u l a r l y d u r i n g the Indian Wars of the l a t e 19th century, these regiments p l a y e d an a c t i v e and important r o l e i n American m i l i t a r y a c t i o n s . However, f o r many years, indeed up u n t i l the Second World War, t h e i r p a r t i c i -20 p a t i o n was very l i m i t e d both i n terms of the number who were e n l i s t e d and i n terms of t h e i r access to combatant r o l e s and to o f f i c e r s t a t u s . L i k e the Mahars, black Americans c o n s i d e r e d s e r v i c e i n the m i l i t a r y to be an extremely important i s s u e f o r them and they fought very hard, not o n l y to be admitted to the m i l i t a r y , but to be admitted on equal terms and to be allowed to compete on t h e i r own m e r i t s . These three communities, t h e r e f o r e , d i f f e r c o n s i d e r a b l y i n t h e i r numbers, o r i g i n s , and s o c i a l s t a t u s . A l l three have used m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e to improve or c o n s o l i d a t e t h e i r p o s i t i o n , e i t h e r i n d i v i d u a l l y or c o l l e c t i v e l y . In the cases of the Mahars and b l a ck Americans, m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e o f f e r e d a way out of a s e r v i l e or depressed s t a t u s . For the Bene I s r a e l , m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e o f f e r e d p o l i t i c a l s e c u r i t y r a t h e r than s o c i a l advancement under n a t i v e r u l e r s , while under B r i t i s h r u l e the army was one of s e v e r a l new trades or p r o f e s s i o n s . For b l a c k s , the C i v i l War and i t s p o l i t i c a l aftermath marked both t h e i r emancipation and the b eginning of t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n as c i t i z e n s i n a r e g u l a r army. For the Mahars and Bene I s r a e l , the B r i t i s h conquest of I n d i a o f f e r e d new o p p o r t u n i t i e s , with m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e one of the most important. R a c i a l p r e j u d i c e set l i m i t s on b l ack achievements i n the m i l i t a r y as i n other areas, while the changing demands of i m p e r i a l r u l e and B r i t i s h r a c i a l t h e o r i e s u l t i m a t e l y f o r c e d "non-m a r t i a l " groups such as the Mahars and Bene I s r a e l out of the army. The ways i n which these groups used, or attempted to use, m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e , and the o f t e n c o n f l i c t i n g a t t i t u d e s of those 21 who s e t m i l i t a r y p o l i c y t o w a r d s t h e i r a s p i r a t i o n s , f o r m t h e main s u b j e c t o f t h i s s t u d y . Footnotes, Chapter I Sunanda Patwardhan, Change Among Indian's H a r i j a n s : Maharashtra - A Case Study (New D e l h i ; O r i e n t Longman L i m i t e d , 1973), p. 29. Alexander Robertson, The Mahar F o l k : A Study of Untouchables i n Maharashtra ( C a l c u t t a : Y.M.C.A. P u b l i s h i n g House, 1938), 44-45. I b i d . , p. 47. I b i d . , p. 44. I b i d . , pp. 46-47, 51. I b i d . , p. 53; Dr. Gustav Oppert, The O r i g i n a l I n h a b i t a n t s of I n d i a (Madras: n.p., 1893; r e p r i n t ed., New D e l h i : O r i e n t a l P u b l i s h e r s , 1972), p. 93. R. V. R u s s e l l and H i r a L a i , The T r i b e s and Castes of the C e n t r a l P r o v i n c e s of I n d i a , v o l . TV (N.p.: C e n t r a l P r o v i n c e s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , 1916; r e p r i n t ed., Oosterhout N.B. - Netherlands: A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l P u b l i c a t i o n s , 1969), p. 130. Loc. c i t . Robertson, The Mahar Fo l k , p. 17. I b i d . , p. 54. C. A. K i n c a i d , "The Outcaste's S t o r y , " The A n c h o r i t e and Other S t o r i e s (London, Bombay: Humphrey M i l f o r d at the Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1922), pp. 154-55. Robertson, The Mahar Fo l k , p. 18. I b i d . , pp. 20-24. I b i d . , p. 27. Robert J . M i l l e r , "Button, Button . . . Great T r a d i t i o n , L i t t l e T r a d i t i o n , Whose T r a d i t i o n ? " , A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l Q u a r t e r l y 39 (January 1966):32. S c h i f r a S t r i z o w e r , The C h i l d r e n of I s r a e l : The Bene I s r a e l of Bombay (Oxford: B a s i l B l a c k w e l l , 19/1), pp. 89-90. 23 17. R. A. Schermerhorn, E t h n i c P l u r a l i t y i n I n d i a (Tucson, A r i z o n a : U n i v e r s i t y of A r i z o n a Press, 1978), p. 240; The Gazetteer of Bombay C i t y and I s l a n d , v o l . I (Pune: The Government Photozinco Press, 1977; f a c s i m i l e ed. o r i g . pub. Bombay: The Times Press, 1909), p. 247, n. 3. The "Ten L o s t T r i b e s " of the kingdom of I s r a e l were c a r r i e d i n t o c a p t i v i t y by the A s s y r i a n s under Sargon I I , c. 740-700 B.C. The other t r i b e s were the Southern kingdom of Judah. 18. Haeem Samuel Kehimkar, The H i s t o r y of the B e n e - I s r a e l of I n d i a ( T e l A v i v : Dayag Press L t d . , 1937), p. 52. 19. I b i d . , pp. 15-16. 20. Rev. J . Henry Lord, The Jews i n I n d i a and the East (Kolhapur: M i s s i o n Press, 1907; r e p r i n t ed., Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, P u b l i s h e r s , 1976), app. I, pp. 1-2. Gives a t o t a l of 14,889 Jews i n the Bombay Presidency i n 1901. 21. I b i d . , p. 93. 22. I b i d . , p. 79. 23. Schermerhorn, E t h n i c P l u r a l i t y i n I n d i a , pp. 244-245; St r i z o w e r , The C h i l d r e n of I s r a e l , pp. 27-28. 24. S t r i z o w e r , The C h i l d r e n of I s r a e l , p. 47; Schermerhorn, E t h n i c P l u r a l i t y i n I n d i a , p"p. 245-246. 25. Bombay C i t y G a z e t t e e r , v o l . I, pp. 248-249. 26. Benjamin J . I s r a e l , ' "Bene I s r a e l Surnames and T h e i r V i l l a g e L i n k s , " i n The Bene I s r a e l of I n d i a : Some Studie s (New York: Apt Books, Inc., 1984; by arrangement with O r i e n t Longman L t d . , I n d i a ) , p. 123. 27. A l l a n Nevins and Henry S t e e l e Commager, A Pocket H i s t o r y of the U n i t e d S t a t e s (New York: Washington Square Press, Inc., 1963), pp. 200-201, 222. 24 CHAPTER II EARLY MILITARY HISTORY A l l three of the communities under d i s c u s s i o n have had a h i s t o r y of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e extending back more than two centu-r i e s ; counting t r a d i t i o n s and f o l k b e l i e f s , a m a r t i a l t r a d i t i o n of s o r t s can be t r a c e d even f u r t h e r . T h i s e a r l y m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y can be d e s c r i b e d as a d v e n t i t i o u s : i n d i v i d u a l s or s m a l l groups responding to an immediate need and seeking i n d i v i d u a l rewards, r a t h e r than p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n a formal, permanent m i l i t a r y o r g a n i -z a t i o n . There i s a l s o c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y a one-sided r e l a t i o n -s h i p ; m i n o r i t y or subordinate groups are p e r m i t t e d to serve i n the m i l i t a r y when, and o n l y when, i t i s i n the i n t e r e s t of the dominant group to permit t h i s . The Mahars Even d i s c o u n t i n g the c l a i m of the Somavanshi z a t a (the l a r g e s t s u b d i v i s i o n ) of the Mahars to have fought with the Panda-vas i n the Mahabharata War,l there are a number of long standing t r a d i t i o n s among the Mahars of m i l i t a r y and other s e r v i c e s per-formed f o r l o c a l r u l e r s . Robertson mentions s e v e r a l copper p l a t e Sanads s a i d to e x i s t c o n f i r m i n g the e x i s t e n c e of Inams granted to p a r t i c u l a r Mahar f a m i l i e s or to v i l l a g e groups. One such, which Robertson was not able to see h i m s e l f , was owned by a f a m i l y near Purandhar i n the Poona d i s t r i c t . T h i s records the grant of s e v e r a l v i l l a g e s to a Mahar of Purandhar v i l l a g e named Baharnak 25 Bangale. Baharnak 1s s e r v i c e s i n c l u d e d p r o v i d i n g human s a c r i f i c e s f o r the k i n g of Bedar to f a c i l i t a t e the b u i l d i n g of the f o r t of Purandhar, v a r i o u s works of c o n s t r u c t i o n , and a l s o m i l i t a r y sup-p o r t i n p u t t i n g down two r e v o l t s . 2 The f a m i l i e s which owned these copper p l a t e s were r e l u c t a n t to allow o u t s i d e r s to examine them. Robertson was able to borrow and photograph one p l a t e b elonging to the Mahars of Koya near Ahmednagar, but found the language to be i n d e c i p h e r a b l e . The Purandhar p l a t e was t r a n -s c r i b e d f o r Robertson by a Mahar f r i e n d . The e x i s t e n c e of these p l a t e s can f a i r l y be assumed, but t h e i r a u t h e n t i c i t y has not been e s t a b l i s h e d . In more recent times, however, there i s l i t t l e doubt that Mahars d i d serve as f o o t s o l d i e r s , scouts and p o s s i b l y as s p i e s f o r the seventeenth-century Maratha r u l e r S h i v a j i . Sarkar notes that under S h i v a j i f o r t s and outposts were normally p l a c e d under three o f f i c e r s of equal s t a t u s drawn from d i f f e r e n t c a s t e s , g e n e r a l l y two Marathas and one Brahmin. The quartermaster was normally a Kayastha while the environs of the f o r t were guarded by men of Parwari and Ramushi c a s t e . T h i s m i l i t a r y duty resem-b l e s the t r a d i t i o n a l duty of the Mahar as a v i l l a g e watchman except t h a t i n t h i s case the Mahars (Parwaris) were being em-p l o y e d to guard m i l i t a r y i n s t a l l a t i o n s . 3 I t i s a l s o very l i k e l y t h a t they were expected to keep watch on the comings and goings of the other o f f i c e r s of the f o r t and r e p o r t any s u s p i c i o u s behaviour d i r e c t l y to S h i v a j i or to h i s immediate l i e u t e n a n t s . Another t r a d i t i o n d e s c r i b e s the s e r v i c e s of Shivnak or Shibnak Mahar i n the r e i g n of Rajaram. T h i s Shivnak r a i s e d a Mahar u n i t 26 and o f f e r e d i t i n support of Rajaram (1689-1700) and l a t e r Shahu (1707-49), descendants of S h i v a j i . In r e t u r n he was granted Kalambi v i l l a g e as a g i f t . H is grandson, a l s o Shivnak, p r o v i d e d m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e to the Peshwa, Sawai Madhavrao. Shivnak i s a l s o c r e d i t e d with saving the l i f e of Pureshwarambhau Patwardhan at the b a t t l e of Kharda i n 1795. The Peshwa's Brahmin a d v i s o r , H i r o j i Patankar, was s a i d to have t o l d other commanders who o b j e c t e d to Shivnak's presence i n t h e i r camp that i n warfare there should be no concern f o r c a s t e . Shivnak's descendants s t i l l owned land i n the S a t a r a d i s t r i c t u n t i l q u i t e r e c e n t l y and q u i t e p o s s i b l y s t i l l do.4 Nagnak Mahar, probably a contemporary of Shivnak Mahar the e l d e r , had been a P a t i l i n the S a t a r a area but had l o s t h i s r i g h t s . He took a band of Mahar s o l d i e r s and captured the f o r t of V a i r a t g a d h from the Muslims, p r e s e n t i n g i t to the k i n g who i n r e t u r n r e s t o r e d h i s r i g h t s as P a t i l . 5 Whether or not these i n c i d e n t s are h i s t o r i c a l l y t r u e , they are widely accepted by the Mahars as p a r t of t h e i r t r a d i t i o n , and now form p a r t of the o f f i c i a l h i s t o r y of the Mahar Regiment. The Mahars can and do draw on t h i s t r a d i t i o n , l i m i t e d as i t i s , to prove t h a t they are capable of courage, l e a d e r s h i p , and l o y a l t y . C o n s i d e r i n g these s t o r i e s of m a r t i a l achievements along with other aspects of Mahar t r a d i t i o n , there i s a d e f i n i t e im-p r e s s i o n of the Mahars as a separate group a l l y i n g themselves with the r u l i n g power of the time, whether Muslim, Maratha, or Brahmin, 6 and of a w i l l i n g n e s s to look beyond the t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i a l order f o r ways and means to b e t t e r themselves. True to 27. t h i s p a t t e r n , when the B r i t i s h e s t a b l i s h e d themselves (as the Honourable East I n d i a Company) as a s i g n i f i c a n t power i n Western I n d i a , the Mahars w i l l i n g l y took s e r v i c e under them. The Mahars were doing the same t h i n g other c a s t e s or communities had done i n attempting to a l l y themselves with the currently-dominant group. In p r e v i o u s attempts, the low s t a t u s and poverty of the Mahars had made c o n s o l i d a t i o n and maintenance of t h e i r gains d i f f i c u l t . As they e s t a b l i s h e d themselves as r e t a i n e r s of the B r i t i s h , as domestic and p e r s o n a l servants and as s o l d i e r s , they had reason to b e l i e v e that the customs ( b e e f - e a t i n g , h a n d l i n g c a r r i o n , l a c k of r i t u a l p r o h i b i t i o n s ) which d e l i n e a t e d t h e i r low s t a t u s as Hindus would make them e s p e c i a l l y v a l u a b l e to the B r i t i s h . From the Mahar p e r s p e c t i v e t h i s was a unique o p p o r t u n i t y to prove themselves without being handicapped by t h e i r r i t u a l l y - d e g r a d e d s t a t u s . Mahar m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e under the B r i t i s h began q u i t e f o r -t u i t o u s l y i n the 1740s. The East I n d i a Company orga n i z e d the l a b o u r e r s employed on the f o r t i f i c a t i o n s of Bombay i n t o r e g u l a r bodies of sepoys f o r defense. The men o r d i n a r i l y served as l a b o u r e r s at l a b o u r e r s ' pay but were o b l i g e d to take up arms i n case of a t t a c k and were then p l a c e d on m i l i t a r y pay s c a l e and under m i l i t a r y d i s c i p l i n e . T h i s e a r l y q u a s i - m i l i t a r y f o r c e was p l a c e d under the command of one Gumbajee P u t t o j e e as t h e i r con-ductor and was d i v i d e d i n t o four companies of two hundred and s i x t e e n men each. Each company c o n s i s t e d of one Subadar, four "Jumbledars," e i g h t " S i r Naiques," four c o l o u r bearers, one trum-p e t e r , one b e l d a r and two hundred p r i v a t e s . 28 Documents i n the P u b l i c Department D i a r y of 1757 l i s t twenty-three men as c a p t a i n s , each shown as commanding v a r y i n g numbers of men armed with v a r i o u s weapons: f i r e l o c k s , matchlocks, long swords, sword and t a r g e t , and bow and arrow.? I t seems l i k e l y that these c a p t a i n s each brought a contingent of kinsmen or neighbours, engaged them a l l as a body and acted as an i n f o r -mal leader and spokesman. The f a c t that the men brought t h e i r own weapons suggests that they were employed on the understanding that they would take up arms i f asked, and that they had some minimal degree of t r a i n i n g , i f o n l y as hunters or v i l l a g e watch-men. These " c a p t a i n s " do not seem to correspond to the v a r i o u s Subadars and Jumbledars. Four of the c a p t a i n s , commanding s i x t y -two men i n c l u d i n g themselves, are l i s t e d as " F r o s t s , " "Pharash or no c a s t e " and appear to be Mahars. Eleven, commanding 436 men, are "Moors" (Muslims) and the remaining seven c a p t a i n s and 150 men are "Gentoos" (Hindus). There were onl y e i g h t C h r i s t i a n s s c a t t e r e d among s i x d i f f e r e n t c a p t a i n s . The four " F r o s t " "cap-t a i n s " had o n l y men of t h e i r own "caste" while some of the "Moors" and "Gentoos" had mixed companies. Of the t o t a l of 648 men, 353 came from the "Maratta" country (presumably around Bombay) and 222 were from Surat and Gujarat. One Muslim had a co n t i n g e n t of 34 men from the t e r r i t o r i e s of the S i d i and two had sma l l groups from A n g r i a t e r r i t o r i e s . T h i s assortment of castes remained c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the Bombay Army u n t i l the major r e o r -g a n i z a t i o n of 1893 to 1895. S p e c i f i c r e f e r e n c e s to Mahar m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e i n the Bombay Army between 1757 and 1797 are few, though u n t i l the a c q u i s i t i o n 29 of t e r r i t o r i e s above the Western Ghats i n 1802 the Bombay Army had p e r f o r c e to r e c r u i t from the c o a s t a l d i s t r i c t s around Bombay and c o u l d h a r d l y have avoided t a k i n g Mahars i n any case. At l e a s t one source g i v e s p o s i t i v e evidence of Mahar s e r v i c e ; E l p h i n s t o n e (the Governor of Bombay) quoted, i n correspondence with the Board of D i r e c t o r s , an e a r l i e r work which s t a t e d : i n the wars of Lawrence, C l i v e and Coote, i n the C a r n a t i c , the a b o r i g i n e s c o n s t i t u t e d by f a r the great m a j o r i t y of the sepoys . . . I t was they (the Purwaris of the Bombay Army) who, i n the siege of Mangalore [1783-84-aut h o r ] , together with . . . the 42nd Highlanders under C o l o n e l Campbell, defended that f o r t r e s s f o r s i x months . . .8 The Bombay regiment i n v o l v e d , the 8th Bombay Native I n f a n t r y , was designated a Grenadier regiment and awarded the b a t t l e honour "Mangalore" i n o f f i c i a l r e c o g n i t i o n of t h e i r s e r v i c e , and was u n o f f i c i a l l y honoured as the 3rd B a t t a l i o n of the Black Watch.^ A number of r e f e r e n c e s to Mahar s e r v i c e are found i n the re c o r d of the 21st Regiment Bombay Native I n f a n t r y or Marine B a t t a l i o n . T h i s corps was r a i s e d i n 1776-77, " f o r the s e r v i c e of the M a r i n e " — t o p r o v i d e detachments f o r s e r v i c e i n the ship s of the Bombay Marine ( l a t e r Indian Navy). 1 (- ) The Marine B a t t a l i o n from a very e a r l y p e r i o d e n l i s t e d a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n of Mahars or Parwaris. In 1776, when the corps was r a i s e d , the f i v e hundred Sepoys were to be a l l "Moormen" or Muslims. However, many of the Sepoys who e n l i s t e d were i n f a c t Parwaris and Mochis or Chamars. Some h i g h e r - c a s t e Hindus a p p a r e n t l y d i d e n l i s t i n the b a t t a l i o n but were c o n s i d e r e d u n s u i t a b l e because they f r e q u e n t l y o b j e c t e d to c r o s s i n g the sea, which was a problem s i n c e the Marine B a t t a l -i o n so f r e q u e n t l y served on board s h i p . For i n s t a n c e , i n 1812 30 Ragoojee Bhonsla, H a v i l d a r , who was s e r v i n g on board the Dart a g a i n s t p i r a t e s i n the Gulf of Cutch, was ordered to be promoted to Jemadar and t r a n s f e r r e d to an i n f a n t r y regiment. He was removed to the second b a t t a l i o n of the 7th Regiment of i n f a n -t r y . I 1 Again i n 1836 i t came to the n o t i c e of government that there were about 240 men i n the Marine B a t t a l i o n whose caste p r e j u d i c e s prevented t h e i r s e r v i c e a f l o a t . These men were then e i t h e r t r a n s f e r r e d to other regiments, removed to the Veteran B a t t a l i o n or pension l i s t , or d i s c h a r g e d . 1 2 The General S e r v i c e E n l i s t m e n t Act of 1856, r e q u i r i n g s o l d i e r s e n l i s t i n g i n the army to go wherever they were sent, was an attempt to f o r e s t a l l such problems; i t was a l s o an i n c i d e n t a l cause of the mutiny of 1857. Whether because of t h i s Act, or f o r other reasons, the Marine B a t t a l i o n came to be dominated by Mahars and Muslims. By 1877 the Marine B a t t a l i o n i n c l u d e d 685 men of whom 492 were Mahars and 188 Muslims. There were a l s o two Indo-Portuguese and three Jews or Bene I s r a e l . As l a t e as 1895, a f t e r Mahar recruitment had ended, there were s t i l l 185 Mahars (out of 824) i n the b a t t a l i o n . The Marine B a t t a l i o n was o f t e n on a c t i v e s e r v i c e when the r e s t of the Bombay Army was not. The Marine B a t t a l i o n went through a number of changes i n i t s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n and the d u t i e s a s s i g n e d to i t , as a marine b a t t a l i o n , as a pioneer b a t t a l i o n and as a r e g u l a r i n f a n t r y b a t t a l i o n , but i t was always s t a t i o n e d i n Bombay and always used to p r o v i d e detachments f o r the P e r s i a n G u l f and f o r e x p e d i t i o n s to Burma and f o r s e r v i c e on board s h i p . So i t d i d see very e x t e n s i v e s e r v i c e i n c l u d i n g overseas s e r v i c e , much more than any other regiment of the Bombay army, p a r t i c u l a r -31 l y i n the l a t t e r h a l f of the n i n e t e e n t h century. Since the Marine B a t t a l i o n u s u a l l y s u p p l i e d s m a l l detachments of sepoys under a n a t i v e o f f i c e r , and t h e i r d u t i e s o f t e n r e q u i r e d a con-s i d e r a b l e degree of independent a c t i o n , t h e i r chances of earning s p e c i a l d i s t i n c t i o n were q u i t e h i g h . These f a c t o r s probably account fo r the l a r g e number of Mahars who gained p a r t i c u l a r r e c o g n i t i o n ; i t i s a l s o f o r t u n a t e that a b r i e f but f a c t - f i l l e d h i s t o r y of the b a t t a l i o n was p u b l i s h e d at a time when memories and records were s t i l l f r e s h . For i n s t a n c e , i n 1797 the V i g i l a n t was a t t a c k e d by four Sanganian p i r a t e v e s s e l s i n the Gulf of Kutch, and drove them o f f a f t e r a three-hour b a t t l e . F i v e marines r e c e i v e d promotions i n r e c o g n i t i o n of t h e i r s e r v i c e s on t h i s o c c a s i o n . The H a v i l d a r , Mandnack Esnack, was promoted to Jemadar. Two Naiks, Ruttonmet-tee Sonmettee and Nimnac Sownac were promoted to H a v i l d a r and p r i v a t e s Cosnack Subannac and Mandnac Caunnac were promoted to Naiks. Four of these f i v e men were Mahars, the f i f t h a Mochi or Chamar. In an u n r e l a t e d i n c i d e n t the same year, the b r i g V i p e r was a t t a c k e d by Joasmi p i r a t e s while at anchor o f f Bushire i n the P e r s i a n G u l f . The engagement was b r i e f but bloody, t h i r t y - t w o of the detachment of s i x t y - f i v e Marines being k i l l e d . A l l of the s u r v i v o r s r e c e i v e d a g r a t u i t y of one month's pay, and two, H a v i l d a r Soubannac Wagnac and Jemadar Sheik Gunny, r e c e i v e d a s i l v e r c h a i n and badge worth one hundred rupees.13 Another H.E.I.C. ship, the c r u i s e r Sylph, f a r e d worse i n a p i r a t e a t t a c k ; a l l but four of the s h i p ' s crew and the e n t i r e Marine detachment were k i l l e d i n hand-to-hand combat.14 In February of 1809 pensions were granted to the widows of the seven men of the Marine B a t t a l i o n who had been k i l l e d on board the Sylph, Lucknac Esnac H a v i l d a r , Calnac Downac Naique, and Roopnac Sonnac, Gonnak Gondnac, Balnac Jannac, Dewnac Bamnac and Bamnac Sonnac, S e p o y s , 1 5 a l l i d e n t i f i a b l e as Mahars from the "nak" a f f i x e d to t h e i r names. In September 1810 the c r u i s e r Aurora was captured by two French f r i g a t e s . The detachment of seventeen men of the Marine B a t t a l i o n on board the Aurora remained f a i t h f u l to t h e i r a l l e -giance d e s p i t e both p e r s u a s i o n and c o e r c i o n a p p l i e d to them to induce them to change t h e i r a l l e g i a n c e to France. The men i n -volved, ten Mahars and seven Muslims, were each promoted one rank. Each was a l s o to r e c e i v e a s i l v e r badge. When one of them, H a v i l d a r Dhunnac Dadnac, d i e d on duty i n the P e r s i a n Gulf i n 1820 h i s widow S a l l e e and c h i l d were granted a pension exceed-ing by one rupee what would o r d i n a r i l y have been given, although the widow was not i n t h i s i n s t a n c e e n t i t l e d to a pension under o r d i n a r y circumstances. I t was s p e c i f i c a l l y noted that t h i s grant was made i n r e c o g n i t i o n of h i s p r e v i o u s s e r v i c e on board the A u r o r a . 1 6 S o l d i e r s of the Marine B a t t a l i o n on o c c a s i o n served w e l l beyond the borders of I n d i a and i n an independent c a p a c i t y ; Subadar Balnak Tannak, a Mahar, i n 1817 went to New South Wales i n command of a guard over a c o n v i c t d r a f t to that colony, and h i s commanding o f f i c e r r e c e i v e d a l e t t e r from Governor MacQuarrie 33 commending the Subadar f o r h i s s a t i s f a c t o r y conduct of t h i s d u t y . 1 7 An i n t e r e s t i n g although not e s p e c i a l l y important episode i n the h i s t o r y of the Marine B a t t a l i o n o c c u r r e d i n 1815 when the East Indiaman N a u t i l u s encountered the American s h i p Peacock i n the S t r a i t s of Sunda. The c a p t a i n of the Peacock a p p a r e n t l y was unaware that a peace t r e a t y had a l r e a d y been signed between the two n a t i o n s and f i r e d upon the N a u t i l u s . In the ensuing a c t i o n Subadar E l i n a c Sonnac of the Marine B a t t a l i o n was k i l l e d and s e v e r a l other men i n c l u d i n g the commander, L i e u t e n a n t Boyce, were k i l l e d or wounded. "This i s probably the o n l y o c c a s i o n on which the Indian army has fought a g a i n s t Americans." x& Men of the Marine B a t t a l i o n a l s o served i n the F i r s t Bur-mese War, 1824-26. Commodore John Hayes commanding the company's brig-of-war V e s t a l p a r t i c u l a r l y commended H a v i l d a r Walnac Sumnac who had been s e r v i n g i n the rank ,of Subadar Major and Gunnac Seednac Naik who had been s e r v i n g as a Jemadar. Commodore Hayes' recommendation that they be confirmed i n these ranks was not accepted f o r a d m i n i s t r a t i v e reasons, but both men were r a i s e d i n rank one degree, the H a v i l d a r being promoted to Jemadar and the Naik to H a v i l d a r . Besides these men a t o t a l of one Jemadar and e i g h t noncommissioned o f f i c e r s and s i x p r i v a t e s who can be p o s i -t i v e l y i d e n t i f i e d as Mahars served i n the Burmese War along with three NCOs and four p r i v a t e s who can be i d e n t i f i e d as Muslim. There were another ninety-one p r i v a t e s , at l e a s t one-half to one-t h i r d of whom were almost c e r t a i n l y Mahars. The general conduct of the Marine B a t t a l i o n i n t h i s war was c o n s i d e r e d to be very 34 praiseworthy. The e n t i r e detachment were awarded medals and most of them, except f o r those employed on a t r a n s p o r t s h i p , r e c e i v e d an a d d i t i o n a l B a t t a of one-quarter rupee per day f o r the d u r a t i o n of t h e i r s e r v i c e . Another s u r v i v o r of the Aurora, Downac Muckin-nac, who had by 1826 reached the rank of Subadar, d i e d i n h o s p i -t a l as a r e s u l t of i l l n e s s c o n t r a c t e d i n Burma, and as i n the e a r l i e r case of Dhamnac H a v i l d a r , h i s widow was granted a s p e c i a l pension of one rupee more than she would have r e c e i v e d had she been e n t i t l e d to pension under o r d i n a r y c i r c u m s t a n c e s . 1 ^ Between 1838 and 1858 detachments of the Marine B a t t a l i o n served i n a number of campaigns i n c l u d i n g the capture of Aden i n September of 1839, the defence of the Hyderabad (Sind) r e s i d e n c y p r i o r to the b a t t l e of Meanee, other campaigns i n Sind i n the e a r l y 1840s and the Opium War i n China 1840-42. S e v e r a l Mahar s o l d i e r s of the Marine B a t t a l i o n again won s p e c i f i c mention f o r v a r i o u s deeds. Subadar-Major Jannac Nownac Bahadur was i n v e s t e d with the Order of B r i t i s h I n d i a ( e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1837) i n October 1845. In May 1851 the company s h i p F a l k l a n d s sank on a voyage to K a r a c h i . A Marine p r i v a t e , Babnac Deepnac, who was on s e n t r y duty over the t r e a s u r e chest, stayed at h i s post u n t i l the s h i p went down under him, and then managed to save the bag of rupees. He was promoted to Naik. Marines served on the company steamers Feroze, Moozaffur, Berenice, Zenobia, and S e s o s t r i s d u r i n g the Second Burmese War 1853-54 and r e c e i v e d s e r v i c e medals. During the Second S i k h War some one hundred and ten men of the Marine B a t t a l i o n served i n the shi p s of the Indus F l o t i l l a 1848-49. In March of 1857 detachments of Marines from the Feroze, Semiramis, 35 Assaye, Ajdaha, V i c t o r i a , C l i v e and F a l k l a n d served under Li e u t e n a n t - G e n e r a l S i r James Outram at the t a k i n g of Mohumra i n P e r s i a . Lance-Naik Babmac Sumnak was k i l l e d ; H a v i l d a r Ragnak Esnak and P r i v a t e Lucknak were wounded. 2 0 A detachment of the Marine B a t t a l i o n again won p a r t i c u l a r d i s t i n c t i o n d u r i n g the Mutiny. The detachment had been s t a t i o n e d at Multan. The Naik and s e v e r a l p r i v a t e s had been assigned to guard the t r e a s u r e chest which was i n the house of the A s s i s t a n t M a g i s t r a t e and Port O f f i c e r L i e u t e n a n t H o l t of the Indian N avy. 2 1 The house was a t t a c k e d by a p a r t y of mutineers of the 67th and 69th Bengal Native I n f a n t r y and the Marines were able to r e p u l s e the a t t a c k . The detachment c o n s i s t e d of Naik Jannac Dhonnac who was promoted to H a v i l d a r , P r i v a t e s Aumnac Jannac, Bicknac Sonnac, Gondnac P i t n a c , Balnac Jannac, and Bicknac Coottennac a l l pro-moted to Naik, and P r i v a t e s Balmater Rammater, Balnac Dhurumnac and Ramnac Babnac promoted to Lance-Naik. H a v i l d a r Jannac Dhonnac and Lance-Naik Ramnac Babnac a l s o were awarded the Indian Order of M e r i t , T h i r d C l a s s . 2 2 Men of the Marine B a t t a l i o n d i d not always d i s t i n g u i s h themselves. Commander M. 0. Stephens, a Royal Navy o f f i c e r commanding the H.E.I.C. s h i p Semiramis i n 1852, was extremely d i s s a t i s f i e d with the conduct of twelve of s i x t e e n men of the Marine B a t t a l i o n r e c e n t l y s e r v i n g under him. The s i x t e e n men i n c l u d e d f o u r t e e n Mahars, one Chamar, and one Anglo-Indian. Charges l e v e l e d a g a i n s t these men i n c l u d e d h a b i t u a l bad conduct, r i o t o u s conduct, an attempt at f e i g n i n g i n s a n i t y , l o s i n g p a r t s of t h e i r uniforms, b r i n g i n g f a l s e complaints and g e n e r a l i n s u b o r d i -3 6 n a t i o n . Commander Stephens had P r i v a t e Lucknac Cannae punished with one dozen lashes with the cat f o r disobedience, and the other marines "misconducted themselves i n a most marked and i n s u b o r d i n a t e manner by openly q u e s t i o n i n g the p r o p r i e t y of one of t h e i r corps being flogged."23 Although the marines do not appear to have conducted themselves very s a t i s f a c t o r i l y , Command-er Stephens was a l s o at f a u l t i n attempting to enforce the s t a n -dards of d i s c i p l i n e customary i n the B r i t i s h Navy upon men who, f i r s t of a l l , were not s a i l o r s but s o l d i e r s , and secondly were not accustomed to the b r u t a l p h y s i c a l d i s c i p l i n e then imposed i n the B r i t i s h Navy. A c c o r d i n g to r e g u l a t i o n s i s s u e d by the Gover-nor i n C o u n c i l i n 1810, d e f i n i n g the d u t i e s of marine sepoys, c o r p o r a l punishment was not p e r m i t t e d i n the case of noncommis-sioned o f f i c e r s ; p r i v a t e s c o u l d be punished with a " r a t t a n . " I t seems probable that the marines were r i g h t i n q u e s t i o n i n g the use of the cat.24 An i n t e r e s t i n g and somewhat unusual episode i n the h i s t o r y of the Marine B a t t a l i o n o c c u r r e d i n 1865 when Dr. David L i v i n g -stone r e c e i v e d p e r m i s s i o n from the government of Bombay to e n l i s t a number of sepoys to accompany him on h i s next e x p e d i t i o n to C e n t r a l A f r i c a . F o r t y men of the Marine B a t t a l i o n v o lunteered and twelve were e n l i s t e d , l e a v i n g f o r Zanzibar i n 1866. The twelve men were C o l o r H a v i l d a r Shaik Ahmad, Lance Naik Sheik Mullang and P r i v a t e s Khoada Bux, Esmall Khan, Shaik Curreem, Shaik Khan, Shaik Purun, Pandnac Ramnac, Jaynac Gunnac, Ramnac Lucknac, Bawajnac Gunnac, and Ramnac Bhewnac. The f i r s t seven of these were Muslims, the l a s t f i v e Mahars. L i v i n g s t o n e d i d not 37 f i n d t h a t the sepoys served him well.25 L i v i n g s t o n e considered t h a t the sepoys were c r u e l to the pack animals brought with them, th a t they were r e l u c t a n t to work but l i k e w i s e r e l u c t a n t to be sent home, and were generally, untrustworthy. In extenuation i t must be s a i d L i v i n g s t o n e was then g e t t i n g o l d and a p p a r e n t l y i n e f f e c t u a l as a l e a d e r . He a l s o c l e a r l y understood very l i t t l e about the sepoys s i n c e he was not even aware that they were not a l l Muslim. The episode, however, does not ca s t much c r e d i t upon the Marine B a t t a l i o n . Mahars a l s o served i n most of the Bombay i n f a n t r y regiments i n the n i n e t e e n t h century, but i t i s harder to determine the extent of t h e i r s e r v i c e f o r lack of evidence. However s c a t t e r e d r e f e r e n c e s do e x i s t which show Mahars s e r v i n g i n such campaigns as the T h i r d Anglo-Maratha War, the Second Anglo-Sikh War, and the Second Afghan War. For i n s t a n c e , d u r i n g the T h i r d Maratha War (1817-1819), two s o l d i e r s of the 1st b a t t a l i o n / 3 r d regiment, ( l a t e r the K a l i Panchwin or Black F i f t h ) , Bhowani Singh and Eknath Balnak, were promoted to H a v i l d a r f o r t h e i r z e a l and bravery d u r i n g the pur-s u i t of the defeated Peshwa B a j i Rao a f t e r the b a t t l e of K i r k e e . 2 6 One i n s t a n c e of Mahar bravery, d e s c r i b e d by I. A. E z e k i e l , o c c u r r e d d u r i n g the Second Anglo-Sikh War. U n i t s of the Bombay Army, i n c l u d i n g a company of Sappers and Miners, took p a r t i n the att a c k on the Khuni Burj (Bloody Bastion) at Multan on 2 January 1 8 4 9 . 2 7 A c c o r d i n g to E z e k i e l , a Mahar s o l d i e r , Mahadev Mis s a r , captured the enemy c o l o u r s and i n s p i r e d h i s regiment to press 38 t h e i r a t t a c k s u c c e s s f u l l y . Another Mahar s o l d i e r , Jannak Ramnak, a l s o d i s p l a y e d s i m i l a r v a l o u r ; both r e c e i v e d medals.28 i n a s i m i l a r v e i n , a p a r t y of t w e n t y - f i v e men under a Mahar, Ramjee Sindhay, p a r t of a regiment s e r v i n g i n Kathiawar i n 1826, h e l d o f f an a t t a c k by over four hundred enemy.29 Although s p e c i f i c d e t a i l s of these s t o r i e s c o u l d not be confirmed from o r i g i n a l m i l i t a r y sources, the presence of Bombay regiments dur i n g t h i s campaign i s well-documented. These and s i m i l a r s t o r i e s do form p a r t of the Mahar t r a d i t i o n . 3 0 An e a r l y o f f i c i a l n o t i c e of the appointment of a Mahar to a m i l i t a r y p o s i t i o n dates from 1847. T h i s i s a c e r t i f i c a t e (given i n Appendix B) of the grant of rank of Jemadar to Kamalnac V i t n a c dated the f i r s t day of June 1847 and e f f e c t i v e on January f i r s t of the same y e a r . 3 1 Two episodes from the Second Afghan War p r o v i d e f u r t h e r -examples of Mahar s e r v i c e . A h a l f company of the Bombay Sappers and Miners were present at the b a t t l e of Maiwand, J u l y 27th 1880. These men were the l a s t to leave the l i n e of b a t t l e , l e a v i n g behind L i e u t e n a n t T. R. Henn and f o u r t e e n Sappers dead. Of the fo u r t e e n , two, Balnak Yesnak and Chocnak, were Mahars.32 On 12th A p r i l 1881 Sepoy Bhewnac Ramnac saved A s s i s t a n t Doctor McMahon of the 61st Regiment and h i s servant from death by drowning. He was promoted to Naik and l a t e r awarded the bronze medal of the Royal Humane S o c i e t y . 3 3 The two most famous and best documented i n s t a n c e s of Mahar m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e of d i s t i n c t i o n are at the b a t t l e of Koregaon i n 1818 and at Dubrai, A f g h a n i s t a n 1880. The b a t t l e of Koregaon i s 39 i n t e r e s t i n g i n that i t appeared at f i r s t to be a somewhat i n s i g -n i f i c a n t engagement, but has s i n c e come to be considered a t u r n i n g p o i n t i n the T h i r d Anglo-Maratha War. The s u c c e s s f u l defense of Koregaon by a sma l l B r i t i s h - l e d f o r c e a g a i n s t a l a r g e army commanded by the Peshwa B a j i Rao h i m s e l f was a severe blow to Maratha morale, and has been c o n s i d e r e d an important f a c t o r c o n t r i b u t i n g to t h e i r u l t i m a t e d e f e a t . The events are simple enough. Ca p t a i n F. F. Staunton, commanding about 500 men of the 2nd B a t t a l i o n / l s t Regiment Bombay Native I n f a n t r y ( G r e n a d i e r s ) , about 250 A u x i l i a r y Horse under Li e u t e n a n t Swanston and a small a r t i l l e r y detachment of two s i x -pounder guns, l e f t S i r u r about 8:30 p.m. on the 31st of December 1817, a r r i v i n g at 10:00 a.m. the f o l l o w i n g morning, January 1st at the v i l l a g e of Koregaon near Pune. C a p t a i n Staunton r e c e i v e d a nasty shock when he encountered the army of the Peshwa, about 20,000 c a v a l r y and 8,000 i n f a n t r y with two heavy guns, formed up on the o p p o s i t e s i d e of the Bhima R i v e r . I t turned out l a t e r t h a t the Peshwa's army was to have l e f t Pune the day b e f o r e and had they done so, or had C a p t a i n Staunton a r r i v e d an hour l a t e r , the engagement would never have taken p l a c e . C a p t a i n Staunton determined to make a stand i n the v i l l a g e of Koregaon, which was (and s t i l l i s today) f o r t i f i e d with mud w a l l s , and took up p o s i -t i o n there, s e l e c t i n g the best s i t u a t i o n s he c o u l d f o r h i s two guns. In the meantime 3,000 of the Peshwa's Arab i n f a n t r y had a l s o occupied the v i l l a g e and had managed to g a i n c o n t r o l of the b e t t e r p o s i t i o n . C a p t a i n Staunton's small f o r c e was c o n t i n u a l l y i n b a t t l e without food or water u n t i l 9:00 p.m. when the Arabs 40 were f i n a l l y d r i v e n out of the v i l l a g e . At daybreak the f o l -lowing day Staunton's troops took p o s s e s s i o n of the enemy post and on the evening of that same day, January 2nd, Staunton gath-ered together h i s s u r v i v o r s , c o l l e c t e d h i s wounded and h i s guns, and began a r e t r e a t towards S i r u r . In h i s r e p o r t to L i e u t e n a n t C o l o n e l F i t z s i m o n , Commanding at S i r u r , C a p t a i n Staunton appeared under some apprehension because he had had to abandon h i s camp equipment and one of the gun tumbrels. He recorded heavy l o s s e s , L i e u t e n a n t Chisholm of the a r t i l l e r y and A s s i s t a n t Surgeon Win-gate of the Grenadiers having been k i l l e d and L i e u t e n a n t P a t t e r -son, a l s o of the Grenadiers, badly wounded. L i e u t e n a n t P a t t e r s o n l a t e r d i e d . L i e u t e n a n t Connellan and L i e u t e n a n t Swanston were a l s o wounded, f i f t y men of the Grenadiers and twelve men of the a r t i l l e r y had been k i l l e d , and a t o t a l of 113 wounded. Cap t a i n Staunton ended h i s r e p o r t with the comment: " I t i s u t t e r l y impos-s i b l e f o r me to do j u s t i c e to the merits and e x e r t i o n s of the European o f f i c e r s , non-commissioned o f f i c e r s , and p r i v a t e s , that I had the honour and good fortune to command on t h i s t r y i n g o c c a s i o n . T h i s a p p a r e n t l y i n s i g n i f i c a n t b a t t l e , which as noted proved to have major consequences, became a very important f e a t u r e of the regimental h i s t o r y of the Grenadiers. As long as the regiment e x i s t e d Koregaon Night continued to be an important r e g i m e n t a l c e l e b r a t i o n . Memorabilia of the o c c a s i o n were kept i n the regimental mess and s u r v i v o r s of the engagement were honoured at r e g i mental dinners and other o c c a s i o n s . 3 5 Government a l s o chose to commemorate t h i s b a t t l e by e r e c t i n g an o b e l i s k at the s i t e of the b a t t l e . The o b e l i s k s t i l l stands and on i t s face are 41 recorded the names of the o f f i c e r s and men who d i e d i n that engagement. T h i s i n c l u d e s a t o t a l of twenty-one Mahars.36 T h i s b a t t l e a l s o f e a t u r e s prominently i n the Mahar regimental h i s t o -r i e s and i n many accounts of the m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y of the Mahars, s i n c e i t i s probably the one o c c a s i o n on which the l a r g e s t number of Mahar s o l d i e r s are known f o r c e r t a i n to have d i e d , and to have d i e d i n a very g a l l a n t and d i f f i c u l t task. The i n c i d e n t at Dubrai i s m i l i t a r i l y unimportant but again has won c o n s i d e r a b l e a t t e n t i o n because of the g a l l a n t r y shown by the three men i n v o l v e d , Major Sidney James Waudby and P r i v a t e s E l a h i Bux and Sonnak Tannak of the 19th Bombay Native I n f a n t r y . On 16 A p r i l 1880, these three men along with a d a f f a d a r and two sowars of the 3rd S i n d Horse were defending a s m a l l outpost i n A f g h a n i s t a n . They came under a t t a c k by some 250 to 300 Ghazis. The S i n d Horse Sowars a p p a r e n t l y took to t h e i r h e e l s , l e a v i n g the post to be defended by Major Waudby and the two p r i v a t e s . These three h e l d o f f the a t t a c k as long as they could, k i l l i n g or wounding some t h i r t y of t h e i r opponents, and when t h e i r ammuni-t i o n was exhausted dashed out and were k i l l e d i n hand to hand combat. 3 7 T h i s e x p l o i t i s commemorated by a plaque p r e s e n t l y found on the w a l l of the Alexandra G i r l s ' School on Waudby Road i n Bombay. 3^ At t h i s time the Indian Order of M e r i t was not granted posthumously, but s i n c e E l a h i Bux and Sonnak Tannak were deemed to have earned the t h i r d c l a s s I.O.M., t h e i r widows were awarded the e q u i v a l e n t pension f o r a term of three years, i n a d d i t i o n to the o r d i n a r y f a m i l y pension due them. 3^ Even these sketchy records i n d i c a t e that Mahar s o l d i e r s not 42 o n l y served i n v a r i o u s regiments of the Bombay Army throughout the n i n e t e e n t h century, but some a t t a i n e d the s t a t u s of n a t i v e o f f i c e r s . On o c c a s i o n Mahar s o l d i e r s d i s p l a y e d q u a l i t i e s of courage and l e a d e r s h i p at a h i g h l e v e l . The Bene I s r a e l As mentioned p r e v i o u s l y the e a r l i e s t i n s t a n c e of the Bene I s r a e l s e r v i n g as s o l d i e r s i n v o l v e s members of the C h u r r i k a r f a m i l y . A c c o r d i n g to Kehimkar two members of t h i s f a m i l y served the A b y s s i n i a n r u l e r of J a n j i r a . In a b a t t l e with s o l d i e r s of Kanhoji Angrey they were captured and on r e f u s i n g to change a l l e g i a n c e were k i l l e d . Angrey a p p a r e n t l y was so impressed by t h i s evidence of f a i t h f u l n e s s that he appointed two other members of the f a m i l y , Samuel or Samaji and Abraham or A b a j i , to command h i s navy. I t i s a l s o thought that ancestors of s e v e r a l Bene I s r a e l f a m i l i e s were appointed as commanders of v a r i o u s f o r t s , i n c l u d i n g A v c h i t g a d f o r t , Sagadgud f o r t and o t h e r s . However, as Kehimkar concedes, documentary evidence of such appointments i s l a c k i n g and t h i s , t h e r e f o r e , must be c o n s i d e r e d a t r a d i t i o n r a t h e r than a proven h i s t o r i c a l fact.40 The Bene I s r a e l began to migrate to Bombay i n c o n s i d e r a b l e numbers a f t e r the c i t y and i s l a n d came i n t o B r i t i s h p o s s e s s i o n . They had h i t h e r t o been a f r a i d to enter Portuguese dominated t e r r i t o r i e s f o r fear of r e l i g i o u s p e r s e c u t i o n . The e a r l i e s t r e c o r d of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e of the Bene I s r a e l under the B r i t i s h dates from about 1760. At or about that time, f i v e b r o t h e r s of the Divekar f a m i l y e n l i s t e d and r e c e i v e d commissions from W i l l i a m Hornby who was then Governor and Commander-in-Chief of h i s Majes-43 t y ' s c a s t l e and i s l a n d of Bombay. These b r o t h e r s were I s s a j i H a s s a j i , S i l l a m o n H a s s a j i , Samaji H a s s a j i , E l l o j e e H a s s a j i and David H a s s a j i . They were a l l a p p a r e n t l y appointed to the rank of Jemadar and/or Subadar i n the middle 1770s to the e a r l y 1780s. Samaji or Samuel served i n the Second Mysore War and was taken p r i s o n e r and h e l d f o r some time. Kehimkar notes the m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e of a l a r g e number of other Bene I s r a e l , g i v i n g d e t a i l e d accounts of the s e r v i c e of t h i r t y - t w o and l i s t i n g over one hun-dred Bene I s r a e l who became n a t i v e o f f i c e r s . 4 1 T h i s was not an exhaustive l i s t i n g . Two n a t i v e o f f i c e r s whose s e r v i c e s should be s p e c i a l l y noted, p a r t i c u l a r l y as they are independently con-firmed, are Subadar D a n i e l j e e I s r a e l of the 16th Regiment of N a t i v e I n f a n t r y (Subadar D a n i e l K h u r r i l k a r ) and Subadar-Major Moosajee I s r a e l (Moosajee K o l e t k a r ) . Subadar D a n i e l j e e was com-manding a p l a t o o n e s c o r t i n g an opium convoy from Baroda to Ahmedabad i n A p r i l of 1830. The p l a t o o n r e p e l l e d an a t t a c k by a p a r t y of approximately four hundred B h i l s . The Subadar was p u b l i c l y thanked by C o l o n e l Kennet, r e s i d e n t at Baroda, and r e c e i v e d a g o l d medal f o r h i s conduct.42 i n J u l y 1857, Subadar-Major Moosajee, s e r v i n g with the 27th Regiment Native I n f a n t r y i n the rank of Jemadar and Native Adjutant, gave f i r s t i n f o r m a t i o n of a planned mutiny among some of the s o l d i e r s of h i s regiment.43 Although the B a t t l e of Koregaon does not f e a t u r e as promi-n e n t l y i n Bene I s r a e l t r a d i t i o n as i t does f o r the Mahars, a few Bene I s r a e l a p p a r e n t l y served i n the Bombay Grenadiers at that time. At a regimental dinner h e l d at Baroda i n 1846, Jemadar D a v i d j i I s r a e l Bahadur, who had j u s t completed forty-one y e a r s ' 44 s e r v i c e , was c a l l e d i n to r e t u r n the t o a s t o f f e r e d by the R e s i -dent of Baroda to the s u r v i v o r s of K o r e g a o n . 4 4 A very s t r i k i n g f e a t u r e of the Bene I s r a e l m i l i t a r y expe-r i e n c e was the hig h p r o p o r t i o n of Bene I s r a e l s o l d i e r s who became n a t i v e o f f i c e r s . In t h i s they d i f f e r from the Mahars, who won promotions indeed, but i n a p r o p o r t i o n s i m i l a r to t h e i r o v e r a l l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n the army. Not o n l y were the Bene I s r a e l over-represented as n a t i v e o f f i c e r s ; they a l s o seem to have h e l d many r e l a t i v e l y p r e s t i g i o u s p o s i t i o n s a f t e r r e t i r e m e n t , i n the p o l i c e or i n l o c a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . These d i f f e r e n c e s w i l l be f u r t h e r d i s c u s s e d i n l a t e r chapters. American Blacks The e a r l y m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y of b l a c k s i n the Americas d i f -f e r s from that of the Mahars and Bene I s r a e l i n important r e s p e c t s . Black men o f t e n , as s l a v e s , c o u l d be compelled to serve i n the m i l i t a r y , as l a b o u r e r s i f not as s o l d i e r s , whereas the Mahars and Bene I s r a e l seem to have o f f e r e d t h e i r s e r v i c e by c h o i c e . A l s o , while the Mahars and Bene I s r a e l seem always to have a l l i e d themselves with the r u l i n g power, s l a v e s c o u l d and d i d r e v o l t or f l e e , sometimes a l l y i n g themselves with Indian t r i b e s or attempting to form independent settlements of t h e i r own. The t h r e a t — a n d o c c a s i o n a l r e a l i t y — o f s l a v e r e v o l t i n f l u -enced white a t t i t u d e s toward black s o l d i e r s i n a way q u i t e unpar-a l l e l e d i n the Indian context. The v a r i o u s c o l o n i a l p o w e r s — F r a n c e , Spain, and B r i t a i n — d i f f e r e d i n t h e i r p o l i c i e s and a t t i t u d e s towards b l a c k s . Succes-45 s i v e French and Spanish c o l o n i a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s i n L o u i s i a n a found i t expedient to use s l a v e s and f r e e men of c o l o u r to sup-plement the r e g u l a r troops and white m i l i t i a a v a i l a b l e to them. Between 1730 and 1740 both f r e e b l a c k s and s l a v e s p a r t i c i p a t e d i n French e x p e d i t i o n s a g a i n s t the Natchez and Chickasaw Indians. As McConnell s t a t e s i n h i s study: For the most p a r t both the enslaved and the f r e e d had given a good account of themselves and proved t h e i r l o y a l t y to the French. At the same time, they had ac-q u i r e d v a l u a b l e m i l i t a r y and d i s c i p l i n a r y e x perience. T h i s m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e p r o v i d e d an avenue to freedom f o r the enslaved. And f o r the f r e e , d e f i n i t e l y o r g a n i z e d i n t o a company with t h e i r own o f f i c e r s by the second Chickasaw war, there was the rewarding knowledge t h a t the government a l s o depended upon them f o r i t s defence a g a i n s t the common enemy.45 By the time L o u i s i a n a passed i n t o Spanish hands, Spanish i m p e r i a l p o l i c y i n c l u d e d p r o v i s i o n f o r m i l i t i a u n i t s to be orga-n i z e d among the f r e e people of c o l o u r , Negroes and Mulattoes, s u b d i v i d e d i n t o pardos ( l i g h t e r skinned Mulattoes) and Morenos (dark Mulattoes and Negroes). A number of f r e e men of c o l o u r fought f o r Spain a g a i n s t B r i t a i n i n 1779-81, performing c r e d i t -a b l y i n t h e i r " f i r s t experience a g a i n s t t r a i n e d European s o l d i e r s " 4 6 a n d earning commendations and promotions. Negro m i l i t i a m e n a l s o took p a r t i n the Cimarron War (aga i n s t runaway s l a v e s and t h e i r hideouts) and worked with other able-bodied male c i t i z e n s on the levees of the M i s s i s s i p p i . In 1799, i n t h e i r l a s t a c t i o n under the Spanish f l a g , they took p a r t i n an expedi-t i o n to F l o r i d a a g a i n s t an adventurer named Bowles. The French and Spanish a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s l e f t behind i n New Orleans a f a i r l y l a r g e , prosperous c l a s s of mulattoes who were European i n c u l t u r e , and who occupied an anomalous p o s i t i o n i n 46 the developing " c a s t e " system of the American South; r a c i a l l y they belonged to the "sla v e c a s t e , " but c u l t u r a l l y they i d e n t i -f i e d with the white " r u l i n g c a s t e . " The B r i t i s h c o l o n i s t s were c o n s i d e r a b l y more r e l u c t a n t to allow f r e e b l a c k s to bear arms. In very e a r l y c o l o n i a l h i s t o r y both f r e e b l a c k s and s l a v e s were o f t e n i n c l u d e d i n c o l o n i a l m i l i t i a u n i t s simply because every a v a i l a b l e man or boy was needed. P a r t i c u l a r m i s g i v i n g s were f e l t with regard to arming f r e e b l a c k s , f o r they were o f t e n viewed as p o t e n t i a l l e a d e r s or i n s t i g a t o r s of s l a v e r e v o l t s . The v a r i o u s c o l o n i e s q u i t e e a r l y took the step of b a r r i n g b l a c k s , both s l a v e and f r e e , from bear-ing arms. V i r g i n i a i n 1639, Massachusetts i n 1656, Connecticut i n 1661, and soon the other c o l o n i e s , a l l b a r r e d b l a c k s from m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e . T h i s , however, l e d white c o l o n i s t s to f e e l t h a t f r e e b l a c k s were being s p e c i a l l y favoured. A new p o l i c y t h e r e f o r e f r e q u e n t l y s t i p u l a t e d that f r e e b l a c k s must j o i n the m i l i t i a , but they were u s u a l l y allowed o n l y to serve as drummers, f i f e r s and trumpeters, road or highway l a b o u r e r s , or guards. They were not o r d i n a r i l y allowed to bear arms and serve as poten-t i a l combatants. However, these p o l i c i e s a l s o tended to f a l l by the wayside i n time of war. There were a number of occasions when c o l o n i s t s f a c i n g Indian a t t a c k s or a t t a c k s from the French allowed s l a v e s to bear arms and f i g h t a l o n g s i d e t h e i r white masters. For i n s t a n c e , South C a r o l i n a i n 1703 and 1715 allowed s l a v e s to f i g h t a g a i n s t Indian a t t a c k . Slaves were sometimes o f f e r e d t h e i r freedom i n r e t u r n f o r m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e . T h i s ended i n South C a r o l i n a i n 1740 a f t e r two s e r i o u s s l a v e i n s u r r e c t i o n s . 47 During the p e r i o d of the French-Indian Wars, b l a c k s were again p e r m i t t e d to serve i n the m i l i t a r y . 4 7 Many towns, unable otherwise to f u r n i s h t h e i r quotas, g l a d l y accepted a l l B l a c k s . To s l a v e s , the prospect of freedom, made enli s t m e n t i n the C o l o n i a l f o r c e s a t t r a c -t i v e ; f o r f r e e Blacks, the hope of e l e v a t i n g t h e i r low s o c i a l s t a t u s was the prime inducement. 48 These men served as s o l d i e r s , scouts, wagoners, l a b o u r e r s , and s e r v a n t s . They served i n unsegregated u n i t s and r e c e i v e d equal pay with whites. Slaves had to surrender some or a l l of t h e i r wages to t h e i r masters, and some were ret u r n e d to s l a v e r y at the end of the war. However, many s l a v e s d i d earn t h e i r freedom by s e r v i n g i n the armed f o r c e s . Very e a r l y i n the American R e v o l u t i o n black men j o i n e d the Minutemen and are known to have fought at the b a t t l e s of L e x i n g -ton and Concord. A black Minuteman named Salem Poor, along with at l e a s t three other black men, l a t e r j o i n e d Ethan A l l e n ' s Green Mountain Boys. Salem Poor a l s o fought at the b a t t l e of Bunker H i l l and other black men are known to have been present at that engagement. When George Washington was appointed Commander-in-C h i e f of the army of the C o n t i n e n t a l Congress i n June of 1775, he was not p l e a s e d at f i n d i n g b l a c k s i n the army under h i s command, and ordered r e c r u i t i n g o f f i c e r s not to e n r o l l "any s t r o l l e r , Negro or vagabond." T h i s order was r e i n f o r c e d and r e i t e r a t e d i n November of 1775: " n e i t h e r Negroes, boys unable to bare Arms, nor o l d men u n f i t to endure the f a t i g u e s of the campaign, are to be i n l i s t e d . " 4 ^ T h i s p o l i c y had to be modified very q u i c k l y , as the B r i t i s h e n l i s t e d b l a c k s o f f e r i n g freedom to indentured servants and s l a v e s who would take s e r v i c e under the B r i t i s h f l a g . There 48 was a l s o the problem of f i n d i n g enough whites who were w i l l i n g to s i g n up f o r yet another year of f i g h t i n g i n the C o n t i n e n t a l army. I t t h e r e f o r e became necessary to accept f r e e b l a c k s as s o l d i e r s . A number of northern s t a t e s went f u r t h e r and a c t i v e l y r e c r u i t e d s l a v e s , o f f e r i n g them freedom at the end of t h e i r s e r v i c e and compensation to t h e i r former owners. Massachusetts, Rhode I s l a n d , C o n n e c t i c u t , and New Hampshire among others had companies or b a t t a l i o n s of black men. Slaves sometimes e n l i s t e d as s u b s t i -t u t e s f o r white men. The s t a t e of Maryland passed l e g i s l a t i o n p e r m i t t i n g s l a v e e n l i s t m e n t s . The s t a t e of V i r g i n i a i n 1783 passed a law d i r e c t i n g the emancipation of s l a v e s who had served as s o l d i e r s , s u b s t i t u t i n g f o r white men, d u r i n g the R e v o l u t i o n a r y War. However not a l l masters honoured t h e i r promises and some attempted with g r e a t e r or l e s s success to r e - e n s l a v e t h e i r former s l a v e s . Not a l l black veterans waited to f i n d out i f they could t r u s t the white man's promises; some took the f i r s t o p p o r t u n i t y a f t e r the war's end to move f a r away from t h e i r former owners. To sum up, the American R e v o l u t i o n produced an improvement i n the s t a t u s of b l a c k s . Many won t h e i r freedom by s e r v i n g i n the armed f o r c e s on e i t h e r the American or B r i t i s h s i d e . Revolu-t i o n a r y i d e o l o g y encouraged i n d i v i d u a l s l a v e s to seek manumis-s i o n , and encouraged some masters to f r e e t h e i r s l a v e s , s e v e r a l s t a t e s to p r o h i b i t the s l a v e trade, and some southern s t a t e s to l i b e r a l i z e t h e i r manumission laws. Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts a b o l i s h e d s l a v e r y , and other s t a t e s p r o v i d e d f o r g r a d u a l emancipation. A number of black veterans i n c l u d i n g the founder of b l a c k Masonry, P r i n c e H a l l , sail-maker and a b o l i t i o n -49 i s t James F o r t e n of P h i l a d e l p h i a , and the Reverend Lemuel Haymes, a former Green Mountain Boy, became l e a d e r s of the developing f r e e b lack community of the n o r t h . 5 1 However, the small progress achieved s t i l l l e f t the m a j o r i t y of b l a c k s i n bondage, e i t h e r l e g a l or economic. In some r e s p e c t s the s o c i a l , p o l i t i c a l , and economic c o n d i t i o n s of black Americans d e t e r i o r a t e d i n the years f o l l o w i n g the American R e v o l u t i o n . Although the U.S. C o n s t i t u -t i o n d i d not f o r b i d the enl i s t m e n t of black men, and the M i l i t i a Act of 1792 d i d not s p e c i f i c a l l y exclude b l a c k s ( i t merely r e q u i r e d the enrollment of white males), i n p r a c t i c e most s t a t e s excluded black men from m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e except i n some cases as l a b o u r e r s and musicians. There were s e v e r a l reasons f o r t h i s e x c l u s i o n of b l a c k s from combat r o l e s . 5 2 A f t e r 1792 the army r e q u i r e d r e l a t i v e l y few men and t h e r e f o r e had no p a r t i c u l a r need f o r b l a c k s . L o c a l m i l i t i a u n i t s took on s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l overtones, and l e a d e r -s h i p i n the m i l i t i a was used by whites as a form of community s e r v i c e u s e f u l to them i n p o l i t i c a l l i f e . There was an under-standable r e l u c t a n c e to allow b l a c k s to p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h i s type of a c t i v i t y . An a d d i t i o n a l f a c t o r was the s l a v e r e b e l l i o n of the 1790s i n H a i t i . A s l a v e r e v o l t under T o u s s a i n t L'Ouverture, Jean-Jacques D e s s a l i n e s , and Henri C h r i s t o p h e achieved indepen-dence f o r H a i t i i n 1804 a f t e r d e f e a t i n g a l a r g e French army. T h i s c e r t a i n l y c o n t r i b u t e d to white f e a r s of armed r e v o l t of b l a c k s and mulattoes, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n the southern s t a t e s where bl a c k p o p u l a t i o n s were very l a r g e . In 1798 b l a c k s were o f f i c i a l -l y b a rred from e n l i s t m e n t i n the Marine Corps and Navy. However, 50 these s e r v i c e s f r e q u e n t l y had t r o u b l e g e t t i n g enough white seamen and continued to accept black men. The War of 1812 once again p r o v i d e d some o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r bla c k men to serve i n the m i l i t a r y . In L o u i s i a n a , t r a n s f e r r e d from France to the United S t a t e s i n 1803, a black m i l i t i a u n i t s t i l l e x i s t e d . T h i s was f o r m a l l y r e a c t i v a t e d i n 1812 as the B a t t a l i o n of Free Men of C o l o r . T h i s b a t t a l i o n was made up of f r e e b l a c k s (many of whom were a c t u a l l y mulattoes or quadroons of French a n c e s t r y ) , each of whom owned p r o p e r t y of at l e a s t three hundred d o l l a r s i n value. The b a t t a l i o n had some black o f f i c e r s , though i t was commanded by whites. A second b a t t a l i o n was r a i s e d by Joseph Savary, a black o r i g i n a l l y from Santo Domingo. These two b a t t a l i o n s took a l e a d i n g r o l e i n the b a t t l e of New Orleans i n 1814, and were commended by General Andrew Jackson f o r t h e i r courage and perseverance. Black men a l s o served i n the naval f o r c e i n the b a t t l e of Lake E r i e under C a p t a i n 0. H. Perry.^3 Between the end of the War of 1812 and the C i v i l War b l a c k s were once again excluded from the r e g u l a r army. However, they continued to e n l i s t i n the navy, where they served not o n l y as cooks and stewards but a l s o as common seamen.54 Blacks a l s o p l a y e d a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n the F i r s t and Second Seminole Wars, f i g h t i n g a g a i n s t U n i t e d S t a t e s troops. The Spanish colony of F l o r i d a had f o r many years o f f e r e d a refuge to s l a v e s escaping from South C a r o l i n a and Georgia. Many f u g i -t i v e s l a v e s were accepted i n t o Seminole t r i b e s , married Indians and o f t e n became t r i b a l l e a d e r s . The F i r s t Seminole War of 1817 to 1818 was l a r g e l y a p u n i t i v e e x p e d i t i o n to de s t r o y black s l a v e 51 towns and r e t u r n s l a v e s to t h e i r owners. F l o r i d a was ceded to the U n i t e d S t a t e s i n 1819 by Spain. Eleven years l a t e r P r e s i d e n t Andrew Jackson ordered the removal of a l l Indians from the south-e a s t e r n s t a t e s to the Arkansas t e r r i t o r y . The attempt to imple-ment t h i s p o l i c y a g a i n s t the Seminole Indians and b l a c k s l e d to the Second Seminole War from 1835 to 1842. The Un i t e d S t a t e s army u l t i m a t e l y won the war, a f t e r l o s i n g some f i f t e e n hundred men and f o r t y m i l l i o n d o l l a r s , by adopting a scorched-earth p o l i c y which e f f e c t i v e l y s t a r v e d the Indians i n t o submission. At the c o n c l u s i o n of the war hundreds of black Seminoles were s o l d i n t o s l a v e r y . Some chose i n s t e a d to f l e e to Northern Mexico where they waged g u e r i l l a warfare f o r many years a g a i n s t Texas p l a n t e r s . 5 5 The experience of b l a c k s up to t h i s p o i n t was very s i m i l a r to that of the Mahars i n one r e s p e c t : they were accepted i n t o the m i l i t a r y when e x t r a manpower was needed, allowed even to h o l d p o s i t i o n s of some r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , but g e n e r a l l y not allowed much command r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . Given o p p o r t u n i t y and i n c e n t i v e , both c l a s s e s of men proved capable of courage, perseverance, and l o y a l t y . One important d i f f e r e n c e between the two was i n the a t t i t u d e of the m a j o r i t y p o p u l a t i o n . American whites, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n the south, were j u s t i f i a b -l y f r i g h t e n e d of s l a v e r e v o l t s and t h e r e f o r e extremely wary of a l l o w i n g b lack men to bear arms. Nothing i n t h e i r h i s t o r y or t r a d i t i o n s suggests that the Mahars ever t r i e d armed r e v o l t , or even contemplated such a c t i o n , a g a i n s t Indian r u l e r s or a g a i n s t 52 the B r i t i s h . T h e i r r e p u t a t i o n as a c l a s s was p r o v e r b i a l l y t h at of l o y a l and f a i t h f u l s e r v a n t s . The e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h i s d i f f e r e n c e seems obvious. The Mahars were, a f t e r a l l , an i n t e g r a l p a r t of t h e i r s o c i e t y , bound by r i t u a l and custom to t h e i r l o c a l communities, and s h a r i n g language, c u l t u r e , and a n c e s t r y with t h e i r h i g h e r - c a s t e neigh-bours. Though they might have resented t h e i r s u b s e r v i e n t p o s i t i o n and r e t a i n e d a f o l k t r a d i t i o n of a time when they were acknowledged owners of the land, n e v e r t h e l e s s they were p a r t of a s t a b l e s o c i a l order with enough b u i l t - i n checks and balances and compensatory mechanisms to maintain s o c i a l e q u i l i b r i u m . None of t h i s was true of the s o c i a l order e v o l v i n g i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s through the c o l o n i a l era and R e v o l u t i o n a r y War. Through the e i g h t e e n t h century many b l a c k s , perhaps even a major-i t y , were A f r i c a n - b o r n , kidnapped and enslaved as a d u l t s , having no t i e s of any k i n d to the dominant white s o c i e t y , which was i t s e l f r a p i d l y changing. There were few e s t a b l i s h e d s o c i a l mech-anisms to make the s t a t u s of s l a v e r y endurable or a c c e p t a b l e . The ending of the A f r i c a n s l a v e trade i n the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century, along with growing a b o l i t i o n i s t sentiment and s e v e r a l g e n e r a t i o n s of i n t e r a c t i o n between b l a c k s and whites, tempered some of the worst excesses of p l a n t a t i o n s l a v e r y , but c o u l d h a r d l y make the i n s t i t u t i o n i t s e l f p a l a t a b l e . Given a l l of t h i s i t would be s u r p r i s i n g i f there had not been s l a v e r e v o l t s and attempts by runaway s l a v e s to a l l y themselves with Indian t r i b e s , themselves hard-pressed by expanding white se t t l e m e n t s . L a t e r themes i n black American h i s t o r y , such as the "back 53 to A f r i c a " movements of Marcus Garvey and others, the founding of L i b e r i a , and even the Black Muslim movement, r e f l e c t the ambiva-lence of many Americans, both black and white, over whether b l a c k s can or should ever be t r u l y a p a r t of American s o c i e t y . By c o n t r a s t , though the Mahars have t r i e d many t a c t i c s to improve t h e i r s t a t u s , the idea of s e p a r a t i n g e n t i r e l y from Indian s o c i e t y has never been an i s s u e . T h e i r most dramatic step, the mass co n v e r s i o n to Buddhism, was a d e l i b e r a t e r e v e r s i o n to an o l d e r , non-Brahmin t r a d i t i o n , but s t i l l w i t h i n the Indian c u l t u r a l context. The m i l i t a r y experience of b l a c k s i n the American army i s mostly c l o s e l y comparable to that of the Indian s o l d i e r i n gener-a l , and low-caste Indians i n p a r t i c u l a r , i n the l a t e n i n e t e e n t h century. I n c r e a s i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l i z a t i o n of the m i l i t a r y , chang-ing r o l e s of the m i l i t a r y i n m a i n t a i n i n g and extending s t a t e power, and growing r a c i a l / c a s t e p r e j u d i c e are c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of both the American and Indian armies i n t h i s p e r i o d , and c o n s t i -t u t e the s u b j e c t of the next chapter. 54 Footnotes, Chapter II 1. R. V. R u s s e l l and H i r a L a i , The T r i b e s and Castes of the C e n t r a l P rovinces of I n d i a , v o l . IV (N.p.: C e n t r a l P r o v i n c e s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , 1916; r e p r i n t ed. Oosterhout N.B. - The Netherlands: A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l P u b l i c a t i o n s , 1969), pp. 132-133. 2. Alexander Robertson, The Mahar F o l k : A, Study of Untouchables i n Maharashtra ( C a l c u t t a : Y.M.C.A. P u b l i s h i n g House, 1938), pp. 29-30. The date given to Robertson was Shake 1109 (1187 A.D.), but as he noted t h i s must have been i n a c c u r a t e l y t r a n s -c r i b e d . The kingdom of Bedar f l o u r i s h e d c. 1492-1565 A.D. 3. J a d u n a t h Sarkar, S h i v a j i and H i s Times ( D e l h i : O r i e n t Long-man L t d . , 1973 L f i r s t p u b l i s h e d 1 9 1 9 ] ) , p. 363. 4. V. R. Shinde, B h a r t i y a Aspishyatecha Prashna (Nagpur: Venkatesh Shamrao Balkundi, Nav Bharat Granth Mala, 1933), pp. 169-172; K. V. Kotavale, P o l i t i c s of the D a l i t s (Bombay: M a j e s t i c Book S t a l l , 1974), pp. 142-145. These sources were brought to my a t t e n t i o n by S h r i V. W. Moon i n Bombay and Prof. M. D. Nalawade i n Kolhapur, and were t r a n s l a t e d f o r me by Smt. Mangala Moghe and Mr. Amol Di v k a r . 5. C o l . V. Longer, "Mahar Regimental H i s t o r y , " chaps. I and I I , p. 12, Mahar Regimental Centre, Saugor, M.P. 6. Robert J . M i l l e r , "Button, Button . . . Great T r a d i t i o n , L i t t l e T r a d i t i o n , Whose T r a d i t i o n ? " A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l Q u a r t e r l y 39 (January 1966):26-42. 7. M.S.A., P u b l i c Dept. Diary, 1747. 8. M.S.A., M i l i t a r y Compilations, v o l . 716 of 1857, #389. 9. P h i l i p Mason, A Matter of Honour: An Account of the Indian Army, I t s O f f i c e r s and Men (Harmonsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1976), p. 127. 10. "Record of the 21st Regiment Bombay Native I n f a n t r y or Marine B a t t a l i o n " U.S.I. J o u r n a l , no. 4 (1871-2):50. 11. L i e u t . - C o l . W. B. P. Tugwell, H i s t o r y of the Bombay Pioneers (London: The Sidney Press, L i m i t e d , i y 3 b ) , app. 2~, pp. 372-3. 55 12. "Record of the 21st Regiment," p. 72; Tugwell, Bombay-Pioneers, p. 33. The argument that Marathas were unable to serve at sea due to caste p r e j u d i c e s seems weak, s i n c e as l a t e as 1783 the Peshwa s t i l l commanded a s i g n i f i c a n t n aval f o r c e under the command of one Anundrao Dhoolap. P o s s i -b l y by the ni n e t e e n t h century they had developed a d i s t a s t e f o r s e a f a r i n g , or p o s s i b l y t h i s was a r a t i o n a l -i z a t i o n f o r other problems, such as r.eluctance to under-take housekeeping d u t i e s while at sea. 13. "Record of the 21st Regiment," pp. 52-53. 14. Tugwell, Bombay Pioneers, pp. 57-58. 15. "Record of the 21st Regiment," p. 55. 16. I b i d . , pp. 57 and 65. 17. I b i d . , pp. 63-64. 18. Tugwell, Bombay Pioneers, p. 63. 19. "Record of the 21st Regiment," pp. 73-74. 20. Tugwell, Bombay Pioneers, p. 109. 21. The Gazetteer of Bombay C i t y And I s l a n d , v o l . II (Pune: The Government Photozinco Press, 1977; f a c s i m i l e ed. o r i g . pub. Bombay: The Times Press, 1909), pp. 284-295. In 1830 the Indian Marine was renamed the Indian Navy; t h i s d e s i g n a t i o n was r e t a i n e d u n t i l 1858, when i t became Her Majesty's Indian Navy. In 1863 i t was again renamed the Bombay Marine, and was amalgamated with the other Indian marine establishments i n 1877, under a scheme de-v i s e d by C a p t a i n ( l a t e r Admiral) Bythesea. 22. Tugwell, Bombay Pioneers, p. 109. 23. M.S.A., M i l i t a r y Compilations, v o l . 488 of 1852, #197. 24. "Record of the 21st Regiment," pp. 55-56. 25. George Seaver, David L i v i n g s t o n e : H i s L i f e and L e t t e r s (London: L u t t e r w o r t h Press, 1957), pp. 481-495. 26. L i e u t . - C o l . M. G. Abhyankar, Valour E n s h r i n e d : A H i s t o r y of the Maratha L i g h t I n f a n t r y 1768-1947 (New D e l h i : O r i e n t Longman, 1971), p~i 43 . 27. L i e u t . - C o l . E. W. C. Sandes, The Indian Sappers and Miners (Chatham: I n s t i t u t i o n of Royal Engineers, 1948), pp. 182-3. 56 I. A. E z e k i e l , "Over My Dead Body . . . " I l l u s . Weekly of I n d i a , A p r i l 2, 1972, p. 17. I b i d . E z e k i e l and the authors of some other popular a r t i c l e s on the Mahar m i l i t a r y t r a d i t i o n got t h e i r i n f o r m a t i o n from C o l . G. K. Karandikar, now r e t i r e d and l i v i n g i n Pune. C o l . Karandikar served with the Mahar Regiment from 1942 and wrote the f i r s t r e g i m ental h i s t o r y . Regimental H i s t o r y of Mahar M. G. Regiment (Dehra Dun: The Army Press, 1954), app. B, p. 9~TT Sandes, Indian Sappers and Miners, p. 280. C o l . R. D. P a l s o k a r , " H i s t o r y of the G r e n a d i e r s , " chap. 17, p. 124, Pune. L t . - C o l . V a l e n t i n e B l a c k e r , Memoir of the Operations of the B r i t i s h Army i n I n d i a d u r i n g the Mahratta War of 1817, 1818, & 1819, 2 v o l s . (London: Block, Kingsbury, Parbury and A l l e n , 1821), p. 183 and app. I, p. 457. Maj. J . T. Gorman, 2nd B a t t a l i o n 4th Bombay Grenadiers (King Edwards's Own) formerly The 102nd King Edward's Own G r e n a d i e r s : H i s t o r i c a l Record of the Regiment, 1796-1933 ( f i r s t ed. of 1877 by C o l . S t a n l e y Edwardes; Weston-Super-Mare: Lawrence Bros., L t d . , 1933), p. 60 and app. I, p. 147. The c a r e t a k e r of the monument i s Gulab Rao Babu Rao Jemadar, r e t i r e d i n 1960 from the 2nd B a t t a l i o n , Maratha L i g h t I n f a n t r y . He i s the great-grandson of "Cundajee M u l l o j e e " — K h a n d e Rao Malatkar—who was a s u r v i v o r of the b a t t l e . Sources: Gorman, 2nd/4th Bombay Grenadiers, p. 147. C o l . R. D. P a l s o k a r , p r i v a t e communication, J u l y 17, 1980. The f o l l o w i n g are the names of Mahar s o l d i e r s of the Grenadiers appearing on the Koregaon monument: K i l l e d | N a i k s : Sonnac Cummulnac I Ramnac Essnac I P r i v a t e s : Gondnac Cootennac I Ramnac Essnac I Bhanac Harnac I Amnac Cannae I Gunnac Balnac I 57 K i l l e d 1 Wounded Balnac Dhondnac j Roopnac Lucknac 1 Drummer Tannac Hurnac E t t n a c Dhaknac j Robnac Ramnac j Raznac Gunnac | Bobnac Hubnac | Rynac Jannac 1 Sujunnac Essnac 1 There were s i x Gunnac Dhrumnac 1 others wounded. Dewnac Annac j Gopolnac Balnac I Hurnac Hurnac j Jetnac Downac | Gunnac Ducknac The other 28 c a s u a l t i e s i n c l u d e d Muslims, Chamars, and Marathas. 37. N.A.I. F o r e i g n Department, Secret Supplementary Branch, May 1880 #176, P o l i t i c a l D iary, Kandahar: 22-30, A p r i l 1880. 38. E z e k i e l , "Over My Dead Body . . . ," p. 16. 39. Gazette of I n d i a , 18 December 1880, no. 51, M i l i t a r y Department, p. 697. 40. Haeem Samuel Kehimkar, The H i s t o r y of the B e n e - I s r a e l of I n d i a ( T e l A v i v : Dayag Press L t d . , 1937), pp. 188-191. 41. I b i d . , pp. 191-216. 42. Abhyankar, Valour Enshrined, p. 55. 43. C o l . Malleson, ed., Kaye's and Malleson's H i s t o r y of the Indian Mutiny of 1857-8, v o l . 5 (London: Longman 1 s, Green and Co., 1909), p. 27. 44. Gorman, 2nd/4th Bombay Grenadiers, p. 60. 45. Roland C. McConnell, Negro Troops of Antebellum L o u i s i a n a : A H i s t o r y of the BatTEalion of Free Men of C o l o r (Baton Rouge: L o u i s i a n a S t a t e U. Press, 1968), p. 14. He a l s o mentions, on page 9, one F r a n c o i s T i c o n "of the Senegal n a t i o n " , f r e e d f o r bravery i n the Choctaw War. 46. I b i d . , p. 42. 47. Jack D. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y i n American H i s t o r y : A New P e r s p e c t i v e (n.p. , Praeger, 19/4), pT T~. 48. I b i d . , pp. 4-5. 58 49. Marvin F l e t c h e r , The Black S o l d i e r and O f f i c e r i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s Army, 1891-1917 (Columbia: The U. of M i s s o u r i Press, 1974), p. 12. 50. Robert E w e l l Greene, Black Defenders of America 1775-1973 (Chicago: Johnson P u b l i s h i n g Company Inc., 1974), pT 343. 51. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , pp. 18-19. 52. I b i d . , p. 21. 53. Greene, Black Defenders of America, pp. 345-6. 54. F l e t c h e r , Black S o l d i e r and O f f i c e r , p. 16. 55. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , pp. 28-29. 59 CHAPTER I I I PROFESSIONALISM AND PREJUDICE: MILITARY SERVICE IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY The nature of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e changed i n important ways i n the l a t e n i n e t e e n t h century. More s o p h i s t i c a t e d weapons and equipment, r e q u i r i n g higher l e v e l s of education and more v a r i e d s k i l l s , i n c r e a s e d the a t t r a c t i o n of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e as a p r o f e s -s i o n . The r o l e of the m i l i t a r y i n maint a i n i n g and extending the power of the s t a t e became more e x p l i c i t and f o r m a l i z e d i n t h i s p e r i o d , p o t e n t i a l l y i n c r e a s i n g the p r e s t i g e of the m i l i t a r y p r o-f e s s i o n . At the same time, i n c r e a s i n g r a c i a l / c a s t e p r e j u d i c e (among other f a c t o r s ) tended to r e s t r i c t access of b l a c k s and I n d i a n s — e s p e c i a l l y low-caste I n d i a n s — t o m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e . In both I n d i a and the United S t a t e s , the l a t t e r h a l f of the n i n e -teenth century can be d e s c r i b e d as a p e r i o d of c o n s o l i d a t i o n f o l l o w e d by expansion, with s i g n i f i c a n t changes i n m i l i t a r y p o l i -cy f o l l o w i n g changes i n the p o l i t i c a l landscape. In I n d i a , the r a p i d e x t e n s i o n of B r i t i s h t e r r i t o r i a l c o n t r o l and l e g a l and s o c i a l reforms which c h a r a c t e r i z e d the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century were h a l t e d by the outbreak of r e v o l t i n 1857. The aftermath of r e v o l t saw much gr e a t e r c a u t i o n i n meddling with Indian customs and s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , and a m i l i t a r y p o l i c y geared to minimizing the r i s k s of maint a i n i n g a l a r g e mercenary army. By the e a r l y 1880s s e c u r i t y concerns had 60 abated, and the Indian Army was p e r c e i v e d as a f i r s t l i n e of defense a g a i n s t Russian i m p e r i a l expansion i n A f g h a n i s t a n and as an instrument of i m p e r i a l p o l i c y i n A s i a . 1 A f t e r a p e r i o d of r a p i d expansion i n the e a r l y 1800s, the U n i t e d S t a t e s faced i t s g r e a t e s t p o l i t i c a l c r i s i s i n the C i v i l War of 1861-65. The causes and consequences of t h i s war are f a r too complex to be d i s c u s s e d , even b r i e f l y , i n t h i s context. However, from the p o i n t of view of American b l a c k s , the most important consequence of the C i v i l War was the a b o l i t i o n of s l a v e r y . T h i s meant—among many other t h i n g s — t h a t m i l i t a r y p o l i c y now had to accommodate the demands of a l a r g e number of newly-freed s l a v e s f o r r e c o g n i t i o n of t h e i r past s e r v i c e s i n the Union army, and of t h e i r r i g h t as c i t i z e n s to share i n n a t i o n a l defense. Between 1866 and 1890 the c h i e f r o l e of the U.S. Army was to f a c i l i t a t e expansion i n t o the West, p r o t e c t i n g s e t t l e r s and subduing the Indians. The Spanish-American War and a c q u i s i -t i o n of former Spanish t e r r i t o r i e s marked a beginning of g r e a t e r American involvement i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l and inter-American a f f a i r s , and f o r c e d g r e a t e r p r o f e s s i o n a l i z a t i o n and b e t t e r o r g a n i z a t i o n of the armed s e r v i c e s . The Indian Army B r i t i s h power i n I n d i a advanced from the l i t t l e commercial settlements at F o r t St. George i n Madras and F o r t W i l l i a m on the H u g l i , and C a t h e r i n e of Braganza's dowry of Bombay on the west coast of I n d i a . 2 Around these n u c l e i grew the c i t i e s of Madras, C a l c u t t a , and Bombay, each the commercial and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c e n t r e of i t s r e s p e c t i v e Presidency. Under H.E.I.C. r u l e the Map 2. I n d i a i n the Twentieth Century 61 SOURCE: The Oxford H i s t o r y of In d i a , 4th ed. By the l a t e V i n c e n t A. Smith. C.I.E.; f o u r t h ed., e d i t e d by P e r c i v a l Spear. D e l h i : Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1981, endpaper. 62 P r e s i d e n c i e s were autonomous, each Governor r e p o r t i n g d i r e c t l y to the Court of D i r e c t o r s i n London. In theory the Governor-General of Bengal had s u p e r v i s o r y a u t h o r i t y over Madras and Bombay, but f o r p r a c t i c a l purposes the s u b o r d i n a t i o n of Madras and Bombay to the Government of I n d i a , (based i n C a l c u t t a ) , although advanced by the Charter Act of 1853, became a r e a l i t y o n l y a f t e r the assumption of Crown r u l e i n 1858. Improved t r a n s p o r t a t i o n and communications v i a r a i l r o a d s , t e l e g r a p h l i n e s , and the Suez Canal (1869) made i t t e c h n i c a l l y f e a s i b l e f o r the Government of I n d i a to e x e r c i s e r e a l c o n t r o l over i t s whole t e r r i t o r y , and f o r the S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e f o r I n d i a i n London to stay i n r e g u l a r contact with C a l c u t t a . Each Pr e s i d e n c y had b u i l t up i t s own army to meet l o c a l m i l i t a r y needs. The Bombay Army began as no more than a s m a l l body of n a t i v e m i l i t i a (as d e s c i b e d i n Chapter I I ) , but by 1767 the process of o r g a n i z i n g n a t i v e sepoys i n t o r e g u l a r b a t t a l i o n s , t r a i n e d and equipped along European l i n e s , was underway along the l i n e s p ioneered by S t r i n g e r Lawrence and Robert C l i v e i n Madras and B e n g a l . 3 The Bombay Army passed through three major phases. Between 1679 and 1799, i t grew s t e a d i l y i n s i z e and fought t h i r t y - s i x campaigns, i n c l u d i n g the 1st and 2nd Mysore Wars i n the 1790s. By 1824 the Bombay Army i n c l u d e d horse and f o o t a r t i l l e r y , an engineer and pioneer corps, f i v e c a v a l r y regiments, and 24 r e g i -ments of n a t i v e i n f a n t r y , as w e l l as two European i n f a n t r y r e g i m e n t s , 4 with a complete range of s t a f f and s e r v i c e depart-ments, a l l nominally under the orders of the Governor of Bombay. 63 In p r a c t i c e the Presidency armies were not completely segregated; r e c r u i t i n g p a t t e r n s and g a r r i s o n d u t i e s overlapped, and i n war-time the Government of I n d i a c o u l d and d i d use a l l three as p a r t s of one m i l i t a r y o r g a n i z a t i o n . As B r i t i s h power expanded between 1800 and I860, the Bombay Army was engaged almost c o n s t a n t l y i n l a r g e or s m a l l campaigns i n c l u d i n g the 3rd Maratha War (the P i n d a r i War) i n 1817-1818, 1838-1843 campaigns i n Sind and A f g h a n i s t a n , the 2nd S i k h War, 1848-1849, and the Indian Mutiny 1857-1859. N e a r l y the e n t i r e Bombay Army, with the e x c e p t i o n of a few regiments which mutinied or were c o n s i d e r e d u n r e l i a b l e , was engaged i n suppressing the mutiny and i n mopping-up o p e r a t i o n s afterwards i n C e n t r a l I n d i a . Between 1860 and 1890, the Bombay Army served i n o n l y ten campaigns, and seven of these were very s m a l l , i n v o l v i n g o n l y one or two regiments. The campaigns i n A b y s s i n i a , 1867, the 2nd Afghan War, 1878-1880, and the Burmese War of 1885-1887 were the l a s t three campaigns i n which the o l d Bombay Army took a major r o l e . 5 By the l a t e n i n e t e e n t h century, the armies r e c r u i t e d and s e r v i n g l o c a l l y i n the Madras and Bombay P r e s i d e n c i e s had l a r g e l y o u t l i v e d t h e i r m i l i t a r y u s e f u l n e s s . The Bengal Army had become the most important of the three, c a r r y i n g the major r e s p o n s i b i l -i t y f o r the s e c u r i t y of the North West F r o n t i e r . I t r e c r u i t e d i t s s o l d i e r s p r i m a r i l y from North and North-western I n d i a , the Gurkhas of Nepal, and from t r i b a l Muslims (Pathans, A f r i d i s , B a l u c h i s ) on both s i d e s of the border. The Bombay Army, which p r o v i d e d g a r r i s o n s f o r Aden and the Red Sea f o r t s and a l s o f o r 64 Sind, had a g r e a t e r m i l i t a r y r o l e than the Madras Army, which was by t h i s time almost e n t i r e l y a l o c a l f o r c e , with the Madras (Queen's Own) Sappers and Miners the o n l y regiment of the Madras Army which continued to be used on f i e l d s e r v i c e o u t s i d e the Presidency. A f t e r the s u p p r e s s i o n of the Indian Mutiny, the composition of the Bombay Army changed s t e a d i l y i n the l a t e n i n e t e e n t h century. Recruitment from the Konkan, formerly a major r e c r u i t -ing area, s t e a d i l y d e c l i n e d , while recruitment of s o - c a l l e d " m a r t i a l " races from Northwest I n d i a i n c r e a s e d , r e f l e c t i n g a g e n e r a l s h i f t i n the lo c u s of m i l i t a r y power to the n o r t h and north-west, and away from the l o n g - p a c i f i e d south of I n d i a . Table II shows the changing c a s t e and community makeup of the Bombay Army between 1877 and 1895. The g r e a t e s t change i s i n the Muslim component, which r i s e s from j u s t under o n e - f i f t h to over o n e - t h i r d . By c o n t r a s t , the numbers of Marathas and Mahars (Parwaris) drop s u b s t a n t i a l l y , the l a t t e r f a l l i n g from over 14% to l e s s than h a l f t h at amount. The Jews, always a sma l l propor-t i o n , dwindled s t i l l f u r t h e r . The d i m i n i s h i n g importance of the Mahars i n the Bombay Army i s f u r t h e r shown i n Table I I I , showing the r e g i o n a l breakdown of the army. As l a t e as 1877, over h a l f of the Bombay I n f a n t r y was r e c r u i t e d from the Konkan (the c o a s t a l d i s t r i c t s of R a t n a g i r i , Thana, and Kolaba). T h i s was the r e g i o n from which most of the Mahars, who were n e a r l y a l l from R a t n a g i r i D i s t r i c t , were r e c r u i t e d . These changes i n r e c r u i t i n g p a t t e r n s came about f o r s e v e r a l reasons, i n c l u d i n g c o m petition from Bombay i n d u s t r i e s f o r manpower, a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and o r g a n i z a t i o n a l 65 changes i n the army, i n c r e a s i n g acceptance of the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory, and growing cast e p r e j u d i c e (perhaps more marked among the B r i t i s h than among caste Hindus). TABLE II BREAKDOWN OF BOMBAY INFANTRY BY CASTE AND YEAR Caste Year 11877 | 1880 | 1882 1885 1 1890 1893 1895 1. Muslims* 119.4%| 20.5%1 2 0 . 7% 2 1 . 5% 1 22.6% 3 0 . 5% 33.1% 2. Marathas* I 3 9 . 6 % | 38.7%| 3 8 . 8% 3 4 . 2% I 32.5% 2 9 . 3% 27 . 9% 3 . Parwaris* 1 1 4 . 2 % | 12.2% | 12.1% 9.8% 1 8.7% 7.6% 6.6% 4 . Brahmins 1 5 .1%| 4.9% | 4.9% 5.0% 1 5.4% 4.8% 4.3% 5 . T e l i n g a s I 0 . 5 % | 0.4% | 0.3% 0.2% 1 0 . 2% 0.1% 0 . 2% 6. Rajputs/ J a t s / S i k h s I 6 . 0 % | 6. 5% 1 7.0% 8. 7% 1 7.2% 6.3% 7.2% 7. Other Hindus 112.2%| 13.5%| 13.0% 17.6% I 21.2% 19. 5% 19.0% 8. Indo-Europeans 1 1.8%| 2.0% | 2.0% 1.8% i 1.5% 1.2% 1.2% 9. Jews 1 1.3%| 1. 2% | 1.2% 1.1% 0 . 8 % 0 . 7% 0.6% SOURCE: Summarized from I .O.L., Caste Returns of the Bombay Army. * i n d i c a t e c a t e g o r i e s showing g r e a t e s t change; order o t h e r -wise as i n o r i g i n a l r e c o r d s . 66 TABLE I I I BREAKDOWN OF BOMBAY INFANTRY BY REGION AND YEAR Country Year 11877 | 1 8 8 0 1 8 8 2 | 1 8 8 5 1 8 9 0 I 1 8 9 3 | 1 8 9 5 1 . North & N.W. I n d i a * 114 .5%| 1 5 . 1% 1 6 . 7 % | 2 2 . 0 % 3 4 . 4 % | 4 2 . 7 % | 4 7 . 0 % 2 . Konkan* | 5 6 . 3 % | 5 0 . 7 % 4 8 . 0 % | 4 3 . 6 % 4 1 . 8 % | 3 7 . 0 % | 3 1 . 8 % 3 . Deccan 112.1%| 1 8 . 3% 2 1 . 4 % | 1 8 . 1% 12.8%1 1 2 . 2 % | 1 2 . 3% 4 . Oudh 1 9.6%| 8 . 7% 7.1% | 7.7% 6 . 6 % | 5 . 2% | 6 . 1 % 5 . C e n t r a l I n d i a 1 1.7%| 0 . 9 % 1.1% 1 6 . 2 % 4 . 2 % | 2 . 7 % | 2 . 8 % 6 . Other 1 5 . 8 % | 6 . 3 % 5 . 7% | 2 . 4 % 0 . 2% | 0 . 2% | 0 . 1 % SOURCE: Summarized from I.O.L., Caste Returns of the Bombay Army. * i n d i c a t e c a t e g o r i e s showing g r e a t e s t change; order o t h e r -wise as i n o r i g i n a l r e c o r d s . The Konkan, densely populated and poor, was a l s o a major source of manpower f o r the growing i n d u s t r i e s of Bombay. Whether i n d u s t r y a c t u a l l y drew o f f so many men that the army co u l d not f i l l i t s needs i s q u e s t i o n a b l e . In 1852 v i l l a g e r s from the Konkan complained to revenue o f f i c i a l s t h a t r e c r u i t i n g p a r t i e s seldom v i s i t e d them and many young men had looked i n v a i n f o r o p p o r t u n i t i e s to e n l i s t . 6 At t h i s time the Bombay c o t t o n indus-t r y , l a t e r to become a major employer, was i n i t s i n f a n c y ; the f i r s t c o t t o n s p i n n i n g f a c t o r y was not even b u i l t u n t i l 1854. 7 6 7 As Table IV shows, between 1848 and 1852 the Bombay Army obtained n e a r l y h a l f i t s new r e c r u i t s from the Konkan, going to Hindustan f o r l e s s than o n e - t h i r d , i n accordance with o f f i c i a l r e c r u i t i n g p o l i c y . As the c o t t o n i n d u s t r y and others grew, the need f o r labour a l s o i n c r e a s e d and doubtless d i d draw o f f some young men who might otherwise have e n l i s t e d . However, as the Bombay Army d e c l i n e d i n both s i z e and m i l i t a r y importance, i t s need f o r new r e c r u i t s a l s o d e c l i n e d . I t seems u n l i k e l y that competition from i n d u s t r y was the most important f a c t o r i n s h i f t -ing p a t t e r n s of r e c r u i t m e n t . There was an apparent c i r c l e of c a u s a t i o n at work; decreased manpower requirements of the Bombay Army (as e a r l y as 1852) meant fewer r e c r u i t i n g p a r t i e s ; fewer o p p o r t u n i t i e s to e n l i s t i m p e l l e d young men to seek other employ-ment; when r e c r u i t i n g p a r t i e s d i d show up, many p o t e n t i a l r e c r u i t s had given up w a i t i n g and migrated to Bombay i n search of work, thus c o n t r i b u t i n g to the impression that enough r e c r u i t s c o u l d not be obtained. T h i s q u e s t i o n i s d i s c u s s e d f u r t h e r i n Chapter IV, "Costs and B e n e f i t s of M i l i t a r y S e r v i c e . " A d m i n i s t r a t i v e and o r g a n i z a t i o n a l changes were made i n the Indian Army f o r s e v e r a l reasons: s e c u r i t y concerns i n the aftermath of the Mutiny, need f o r improved economy and e f f i c i e n c y , and changes i n the m i l i t a r y p o l i c y of the Government of I n d i a . The Bengal Army was completely r e - o r g a n i z e d a f t e r the Mutiny, with an almost complete s h i f t of r e c r u i t i n g to the Punjab, North-West I n d i a , and Nepal. 68 TABLE IV BOMBAY ARMY RECRUITING, 1848-52 i Hindustan Deccan Konkan Other i T o t a l 1848 I 134 44 83 55 I 316 1849 I 119 58 240 51 I 468 1850 I 255 89 519 154 I 1017 1851 I 270 62 357 92 1 781 1852 I 171 42 337 72 I 622 T o t a l s I 949 295 1536 424 I 3204 SOURCE: M.S.A. M i l i t a r y Compilations, v o l . 492 of 1852, #790. Although o n l y a few Bombay regiments had mutinied, or come c l o s e to mutiny, t h i s army too was a f f e c t e d by post-Mutiny reforms. Many t h e o r i e s were propounded to e x p l a i n why c e r t a i n regiments of the Bombay Army had mutinied, or come c l o s e to mutiny, while others had not. The 27th Native I n f a n t r y , p a r t of which had mutinied, was con s i d e r e d to be a p r o v i n c i a l regiment i n that almost t h r e e - q u a r t e r s of i t s men, mostly Marathas, had been e n l i s t e d w i t h i n the Bombay Presidency and were l i k e l y to be i n sympathy with the " r e b e l " l e a d e r s . The 1st Grenadier Regiment, which remained l o y a l , drew s l i g h t l y more than h a l f of i t s s o l -d i e r s from beyond the Presidency.8 On the other hand, the r i n g -l e a d e r s were among the Hi n d u s t a n i s o l d i e r s of the 27th, while a Bene I s r a e l H a v i l d a r r e p o r t e d the planned mutiny. The m i l i t a r y r ecords a l s o show that men of a l l castes and communities i n the 69 27th N a t i v e I n f a n t r y , with the e x c e p t i o n of the Parwaris,^ were i n v o l v e d i n the p l o t . I t would seem that any simple theory r e l a t i n g the c l a s s composition or geographic o r i g i n of the s o l -d i e r s to t h e i r tendency to mutiny or not to mutiny does not adequately account f o r the s p e c i f i c problems i n the 27th Native I n f a n t r y , or the l a c k of problems i n other regiments. What i s c l e a r from the records i s that, i n r e o r g a n i z i n g the 27th Native I n f a n t r y , the Parwaris who had not mutinied l o s t t h e i r p l a c e i n t h i s regiment. A number of a l t e r n a t i v e s were suggested, i n c l u d i n g r e p l a c i n g the 27th regiment with a regiment of B h i l s or other a b o r i g i n e s , r e p l a c i n g the 27th with a B a l u c h i regiment, or en-l i s t i n g men from Gujarat or S i n d . By 1877 the 27th Native I n f a n t r y was composed l a r g e l y of Muslims from Bombay, Punjab and Northwest I n d i a . I t would appear that the 27th had been complete-l y disbanded, with o f f i c e r s and men who had remained l o y a l being t r a n s f e r r e d to other r e g i m e n t s , 1 0 and then re-formed with a somewhat d i f f e r e n t c l a s s composition. T h i s c l o s e d one regiment to p o t e n t i a l Mahar r e c r u i t s . Although not intended as a p e n a l t y a g a i n s t the Mahars, who had done nothing to deserve any p u n i s h -ment, i t was the f i r s t of a number of d e c i s i o n s which substan-t i a l l y reduced the o p p o r t u n i t i e s a v a i l a b l e to Mahars to serve i n the army. In g e n e r a l , however, the concern f o r m a i n t a i n i n g checks and balances between r e g i o n a l f o r c e s tended to preserve the Bombay Army as a separate e n t i t y w e l l beyond i t s r e a l m i l i t a r y u s e f u l -ness. With i n t e r n a l s e c u r i t y l a r g e l y the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the p o l i c e , and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r e x t e r n a l s e c u r i t y and i m p e r i a l 70 m i l i t a r y d u t i e s s h i f t e d to the nothern p o r t i o n of the Bengal Army, the Bombay Army underwent major r e o r g a n i z a t i o n s intended to allow i t to f u l f i l l i t s reduced f u n c t i o n s with g r e a t e r e f f i c i e n -cy. By the l a s t q uarter of the n i n e t e e n t h century, the mainte-nance of i n t e r n a l s e c u r i t y was no longer a great c o n s i d e r a t i o n . The armed p o l i c e establishment was adequate to d e a l with any but very l a r g e l o c a l d i s o r d e r s , and r e l a t i v e l y small l o c a l g a r r i s o n s permanently s t a t i o n e d i n p o t e n t i a l t r o u b l e spots were c o n s i d e r e d adequate to d e a l with or p r e f e r a b l y a v e r t l o c a l r e b e l l i o n s or d a c o i t y . The experience of the 2nd Afghan War, 1878-80, d e f i -n i t e l y suggested that the Indian Army needed some improvements i n order to meet any f u t u r e t h r e a t s from that q u a r t e r , such as a p o s s i b l e c o n f l i c t with Russia i n A f g h a n i s t a n — a p o s s i b i l i t y which g r e a t l y w o r r i e d the government of I n d i a . S e v e r a l measures undertaken to improve the e f f i c i e n c y of the Bombay Army undermined the p o s i t i o n of low-caste s o l d i e r s . In 1882, one c a v a l r y regiment and four i n f a n t r y regiments were reduced, and the remaining regiments i n c r e a s e d i n s i z e , so that the t o t a l manpower was v i r t u a l l y unchanged. (The Madras Army l o s t e i g h t i n f a n t r y regiments; the Bengal Army, three c a v a l r y and s i x i n f a n t r y , but a c t u a l l y i n c r e a s e d i t s t o t a l numerical s t r e n g t h by 1,764.) The 6th, 11th, 15th and 18th Bombay Native I n f a n t r y were s e l e c t e d f o r r e d u c t i o n ; a t o t a l of 2,767 men, of whom 311 or approximately 11 per cent were Mahars, were a f f e c t e d . Another aspect of the 1882 reforms with i n d i r e c t i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r the 71 Bombay Army was the disbanding of low-caste regiments r a i s e d f o r the Bengal Army as a post-Mutiny experiment. In J u l y of 1882 the Commander-in-Chief i n I n d i a , General S i r Donald Stewart, i s s u e d a c o n f i d e n t i a l c i r c u l a r #3610-D to commanding o f f i c e r s of Bengal I n f a n t r y regiments i n s t r u c t i n g them to cease e n l i s t i n g "the lowest and menial c l a s s e s of Hindus," i n c l u d i n g Chamars, Banias, and " K a i t h s " 1 1 — K a y a s t h a s . Stewart and the Governor-General, Lord Ripon, had agreed that the e x p e r i -ment of e n l i s t i n g low-caste Hindus had f a i l e d and wanted to e l i m i n a t e them. 1 2 O f f i c i a l records do not s t a t e why the e x p e r i -ment was deemed to have f a i l e d , but d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n of commanding o f f i c e r s was an important f a c t o r . 1 3 A c c u r a t e l y p r e d i c t i n g f u t u r e r e c r u i t i n g p a t t e r n s , Lord E l p h i n s t o n e , Governor of Bombay, had w r i t t e n i n 1858: As soon as the m i s t r u s t which recent events have e x c i t e d has i n some degree subsided - nay even b e f o r e - command-ing o f f i c e r s w i l l again p r e f e r good l o o k i n g h i g h c a s t e r e c r u i t s , to stunted Bheels, or black shabby l o o k i n g P u r w a r r i e s . 1 4 The r e s t r i c t i o n on e n l i s t m e n t of low-caste men was not extended to the Bombay or Madras armies i n 1882, but the f a c t t h a t t h i s p r o p o s a l was made by the Commander-in-Chief and approved by the government of I n d i a i n d i c a t e s a very s i g n i f i c a n t change i n p o l i c y . S o l d i e r s with l e s s than f i f t e e n years s e r v i c e were t r a n s -f e r r e d to other regiments; those wishing to leave the army r a t h e r than accept a t r a n s f e r were e l i g i b l e f o r g r a t u i t i e s , bonuses, or p a r t i a l pension depending on t h e i r l e n g t h of s e r v i c e . S o l d i e r s having f i f t e e n years s e r v i c e or longer were c o m p u l s o r i l y r e t i r e d . 72 Those with f o u r t e e n to twen t y - f i v e years s e r v i c e r e c e i v e d the o r d i n a r y r a t e of pension with bonus, while those with t w e n t y - f i v e years of s e r v i c e or more r e c e i v e d the higher r a t e of pension f o r t h e i r rank. Some attempt was made to t r a n s f e r some of the men to c i v i l i a n employment or to the p o l i c e , or to other regiments i f vacancies e x i s t e d or co u l d be made f o r them. The S e c r e t a r y of Sta t e f o r I n d i a acknowledged that compulsory r e t i r e m e n t would be a severe blow to many of these men, who had counted on s e r v i n g the remainder of t h e i r a c t i v e l i v e s with t h e i r regiments, but the r e d u c t i o n was c a r r i e d out anyway. 1 5 A minor concession, i n the form of i n c r e a s e d good-conduct pay f o r h a v i l d a r s and d a f f a d a r s , was of no b e n e f i t to the men summarily r e t i r e d . In 1891 the government of I n d i a decided to l o c a l i z e two regiments of the Bombay Army i n B a l u c h i s t a n , s e l e c t i n g the 24th and 26th Bombay I n f a n t r y 1 6 f o r c o n v e r s i o n . The r e c o n s t i t u t e d regiments were to draw t h e i r men from the Pathans and other t r i b e s w i t h i n and on the borders of the B a l u c h i s t a n agency. 1^ The 24th Bombay I n f a n t r y was r e c o n s t i t u t e d i n June 1891, with the 26th Bombay I n f a n t r y f o l l o w i n g i n November of 1892. In both cases the n a t i v e o f f i c e r s and s o l d i e r s were disposed of under s i m i l a r terms to those accorded the men of the regiments d i s -banded i n 1882. Of the 601 men of the 26th Bombay I n f a n t r y p r i o r t o c o n v e r s i o n , 299 were dis c h a r g e d with pension, 124 with g r a t u -i t y , and 178 t r a n s f e r r e d to other regiments or to the r e s e r v e . Only one h a v i l d a r and four p r i v a t e s were t r a n s f e r r e d to the newly r e c o n s t i t u t e d 26th B a l u c h i s t a n I n f a n t r y . Of the regiment's twenty r e c r u i t boys, f i v e were t r a n s f e r r e d to other regiments and 73 the remaining f i f t e e n d i s c h a r g e d without g r a t u i t y . T r a n s f e r to the reserve or other regiments was p e r m i t t e d o n l y to " c a r e f u l l y s e l e c t e d Sepoys belonging to c l a s s e s which i t i s con s i d e r e d d e s i r a b l e to r e t a i n . " 1 9 T h i s p r o v i s i o n does not seem to have been a p p l i e d to the co n v e r s i o n of the 24th I n f a n t r y , or to the four regiments disbanded i n 1882. T h i s i s a f u r t h e r i n d i c a t i o n t h a t government was a c t i v e l y d i s c o u r a g i n g m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e of low-caste men. Although the 27th I n f a n t r y was r e c o n s t i t u t e d as a r e s u l t of i t s mutiny i n 1857, the other regiments e i t h e r d i s -banded or r e c o n s t i t u t e d were not s e l e c t e d as a d i s c i p l i n a r y measure or because they were co n s i d e r e d i n e f f i c i e n t or i n any way troublesome regiments. The regiments disbanded i n 1882 were chosen p r i m a r i l y because they were the l e a s t s e n i o r of the Bombay I n f a n t r y regiments, and were a l l p r e s e n t l y at posts w i t h i n the Bombay Presidency. The 24th and 26th I n f a n t r y were chosen f o r co n v e r s i o n at l e a s t p a r t l y because the 25th I n f a n t r y had r e c e n t l y been converted to a R i f l e Regiment, and government d i d not wish to i n c u r a d d i t i o n a l expense to convert i t again. The 21st Infan-t r y and the 28th I n f a n t r y were both s p e c i a l i z e d b a t t a l i o n s , (the Marine B a t t a l i o n and the Pioneer B a t t a l i o n ) and were co n s i d e r e d e f f i c i e n t i n these r o l e s . " The 27th, 29th and 30th i n f a n t r y were a l r e a d y c l a s s e d as B a l u c h i , and i t was t h e r e f o r e intended that regiments c l o s e to them i n the army l i n e should be converted. By 1892, t h e r e f o r e , o n l y twenty i n f a n t r y regiments remained which r e c r u i t e d Mahars and other low-caste men. The p r o p o r t i o n of Mahars i n the i n f a n t r y had d e c l i n e d from s l i g h t l y over f o u r -teen per cent i n 1870 to about seven per cent i n 1893. The army 74 r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of 1893 r e s u l t e d i n the d i s m i s s a l of almost a l l of the remaining Mahar s o l d i e r s and s o l d i e r s of other c l a s s e s now c o n s i d e r e d "non-martial." A few l i n g e r e d i n s e r v i c e as l a t e as World War I, but f o r the most p a r t the s o - c a l l e d "non-martial c l a s s e s " were removed from the army i n 1893, and d i d not perma-n e n t l y r e g a i n the r i g h t to e n l i s t u n t i l the independence of I n d i a i n 1947. A major f a c t o r i n f l u e n c i n g the nature of army r e o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t h i s p e r i o d was the i n c r e a s i n g p o p u l a r i t y of r a c i a l t h e o r i e s such as the s o - c a l l e d " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory, and growing c a s t e p r e j u d i c e . B r i t i s h p r e j u d i c e a g a i n s t low-caste s o l d i e r s has been touched on i n t h i s chapter, and w i l l be d e a l t with as i t a f f e c t e d the Mahars s p e c i f i c a l l y i n the next chapter. "The " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory i s of s u f f i c i e n t importance to warrant an extended d i s c u s s i o n , which f o l l o w s here. R a c i a l T h e o r i e s : M a r t i a l Races and the "Gurkha Syndrome" An important trend i n B r i t i s h r u l e i n I n d i a i n the mid-n i n e t e e n t h century was s o c i a l reform based on l i b e r a l and evan-g e l i c a l d o c t r i n e s ; d e s p i t e t h e i r r a d i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t o r i g i n s , both were "movements of i n d i v i d u a l i s m " which r e s t e d on the assumption that "human nature was i n h e r e n t l y the same i n a l l races, and that i n h e r i t e d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s were r e a d i l y a l t e r -a b l e . "20 S o c i a l and e d u c a t i o n a l reforms undertaken under l i b e r a l i n f l u e n c e tended to promote s e c u l a r (or at l e a s t non-t r a d i t i o n a l ) values, and i n d i v i d u a l r i g h t s , while undermining such i n s t i t u t i o n s as c a s t e . A c o u n t e r v a i l i n g tendency, to p r e -75 serve t r a d i t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s f o r the sake of s t a b i l i t y , was strengthened by the shock of the mutiny. A new element i n s o c i a l thought was the development of a v a r i e t y of s c i e n t i f i c and p s e u d o - s c i e n t i f i c t h e o r i e s e x p l a i n i n g r a c i a l d i f f e r e n c e s and s o c i a l i n e q u a l i t i e s . Herbert Spencer's " e v o l u t i o n a r y s o c i o l o g y , " f i r s t expounded i n the 1850s, c o n t r i -buted to the movement l a t e r c a l l e d s o c i a l Darwinism,21 that i s to say attempts to apply the p r i n c i p l e s of n a t u r a l s e l e c t i o n to s o c i a l systems. I t appears l i k e l y that the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory developed out of a b a s i c a l l y c o n s e r v a t i v e view of Indian s o c i e t y , i n f l u -enced by popular i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of e v o l u t i o n a r y theory. Less a f u l l y - d e v e l o p e d theory than a " c a t c h - a l l phrase . . . used to j u s t i f y a wide range of o p i n i o n s on the i n h a b i t a n t s of India,"22 i t s e f f e c t on r e c r u i t i n g p o l i c i e s can be a t t r i b u t e d almost e x c l u -s i v e l y to the i n f l u e n c e of Lord Roberts of Kandahar, Commander-i n - C h i e f i n I n d i a from 1885 to 1893. Lord R o b e r t s — " B o b s Bahadur" to the Indian Army—had a long and i l l u s t r i o u s c a r e e r , spanning forty-one years i n In d i a , with a c t i v e s e r v i c e d u r i n g the Mutiny, the 2nd Afghan War, and the South A f r i c a n War of 1881. He had served with the Bengal Army, as Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army, and had had c o n s i d e r -a b l e c o n t a c t with the Bombay Army. A f t e r h i s retirement from I n d i a he went on to serve as Commander-in-Chief d u r i n g the Boer War, and remained a c t i v e i n m i l i t a r y matters u n t i l h i s death i n 1914.23 Based on h i s e x t e n s i v e experience with a l l three P r e s i -dency Armies, he was completely convinced that the poor q u a l i t y 76 of the Madras and Bombay Armies was due to the lack of m i l i t a r y i n s t i n c t s i n the men from whom these armies were r e c r u i t e d , and was e q u a l l y convinced that i n order to meet the Russian t h r e a t i n A f g h a n i s t a n o n l y men from the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " of n o r t h I n d i a should be r e c r u i t e d . Roberts was n e i t h e r a f o o l nor a knee-jerk b i g o t ; when he went to the Madras Army as Commander-in-Chief i n 1880 he knew that i t s r e p u t a t i o n had s u f f e r e d , and he wanted to know why. He concluded that peace, s e c u r i t y , and p r o s p e r i t y had had a s o f t e n -ing and d e t e r i o r a t i n g e f f e c t on the Madrassis, and that "the a n c i e n t m i l i t a r y s p i r i t had d i e d i n them as i t had d i e d i n the o r d i n a r y H i n d o s t a n i of Bengal and the Mahratta of Bombay." 2 4 He regarded the Madras Sappers and Miners as an e x c e p t i o n a l case, and b e l i e v e d that the g r e a t e r i n t e l l i g e n c e and b e t t e r education of Madrassis q u a l i f i e d them as Sappers or Pioneers r a t h e r than r e g u l a r i n f a n t r y . He may not have wished to acknowledge t h a t the r e a l d i f f e r e n c e might be i n the q u a l i t y of B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s , although he i n s t i t u t e d reforms to improve t h e i r morale and e f f i -c i e n c y . O f f i c e r s of the Indian Sappers and Miners were volun-t e e r s , seconded from the Royal Engineers, s e r v i n g i n I n d i a f o r a l i m i t e d time to get f i e l d experience, while i n f a n t r y o f f i c e r s served i n the Madras Army, with few o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r f i e l d s e r v i c e or p r o m o t i o n , 2 ^ f o r l i f e , or u n t i l they c o u l d wangle a t r a n s f e r elsewhere. Much the same cou l d be s a i d of the Bombay Army, although i t s prospects f o r a c t i v e s e r v i c e were somewhat b e t t e r . 77 Roberts's experience with the Bombay Army d u r i n g the Second Afghan War confirmed h i s low o p i n i o n of i t s f i g h t i n g q u a l i t i e s , although a c a r e f u l examination of the d i s a s t r o u s b a t t l e of Maiwand suggests that Roberts saw what he expected to see, and i n t e r p r e t e d the events of the b a t t l e a c c o r d i n g to the theory he had a l r e a d y formed. A d e t a i l e d examination of the course of the b a t t l e of Maiwand does not support Roberts's c o n c l u s i o n s about the Bombay Army. On J u l y 27th 1880, a Brigade commanded by B r i g a d i e r - G e n e r a l Burrows, c o n s i s t i n g of a troop of horse a r t i l l e r y , s i x companies of the 66th Regiment of Foot ( B r i t i s h ) , the 1st Bombay Native I n f a n t r y ( G r e n a d i e r s ) , 30th Bombay Native I n f a n t r y (Jacob's R i f l e s ) , a company of Bombay Sappers and Miners, f i v e hundred n a t i v e c a v a l r y sowars and a b a t t e r y of captured Afghan smooth bore guns s u f f e r e d a s e r i o u s defeat at the hands of Ayub Khan. The l o s s e s i n c l u d e d 934 k i l l e d , i n c l u d i n g s i x n a t i v e o f f i c e r s of the Grenadiers, and 175 wounded and missing, out of 2,476 s o l -d i e r s a c t u a l l y engaged; i n a d d i t i o n 893 f o l l o w e r s and d r i v e r s were k i l l e d and missing. Many of these were Afghans and had probably d e s e r t e d . Over one thousand r i f l e s and c a r b i n e s and many swords and bayonets were a l s o captured. Roberts, who was then commanding at Kabul, c r e d i t e d the debacle to the u n r e l i a b i l -i t y of the n a t i v e troops, s t a t i n g i n h i s memoirs, "The Native p o r t i o n of the brigade got out of hand, and pressed back on the few B r i t i s h i n f a n t r y , who were unable to h o l d t h e i r own a g a i n s t the overwhelming numbers of the enemy."26 j j i s i o w o p i n i o n of Bombay troops i s f u r t h e r i l l u s t r a t e d by h i s statement r e g a r d i n g 78 the f o r c e i n B a l u c h i s t a n that "as belonging to the Bombay P r e s i -dency, i t c o u l d not be composed of the best f i g h t i n g r a c e s . " 2 7 In a d i s p a t c h to the Adjutant-General i n I n d i a dated 30th J u l y 1880 on the o r g a n i z a t i o n of the Kabul to Kandahar f i e l d f o r c e , Roberts noted again, "I am sure that few Bombay regiments are able to cope with A f g h a n s . " 2 8 However, other f a c t o r s than the r a c i a l composition of the Bombay Army were i n v o l v e d i n the d e f e a t at Maiwand. F i r s t of a l l , Burrows' Brigade was outnumbered by approx-ima t e l y ten to one, and outgunned by t h i r t y to twelve. Burrows had a very exposed p o s i t i o n with o n l y h i s c a v a l r y regiments as r e s e r v e s . The i n f a n t r y had s u f f e r e d a two-hour a r t i l l e r y bom-bardment at the time they f i n a l l y f e l l i n t o d i s a r r a y . Most s i g n i f i c a n t l y from the p o i n t of view of the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory, the f i r s t body of men to break and run i n the face of the enemy were two companies of the 30th Bombay Native I n f a n t r y (Jacob's R i f l e s ) . T h i s regiment was r e c r u i t e d very l a r g e l y from North and North West I n d i a and Oudh, and was made up p r i m a r i l y of Muslims, Rajputs, J a t s and Sikhs. I t contained no low-caste s o l d i e r s at a l l . The Grenadiers d i d not break ranks u n t i l pan-i c k e d by the c o l l a p s e of the two companies of Jacob's R i f l e s . The a r t i l l e r y m e n and the small company of Sappers were the l a s t to leave the f i e l d , l e a v i n g f o u r t e e n Sappers and L i e u t e n a n t T. R. Henn dead on the f i e l d . The dead Sappers i n c l u d e d two Mahars. The s u r v i v i n g Sappers, along with a few of the Grenadiers and the s u r v i v o r s of the 66th Regiment, made another stand near the v i l l a g e of Khig, and a f i n a l p a r t y of about twelve Sappers 79 e v e n t u a l l y a r r i v e d at Kandahar, marching i n formation under the command of the s e n i o r Sapper. I t i s e x t r a o r d i n a r y under the circumstances that t h i s l e v e l of d i s c i p l i n e was maintained i n the face of m i l i t a r y d i s a s t e r . 2 9 In s p i t e of the long and d i s t i n g u i s h e d r e c o r d of the Bombay and Madras Armies, and o v e r l o o k i n g f a c t s such as those j u s t c i t e d , many, but not a l l , m i l i t a r y men s u b s c r i b e d to some v e r s i o n of the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory. One who opposed t h i s idea was Lord Napier of Magdala, who wrote i n 1871 that "the best o f f i c e r s and the best s o l d i e r s are formed from a p a c i f i c p o p u l a t i o n by the powers of education and d i s c i p l i n e , " and suggested that s u i t a b l e candidates c o u l d be found i n a l l c l a s s e s , "perhaps even among the Mahratta B r a h m i n s . " 3 0 Although Lord Roberts had been p r e s s i n g the c o n t r a r y view that the Indian army co u l d be rendered "as p e r f e c t a f i g h t i n g machine as i t was p o s s i b l e to make i t " o n l y by s u b s t i t u t i n g "men of the more w a r l i k e and hardy ra c e s " f o r the Hin d u s t a n i s , Tamils, Telugus, " s o - c a l l e d Mahrattas" and other "effeminate peoples of the south" s i n c e h i s term as Commander-in-C h i e f of the Madras Army, he encountered c o n s i d e r a b l e r e s i s t a n c e , and even wrote that he was " i n d e s p a i r at not being able to get people to see the matter with [ h i s ] e y e s . " 3 1 General S i r George Chesney, the m i l i t a r y member of the V i c e r o y ' s C o u n c i l i n the l a t e 1880s, and Governors-General D u f f e r i n and Lansdowne, however, d i d see with Roberts's eyes, and as p r e v i o u s l y d e s c r i b e d the r o l e of "non-martial" races and c l a s s e s was reduced s t e a d i l y i n t h i s p e r i o d . By the time of the army r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of 1891-95, the m a r t i a l races theory had come to dominate recruitment p o l i c i e s , 80 and continued to do so f o r s e v e r a l decades. As l a t e as 1932, Li e u t e n a n t - G e n e r a l S i r George MacMunn cou l d s t i l l s t a t e that, "The mass of the people of I n d i a have n e i t h e r m a r t i a l a p t i t u d e nor p h y s i c a l c o u r a g e . " 3 2 Nq very c o n v i n c i n g e x p l a n a t i o n c o u l d be advanced f o r the presumed d e t e r i -o r a t i o n i n m a r t i a l q u a l i t i e s . The e n e r v a t i n g c l i m a t e of South I n d i a , the d e b i l i t a t i n g e f f e c t s of t r o p i c a l d i s e a s e s , and degen-eracy due to c h i l d marriage were a l l proposed, but none of these accounts f o r a sudden change i n the p h y s i c a l or moral q u a l i t i e s of a given p o p u l a t i o n . Even Lord Roberts's great p e r s o n a l p r e s -t i g e and the weight of h i s F i e l d - M a r s h a l ' s baton c o u l d not have won such g e n e r a l acceptance, had the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory not served at l e a s t two important f u n c t i o n s . F i r s t i n importance was the need f o r a l o y a l and p o l i t i c a l -l y n e u t r a l army. There was no obvious reason to doubt the r e l i a b i l i t y of the Bombay and Madras armies i n t h e i r pre-1893 form; there were some grounds f o r concern about the f u t u r e . There was a higher degree of p o l i t i c a l awareness and a c t i v i t y among b e t t e r - e d u c a t e d Indians, which i n c l u d e d v a r i o u s c l a s s e s now a r b i t r a r i l y d e f i n e d as "non-martial." Many Mahars and poor Marathas (among other castes) had migrated to Bombay and Poona from the v i l l a g e s of the Konkan and Deccan. T h i s r a i s e d the d i s t i n c t p o s s i b i l i t y of some hundreds of the n e a r l y e i g h t thou-sand s o l d i e r s who l e f t the army annual l y , going to l i v e with t h e i r kinsmen i n the growing i n d u s t r i a l slums of Bombay. Bearing i n mind that the Indian Army was a "mercenary f o r c e , s e r v i n g an a l i e n government," 3 3 t h i s was a r i s k y s i t u a t i o n . Since i t was 81 not p o s s i b l e to a v o i d having a n a t i v e army, i t was c e r t a i n l y d e s i r a b l e to s h i f t r e c r u i t i n g to d i s t a n t , predominantly r u r a l , areas, where r e t i r e d s o l d i e r s would be unable ( i f so i n c l i n e d ) to cause much t r o u b l e . I t i s h a r d l y c o i n c i d e n t a l that the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " now to become the backbone of the Indian Army were " g e o g r a p h i c a l l y d i s t i n c t . . . on the r e g i o n a l p e r i p h e r i e s of the s t a t e , " having " l i t t l e access to c e n t r a l a u t h o r i t y and [being] outnumbered wi t h -i n the . . . s t a t e system,"34 organized along t r i b a l or c l a n l i n e s , and o f t e n e t h n i c a l l y or c u l t u r a l l y d i s t i n c t from the m a j o r i t y of the Indian p o p u l a t i o n . The Sikhs met a l l of these c r i t e r i a ; so d i d the Gurkhas; so, to a l e s s e r degree, d i d the J a t s , Rajputs and other " m a r t i a l r a c e s . " These " m a r t i a l r a c e s " were a l s o e d u c a t i o n a l l y backward and are s t i l l sometimes de-s c r i b e d i n f o l k l o r e as somewhat dense ("Sikh jokes," on the p a t t e r n of "Newfie" or " P o l i s h jokes," have j o i n e d t r a d i t i o n a l proverbs about thick-headed J a t s , although recent events i n I n d i a have rendered "Sikh jokes" d i s t i n c t l y unamusing). Saxena's con-c l u s i o n t h at "educating a n a t i o n a l army might be a compulsion, but t r y i n g to improve the education of a mercenary army co u l d not but be s u i c i d a l " 3 ^ m a y be extreme but i s h a r d l y unfounded. In view of t h e i r l a t e r r e p u t a t i o n , i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g that i n 1851, when Sikhs were f i r s t e n l i s t e d i n c e r t a i n regiments q u a r t e r e d i n the Punjab, they were not looked upon with much favour; s p e c i a l r u l e s were i n s t i t u t e d r e q u i r i n g Sikhs to keep t h e i r uncut h a i r and beards (the "kes") and f o r b i d d i n g i n t e r f e r -ence with t h e i r r e l i g i o u s p r a c t i c e s and " s o c i a l p e c u l i a r i t i e s . " 3 6 82 The Marathas, who should have q u a l i f i e d as a " m a r t i a l race" on the b a s i s of t h e i r h i s t o r y , were co n s i d e r e d a very dubious case; they were, perhaps, too numerous and had too much p o l i t i c a l p o t e n t i a l to be s a f e l y t r e a t e d as m a r t i a l . They d i d not f i t the "Gurkha syndrome" which a p p l i e d p e r f e c t l y o n l y to "an e t h n i c group that produced men who were both m a r t i a l and l o y a l " 3 7 — s u c h as the Sikhs and Gurkhas. A secondary f a c t o r , though by no means a n e g l i g i b l e one, was the wish to have the army conform to the B r i t i s h and Indian c a s t e / c l a s s s t r u c t u r e . The t r a d i t i o n a l Indian system of h e r e d i -t a r y s o l d i e r s , r u l e r s , merchants, a r t i s a n s , sweepers, and so on, meshed very w e l l with V i c t o r i a n ideas of c l a s s s t r u c t u r e and h e r e d i t y . 3 8 The wish to maintain t h i s k i n d of r i g i d d i v i s i o n , even when Indian s o c i e t y was undergoing r a p i d change and many t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e s were being questioned, may r e f l e c t o n l y the conservatism common to m i l i t a r y e s tablishments. But there may be another reason. The o f f i c e r s of the Indian Army, i n h e r i t o r s (by t r a i n i n g i f not by blood) of an a r i s t o c r a t i c m i l i t a r y t r a d i t i o n , seem to have had a romantic y e a r n i n g f o r the sturdy yeoman f a r m e r - t u r n e d - s o l d i e r , i d e a l i z e d as the E n g l i s h longbowman of A g i n c o u r t and Crecy. E n g l i s h peasants were hard to f i n d i n the n i n e t e e n t h century; the average B r i t i s h s o l d i e r was f a r more l i k e l y to come from an urban slum. 3^ The S c o t t i s h Highlands, which had produced tens of thousands of s o l d i e r s f o r "the e a r l i e s t n a t i v e regiments r a i s e d by i m p e r i a l B r i t a i n , " had been depopulated by the Highland c l e a r a n c e s , and by the 1850s r e c r u i t -ing agents heard: "You robbed us of our country and gave i t to 83 the sheep. Th e r e f o r e , s i n c e you have p r e f e r r e d sheep to men, l e t sheep defend you I " 4 0 B r i t a i n ' s own " m a r t i a l r a c e , " which had c o n t r i b u t e d d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y to the army from 1776 to 1815, had been d i s p e r s e d and demoralized, but India's m a r t i a l Sikhs and Gurkhas remained. In I n d i a i t was s t i l l p o s s i b l e to have the " r i g h t " k i n d of s o l d i e r : a young man from a r e s p e c t a b l e l a n d -owning f a m i l y , brave and honourable r a t h e r than educated or c l e v e r ; f o r t u i t o u s l y , such men u s u a l l y proved to be of K s h a t r i y a ancestry, or such a n c e s t r y was " d i s c o v e r e d " a f t e r they were determined to be " f i t to bear arms." 4 1 I f B r i t i s h s o l d i e r s were not l i k e t h i s (and both Lord and Lady Roberts devoted a great d e a l of time and energy to improving t h e i r h e a l t h and charac-t e r ) , 4 2 at l e a s t Indian sepoys c o u l d be r e c r u i t e d from the r i g h t c l a s s e s . A c o r o l l a r y to the theory that o n l y c e r t a i n Indians were f i t to be s o l d i e r s was that no Indian was f i t to be an o f f i c e r above regimental l e v e l . T h i s was a necessary e x t e n s i o n of the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory; o n l y Europeans had the q u a l i t i e s of l e a d e r s h i p necessary f o r o f f i c e r s . The extent to which t h i s c o n v i c t i o n c o u l d be c a r r i e d was demonstrated by the case of C h a r l e s E z e c h i e l . He was a son of L i e u t e n a n t J . A. E z e c h i e l of the Bombay Commissariat-Transport Department. Li e u t e n a n t E z e c h i e l sent C h a r l e s to be educated i n England i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r a career i n the army. Ch a r l e s wrote the Sandhurst entrance examinations i n 1891, and passed c r e d i t a b l y , but was r e f u s e d admission on the grounds that he was not of pure European e x t r a c -t i o n . He and h i s f a t h e r both p r o t e s t e d , p o i n t i n g out that a l l 84 B r i t i s h - b o r n or n a t u r a l i z e d B r i t i s h s u b j e c t s were e l i g i b l e f o r commissions i n the army, but were not able to have the d e c i s i o n r e v e r s e d . C h a r l e s E z e c h i e l based h i s appeal on h i s c i t i z e n s h i p ; h i s f a t h e r was born i n England of parents who were both l e g a l l y d o m i c i l e d i n England; h i s mother, who was of Indo-Portuguese background, was a n a t u r a l i z e d B r i t i s h c i t i z e n . C h a r l e s was born i n Poona, on what was l e g a l l y " B r i t i s h " s o i l . By education and t r a i n i n g he was B r i t i s h . But to the m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s at the Horse Guards he was a "native of I n d i a , " so designated on the b a s i s of h i s mixed parentage alone. Lord Roberts, to whom L i e u -tenant E z e c h i e l appealed, supported t h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n arid d e c l i n e d to i n t e r v e n e . 4 3 Since everyone i n v o l v e d with t h i s i s s u e w i l l i n g l y conceded that C h a r l e s E z e c h i e l was f u l l y q u a l i f i e d i n a l l other r e s p e c t s , the p r i n c i p l e of r a c i a l d i s c r i m i n a t i o n was ap p a r e n t l y to be upheld under a l l circumstances. The Indian C i v i l S e r v i c e , while not at t h i s time e n t h u s i a s -t i c about r e c r u i t i n g Indians, d i d not exclude q u a l i f i e d c a n d i -dates on the b a s i s of race. C h a r l e s E z e c h i e l ' s o l d e r b r o t h e r David had a l r e a d y q u a l i f i e d f o r the I.C.S. and had at l e a s t a moderately s u c c e s s f u l c a r e e r . 4 4 B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s commanding Indian troops g e n e r a l l y had chosen to do so, e i t h e r f o r f a m i l y reasons (a t r a d i t i o n of Indian s e r v i c e ) or because they f e l t t h e i r career p r o s p e c t s were b e t t e r than i n the B r i t i s h army. P o s s i b l e r a c i a l c o n f l i c t s were l a r g e l y defused because s o c i a l c o n t a c t s o u t s i d e the m i l i t a r y s e t t i n g were l i m i t e d , p r i m a r i l y by mutual consent. O f f i c e r s were expected to take a c l o s e p a t e r n a l i n t e r e s t i n t h e i r men, v i s i t t h e i r v i l l a g e s 85 on t o u r , understand t h e i r customs, but not to t r e a t them as equals. The tone of the r e l a t i o n s h i p was "ma-bap"—the command-ing o f f i c e r was "mother and f a t h e r " to h i s men. Whether the Indian sepoys ever resented t h i s a t t i t u d e i s unknown; the impres-s i o n d e r i v e d from regimental h i s t o r i e s , p e r s o n a l reminiscences, and the l i k e i s that the r e l a t i o n s h i p was g e n e r a l l y one of mutual r e s p e c t , and that e s s e n t i a l i n e q u a l i t y was accepted as an immutable f a c t of l i f e , at l e a s t up to the World War I p e r i o d . Assuming t h i s was the case, the r e l a t i o n s h i p between B r i t i s h o f f i c e r and Indian sepoy was doubtless much more r e l a x e d than that between white o f f i c e r s and black s o l d i e r s i n the American Army. S o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l i n e q u a l i t y was accepted by both p a r t i e s without q u e s t i o n , and c a s t e and r e l i g i o u s r e s t r i c t i o n s kept t h e i r p r i v a t e l i v e s completely separate, but i n the l i m i t e d area of t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n there c o u l d be r e s p e c t , f r i e n d s h i p , and even a k i n d of l o v e . , There were great d i f f e r e n c e s i n the kinds of d i s c i p l i n e imposed upon s o l d i e r s of d i f f e r e n t c l a s s e s . The c o n t r a s t was very marked between B r i t i s h s o l d i e r s i n India, who were s u b j e c t to f l o g g i n g u n t i l 1878 because " i t was needed to keep down drunk-enness, i n s u b o r d i n a t i o n and t h e f t , " and Indian sepoys, f o r whom f l o g g i n g was such an extreme d i s g r a c e i t was very r a r e l y used and was a c t u a l l y a b o l i s h e d f o r ten years (1838-1848). 4 5 Why Indian sepoys were so well-behaved i s u n c e r t a i n , but the fear of d i s m i s -s a l was a powerful d e t e r r e n t to s e r i o u s misbehaviour. Drunken-ness, a major c o n t r i b u t o r to d i s c i p l i n a r y problems among B r i t i s h troops, was uncommon among Indian troops, and i f they used drugs 86 they seem to have done so q u i e t l y . The VCOs and NCOs were expec-ted to maintain d i s c i p l i n e i n minor matters, and were h e l d r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the behaviour of the sepoys. I t i s l i k e l y that minor o f f e n c e s which might have earned a B r i t i s h s o l d i e r o f f i c i a l punishment were handled by the Indian o f f i c e r s i n an i n f o r m a l way, and never came to the commanding o f f i c e r s ' a t t e n t i o n . An unusual i n s t a n c e of widespread v i o l e n c e i n a Bombay regiment o c c u r r e d d u r i n g the Mohurram (28th September to 1st October) r i o t s of 1877 i n Bombay. S e v e r a l men of the 17th Bombay I n f a n t r y , which was then s t a t i o n e d i n Bombay, were i n v o l v e d i n a f i g h t with p o l i c e and townspeople. At l e a s t one policeman was k i l l e d while i n the sepoy l i n e s . The regiment was immediately removed to Mhow where the o f f i c e r commanding Mhow D i v i s i o n , Major-General R. R. G i l l e s p i e , i n s p e c t e d and r e p o r t e d on i t . The r e s u l t s of h i s i n s p e c t i o n i n c l u d e a number of comments about the preponderance of low-caste men among the n a t i v e o f f i c e r s and NCOs of the regiment. He commented that the regiment was g e n e r a l l y q u i e t and w e l l behaved but not up to the average of Bombay r e g i -ments i n appearance. The H a v i l d a r s were not w e l l i n s t r u c t e d but seemed i n t e l l i g e n t ; some were very smart and most of good appear-ance and capable of making e x c e l l e n t NCOs. "There are too many low caste men among them, however; 10 out of 40 being Purwarees or Moochies." 4^ G i l l e s p i e r e l a t e d the number of low-caste NCOs to the lack of d i s c i p l i n e shown d u r i n g the Mohurram r i o t s , im-p l y i n g t h a t they were unable or u n w i l l i n g to maintain d i s c i p l i n e among h i g h e r - c a s t e sepoys. However, of the o f f i c e r s who were d i s c h a r g e d f o r t h e i r f a i l u r e to c o n t r o l t h e i r men du r i n g the 87 r i o t s , none were of low c a s t e ; one was a Brahmin, two Marathas, one a J a t or Sikh, one Muslim and one Bene I s r a e l . Two others were of dubious o r i g i n , but one was probably a T e l i n g a (South Indian) and the other p o s s i b l y a Maratha. 4^ Three n a t i v e o f f i -c e r s were t r a n s f e r r e d i n t o the 17th Regiment; of these one was probably a Mochi, one a Maratha, and the t h i r d a J a t or S i k h . I t i s d i f f i c u l t to see what the ca s t e of the noncommissioned o f f i -c e r s had to do with the r i o t s , c o n s i d e r i n g that the o f f i c e r s a c t u a l l y d i s c h a r g e d were not i n f a c t of low c a s t e . I t i s probab-l y more r e l e v a n t that the Subadar-Major was a s o l d i e r of t h i r t y y ears' s e r v i c e , and might simply have been promoted beyond h i s l e v e l of competence. The B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s who had been with the regiment at the time were a l s o s e v e r e l y reprimanded f o r t h e i r f a i l u r e to be i n c o n t r o l of the men; the n a t i v e o f f i c e r s were p a r t i c u l a r l y h e l d to blame f o r having f a i l e d to i d e n t i f y or t u r n over f o r punishment the sepoys i n v o l v e d i n the r i o t i n g . 4 ^ The American Army to 1900 The C i v i l War was the f i r s t o c c a s i o n f o r l a r g e - s c a l e r e -c r u i t i n g of black men i n t o r e g u l a r m i l i t a r y u n i t s , although i n the f i r s t years of the war f r e e Northern b l a c k s seeking to volun-t e e r were o f t e n r e j e c t e d by r e c r u i t i n g c e n t e r s . E x p r e s s i n g an extreme form of a common view, "Governor David Tod of Ohio, r e j e c t i n g a request to r a i s e a Black regiment, asked: 'Do you know that t h i s i s a white man's government; that the white men are able to defend and p r o t e c t i t ; and that to e n l i s t a Negro s o l d i e r would be to d r i v e every white man out of the s e r v i c e ? ' " 4 9 M i l i t a r y n e c e s s i t y and p r e s s u r e from a b o l i t i o n i s t s combined to 88 make t h i s an untenable p o l i c y . F e d e r a l f o r c e s moving i n t o Con-fe d e r a t e t e r r i t o r y a c q u i r e d w i l l y - n i l l y the s e r v i c e s of thousands of f u g i t i v e s l a v e s , many able and w i l l i n g to work or f i g h t f o r the Union. As i t became obvious that the war would be long and bloody and as white v o l u n t e e r s f a i l e d to p r o v i d e s u f f i c i e n t manpower, the pre s s u r e to r e c r u i t b l ack troops i n c r e a s e d . In 1862-1863, P r e s i d e n t L i n c o l n g r a d u a l l y changed h i s view of the war and moved c l o s e r to emancipation. S e v e r a l Union m i l i -t a r y commanders had a l r e a d y begun to employ smal l u n i t s of b l a c k s . General Hunter, i n May 1862, r e c r u i t e d b l a c k s from the Sea I s l a n d s i n t o the f i r s t regiment of South C a r o l i n a V o l u n t e e r s . General Lane i n Kansas r a i s e d the Kansas Co l o r e d Volunteer Regi-ment. General B. F. B u t l e r i n L o u i s i a n a , without s p e c i f i c au-t h o r i t y from the War Department, mustered i n the F i r s t , Second and T h i r d Native Guards, formed from the Native Guards of L o u i s i -ana. T h i s regiment of e i g h t companies had been formed by the f r e e b l a c k s of New Orleans under Negro o f f i c e r s commissioned by the Confederate governor. However, the Confederacy had never made use of the Native Guards, s i n c e there was c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s t r u s t of them, and there were f e a r s that they would be i n f i l -t r a t e d by f r e e Negroes from the north a c t i n g as spies.^° T h e i r r e j e c t i o n by the Confederacy, to whom they had f i r s t o f f e r e d t h e i r s e r v i c e s , l e d the Native Guards to accept General B u t l e r ' s o f f e r to r e c r u i t them i n t o the Union army. Late i n August 1862, War Department p o l i c y o f f i c i a l l y s anctioned the recruitment of b l a c k s . A l l b l a c k s admitted i n t o m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e , with t h e i r f a m i l i e s , were d e c l a r e d f o r e v e r f r e e . General Hunter's u n o f f i -89 c i a l regiment formed the nucleus of the f i r s t b l a ck regiment f o r m a l l y mustered i n t o f e d e r a l s e r v i c e i n January of 1863. The F i r s t South C a r o l i n a V o l u n t e e r s were p l a c e d under the command of an a b o l i t i o n i s t from Boston, Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Other b l a c k regiments r a i s e d over the course of the war i n c l u d e d the 54th and 55th Regiments of Massachusetts V o l u n t e e r s , and r e g i -ments r a i s e d i n Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, I l l i n o i s , Indiana, and Michigan. Most black s o l d i e r s , however, came from the South as the Union armies p e n e t r a t e d f u r t h e r i n t o Confederate t e r r i t o r y . E a r l y i n 1863 the L i n c o l n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a u t h o r i z e d the c r e a t i o n of the United S t a t e s C o l o r e d Troops as p a r t of the r e g u l a r army. By the end of the C i v i l War, more than 180 thou-sand b l a c k s were s e r v i n g i n USCT u n i t s , i n c l u d i n g 120 i n f a n t r y regiments, 7 c a v a l r y regiments, 12 regiments of heavy a r t i l l e r y , and 10 b a t t e r i e s of l i g h t a r t i l l e r y , about ten per cent of the t o t a l Union f o r c e s . 5 1 Black troops fought i n many b a t t l e s i n -c l u d i n g Port Hudson, May 1863; M i l l i k e n ' s Bend, June 1863; F o r t Wagner, June 1863; and Richmond i n 1864. Although i n many cases these s o l d i e r s had had very l i t t l e t r a i n i n g or experience, they g e n e r a l l y fought very hard and with great d e t e r m i n a t i o n . T h e i r m o r t a l i t y r a t e s were g e n e r a l l y c o n s i d e r a b l y higher than those of white troops, p o s s i b l y due to poor medical care, poor equipment, and a presumed "no q u a r t e r " p o l i c y of the Confederate army when conf r o n t e d with black t r o o p s . 5 2 Black s o l d i e r s i n the Union army s u f f e r e d from d i s c r i m i n a -t o r y p o l i c i e s i n a number of areas. The most s e r i o u s d i s c r i m i -n a t i o n was i n the matter of pay. The o r i g i n a l assumption had 90 been that the black regiments would serve as noncombatants. They were, t h e r e f o r e , p a i d as l a b o u r e r s and not as s o l d i e r s . White p r i v a t e s r e c e i v e d $15.00 a month p l u s a c l o t h i n g allowance of $3.50, while black s o l d i e r s were p a i d $10.00 a month with a $3.00 deduction f o r c l o t h i n g . A l l ranks r e c e i v e d the same pay, even Chaplains, although white Chaplains were p a i d $100.00 per month. Many black s o l d i e r s r e f u s e d to accept any pay at a l l r a t h e r than accept pay as l a b o u r e r s . C o r p o r a l James Henry Good-ing of the 54th Massachusetts regiment asked: "Now the main q u e s t i o n i s , are we s o l d i e r s , or are we l a b o u r e r s ? We have done a s o l d i e r ' s duty. Why can't we have a s o l d i e r ' s pay?"53 C o l o n e l Higginson noted that o n e - t h i r d of the men of h i s r e g i -ment, the South C a r o l i n a V o l u n t e e r s , r e f u s e d to take the seven d o l l a r a month pay. They s a i d , "We're g i b our s o g e r i n ' to de Guv'ment, Cunnel, . . . but we won't 'spise o u r s e l v e s so much f o r take de seben d o l l a r . " 5 4 The Massachusetts regiments a l s o r e f u s e d , as a matter of p r i n c i p l e , to accept an a p p r o p r i a t i o n of money from the s t a t e l e g i s l a t u r e to make up the pay d i f f e r e n c e . Governor John A. Andrew of Massachusetts worked hard to ensure that the men of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments would r e c e i v e the pay to which he b e l i e v e d they were e n t i t l e d by law.55 P u b l i c p r e s s u r e f i n a l l y f o r c e d Congress i n June 1864 to grant equal pay, r e t r o a c t i v e to January, f o r a l l black s o l d i e r s and r e t r o a c t i v e to e n l i s t m e n t f o r b l a c k s who were f r e e i n A p r i l of 1861. In response to t h i s , many b l a c k s s a i d that they were f r e e by God's law i f not by man's. Another law i n March 1865 granted f u l l r e t r o a c t i v e pay to a l l black s o l d i e r s . 5 6 Apart from the pay 91 i s s u e , which was u l t i m a t e l y r e s o l v e d favourably, b l a c k s o l d i e r s seemed to have c o n s i s t e n t l y r e c e i v e d i n f e r i o r equipment, s u p p l i e s , medical treatment, and t r a i n i n g . A l s o very few were promoted to o f f i c e r s t a t u s . T h i s was p a r t l y due, of course, to the f a c t many b l a c k s , p a r t i c u l a r l y southern b l a c k s , were i l l i t e r -a t e, and l i t e r a c y was r e q u i r e d even f o r noncommissioned o f f i c e r s . C o l o n e l Higginson n oted 5? that s e v e r a l of the NCOs of h i s regiment would have been e l i g i b l e f o r commission had t h e i r l i t e r a c y e ducation been s u f f i c i e n t . I t would seem, t h e r e f o r e , that had a s e r i o u s e f f o r t been made to improve the l i t e r a c y of some of the noncommissioned o f f i c e r s , more co u l d have been done to promote them to commissioned rank. In s p i t e of the problems and d i f f i c u l t i e s encountered, black troops g e n e r a l l y performed w e l l , and produced few d i s c i -p l i n a r y problems. S i x t e e n black s o l d i e r s won C o n g r e s s i o n a l Medals of Honor, and four b l a c k s earned Navy medals of h o n o r . ^ Higginson and other o f f i c e r s commanding black troops found that b lack s o l d i e r s responded very w e l l to being t r e a t e d with r e s p e c t and with regard f o r t h e i r d i g n i t y . U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h i s was not always remembered. Blacks had mixed f e e l i n g s about t h e i r s e r v i c e i n the C i v i l War. On one hand, they c o u l d now l e g i t i m a t e l y c l a i m to have earned t h e i r freedom. As C o r p o r a l Thomas Long of the 1st South C a r o l i n a Regiment s a i d with great f o r c e : If we hadn't become s o j e r s a l l might have gone back as i t was be f o r e . . . But now t i n g s can never go back, because we have showed our energy and our courage and our natu-r a l l y manhood. Anoder t i n g i s , suppose you had kept your freedom 92 widout e n l i s t i n g i s d i s army; your c h i l e n might have grown up f r e e , and been w e l l c u l t i v a t e d so as to be equal t o any b u s i n e s s ; but i t would have been always f l u n g i n dere faces - 'Your fader never fought f o r he own freedom' - and what c o u l d dey answer. Neber can say that to d i s A f r i c a n race any more.59 Others became r a p i d l y convinced that there was no prospect of advancement or promotion f o r black s o l d i e r s , and that to continue to serve i n a subordinate c a p a c i t y was an admission that b l a c k s "are not f i t f o r promotion, and . . . are s a t i s f i e d to remain i n a s t a t e of . . . s u b s e r v i n c y L s i c ] . " ^ 0 These c o n s i d e r a t i o n s induced Sergeant-Major C h r i s t i a n A. Fleetwood, a black Medal of Honor winner of the C i v i l War, to leave the army, b e l i e v i n g he c o u l d do more i n c i v i l i a n l i f e to f u r t h e r both h i s p e r s o n a l ambition and the betterment of h i s r a c e . T h i s dilemma confronted s u c c e s s i v e generations of black Americans. As c i t i z e n s , they were morally (and sometimes l e g a l -l y ) o b l i g e d to f i g h t f o r t h e i r country, and to r e f u s e or a v o i d t h i s o b l i g a t i o n would have made i t hard to j u s t i f y demands f o r c i v i l r i g h t s . But to serve i n the subordinate p o s i t i o n s a l l o t t e d to b l a c k s was to v a l i d a t e , or seem to accept, the s t e r e o t y p i c a l view of b l a c k s as i n f e r i o r and i n c a p a b l e of l e a d e r s h i p or cour-age . A f t e r the C i v i l War, there was a major r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of the American army. Many r a d i c a l Republicans wanted a l a r g e army to a i d i n r e c o n s t r u c t i o n p o l i c i e s i n the South, to favour t h e i r a l l i e s among newly emancipated b l a c k s , and to serve on the f r o n -t i e r . U l t i m a t e l y , the g r e a t l y expanded r e g u l a r army i n c l u d e d two b l a c k c a v a l r y regiments, the 9th and 10th, and four black i n f a n -t r y regiments, the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st. In 1869, a l l 93 i n f a n t r y regiments were c o n s o l i d a t e d , and the four b lack u n i t s became two, the 24th and 25th. These four u n i t s , a small share compared to the 180,000 USCT of the C i v i l War, p r o v i d e d the o n l y openings f o r b l a c k s i n the r e g u l a r army u n t i l 1944. Despite i n i t i a l problems i n f i n d i n g o f f i c e r s f o r these regiments (many white o f f i c e r s d i d not wish to serve with them f o r fear t h e i r f u t u r e m i l i t a r y c a r e e r s would be hampered); 6 1 these four r e g i -ments had a g e n e r a l l y s u c c e s s f u l r e c o r d d u r i n g the p e r i o d of the Indian Wars. From 1865 to 1890, the four b lack regiments were s t a t i o n e d almost e n t i r e l y on the f r o n t i e r , where they performed a l l of the d u t i e s expected of troops on the f r o n t i e r , such as e s c o r t i n g wagon t r a i n s , b u i l d i n g roads and t e l e g r a p h l i n e s , and keeping i n t r u d e r s out of the Indian T e r r i t o r y . 6 2 The 24th Infan-t r y served i n New Mexico from 1880-1898; the 25th i n Texas, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Montana from 1860-1888. The 9th and 10th C a v a l r y served on the f r o n t i e r from t h e i r o r i g i n a l formation u n t i l the Spanish-American War. 6 3 F r o n t i e r duty was arduous, p h y s i c a l l y demanding, and dan-gerous; i n a d d i t i o n to normal hazards from h o s t i l e Indians, d i s e a s e , and harsh c l i m a t e s , b lack s o l d i e r s had to contend with c i v i l i a n p r e j u d i c e a g a i n s t them. T h i s p r e j u d i c e was tempered i n some cases by the presence of other s o c i a l l y depressed groups such as Mexicans, Chinese, and Indians. Black s o l d i e r s under-stand a b l y f e l t some resentment at spending a l l of t h e i r s e r v i c e i n i s o l a t e d f r o n t i e r posts, whereas white troops got o c c a s i o n a l g a r r i s o n duty east of the M i s s i s s i p p i . In s p i t e of such prob-lems, the black regiments had a good r e c o r d d u r i n g the Indian 94 Wars. T h i r t e e n b l ack s o l d i e r s earned Medals of H o n o r . 6 4 The b l a c k regiments had very low r a t e s of d e s e r t i o n , h i g h r a t e s of r e - e n l i s t m e n t , and a much lower i n c i d e n c e of a l c o h o l i s m than white s o l d i e r s . 6 ^ American Army detachments s e r v i n g i n i s o l a t e d f r o n t i e r p osts seem to have been su b j e c t e d to very harsh punishments, such as " s p r e a d - e a g l i n g " or confinement i n sweat-boxes. Some of these were i l l e g a l under army r e g u l a t i o n s but were imposed by command-ing o f f i c e r s e i t h e r out of simple sadism, or because normal d i s c i p l i n e was i n e f f e c t i v e f o r some hardened o f f e n d e r s . 6 6 There was no suggestion that t h i s was r a c i a l l y motivated; i f anything, black s o l d i e r s may have f a r e d b e t t e r , s i n c e they were g e n e r a l l y well-behaved and had fewer problems with a l c o h o l . D i s c i p l i n a r y problems more o f t e n arose when black s o l d i e r s were s t a t i o n e d near white p o p u l a t i o n s ; c o n f l i c t s o f t e n erupted, o f t e n provoked by whites. A common complaint of black s o l d i e r s was the f a i l u r e of c i v i l i a n or m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s to p r o t e c t t h e i r i n t e r e s t s or even ensure a f a i r t r i a l . P rospects f o r promotion were dim. Although i n theory and a c c o r d i n g to an Act of Congress i n 1878, i t was p o s s i b l e f o r men from the ranks to earn o f f i c e r s ' commissions, very few black s o l d i e r s (and not many whites) ever obtained commissions i n t h i s way. In f a c t , p r i o r to the Spanish-American War not a s i n g l e b l ack e n l i s t e d man rose from the ranks to earn a commission. 6 7 Between 1870 and 1889 twenty-two black youths were appointed to the U n i t e d S t a t e s M i l i t a r y Academy. However, o n l y twelve passed the entrance examinations, and o n l y three a c t u a l l y managed to 95 graduate. One, Henry 0. F l i p p e r , was c o u r t - m a r t i a l l e d and d i s -missed from the army i n 1892 (on grounds which he always main-t a i n e d to be improper), one d i e d i n 1894, s h o r t l y a f t e r becoming an i n s t r u c t o r i n m i l i t a r y s c i e n c e at W i l b e r f o r c e U n i v e r s i t y , and the t h i r d , C h a r l e s Young (graduated 1889) was s t i l l on a c t i v e duty at the beginning of World War 1. 6 ^ A t h i r d p o s s i b i l i t y f o r promotion was to come to the army from the v o l u n t e e r s e r v i c e s . T h i s was the route f o l l o w e d by Benjamin 0. Davis Sr. He was a graduate of Howard U n i v e r s i t y , commissioned F i r s t L i e u t e n a n t i n the 8th U.S. Volunteer I n f a n t r y i n 1899. Davis took h i s d i s -charge and r e - e n l i s t e d as a p r i v a t e i n the 9th C a v a l r y , hoping to earn a commission i n the r e g u l a r army, which he d i d . He was commissioned 2nd L i e u t e n a n t i n 1901 and became a General i n 1940, r e t i r i n g i n 1948 at the rank of B r i g a d i e r - G e n e r a l . His case i s probably u n i q u e . 6 9 A f t e r 1890 many changes took p l a c e i n the o r g a n i z a t i o n and purposes of the U n i t e d S t a t e s Army. With the end of the Indian Wars, m i l i t a r y needs began to change. The two small wars which preceded the F i r s t World War, the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the P h i l i p p i n e I n s u r r e c t i o n of 1899-1902, d i d not r e q u i r e much manpower. However, both r e s u l t e d i n the a c q u i s i t i o n of l a r g e c o l o n i a l t e r r i t o r i e s which had to be g a r r i s o n e d . At the same time, with the f r o n t i e r f i n a l l y p a c i f i e d , i t was necessary to post more s o l d i e r s near l a r g e c e n t e r s of p o p u l a t i o n . I t was no longer p o s s i b l e to i s o l a t e b l ack s o l d i e r s on the f r o n t i e r away from major c i t i e s . 96 The Spanish-American War and the P h i l i p p i n e I n s u r r e c t i o n were h i g h p o i n t s i n the m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y of black s o l d i e r s . The 10th C a v a l r y was commended by C o l o n e l Theodore Roosevelt a f t e r the B a t t l e of San Juan H i l l i n Cuba, J u l y 1898. Black s o l d i e r s s e r v i n g i n Cuba earned f i v e Medals of Honor and more than twenty C e r t i f i c a t e s of M e r i t . The 10th C a v a l r y a l s o was reviewed by P r e s i d e n t McKinley, and given a s p e c i a l r e c e p t i o n both i n Wash-ington and i n P h i l a d e l p h i a . 7 0 But p u b l i c enthusiasm f o r black s o l d i e r s c ooled very q u i c k l y as they were demo b i l i z e d and black o f f i c e r s of vo l u n t e e r regiments were decommissioned. Black s o l -d i e r s d i d not f a i l to note that, while some black s o l d i e r s were given commissions, these were i n temporary v o l u n t e e r regiments r a t h e r than the r e g u l a r army. 7! On d e m o b i l i z a t i o n i n 1901 none of the black volunteer o f f i c e r s were given r e g u l a r commissions, although John R. Lynch, a paymaster and Major i n the v o l u n t e e r s , was appointed a Cap t a i n i n the paymaster department of the regu-l a r army. In 1901 two black e n l i s t e d men were granted commis-s i o n s as 2nd L i e u t e n a n t s . These were Benjamin 0. Davis Sr., who had served as a 1st Lieutenant i n the v o l u n t e e r s d u r i n g the Spanish-American War, and John E. Green. Along with C h a r l e s Young, West P o i n t 1889, these three men were to be the o n l y black o f f i c e r s ( e x c l u d i n g Chaplains) i n the U.S. Army u n t i l World War 1.72 Although black Americans had shared i n the g e n e r a l enthu-siasm f o r the Spanish-American War, there was a very mixed r e -sponse among b l a c k s to American involvement i n suppressing Aguinaldo's independence movement. On one hand, as c i t i z e n s 97 American b l a c k s f e l t an o b l i g a t i o n to support n a t i o n a l p o l i c i e s ; on the other hand, some f e l t a n a t u r a l sympathy f o r F i l i p i n o a s p i r a t i o n s to independence. Whatever t h e i r p r i v a t e r e s e r v a t i o n s may have been, black s o l d i e r s of both r e g u l a r and volunteer regiments f u l f i l l e d t h e i r d u t i e s honourably while s e r v i n g i n the P h i l i p p i n e s . Another consequence of these m i l i t a r y involvements was a major revamping of the War Department. American v i c t o r y over Spain had to be a t t r i b u t e d more to Spanish weakness than to American courage. The American f o r c e s had proved i l l - p r e p a r e d i n many areas, e s p e c i a l l y the Commissary Department, the medical branch ( f o r each of 286 b a t t l e c a s u a l t i e s there, were 14 deaths from d i s e a s e ) ? 3 and naval gunnery. Reforms i n c l u d e d the a p p o i n t -ment of E l i h u Root to head the War Department, c r e a t i o n of a permanent General S t a f f , an i n c r e a s e i n army s t r e n g t h to 100,000, enlargement of the navy, and b e t t e r p r o f e s s i o n a l s e r v i c e s i n both branches. These reforms d i d not, however, improve career p r o s -pects f o r b l a c k s o l d i e r s . T h e i r access to o f f i c e r t r a i n i n g or s p e c i a l i z e d t r a i n i n g was s t i l l very l i m i t e d , no i n c r e a s e i n t h e i r t o t a l number was made, and i n 1907-8 black seamen were d i v e r t e d i n t o the messmen's branch or t r a n s f e r r e d to shore d u t y . ? 4 I t can be argued that poorly-educated b l a c k s were l e s s able to f i l l the s k i l l e d p o s i t i o n s needed i n a l a r g e r and more t e c h n i c a l l y ad-vanced m i l i t a r y , but no e f f o r t was made to f i n d or encourage those who d i d have s u i t a b l e s k i l l s and education. U n l i k e the Indian Army, the American m i l i t a r y never evolved a formal " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory, f o r two l i k e l y reasons: i t was 98 p o l i t i c a l l y i m p ossible to remove b l a c k s (who were c i t i z e n s ) e n t i r e l y from the m i l i t a r y , no matter what t h e o r i e s might be developed; but e x i s t i n g r a c i a l p r e j u d i c e s and st e r e o t y p e s c o u l d be u t i l i z e d to l i m i t t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n and o p p o r t u n i t i e s . Pop-u l a r r a c i a l s t e r e o t y p e s p o r t r a y e d the black man as c h i l d l i k e , c a r e f r e e , i r r e s p o n s i b l e , and s u p e r s t i t i o u s , p o s s i b l y capable of courage i f given the r i g h t l e a d e r s h i p (only by white men, of course) but c e r t a i n l y not to be r e l i e d upon i n c r i s i s . I t was a l s o widely h e l d that b l a c k s c o u l d not endure c o l d , and would not be able to f u n c t i o n e f f e c t i v e l y i n many t h e a t r e s of war; t h i s b e l i e f a p p a r e n t l y p e r s i s t e d although the bl a c k regiments had served f o r many years at f r o n t i e r posts i n the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, and other north and northwestern l o c a t i o n s . The treatment of the few black commissioned o f f i c e r s p r i o r t o World War I i l l u s t r a t e s the great r e l u c t a n c e of the army to allow any black man, however q u a l i f i e d , command r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . John Alexander (West P o i n t 1887) was assigned to the 9th C a v a l r y post exchange, and was r e l i e v e d of h i s d u t i e s i n 1894, f o r no apparent r e a s o n . 7 ^ C h a r l e s Young, who d i d see a c t i v e s e r v i c e with the white 7th C a v a l r y i n 1896, with a black volunteer regiment during, the Spanish-American War, and with General Pershing i n Mexico, was sent on a m i l i t a r y m i ssion to L i b e r i a d u r i n g World War I r a t h e r than allow him the f i e l d command to which h i s rank and s e r v i c e e n t i t l e d h i m . 7 6 The case of Henry 0. F l i p p e r was p a r t i c u l a r l y sad, i f as he i n s i s t e d he was not g u i l t y of the misuse of funds f o r which he was c o u r t - m a r t i a l l e d i n 1881. I t seems h i g h l y p o s s i b l e that he.was r a i l r o a d e d , or at l e a s t that 99 he was punished very s e v e r e l y f o r what may have been poor judge-ment and i n e x p e r i e n c e . Many prominent people who knew him i n h i s l a t e r career as a mining engineer worked to have h i s c o n v i c t i o n r e v e r s e d . A l b e r t B. F a l l , S e c r e t a r y of the I n t e r i o r , w r i t i n g on h i s b e h a l f to the Senate Committee on M i l i t a r y A f f a i r s i n 1922, had t h i s to say, a f t e r p r a i s i n g F l i p p e r ' s work and a b i l i t i e s : H is l i f e i s a most p a t h e t i c one. By education, by expe-r i e n c e and because of h i s n a t u r a l h i g h i n t e l l e c t u a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , he can f i n d no p l e a s u r e i n a s s o c i a t i o n with many of h i s own race, and because of h i s c o l o r he was and i s p r e c l u d e d i n t h i s country from e n j o y i n g the s o c i e t y of those whom he would be mentally and otherwise best f i t t e d to a s s o c i a t e with. I have never known a more honorable man . . .77 A s i m i l a r statement c o u l d have been made of C h a r l e s E z e c h i e l , who had a l s o been d e p r i v e d of h i s chosen career through race p r e j u -d i c e . The d i f f i c u l t i e s experienced by these few black o f f i c e r s a l s o resemble the d i f f i c u l t i e s .faced by the f i r s t Indian c a n d i -dates f o r the Indian C i v i l S e r v i c e ; i t was p o s s i b l e but very d i f f i c u l t to g a i n admission, and Indians may have been judged more h a r s h l y than B r i t i s h i n the same circumstances. Surendra Nath Banerjea, who passed the I.C.S. examination i n 1869, was d i s m i s s e d i n h i s f i r s t year of s e r v i c e , on grounds that he ( l i k e F l i p p e r ) always i n s i s t e d were u n j u s t . 7 ( 3 i n each of these cases, o u t r i g h t r a c i a l p r e j u d i c e or a more s u b t l e e x p e c t a t i o n of f a i l u r e not o n l y c o n t r i b u t e d to the d e s t r u c t i o n of a chosen c a r e e r , but a l s o d e p r i v e d t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e s e r v i c e s of the t a l e n t s of three capable and ambitious young men. An extreme example of lengths to which m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s and the government were prepared to go to spare white f e e l i n g s i s 100 found i n the h a n d l i n g of the B r o w n s v i l l e i n c i d e n t of 1906, when 167 s o l d i e r s were dishonourably discharged from three companies of the 25th I n f a n t r y , a black regiment, without a t r i a l or c o u r t -m a r t i a l . On 13 August 1906, s i x t e e n to twenty armed men had engaged i n a shooting spree through the s t r e e t s of B r o w n s v i l l e , k i l l i n g one man and wounding another. A c u r s o r y i n v e s t i g a t i o n ordered by P r e s i d e n t Roosevelt suggested that men of the 25th I n f a n t r y were r e s p o n s i b l e , and s i n c e no s o l d i e r s of the 25th I n f a n t r y would admit to involvement with the shooting or i d e n t i f y o t h ers who were g u i l t y , the i n v e s t i g a t o r s concluded that they were engaged i n a c o n s p i r a c y of s i l e n c e . Many of the s o l d i e r s d i s m i s s e d were l o n g - s e r v i c e veterans with good r e c o r d s . A court of i n q u i r y i n 1909 found that f o u r t e e n of the s o l d i e r s were e l i g i b l e f o r r e - e n l i s t m e n t , but gave no reason f o r t h i s d e c i s i o n . Eleven of these men d i d i n f a c t r e - e n l i s t . Most of the men d i s c h a r g e d were never given an o p p o r t u n i t y to defend themselves i n c o u r t, or even to appear before an i n q u i r y . The g e n e r a l f e e l i n g among b l a c k s was that the s o l d i e r s had been r a i l r o a d e d . White Southerners i n c o n t r a s t were p l e a s e d with P r e s i d e n t Roosevelt's a c t i o n and f e l t i t was both l e g a l and j u s t . 7 9 Comparison of American and Indian Armies, c. 1865-1914 I t might appear that the American Army, a v o l u n t e e r c i t i z e n army s e r v i n g a democratic government, c o u l d have l i t t l e i n common with the Indian Army, a mercenary army s e r v i n g a f o r e i g n i m p e r i a l power. As Roger Beaumont has observed, there was " v i r t u a l l y no American e q u i v a l e n t to the sepoy . . . (unless i t was the black 101 ' b u f f a l o s o l d i e r ' ) . " 8 0 I f the black regiments i n the American Army are c o n s i d e r e d as a separate c l a s s (as indeed they were), many s i m i l a r i t i e s can be seen. Black s o l d i e r s had approximately the same p o s i t i o n r e l a t i v e to white s o l d i e r s and o f f i c e r s i n the American Army, as Indian s o l d i e r s had to white ( B r i t i s h ) o f f i c e r s and troops i n the m i l i t a r y i n I n d i a ( i n c l u d i n g Indian Army and B r i t i s h troops i n I n d i a ) . W i t h i n the Indian Army i t s e l f , the s t a t u s of low-caste s o l d i e r s r e l a t i v e to h i g h - c a s t e s o l d i e r s a l s o resembled i n some r e s p e c t s the black/white r e l a t i o n s h i p i n the American Army. The comparison i s best made i n the p e r i o d between 1866 and 1914. In 1866 the American Army was r e - o r g a n i z e d as a r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l standing army a f t e r the C i v i l War; by the same date i n In d i a the upheavals of the Indian Mutiny were past, the t r a n s f e r from Company to Crown was complete, and the i n t e r n a l m i l i t a r y s i t u a t i o n was s t a b l e . In both 'countries the primary f u n c t i o n of the army was to maintain i n t e r n a l s e c u r i t y ( e s p e c i a l l y i n I n d i a ) , to guard and sometimes advance the f r o n t i e r s , and to f i g h t occa-s i o n a l s m a l l e x t e r n a l campaigns. v As f o r g e n e r a l c o n d i t i o n s of s e r v i c e , these were roughly comparable. Pay s c a l e s (although meaningful comparisons are d i f f i c u l t due to the many d i f f e r e n c e s i n s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s , f a m i l y s t r u c t u r e s , and other o p p o r t u n i t i e s ) seem to have been more-or-less comparable—on the low end of the range f o r c i v i l employment of comparable s k i l l , but accep t a b l e and even a t t r a c -t i v e to men with l i m i t e d o p t i o n s . S e r v i c e f o r pension was about the same: t h i r t y years i n the American Army ( l e s s i f d i s a b l e d ) ; 102 twenty-one years f o r h a l f pension; t h i r t y - t w o f o r f u l l pension, (with p r o v i s i o n f o r i n v a l i d pension) i n the Indian Army. In n e i t h e r case were black s o l d i e r s , or low-caste s o l d i e r s , p a i d at a lower l e v e l . Table V shows comparative s e r v i c e c o n d i t i o n s , with b l a c k s compared both with a l l Indian s o l d i e r s and with low-c a s t e Indians as a subgroup. The American Army spent the p e r i o d 1866-1900 l a r g e l y at p o s t s on the western and southern f r o n t i e r s . The b l a c k regiments were almost c o n t i n u o u s l y posted west of the M i s s i s s i p p i ; although t h i s appeared to be d i s c r i m i n a t o r y treatment to many b l a c k s , white regiments a l s o spent very long tours on the f r o n t i e r . There was simply a long f r o n t i e r with many posts to be g a r r i s o n e d by a small army. By c o n t r a s t , although the Indian Army fought two major wars i n A f g h a n i s t a n and g a r r i s o n e d the North-West F r o n t i e r , most r e g i -ments were posted on a semi-permanent b a s i s f a i r l y c l o s e to t h e i r r e c r u i t i n g grounds. Regiments sent f a r from home on a c t i v e s e r v i c e were u s u a l l y not expected to serve more than a few years ( f i v e seemed to be maximum) without r e l i e f . Only a few Bombay regiments ( i n c l u d i n g the B a l u c h i regiments) spent much time on the f r o n t i e r ; most served at m i l i t a r y cantonments i n the Presidency. A t t i t u d e s of o f f i c e r s towards t h e i r men d i f f e r e d i n s i g n i f -i c a n t ways. White o f f i c e r s i n the American Army i n some in s t a n c e s resented being assigned to black regiments, e i t h e r because they b e l i e v e d t h e i r chances of promotion would be reduced or because they had a low o p i n i o n of black troops. For example, 103 TABLE V COMPARATIVE SERVICE CONDITIONS AMERICAN TO INDIAN ARMIES, c. 1865 - 1914 S i m i l a r i t i e s B l a c k s 1. not e n l i s t e d i n A r t i l l e r y 2. not e l i g i b l e f o r promotion beyond regimental l e v e l . A l -though i n theory (A.G.O. #93 of 1867) commission from the ranks was p o s s i b l e t h i s was very r a r e , e s p e c i a l l y f o r b l a c k s . 3. not allowed to command white troops 4. black troops o f f i c e r e d by whites 5. h i g h r a t e of r e - e n l i s t m e n t compared to whites 6. number of b l a c k s i n army s t r i c t l y l i m i t e d 7. e n l i s t e d i n support u n i t s , mess stewards i n Navy, e t c . ; Even r e g u l a r regiments some-times performed non-combat d u t i e s 8. Army one of the best of l i m i t e d employment op t i o n s P i f f e r e n c e s 1. e n l i s t e d i n Navy i n very l i m i t e d numbers Indians 1. A r t i l l e r y r e s t r i c t e d to a few Mountain B a t t e r i e s 2. not e l i g i b l e f o r promotion beyond regimental l e v e l 3. not allowed to command B r i t i s h troops 4. Indian troops o f f i c e r e d by B r i t i s h 5. many l o n g - s e r v i c e s o l d i e r s 6. t h e o r e t i c a l l y r e s t r i c t e d to a set r a t i o with B r i t i s h troops i n I n d i a Low-Caste Indians 7. o f t e n e n l i s t e d as musicians and as menials, even when a l s o accepted as combatants; employed as servants by B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s 8. Army one of the best of l i m i t e d employment o p t i o n s 1. served i n Indian Navy/ Bombay Marine at lower ranks from 1863 on 104 TABLE V — C o n t i n u e d Di f f e r e n c e s Blacks 2. not e n l i s t e d as Marines 3. nominally equipped and t r a i n e d same as white troops; i n p r a c t i c e may have sometimes r e c e i v e d l o w e r - q u a l i t y equip-ment . 4. 2 Black c a v a l r y regiments Indians 2. Marine B a t t a l i o n i n Bombay Army 3. Indian Army gi v e n l e s s e f -f e c t i v e weapons, poorer housing, lower l e v e l of b e n e f i t s than B r i t i s h troops, as a matter of p o l i c y . Low-Caste Indians 4. Not e n l i s t e d i n c a v a l r y f o r f i n a n c i a l reasons r a t h e r than p o l i c y (Bombay c a v a l r y orga-n i z e d on s i l l a d a r i system) George Custer r e f u s e d the c o l o n e l c y of a black c a v a l r y regiment and took a lower rank to serve with a white regiment. O f f i c e r s of b lack regiments sometimes were not accepted s o c i a l l y among white c i v i l i a n s . Other white o f f i c e r s adopted a p a t e r n a l i s t i c a t t i t u d e . A few were able to accept b l a c k s simply as s o l d i e r s and to t r e a t them with the same re s p e c t , and demand from them the same performance as white s o l d i e r s . Comparing the treatment of the n a t i v e o f f i c e r s of the 17th Bombay I n f a n t r y with the treatment of the 25th I n f a n t r y at B r o w n s v i l l e , Texas some years l a t e r , the Indian s o l d i e r s on the whole got much b e t t e r treatment. Seven of the o f f i c e r s were simply d i s c h a r g e d on t h e i r o r d i n a r y pension, while the l a s t was d i s c h a r g e d with a g r a t u i t y of s i x months pay. T h i s was a p u n i s h -ment i n that some of them at l e a s t would o r d i n a r i l y have expected to r e c e i v e the higher r a t e of pension of t h e i r rank, but i t 105 h a r d l y seems e x c e s s i v e , and was much l e s s severe than the summary di s c h a r g e without pension or b e n e f i t s meted out to the men of the 25th I n f a n t r y . These are both extreme, but by no means i s o l a t e d or aber-r a n t , examples of the treatment accorded to Indian s o l d i e r s and bla c k s o l d i e r s r e s p e c t i v e l y . Apart from the a b s t r a c t q u e s t i o n of whether low-caste men were u n f a i r l y p e r c e i v e d as i n f e r i o r s o l -d i e r s , B r i t i s h m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s g e n e r a l l y t r e a t e d Indian s o l d i e r s as f a i r l y as p o s s i b l e , i f onl y i n the i n t e r e s t of keeping up recruitment and m a i n t a i n i n g morale. In the American s i t u a t i o n , not o n l y was there c o n s i d e r a b l e p r e j u d i c e among white c i v i l i a n s a g a i n s t black s o l d i e r s , but a l s o a tendency f o r m i l i -t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s to pander to white s e n s i t i v i t i e s while i g n o r i n g black s o l d i e r s ' l e g a l r i g h t s . T h i s at l e a s t was a w i d e l y - h e l d b e l i e f among black s o l d i e r s , and even a l l o w i n g f o r p o s s i b l e b i a s among black h i s t o r i a n s and popular w r i t e r s , i t appears to have s u b s t a n t i a l j u s t i f i c a t i o n . Summary The l a s t t h i r d of the n i n e t e e n t h century saw s i g n i f i c a n t changes i n the o r g a n i z a t i o n of both the Indian Army and the Uni t e d S t a t e s Army, and a r e l a t i v e d e c l i n e i n the o p p o r t u n i t i e s a v a i l a b l e to low-caste and black , s o l d i e r s r e s p e c t i v e l y . T h i s d e c l i n e o c c u r r e d i n s p i t e of past s a t i s f a c t o r y s e r v i c e ; i n the * case of black s o l d i e r s , the dramatic example of the USCT; i n the case of the Mahars, long and l o y a l though l e s s s t r i k i n g a s s o c i a -t i o n with the Bombay Army. 106 The northward s h i f t of r e c r u i t i n g i n the Indian Army was p r o b a b l y i n e v i t a b l e , given m i l i t a r y requirements. The a b o l i t i o n of the separate Presidency armies was long overdue by the time i t a c t u a l l y happened i n 1893. These changes alone would have l a r g e -l y e l i m i n a t e d men from southern and western I n d i a ( i n c l u d i n g the Mahars) from the army, without any formal d e c l a r a t i o n of t h e i r u n s u i t a b i l i t y ; with a m a j o r i t y of regiments s t a t i o n e d semi-permanently i n the Punjab and North-West F r o n t i e r , few Konkanis would be l i k e l y to t r a v e l to Peshawar or Amritsar to e n l i s t . I f p h y s i c a l d e t e r i o r a t i o n were a major problem, more s t r i n g e n t p h y s i c a l examinations c o u l d have d e a l t with t h i s . Why then was i t c o n s i d e r e d necessary to produce d e t a i l e d l i s t s of c l a s s e s and c a s t e s no longer to be e n l i s t e d ? The author suggests that the " m a r t i a l r a c e s " theory s a t i s f i e d other requirements than improving m i l i t a r y e f f i c i e n c y , p a r t i c u l a r l y m a i n t a i n i n g a p o l i t i -c a l l y n e u t r a l army which conformed to B r i t i s h p r e j u d i c e s about c l a s s and c a s t e . R e s t r i c t i n g recruitment of black men to o n l y four r e g u l a r regiments, and p l a c i n g severe l i m i t a t i o n s on t h e i r o p p o r t u n i t i e s to become o f f i c e r s , although j u s t i f i e d on the grounds of inherent l a c k of l e a d e r s h i p q u a l i t i e s , courage, endurance, and other m i l i t a r y v i r t u e s , a l s o served other ends. The p r a c t i c e of segre-g a t i n g black s o l d i e r s i n t h e i r own u n i t s (where p o s s i b l e f a r from white p o p u l a t i o n s ) , denying them o f f i c e r t r a i n i n g , and keeping them i n the l e a s t t e c h n i c a l l y - a d v a n c e d branches of the army, c e r t a i n l y c o n t r i b u t e d to m a i n t a i n i n g the p a t t e r n of white domi-nance by l i m i t i n g b l ack access to m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g . As i n the 107 Indian case, m i l i t a r y e f f i c i e n c y c o u l d have been maintained by a p p r o p r i a t e standards f o r p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s and e d u c a t i o n a l attainments. An important d i f f e r e n c e i n these two s i t u a t i o n s i s a d i r e c t consequence of the d i f f e r e n c e i n p o l i t i c a l s i t u a t i o n s . The government of I n d i a d i d not have to give much weight to Indian p u b l i c o p i n i o n , c e r t a i n l y none to the views of poor, low-caste s o l d i e r s . As w i l l be seen l a t e r , Indian p u b l i c o p i n i o n d i d not always agree with government recruitment p o l i c i e s , but with l i t t l e or no r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n government, disagreement c o u l d not become e f f e c t i v e p r e s s u r e f o r change. American b l a c k s , on the other hand, d i d have some p o l i t i c a l power and d i d have some c o n s t i t u t i o n a l r i g h t s as c i t i z e n s . They c o u l d not, t h e r e f o r e , be completely excluded from the m i l i t a r y , and a few even had to be allowed a chance to become o f f i c e r s (however g r u d g i n g l y g i v e n ) . O v e r a l l s i m i l a r i t y i n m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e c o n d i t i o n s f o r b l a c k s and Indians ( p a r t i c u l a r l y low-caste I n d i a n s ) , as shown i n Table V, extended to a c o n s i d e r a b l e improvement i n pay and bene-f i t s , more advanced weapons and equipment, with a p a r a l l e l r e d u c t i o n i n access f o r b l a c k s and low-caste men. B e n e f i t s of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e are d i s c u s s e d i n some d e t a i l i n the next chapter. In both i n s t a n c e s , however, a general improvement i n p r o f e s s i o n a l standards l e d to fewer o p p o r t u n i t i e s due o v e r t l y to the (presumed) i n a b i l i t y of b l a c k s or Mahars/"non-martial c l a s -ses" to measure up to the new standards, but c o v e r t l y to c a s t e / c l a s s p r e j u d i c e s and a d e s i r e to maintain the s o c i a l and p o l i t i -c a l s t a t u s quo. 108 Footnotes, Chapter I I I R. K. P e r t i , South A s i a : F r o n t i e r P o l i c i e s , A d m i n i s t r a t i v e Problems and Lord Lansdowne (New D e l h i : O r i e n t a l P u b l i s h e r s and D i s t r i b u t o r s , 1976), p. 151. K. M. L. Saxena, The M i l i t a r y System of In d i a , 1850-1900 (New D e l h i : S t e r l i n g P u b l i s h e r s Pvt. L t d . , 1974), pp. 1-2. I b i d . , pp. 4-5. Roger Beaumont, Sword of the Raj : The B r i t i s h Army i n I n d i a , 1747-1947 (New York: The B o b b s - M e r r i l l Company, Inc., 1977), p. 40. S i r P a t r i c k C a d e l l , H i s t o r y of the Bombay Army (London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1938), app. T, pp. 307-313. M.S.A., M i l i t a r y Compilations, v o l . 492 of 1852, #3194. Bombay I n d u s t r i e s : The Cotton M i l l s , ed. by S. M. Rutnagur (Bombay: The Indian T e x t i l e J o u r n a l L t d . , 1927), p. 9. T h i s was owned by the Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company, founded by Mr. Cawosji Nanabhoy Daver. M.S.A., M i l i t a r y Compilations, v o l . 812 of 1858, #515, item 8892, pp. 6-8. M.S.A., M i l i t a r y Compilations, v o l . 812 of 1858, #515, item 7893, par. 5. Jemadar ( l a t e r Subadar-Major) Moosajee, the Native Adjutant who had given f i r s t i n f o r m a t i o n of the mutiny, was t r a n s f e r r e d to the 17th Native I n f a n t r y . N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, January 1894, #2282-85 B. (See a l s o n. 30, chap. VI.) The Kayasthas o b j e c t e d to being c l a s s e d as "menials," and s a i d so i n a memorial to government, but were ad v i s e d that no r e f l e c t i o n on t h e i r s o c i a l s t a t u s was intended, o n l y that they were not " m a r t i a l . " N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, November 1882, #1702 and 1703, pars. 3-4. Saxena, M i l i t a r y System of In d i a , p. 100. M.S.A., M i l i t a r y Compilations, v o l . 812 of 1858, #515, pp. 441-446; L i e u t . H. L. Showers, "The Meywar B h i l Corps," U.S.I. J o u r n a l , no. 84 (January 1891):87-95; A. H. A. Simcox, A Memoir of the Khandesh B h i l Corps (Bombay: Thacker & Company L i m i t e d , n.d., c. 1912). 109 B h i l s had been r e c r u i t e d i n t o i r r e g u l a r l o c a l corps, i n c l u d i n g the Meywar B h i l Corps (1841-1891) and the Khandesh B h i l Corps (1825-1862), the l a t t e r being converted to armed p o l i c e (1862-1891) p r i o r to a b s o r p t i o n i n t o the r e g u l a r p o l i c e f o r c e s . Sporadic attempts were made to r e c r u i t them as r e g u l a r sepoys, but without much success or p e r s i s t e n c e . 15. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, March 1882, #1153, pp. 13-23. 16. P h i l i p Mason, A Matter of Honour: An Account of the Indian Army, I t s O f f i c e r s and Men (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1976), p. 347. The term "Native" was o f f i c i a l l y dropped i n 1885. 17. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, June 1891, #292, General Order no. 537. 18. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, December 1892, #1457. 19. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, December 1892, #1453, p. 10. 20. Thomas R. M e t c a l f , The Aftermath of R e v o l t ; I n d i a , 1857-1870 ( P r i n c e t o n , N.JT1 P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1964), p. 8. 21. Peter Halfpenny, P o s i t i v i s m and S o c i o l o g y : E x p l a i n i n g S o c i a l L i f e (London: George A l l e n & Unwin, 1982), p. 21; Robert C. B a n n i s t e r , S o c i a l Darwinism: Science and Myth i n Anglo-American S o c i a l Thought ( P h i l a d e l p h i a : Temple U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1979), p^ 4. The term " s o c i a l Darwinism" was used by R i c h a r d H o f s t a d t e r i n 1955, but a c c o r d i n g to B a n n i s t e r f i r s t appeared on the Continent about 1880. I t has been a p p l i e d to a wide v a r i e t y of s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l views, most having l i t t l e to do with Charles Darwin. 22. Stephen P. Cohen, The Indian Army: I t s C o n t r i b u t i o n to the Development of a Nation (Berkeley, C a l i f . : TT. of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1971), p. 45. 23. H. W. C. Davis and J . R. H. Weaver, The D i c t i o n a r y of N a t i o n a l Biography, 1912-1921 (London: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1927), pp. 464-470. Appointed c o l o n e l - i n - c h i e f of the Indian E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force, Roberts went to France to v i s i t and encourage the troops, but d i e d of a c h i l l . He was eighty-two years o l d and a d e d i c a t e d s o l d i e r to the end. 24. F i e l d - M a r s h a l Lord Roberts, of Kandahar, Forty-One Years i n I n d i a (New York: Longmans, Green & C o ~ 1900), p. 499. 110 25. Mason, A Matter of Honour, pp. 345-46. 26. Roberts, Forty-One Years i n I n d i a , p. 470. 27. I b i d . , p. 471. 28. I b i d . , p. 472. 29. A r c h i b a l d Forbes, The Afghan Wars, 1839-42 and 1878-80 (London: Seeley & Co., L i m i t e d , 1892), pp. 292-302; L i e u t . - C o l . E. W. C. Sandes, The Indian Sappers and Miners (Chatham: I n s t i t u t i o n of Royal Engineers, 1948), pp. 279-280; T. A. Heathcote, The Indian Army: The G a r r i s o n of B r i t i s h I m p e r i a l I n d i a , 1822-1922, H i s t o r i c Armies and Navies S e r i e s (Newton Abbot, London, Vancouver: David & C h a r l e s , 1974), p. 88. 30. Quoted i n Saxena, M i l i t a r y System of I n d i a , pp. 264-265. 31. Roberts, Forty-One Years i n I n d i a , pp. 531-532. 32. From The M a r t i a l Races of I n d i a , quoted i n Mason, A Matter of Honour, pp. 348-9. 33. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, August 1885, #135, app. C, p. 259. "Proposal of Army Commission r e g a r d i n g c r e a t i o n of an army r e s e r v e . " 34. C y n t h i a H. Enloe, E t h n i c S o l d i e r s : S t a t e S e c u r i t y i n D i v i d e d S o c i e t i e s (Athens: The U. of Georgia Press, 1980), pp. 26-28. 35. Saxena, M i l i t a r y System of I n d i a , p. 245. 36. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, November 1882, #1704, l e t t e r from Maj.-Gen. S i r G. R. Greaves, A d j u t a n t -General i n I n d i a ; C i r c u l a r no. 457, dated Simla, 12 March 1851, from L t . - C o l . H. T. Tucker, Adjutant-General of the army. 37. Enloe, E t h n i c S o l d i e r s , p. 27. 38. "God b l e s s the Squire and h i s r e l a t i o n s , And keep us i n our proper s t a t i o n s . " S a i d , tongue-in-cheek, by an obscure V i c t o r i a n E n g l i s h -man, H. D. Packer (born 1898); (the author's f a t h e r ) . Probably a misquotation of C h a r l e s Dickens, The Chimes: 0 l e t us love our occupations, B l e s s the s q u i r e and h i s r e l a t i o n s , L i v e upon our d a i l y r a t i o n s , And always know our proper s t a t i o n s . Oxford D i c t i o n a r y of Quotations, 3rd ed. (Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1979), p. 176. I l l 39. The Duke of W e l l i n g t o n , b e f o r e Waterloo, d e s c r i b e d h i s i n f a n t r y as "the scum of the earth, e n l i s t e d f o r d r i n k . " 40. John Prebble, The Highland Clearances (London: Seeker and Warburg, 1963), pp. 316-322. 41. Cohen, The Indian Army, pp. 48-49. 42. Mason, A Matter of Honour, p. 348; Saxena, M i l i t a r y System of I n d i a , p. 195; Roberts, Forty-One Years, pp. 514-520. 43. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, May 1893, #2319-2320. 44. P h i l i p Woodruff [ P h i l i p Mason], The Men Who Ruled I n d i a , v o l . I I : The Guardians (London: Jonathan Cape, 1963), pp. 184-185. David E z e c h i e l i s mentioned as a c t i n g D i s t r i c t M a g i s t r a t e , Noakhali D i s t r i c t , Bengal. 45. Mason, A Matter of Honour, pp. 202-203. 46. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, June 1888, #3317. 47. They were: Subadar-Major B a b a j i Mania, Subadars Ram Chandar Powar, Punjab Singh, Jaganath Pande, K r i s h n a j i Kadam, Jemadars Sankappa and Shaik Suliman, and Jemadar Isaac M u s a j i . 48. N.A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, June 1888, #3317. 49. Jack D. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y i n American H i s t o r y : A New P e r s p e c t i v e (N.p.: Praeger, 1974), p~. 32. 50. Robert E w e l l Greene, Black Defenders of America 1775-1973 (Chicago: Johnson P u b l i s h i n g Company Inc., 1974), pp. 355-356. 51. Marvin F l e t c h e r , The Black S o l d i e r and O f f i c e r i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s Army, 1891-1917 (Columbia: The U. of M i s s o u r i Press, 1974), p. 18. 52. B i n k i n et a l . , Blacks and the M i l i t a r y (Washington, D.C: The Brookings I n s t i t u t i o n , 1982), p. 15, n. 11. 53. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , p. 42. 54. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Army L i f e i n a Black Regiment (Boston: Beacon Press, 1962; o r i g . pub. 1869), pi 242. The s o l d i e r s a l s o sang the f o l l o w i n g d i t t y , "Ten d o l l a r a month 1 Tree ob dat f o r c l o t h i n ' 1 Go to Washington 112 F i g h t f o r Linkum's d a r t e r 1" " L i n c o l n ' s daughter" being L i b e r t y . 55. Greene, Black Defenders of America, p. 347. 56. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , p. 43. 57. Higginson, Army L i f e i n a Black Regiment, p. 26. 58. Master Sgt. I r v i n H. Lee, Negro Medal of Honor Men (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1967), pp. 127-129. 59. Quoted i n Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , p. 51. 60. Sgt.-Major C. A. Fleetwood to James H a l l , 8 June 1865, quoted i n Greene, Black Defenders of America, p. 351. 61. W. Sherman Savage, Blacks i n the West, c o n t r i b u t i o n s i n Afro-American and A f r i c a n S t u d i e s , no. 23 (Westport, C o n n e c t i c u t : Greenwood Press, 1976), p. 51. 62. I b i d . , p. 51. 63. I b i d . , pp. 54-62. 64. Lee, Negro Medal of Honor, p. 128. 65. Don Rickey, J r . , F o r t y M i l e s a Day on Beans and Hay: The E n l i s t e d S o l d i e r F i g h t i n g the Indian Wars (Norman: U. of Oklahoma Press, 1963), p. 159; Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , chap. 4; F l e t c h e r , Black S o l d i e r s and O f f i - c e r s , i n t r o d u c t i o n ; Savage, Blacks i n the West, chap. 3. In the 1880s almost 41 out of 1000 s o l d i e r s were h o s p i t a l i z e d f o r a l c o h o l i s m ; t h i s i n c l u d e d o n l y the most severe cases, men s u f f e r i n g from d e l i r i u m tremens. In the four b lack regiments o n l y 5 l/2 cases per 1000 were r e p o r t e d . 66. Rickey, F o r t y M i l e s a Day, passim. "Spread-eagling" i n v o l v e d s t a k i n g a man out i n the sun, l y i n g f l a t on h i s back with h i s arms and l e g s t i e d to stakes, f o r a p e r i o d of s e v e r a l hours. 67. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , p. 64. 68. Greene, Black Defenders of America, pp. 360-363; Savage, Blacks i n the West; pp. 52-53. 69. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , p. 93; Greene, Black Defenders of America^ pp. 189-90. 70. F l e t c h e r , Black S o l d i e r and O f f i c e r , pp. 45-46. 71. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , p. 91. 113 72. I b i d . , pp. 85, 93-94. John R. Lynch was a prominent black Republican from M i s s i s s i p p i whose appointment was a p i e c e of p o l i t i c a l patronage. 73. Samuel E l i o t Morison, Henry S t e e l e Commager, and W i l l i a m E. Leuchtenburg, A Concise H i s t o r y of the American Republic (New York: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1977), pp. 487-88. 74. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , pp. 104-106. 75. Savage, Blacks i n the West, p. 52. 76. I b i d . , p. 53. 77. Greene, Black Defenders of America, p. 361. 78. Woodruff, The Men Who Ruled I n d i a , pp. 169-171. 79. Foner, Blacks and the M i l i t a r y , pp. 95-103; F l e t c h e r , The Black S o l d i e r and O f f i c e r , pp. 119-152. In 1971 a black Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a , Augustus F. Hawkins (D.), succeeded i n having a b i l l passed to d e c l a r e a l l of the d i s c h a r g e s honourable. The l a s t s u r v i v o r , D o r s i e W i l l i s , was awarded a pension of S25,000. 80. Beaumont, Sword of the Raj, p. IX. 114 CHAPTER IV COSTS AND BENEFITS OF MILITARY SERVICE The c o s t s of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e are r e a d i l y apparent. They i n c l u d e , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n wartime, the r i s k of death or d i s a b i l i -ty, r e s t r i c t i o n s on p e r s o n a l l i b e r t y , acceptance of m i l i t a r y d i s c i p l i n e , frequent enforced s e p a r a t i o n from f a m i l y and home, and foregone o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r c i v i l i a n employment. B e n e f i t s i n c l u d e pay and pensions, access to education and/or s p e c i a l i z e d t r a i n i n g , p r e f e r e n t i a l access to employment, enhanced s o c i a l s t a t u s , and p e r s o n a l s a t i s f a c t i o n . For American b l a c k s there was an a d d i t i o n a l f a c t o r : the b e l i e f t h at f i g h t i n g f o r freedom i n the C i v i l War had guaranteed that black men c o u l d never again be denied t h e i r freedom or have i t c a s t i n t o t h e i r faces that freedom had been given to them and not won. C o r p o r a l Thomas Long, quoted e a r l i e r , made t h i s p o i n t on the b a s i s of h i s p e r s o n a l s e r v i c e with the 1st South C a r o l i n a Regiment; U l y s s e s Lee confirmed the importance of m i l i t a r y s e r -v i c e p r i o r to World War I, s t a t i n g t h a t : [The Army] was one of the few n a t i o n a l endeavors i n which Negroes had had a r e l a t i v e l y secure p o s i t i o n and which, at l e a s t i n time of war, cou l d l e a d to n a t i o n a l r e c o g n i -t i o n of t h e i r worth as c i t i z e n s and t h e i r p o t e n t i a l as p a r t n e r s i n a common u n d e r t a k i n g . 1 S i m i l a r l y the Mahars co u l d c l a i m that s e r v i c e i n the army had removed u n t o u c h a b i l i t y and giv e n them equal s t a t u s i n s o c i e t y . As the Indian newspaper Rashtra V i r put i t , 115 Army en l i s t m e n t i s the b i r t h r i g h t of every community and l i k e e ducation removes u n t o u c h a b i l i t y and g i v e s e q u a l i t y of s t a t u s to the Mahars. 2 These b e n e f i t s are d i f f i c u l t to measure i n o b j e c t i v e terms, so i t i s important to note the s p e c i f i c , measurable, o b j e c t i v e b e n e f i t s of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e . The Indian Army As a p r o f e s s i o n a l standing army, the Indian Army ( s p e c i f i -c a l l y the three Presidency armies of which i t was composed) o f f e r e d r e g u l a r pay, some long-term s e c u r i t y i n the form of pensions and c i v i l employment, and a degree of p r o f e s s i o n a l t r a i n i n g . In t h i s i t d i f f e r e d from most of the armies of Indian or Moghul r u l e r s , which were o f t e n p a i d i r r e g u l a r l y or not at a l l , and counted on plunder to make up shortages. S e r v i c e i n the Indian Army opened up the prospect of the m i l i t a r y as a p r o f e s -s i o n f o r o r d i n a r y men, not an a r i s t o c r a t i c blood s p o r t . Pay and pension b e n e f i t s f o r Indian s o l d i e r s of the n i n e -teenth century were r a t h e r low, but not i n s i g n i f i c a n t . In 1881 the pay of an Indian s o l d i e r ranged from 7 rupees per month f o r a p r i v a t e to 100 rupees per month f o r a Subadar f i r s t c l a s s . S t a f f allowances f o r noncommissioned o f f i c e r s and VCOs ranged from 2 rupees per month f o r a Colour H a v i l d a r to 25 rupees per month f o r the Subadar-Major of a regiment. Good-conduct pay was i n t r o d u c e d i n 1837, and by 1886 amounted to 1, 2, or 3 rupees per month a f t e r three, s i x and ten y e a r s ' s e r v i c e r e s p e c t i v e l y . In 1876 a grant of 30 rupees was given on e n l i s t m e n t f o r purchase of c l o t h i n g , with 4 rupees "half-mounting," or k i t money a n n u a l l y f o r upkeep, r a i s e d to 5 rupees i n 1886. 3 1 116 By comparison, i n 1875 wages i n the Bombay co t t o n m i l l s , which a t t r a c t e d a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n of t h e i r workers from the same d i s t r i c t s of the Konkan, Kolaba and R a t n a g i r i , as the army d i d , ranged from 5 to 6 rupees per month f o r boys, 7 to 8 rupees per month f o r c o o l i e s and c e r t a i n s e m i - s k i l l e d workers, to as h i g h as 50 rupees per month f o r mechanics. 4 The pay s c a l e f o r s o l d i e r s was t h e r e f o r e roughly comparable to that of c o t t o n m i l l workers. S o l d i e r s were p r o v i d e d with housing, medical care, and p a r t of t h e i r c l o t h i n g and food expenses, while m i l l hands had to p r o v i d e a l l of these f o r themselves. In a d d i t i o n , m i l l work was p h y s i c a l l y arduous and f r e q u e n t l y unhealthy. On the other hand, m i l l hands co u l d u s u a l l y o b t a i n leave on a r a t h e r generous b a s i s , and were f r e e to leave t h e i r employment whenever they chose, while s o l d i e r s were not. S o l d i e r s d i d get long f u r l o u g h s , and a f t e r 1885 were given f r e e r a i l w a y passes to go home, 5 but o n l y f i f t e e n per cent of the men of a regiment were u s u a l l y allowed f u r l o u g h i n a given year. The Governor-General, Lord D u f f e r i n , w r i t i n g i n 1885 to the S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e f o r I n d i a , Lord Randolph C h u r c h i l l , expressed the view (apparently accepted by the Commander-in-Chief, S i r Donald Stewart) that the sepoy's pay was no longer competitive with c i v i l i a n wages, or even with non-combatant r a t e s of pay, and that a r e g u l a r and adequate supply of new r e c r u i t s c o u l d t h e r e -f o r e not be counted upon. 6 Although improvements i n pay and emoluments were made i n accordance with D u f f e r i n ' s recommenda-t i o n s , the Mahabaleshwar Committee, meeting s e v e r a l years l a t e r t o d i s c u s s the r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of the Bombay Army, r e i t e r a t e d the 117 complaint that army pay was i n s u f f i c i e n t to a t t r a c t the "best m a t e r i a l . " 7 Army pay was adequate to a t t r a c t low-caste men, who might not have access to b e t t e r - p a y i n g c i v i l i a n jobs anyway, and f o r whom the h i g h e r s t a t u s of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e was an important c o n s i d e r a t i o n . M o r r i s D. M o r r i s ' a n a l y s i s of wages and the supply of labour i n the Bombay c o t t o n m i l l s shows that wages rose very s l o w l y i n the p e r i o d 1875-1906, although the r a t e of employment rose very s h a r p l y , i n d i c a t i n g the a v a i l a b i l i t y of enough s u r p l u s labour to keep wages low. I t would appear that any manpower shortages encountered by the m i l i t a r y were not a b s o l u t e , but r e l a t i v e to the supply of men of h i g h e r - c a s t e , landowning fami-l i e s who were p r e f e r r e d as s o l d i e r s . 8 M o r r i s a l s o observed that i n 1872 and 1881 untouchables formed a much smal l e r p r o p o r t i o n of the m i l l labour f o r c e than of the p o p u l a t i o n of Bombay, and as l a t e as 1921 they were s t i l l not o v e r - r e p r e s e n t e d . ^ There i s some evidence that untouchables were d i s c r i m i n a t e d a g a i n s t by some mill-owners, and were l a r g e l y excluded from the h i g h e s t - p a i d jobs i n the weaving sheds, although there i s "the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t the e x c l u s i o n of untouchables was not e n t i r e l y a c a s t e phenomenon but was a l s o a device to preserve the monopoly of p a r t i c u l a r l y advantageous but very l i m i t e d economic o p p o r t u n i t i e s a g a i n s t newcomers. A form of monetary reward f o r a small number of s o l d i e r s was the medal f o r g a l l a n t r y f o r long s e r v i c e and good conduct. The Order of B r i t i s h I n d i a was i n t r o d u c e d i n 1837 f o r long, f a i t h f u l and honourable s e r v i c e , and was given o n l y to n a t i v e 118 o f f i c e r s . The f i r s t c l a s s , awarded to Subadars and above, i n c l u d e d a s t i p e n d of two rupees per day and the t i t l e of " S i r d a r Bahadur." The second c l a s s Order of B r i t i s h I n d i a , a v a i l a b l e to Indian commissioned o f f i c e r s of a l l grades, had a s t i p e n d of one rupee per day and the t i t l e of "Bahadur." The Indian Order of M e r i t , the e q u i v a l e n t f o r Indians of the V i c t o r i a Cross, c o n f e r -red f o r conspicuous g a l l a n t r y i n the face of the enemy, was awarded i n three c l a s s e s : one act of bravery merited a t h i r d -c l a s s Order of M e r i t , a second earned the second-class, and a t h i r d e l e v a t e d the hol d e r to a f i r s t - c l a s s Order of M e r i t . The monthly allowance i n c r e a s e d a c c o r d i n g l y , from o n e - t h i r d of the b a s i c pay and pension of rank to double pay or pension f o r a f i r s t c l a s s Order of M e r i t . 1 1 In 1888, i n commemoration of Queen V i c t o r i a ' s Golden J u b i l e e (1887) long s e r v i c e and good conduct medals were i n t r o d u c e d f o r noncommissioned o f f i c e r s and other ranks. There were three d i f f e r e n t types of award. Each c a v a l r y and i n f a n t r y regiment i n the three Presidency Armies was allowed two medals f o r m e r i t o r i o u s conduct, with an annuity of 25 rupees, f o r D affadars and H a v i l d a r s . A f t e r the i n i t i a l grants were made, new medals c o u l d be awarded o n l y when a pr e v i o u s h o l d e r d i e d or was promoted or reduced i n rank. Each regiment was allowed a n n u a l l y two medals, i n s c r i b e d " f o r long s e r v i c e and good con-duct" and with a g r a t u i t y of 25 rupees each, to be granted to rank and f i l e o n l y . A f u r t h e r l o n g - s e r v i c e and good conduct medal without g r a t u i t y was allowed i n each regiment per year. The a n n u i t i e s payable i n the f i r s t i n s t a n c e were continued a f t e r d i s c h a r g e i n a d d i t i o n to p e n s i o n . 1 2 119 In the p e r i o d 1865-1885, approximately 122 n a t i v e o f f i c e r s of the Bombay Army ( r e t i r e d or s t i l l s e r v i n g ) h e l d the Order of B r i t i s h I n d i a . T h i s number i n c l u d e d one Mahar, one Mochi, and n i n e t e e n Bene I s r a e l . In 1890, the s e v e n t y - s i x members of the order i n c l u d e d f i v e Bene I s r a e l and two Mahars; by 1895 there were s i x Bene I s r a e l , but o n l y one Mahar (the other having p r e -sumably died.)13 Table VI, a p a r t i a l l i s t i n g of medals awarded between 1890 and 1900, shows Mahars g e t t i n g approximately one-f i f t h of them, about three times as many as t h e i r p r o p o r t i o n i n the army would suggest. T h i s might be accounted f o r p a r t l y by the f a c t that they were being c o m p u l s o r i l y r e t i r e d at a h i g h e r -than-normal r a t e at t h i s time, and few of the s o l d i e r s r e c r u i t e d i n t h e i r p l a c e would have q u a l i f i e d f o r l o n g - s e r v i c e medals. The o f f i c i a l records do i n d i c a t e t h at at l e a s t a few Mahars (and more than a few Bene I s r a e l , c o n s i d e r i n g t h e i r small t o t a l numbers) were able to earn the h i g h e s t honours a v a i l a b l e to Indian s o l d i e r s . The system of pensions, f i r s t i n t r o d u c e d i n 1796, was intended to reward long and f a i t h f u l s e r v i c e ; a sepoy served f o r t y years f o r f u l l pension, but might be i n v a l i d e d out on h a l f -pension a f t e r f i f t e e n y e a r s . 1 4 The system of pensions and other awards granted on o b j e c t i v e c r i t e r i a , r a t h e r than on an ad hoc b a s i s or by the whim of a commanding o f f i c e r , was an important p a r t of the p r o f e s s i o n a l i z a t i o n and modernization which d i s t i n -guished the B r i t i s h Indian Army from i t s predecessors. The pension system was reformed s e v e r a l times, and i n 1895, when most low-caste s o l d i e r s had a l r e a d y l e f t the s e r v i c e , the lower r a t e 120 TABLE VI MEDALS ISSUED TO BOMBAY ARMY, 1890-1900 Date Bene Awarded Mahars I s r a e l T o t a l Feb. M e r i t o r i o u s S e r v i c e 1 1 9 and with Annuity Sept. 1890 Long S e r v i c e & Good Conduct 27 2 122 with G r a t u i t y Long S e r v i c e & Good Conduct 3 _ 24 without G r a t u i t y June M e r i t . Svce. with Annuity 3 8 1893 L.S. & G.C. with G r a t u i t y 10 - 56 L.S. & G.C. without G r a t u i t y 5 - 18 A p r i l L.S. & G.C. with G r a t u i t y 11 1 55 1894 L.S. & G.C. without G r a t u i t y 3 — 21 A p r i l L.S. & G.C. with G r a t u i t y 7 1 54 1895 L.S. & G.C. without G r a t u i t y 2 — 18 A p r i l M e r i t ; Svce. with Annuity 1 10 1896 L.S. & G.C. with G r a t u i t y 14 1 49 L.S. & G.C. without G r a t u i t y 4 - 22 May M e r i t . Svce. with Annuity 2 8 1900 L.S. Se G.C. with G r a t u i t y 7 - 53 L.S. & G.C. without G r a t u i t y 2 - 20 SOURCE: Gazette of In d i a , M i l i t a r y Rewards L i s t s 121 of pension was granted a f t e r 21, and the hig h e r ( f u l l ) pension a f t e r 32 years' s e r v i c e . Men i n v a l i d e d out with l e s s than 21 ye a r s ' s e r v i c e r e c e i v e d e x t r a g r a t u i t i e s . ^ The b a s i c pension was approximately one h a l f the pay earned at the time of r e t i r e -ment. About 1860, a c c o r d i n g to m i l i t a r y records, men e n l i s t e d at somewhere between 18 and 22 years of age, served approximately 24 years on the average u n t i l they r e c e i v e d pensions, were pensioned o f f i n t h e i r middle to l a t e 40s, and c o l l e c t e d a pension f o r approximately 12 y e a r s . 1 6 The average amount of that pension was perhaps 5 or 6 rupees per month. In 1879, f o r example, there were 7,009 pensioners l i v i n g i n R a t n a g i r i d i s t r i c t , c o l l e c t i n g pensions t o t a l l i n g 454,520 rupees. T h i s t r a n s l a t e s to 65 rupees per year on the average. At the same time 5,599 men from R a t n a g i r i d i s t r i c t were on a c t i v e s e r v i c e i n the army, c o l l e c t i n g pay of approximately 580,000 rupees per year, f o r an average of 103 rupees per year, or about 8 1/2 rupees per month. 1 7 A p p r o x i -mately 16 per cent of the pensioners and 18 per cent of the s o l d i e r s on a c t i v e s e r v i c e were Mahars. Since the Mahars' were somewhat underrepresented at the higher ranks, i t i s pro b a b l y reasonable to suppose that they c o l l e c t e d about 14 to 15 per cent of the t o t a l pensions. T h i s would mean a t o t a l of about 68,000 rupees per year was being p a i d to the Mahar community of Ratnagi-r i d i s t r i c t i n the form of m i l i t a r y pensions, and about 87,000 rupees per year i n pay. Some p o r t i o n of m i l i t a r y pay probably found i t s way back to f a m i l i e s s t i l l r e s i d e n t i n R a t n a g i r i , but there i s no way of knowing how much t h i s might have been. T h i s i s not i n ab s o l u t e terms a huge sum of money, p a r t i c u l a r l y when 122 d i v i d e d over a l a r g e number of f a m i l i e s , but i t was important f o r a depressed community whose t r a d i t i o n a l recompense f o r s e r v i c e was i n k i n d , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n a d i s t r i c t which was poor, densely populated, and i n which cash income was r a t h e r low. The impact of t h i s s i z a b l e i n f l o w of cash to the Mahar community of Ratnagi-r i on the t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i a l order must have been s i g n i f i c a n t , s i n c e i t allowed f o r a degree of independence from the v i l l a g e a u t h o r i t i e s and from the dominant land-owning c a s t e s . The f a c t t h at, as w i l l be seen l a t e r , Mahar pensioners were able to defy v i l l a g e o f f i c i a l s on the i s s u e of s c h o o l i n g , suggests the impor-tance of t h i s degree of economic independence. Normally pensions were p a i d o n l y to s o l d i e r s , and when the s o l d i e r d i e d a f t e r r e t i r e m e n t h i s pension a l s o d i e d . However pensions were payable to f a m i l i e s under c e r t a i n circumstances. If a s o l d i e r d i e d of wounds, or of d i s e a s e c o n s i d e r e d to be caused by h i s m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e , h i s f a m i l y might be e l i g i b l e f o r a f a m i l y pension. I f the man was considered to have c o n t r i b u t e d to h i s own death by intemperate h a b i t s , such as e x c e s s i v e d r i n k -i n g or use of drugs, h i s death would not be considered s e r v i c e -r e l a t e d , and h i s f a m i l y would probably not get any pension. S o l d i e r s were a l s o r e q u i r e d to name t h e i r h e i r s , and i t appears t h a t many d i d not update t h i s p r o v i s i o n i n t h e i r r e c o r d s . A young man e n l i s t i n g would be l i k e l y to name h i s f a t h e r or mother as h i s h e i r ; i f he had a son, the son would most l i k e l y be h i s h e i r ; however, s o l d i e r s d i d not always change these p r o v i s i o n s to r e f l e c t change i n circumstances. There are a number of i n s t a n c e s of a widow, daughter, or mother of a deceased s o l d i e r p e t i t i o n i n g 123 to be named as h e i r , the nominated h e i r having predeceased the s o l d i e r , but such requests were seldom granted. The p o s i t i o n of government was c l e a r l y that a pension was i n no sense d e f e r r e d income, but was a b e n e f i t earned by long and. f a i t h f u l s e r v i c e . T h i s b e n e f i t was earned by the s o l d i e r h i m s e l f , and was t h e r e f o r e a v a i l a b l e to h i s f a m i l y o n l y i n the case of h i s death d i r e c t l y due to h i s m i l i t a r y employment. For example i n 1889, a Mahar, Jannac Bulnac, Bugler, of the 5th Bombay I n f a n t r y , d i e d of r e m i t -t e n t fever i n upper Burma. His nominated h e i r and son had a p p a r e n t l y d i e d . An a p p l i c a t i o n to t r a n s f e r h i s f a m i l y pension from the nominated h e i r to h i s daughter was r e f u s e d . ^ 8 In Feb-ruary of the same year Kasee, widow of the l a t e p r i v a t e Rughnac Downac of the 19th Bombay I n f a n t r y , a p p l i e d f o r a pension a f t e r her husband's death. He had d i e d a month a f t e r t r a n s f e r to the pension establishment, but again a f a m i l y pension was r e f u s e d . ^ On the other hand the records f o r January 1883 show two i n s t a n c e s of f a m i l y pensions granted to mothers of -deceased sepoys. Goonee, mother of the l a t e I t t n a c Gondnac, Tent Lascar, 16th Native I n f a n t r y , r e c e i v e d a f a m i l y pension of 2 rupees 6 annas a month, as a s p e c i a l case. Suggoomee, mother of l a t e Sepoy Jannac Goonac, 21st Regiment Bombay Na t i v e I n f a n t r y , who d i e d of fever c o n t r a c t e d on f o r e i g n s e r v i c e at Muscat, was granted an e x t r a o r -d i n a r y f a m i l y pension of 2 rupees 12 annas f o r l i f e or u n t i l r e m a r r i a g e . 2 0 The records note that such cases were r a r e and each should be c o n s i d e r e d on i t s own merits, but d i d not s p e c i f y why these pensions were granted while most were r e f u s e d . Very l i k e l y the deceased sons were the o n l y a d u l t males i n t h e i r 124 f a m i l i e s , thus l e a v i n g t h e i r widowed mothers e n t i r e l y without support. (Since the pensions were granted f o r l i f e or u n t i l remarriage, the women were presumably widows.) In another case, Sunttu, the widow of Subadar-Major Luximonmetter Mhadmetter, who d i e d i n the h o s p i t a l at Quetta of dysentery f i v e days a f t e r t r a n s f e r to the pension establishment, was granted a f a m i l y pension due to the very s h o r t i n t e r v a l between h i s r e t i r e m e n t and death, and the f a c t that he was a l r e a d y s u f f e r i n g from a s e r v i c e -r e l a t e d i l l n e s s of which he d i e d , at the time of h i s t r a n s f e r to pension.21 A r e t i r e d s o l d i e r had to stay out of t r o u b l e with the law, or r i s k l o s i n g h i s pension. A case i n p o i n t i s that of pensioned Sepoy Bhiknak Gopnak, a Mahar of the 21st Regiment Bombay Infan-t r y , who was granted a pension of R. 4 per mensem c. 15 May 1889. He was c o n v i c t e d i n June 1894 of "causing hurt r e s u l t i n g i n the death of one Malloo Govind" and was sentenced by the Bombay High Court to r i g o r o u s imprisonment f o r 12 months and a 200 rupee f i n e or 3 more months imprisonment i n d e f a u l t of f i n e ; he served 15 months and was r e l e a s e d August 24th, 1895. The q u e s t i o n was whether he was to be readmitted to the pension establishment and at the o r i g i n a l pension or a reduced r a t e ? The sepoy was i n f a c t granted a r e s t o r a t i o n of h i s f u l l pension a f t e r r e l e a s e from p r i s o n , but i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t there was no o b l i g a t i o n on government to continue the pension while he was i n j a i l . 2 2 There were a l s o cases of A f r i d i p ensioners, who on retirement had gone back to f a m i l i e s across the Indian border to l i v e i n t r i b a l t e r r i t o r y , being warned that they would l o s e t h e i r pensions i f 125 they continued d r i l l i n g t h e i r tribesmen i n m i l i t a r y t a c t i c s which presumably would be used a g a i n s t the B r i t i s h . 2 3 A m i l i t a r y pension was, a f t e r a l l , a reward f o r long and f a i t h f u l s e r v i c e ; a c o n t i n u a t i o n of good f a i t h was expected as a c o n d i t i o n of r e c e i p t of pension. In e s t a b l i s h i n g a system of m i l i t a r y pensions, a form of s e c u r i t y v i r t u a l l y unknown i n other forms of employment, the government sought both to make m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e a t t r a c t i v e and to encourage men to think of the army as a l i f e - t i m e c a r e e r . Long-s e r v i c e s o l d i e r s were the backbone of a t r a i n e d and d i s c i p l i n e d army, and the l o n g - s e r v i c e system minimized the number of ex-s o l d i e r s mixed i n t o the g e n e r a l p o p u l a t i o n . I t was a l s o u s e f u l as a means to secure the long-term l o y a l t y of men to whom no p a t r i o t i c appeals c o u l d be made; they were, a f t e r a l l , s e r v i n g a government which they had not chosen and which had no obvious c l a i m on t h e i r l o y a l t y . As the Superintendent of Pensions f o r Madras expressed i t ; In f o r m u l a t i n g a system f o r paying Native m i l i t a r y pen-s i o n e r s , the q u e s t i o n as to whether, a f t e r a n a t i v e s o l d i e r has served h i s time with the c o l o u r s , the S t a t e has any f u r t h e r i n t e r e s t i n t h a t man beyond the c o n s i d e r -a t i o n of paying him the s t i p e n d he has earned with the l e a s t p o s s i b l e t r o u b l e and expense, i s one s u r e l y worthy of c o n s i d e r a t i o n . . . . I would f u r t h e r submit that there i s d i r e c t and p r a c t i c a l advantage to the S tate i n l o o k i n g a f t e r the w e l f a r e of some 90,000 men who are s c a t t e r e d throughout the towns and v i l l a g e s of I n d i a , and the p i c t u r e of whose contentment and g e n e r a l s t a t e of w e l l -being i n t h e i r d e c l i n i n g years should m a t e r i a l l y a s s i s t r e c r u i t i n g , by o f f e r i n g p a l p a b l e evidence to the n a t i v e mind of the f o s t e r i n g care of the B r i t i s h Raj f o r a l l who have served her f a i t h f u l l y . 2 4 The p r o s pect of e arning a pension a f t e r twenty to f o r t y years may not have been a f a c t o r to most young men e n l i s t i n g i n 126 the army, but i t was doubtless a c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n keeping them there a f t e r a few y e a r s ' s e r v i c e . Even the very small pension of four rupees or so earned by a p r i v a t e or musician was, i n an underdeveloped economy where cash incomes were g e n e r a l l y very low, not to be scorned. Added to any income from other employ-ment, land, or v i l l a g e s e r v i c e , four rupees a month might make the d i f f e r e n c e between bare e x i s t e n c e and modest s e c u r i t y . A r e serve system was another means used by government to p r o v i d e a d d i t i o n a l s e c u r i t y f o r former s o l d i e r s and to i n c r e a s e m i l i t a r y e f f i c i e n c y at low c o s t . The e a r l i e s t type of m i l i t a r y r e s e r v e was the N a t i v e Veteran B a t t a l i o n , c o n s i s t i n g of sepoys who were s t i l l capable of l i g h t duty, but not e n t i t l e d to f u l l p e n s i o n . 2 5 From 1818 u n t i l i t s a b o l i t i o n i n the l a t e 1850s, the Veteran B a t t a l i o n was s t a t i o n e d at D a p o l i , the main m i l i t a r y s t a t i o n i n R a t n a g i r i D i s t r i c t . T h i s body of men performed a u s e f u l s e r v i c e d u r i n g the Indian Mutiny of 1857, when the Veteran B a t t a l i o n and m i l i t a r y pensioners c a l l e d back from r e t i r e m e n t performed v a r i o u s guard d u t i e s throughout the Konkan, such as a c t i n g as t r e a s u r y guards. T h i s f r e e d troops f i t f o r a c t i v e s e r v i c e f o r f i e l d s e r v i c e , l e a v i n g g a r r i s o n and guard d u t i e s to o l d e r or p a r t i a l l y d i s a b l e d men. The Veteran B a t t a l i o n a l s o p r o v i d e d a s o r t of halfway house f o r s o l d i e r s who were not e l i g i -b l e f o r pension, nor able to stand up to the r i g o r s of normal m i l i t a r y campaigning, but f i t enough f o r l i g h t d u t i e s . Given the l o c a t i o n of the Veteran B a t t a l i o n , and the p r o p o r t i o n of Mahars i n the Bombay Army, i t seems l i k e l y t h a t t h i s corps i n c l u d e d Mahar veterans. 127 The r e g u l a r army res e r v e , formed i n 1885 i n the Bengal Army and extended i n 1887 to the Madras and Bombay A r m i e s , 2 6 o f f e r e d a p o s s i b l e form of s e c u r i t y f o r former s o l d i e r s . However, reserve s e r v i c e was not very p o p u l a r . The system of regimental r a t h e r than t e r r i t o r i a l r e s e r v e s , chosen f o r s e c u r i t y reasons, was not a t t r a c t i v e , s i n c e i t r e q u i r e d r e s e r v i s t s to leave t h e i r homes and r e t u r n to t h e i r regiments (from which they were i n e f f e c t on long furlough) once every year or two. 2? T h i s was l i k e l y to i n t e r f e r e w ith r e g u l a r employment or a g r i c u l t u r a l work, as w e l l as domestic arrangements. While some Mahars may w e l l have served as r e s e r v -i s t s , i t seems u n l i k e l y t h a t very many d i d . A t h i r d measure employed by government to p r o v i d e s e c u r i t y to former s o l d i e r s , and a l s o to ensure the l o y a l t y of the army, was the establishment of v a r i o u s schemes to employ m i l i t a r y p e nsioners i n government p o s i t i o n s . Probably p r e f e r e n c e had always been given, i n an i n f o r m a l and unorganized way, to r e t i r e d s o l d i e r s and r e s e r v i s t s f o r employment i n government o f f i c e s and i n a p r i v a t e c a p a c i t y with British-owned f i r m s . However, i t was o n l y i n the mid-1880s that a formal s t r u c t u r e f o r encouraging the employment of pensioners and r e s e r v i s t s i n c i v i l c a p a c i t i e s , and making t h e i r names, addresses, and other data a v a i l a b l e to poten-t i a l employers, was adopted. By then, m i l i t a r y pay and pensions no longer compared very f a v o u r a b l y with pay f o r c i v i l i a n jobs and r e t i r e d s o l d i e r s no longer had the p r i v i l e g e s i n c i v i l l i f e t h a t they had once been able to c l a i m . Under the H.E.I.C. r u l e , sepoys had had s p e c i a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n and p r i v i l e g e s i n law c o u r t s ; these had disappeared with the annexation of Oudh and the 128 t r a n s f e r of p o l i t i c a l power to the Crown.28 As B r i t i s h r u l e was c o n s o l i d a t e d , the s p e c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p of the sepoy with the r u l i n g c l a s s became l e s s s p e c i a l ; other Indians found niches i n the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and developed ways and means to improve t h e i r s t a t u s . P r e f e r e n t i a l access to government employment, t h e r e f o r e , would be a compensation f o r the reduced p r i v i l e g e s of m i l i t a r y p ensioners i n other r e s p e c t s . At l e a s t three methods were used to a s s i s t m i l i t a r y pen-s i o n e r s i n f i n d i n g c i v i l employment. These were: advertisements i n the government C i v i l and M i l i t a r y Gazette; employment r e f e r -ences to c i v i l and m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s ; and a system of employment agencies operated i n c o n j u n c t i o n with, and by the same personnel as, the m i l i t a r y pension system. The f i r s t of these methods, although simple and inexpensive to use, was probably not very e f f e c t i v e , s i n c e h i r i n g f o r many l o w e r - l e v e l jobs was i n the hands of Indian subordinate o f f i c i a l s , who had to be persuaded to h i r e o u t s i d e t h e i r own c i r c l e of r e l a t i o n s and needy dependents, a p o i n t noted by the Superintendent of M i l i t a r y Pensions i n Madras, L i e u t e n a n t - C o l o n e l L e i g h - H u n t . 2 9 The second, although again simple and inexpensive, probably was very e r r a t i c i n i t s u s e f u l n e s s . Some c i v i l and m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s would take much more i n t e r e s t than others i n the w e l f a r e of m i l i t a r y pensioners r e s i d i n g i n t h e i r j u r i s d i c t i o n s , so whether or not a pensioner d e s i r i n g employment would be able to get a s s i s t a n c e would depend very much on the i n t e r e s t and c a p a b i l i t i e s of the c i v i l a u t h o r i -t i e s to whom he might apply. The t h i r d and most s u c c e s s f u l was the method i n t r o d u c e d i n Madras p r e s i d e n c y by S i r F r e d e r i c k 129 Roberts ( l a t e r Lord Roberts of Kandahar). Roberts's scheme was i n t r o d u c e d i n the Madras p r e s i d e n c y i n l a t e 1885, and depended f o r i t s success upon the system of pay-ment of m i l i t a r y pensions e x i s t i n g i n that p r e s i d e n c y . The p l a n was l i m i t e d to a s s i s t i n g m i l i t a r y pensioners to o b t a i n employment with r a i l w a y s . T h i s scheme was reasonably s u c c e s s f u l ; four years a f t e r i t began, of 22,035 pensioners i n the Madras p r e s i d e n c y 3,455, or almost 16 per cent, were employed. Of these, 592 were employed on r a i l w a y s i n v a r i o u s c a p a c i t i e s . Although at an i n i t i a l disadvantage because of t h e i r lack of i n f l u e n c e with the l o c a l r a i l w a y subordinates, once h i r e d the pensioners gave s a t i s -f a c t o r y s e r v i c e . Only a few were dism i s s e d f o r negligence, i n c a p a c i t y , or other good cause. T h e i r past m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g had accustomed them to d i s c i p l i n e , they were g e n e r a l l y o l d e r and more s e t t l e d i n l i f e , and t h e i r pensions were a s u r e t y f o r t h e i r good behaviour. A nominal r o l l of pensioners employed i n c i v i l c a p a c i t i e s (not a l l by r a i l w a y s ) i n Madras suggests that pensioners of Indo-European background r e c e i v e d the most b e n e f i t , as Table VII shows. I t i s l i k e l y , although not d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d to the s u b j e c t of t h i s study, that the adoption of t h i s scheme to employ m i l i -t a r y pensioners i n c i v i l c a p a c i t i e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y the r a i l w a y s , was an important f a c t o r i n what came to be an Anglo-Indian domi-n a t i o n of r a i l w a y work. 130 TABLE VII SALARY RANGE OF MADRAS PENSIONERS IN CIVIL EMPLOYMENT S a l a r y i n Rupees per Month | 100 + | 75-100 | 50-75 i 25-50 i 20-25 20 -T o t a l Number I 7 | 5 | 24 | 44 | 37 120 Number having I European | names I 6 | 5 | 19 | 30 I 28 no names give n SOURCE: N #704, pp. 73-78. •A.I., M i l i t a r y Department Proceedings, May 1889, A s p e c i a l Indian Army C i r c u l a r of 1890 set out d e t a i l e d r e g u l a t i o n s and procedures to encourage the employment of pensioners by government departments and o f f i c i a l s and p r i v a t e employers. T h i s c i r c u l a r was a p p l i c a b l e o n l y to the Bengal Army, although i t was c i r c u l a t e d i n the Bombay and Madras p r e s i d e n c i e s f o r the b e n e f i t of the men s e r v i n g i n those armies who had been r e c r u i t e d from the t e r r i t o r y of the Bengal Army. 3 0 These r u l e s were intended by government t- Library Home /
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Army service and social mobility : the Mahars of the Bombay Presidency, with comparisions with the… Basham, Ardythe Maude Roberta 1985
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| Title | Army service and social mobility : the Mahars of the Bombay Presidency, with comparisions with the Bene Israel and Black Americans |
| Creator |
Basham, Ardythe Maude Roberta |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Date Issued | 1985 |
| Description | A number of historians have asserted that military service has been an avenue of social mobility for disadvantaged peoples in multicultural societies but few detailed investigations support this assertion. This thesis does so by describing the relationship between army service and social mobility in the case of the Mahars, an untouchable community of Western India, who are compared with the Bene Israel, an Indian Jewish community, and black Americans. The thesis describes and analyses the similarities and differences in the social status and military experiences of each community, and assesses the impact of military service on their social and economic situations. The Mahars and the Bene Israel served in the Indian Army up to 1893, when both groups were declared ineligible for enlistment. The reasons for this, and the struggle of the Mahars to regain their military eligibility, are examined and compared with the relevant period for American blacks, the century from the United States Civil War to the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s. Comparative military pay and benefits, the general effects of racial and caste prejudice, the "Martial Races" theory, the relationship between military service and citizenship, and the status of soldiers in their non-military environments are discussed at length in order to support the thesis that the Mahars benefited most from military service. They received economic benefits, educational opportunities, leadership experience, enhanced social status, and improved access to official channels. Consequently, they periodically agitated for restoration of the right to enlist, something they did not finally achieve until 1942. The Bene Israel had no racial or caste stigma to overcome, and were least affected by the loss of military employment. Accordingly, they made little effort to regain enlistment status. While American blacks derived similar benefits, these were not of crucial importance for improvement of the position of the entire black population; military service was, however, important in justifying claims to political equality. Whites reinforced their dominance with pseudo-scientific beliefs in their innate racial superiority which they used to limit the participation of the Mahars and blacks in the military. But recognition as soldiers had symbolic as well as practical value in strengthening the claims of Mahars and blacks to equal status in other areas. Primary sources used for the thesis include government documents from the National Archives of India, the Maharashtra State Archives, the United Services Institution of India, and the India Office Library. Regimental and other military histories, interviews, and a variety of cultural history sources, as well as the standard monographic materials, have also been used. |
| Genre |
Thesis/Dissertation |
| Type |
Text |
| Language | eng |
| Date Available | 2010-07-22 |
| Provider | Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
| DOI | 10.14288/1.0097235 |
| URI | http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26773 |
| Degree |
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD |
| Program |
History |
| Affiliation |
Arts, Faculty of History, Department of |
| Degree Grantor | University of British Columbia |
| Campus |
UBCV |
| Scholarly Level | Graduate |
| AggregatedSourceRepository | DSpace |
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