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The author is a Bangladeshi officer.SA Officer Corps - The Beginning
Indian Army Officer Corps – Social Panorama
Hamid Hussain
East India Company (EIC) army in India consisted of Indian soldiers known as sepoys and British officers. This arrangement continued when the Crown took direct control of Indian affairs in 1858. An intermediate cadre of Indian officers later known as Viceroy's Commissioned Officers (VCOs) were a link between Indian soldiers and British officers, however even the senior most VCO was subordinate to the junior most British officer. First World War opened the doors for Indians in the officer corps of Indian army. However, only a small number of Indians were commissioned as officers and this trend continued until Second World War when large numbers of Indians were commissioned for an expanded Indian army to fulfill Imperial defense responsibilities all over the globe.
One the eve of First World War, the bulk of Indian army was recruited from northern India. This recruitment policy was based on then prevalent 'Martial Race Theory' suggesting that only certain races were good soldiers. Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims, Jats, Rajputs, Dogras, Gurkhas and Pathans were elevated to the martial races while inhabitants of South India and Bengal were considered Non-Martial. Soldiers were mainly from rural background with very little or no education. When it was decided to open Indian army officer corps to Indians, British were faced with a dilemma. The more educated Indians from Bengal and south India had not been recruited for decades as they were considered 'non-martial'. The preferred martial races were way behind in education and therefore not suitable for officer cadre. Now that officer ranks were grudgingly opened for India, the door was opened for non-martial Indians as they had the essential qualification of education.
Several factors contributed to grooming of those young Indian men from different religious and ethnic communities who decided to join Indian army as officers. The first Indians to be commissioned as officers belonged to Native Indian Land Forces (NILF) and Imperial Cadet Corps (ICC): an exclusive club for only scions of princely and aristocratic families. Majority of them faded away quickly and only a handful later reached higher ranks. It is interesting to note that the first batch of five Indians selected for training at Sandhurst in 1918 had only one candidate Sardar Madanjit Singh from Punjab; the home of Indian army. Syed Iskander Ali Mirza was from Bombay (he was descendent of Nawab family of Murshidabad in Bengal but was brought up by his mother in Bombay to keep him away from the court's intrigues), Iqbal Ali Beg was from Madras while Tarun Kumar Sinha and Lolit Kumar Roy were from Bengal. Only one candidate Mirza was commissioned from this first batch. The batch of five commissioned in July 1921 consisted of two from Bombay (Kumar Shri Himatsinhji and Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji) one each from Central India (Nawab Sarwar Ali Khan), Punjab (Daya Singh Bedi) and North West Frontier Province (Sahibzada Faiz Muhammad Khan).
In view of many handicaps including a small number of vacancies allotted to Indians at Sandhurst, strict selection criteria, living far away from home, cost of education at Sandhurst and cultural adjustment resulted in a very small number of Indians graduating from Sandhurst and continuing a successful career in Indian army.
Experiences of these pioneers were quite diverse. Review of lives of few of these officers and their subsequent military career gives insight into the life of this first generation of Indian officers. Some spent only a short career in the army while others made army their home ending their careers as senior officers in Indian and Pakistani armies. The first Indian graduate from Sandhurst Syed Iskander Ali Mirza was commissioned on July 16, 1920. Officers destined for Indian army spent their first year with a British battalion. Mirza was posted to Second Battalion of Scottish Rifles. He was the first Indian officer to serve with British on equal basis and this caused uproar in some circles. The issue caused a prolonged struggle among Indian army brass, Viceroy's Army Council, War Office in London and Secretary of State of India. This dragged on for six months and finally Mirza was able to join the British battalion in January 1921. After a year with British battalion, Mirza joined his parent regiment 17th Poona Horse (he joined 33rd Cavalry but around the same time reorganization of Indian army was under way and 33rd Cavalry and 34th Cavalry were amalgamated to form 17th Poona Horse). He only remained with his regiment for four years and transferred to Indian Political Service (IPS) in August 1926. He later became Governor General and President of Pakistan.
Mirza Riaz Ali Baig had the unique background of combination of family military service and high education. He was from a respectable Hyderabad family. His grandfather served as a Rissaldar in Royal Deccan Horse. His father was an educated government servant and rose to become the first Indian to become Vice President of Council of India in London. He moved his family to London and Baig lived in England from 1910 to 1923 attending the prestigious Clifton school. He was selected for Sandhurst and after commission joined elite 16th Light Cavalry in 1925. For the first time in his life he experienced racial prejudice when he came close to British in military setting. He along with two other Indian officers (Faiz Muhammad Khan and Sheodat Singh) lived in a separate bungalow called 'native quarters'. He resigned his commission in 1930. He was more of an intellectual bent and felt constrained by highly disciplined military life; however his personal unhappy experience in the army due to racial bias probably was the main reason for his resignation. Later, he served a long career in Indian diplomatic corps. Kumar Shri Rajendrasinhji was from the princely Jadeja family of Nawannagar. He joined the elite 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) and had a successful military career. He was the first Indian officer to win Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in Second World War. He ended his career as chief of Army Staff of Indian army.
One of the last batches of Indians trained at Sandhurst in 1932 (commissioned in January 1934) consisted of cadets selected from different backgrounds. Two were from princely states; Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan from Pataudi and Nawabzada Saleem Khan from Sachin state and three were representatives of traditional martial races; one Pushtun (Akbar Khan) and two Sikhs (Ajit Singh and Ghanshiam Singh). B. M. Kaul, Pran Nath Naranag, Rajendra Nath Nehra, Suryakant Kumar, Muhammad Abdul Latif Khan, Muhammad Usman and Shahid Hamid were representatives of newly empowered middle class in government service and no family history of military service.
British encouraged traditional elites including landlords, members of civil service, police and army to educate their children so that they could qualify for commission. These classes were in service of the government for a long time and in return prospered under Imperial patronage. Members of these classes joining army as officers ensured continued loyalty of the Indian officer corps. This also diminished chances of subversion by newly emerging nationalist politics. In 1932, it was decided to start an Indian Military Academy to train officers in India and in December 1932, first batch of 40 cadets started their training. British authorities maintained a careful balance in the selection. Fifteen were selected by open competition, fifteen were selected from army ranks and ten were from state forces. The first batches of Indian Commissioned Officers (ICOs) faced discrimination even from fellow Indian officers who attended Sandhurst and known as King Commissioned Indian Officers (KCIOs). In 1934, when two Sikh ICOs joined 3rd Cavalry there was a debate whether they should be allowed to eat in the mess. 3rd Cavalry was Indianized in 1932 and several KCIOs (Iftikhar Khan, Shahid Hamid, K. P. Dhargalkar, P. C. Banerjee, P. S. Nair, K. K. Varma and Nawabzada Agha Raza) were already serving in the regiment.
Indian officers own background and most importantly conduct of the Commanding Officer (CO) determined how well the Indian officer adjusted to his new role. A confident lad supported by a good CO was able to move on smoothly while a hesitant young man landing in a regiment with bad CO had lot of problems and that invariably affected his career. Koodendera Subayya Thimayya (nick named Timmy) was a Coorg; a small tribal community in the hilly area of South India. Coorgs were considered a 'Martial Race' by British. He was one of the first Indian students educated at St. Joseph's College at Coonoor and later he studied at Bishop Cotton's school in Bangalore. He attended Military College at Dehra Dun to prepare for Sandhurst. Indian cadets at Sandhurst had set their own rules to counter some of the handicaps and discriminations. The rules included giving double tips, always using expensive balcony seats at the theatre and not attending the grand ball at the academy just before commissioning (they were either unable to dance or not able to bring a girl for the dance). Thimayya broke the rule and became the first Indian to attend the ball. He spent his first year with 2nd Battalion of Highland Light Infantry (HLI). He was the first Indian with the Highlanders but they treated him with respect and his year with them was very pleasant. British officers introduced him into the exclusively British social circle and he interacted with British ladies. HLI officers didn't know that Bangalore United Services Club was only for British and Indians were not allowed to be members. Timmy's Commanding Officer Lt. Colonel Sir Robert Seagraves took his case to the Club Committee but was voted down. HLI officers decided to resign from the club but Timmy persuaded them not to do so. In fact, Timmy fared much better in HLI than other two English subalterns. After completing a year with HLI, Timmy was posted to his parent battalion 4/19 Hyderabad Regiment. Timmy's CO Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton Britton was especially kind to Timmy and once told him, "Timmy, you're the son I might have had'. Britton forced British exclusive Basra Club to allow membership to his Indian officers. Timmy's wife Nina spent part of her childhood in France. She was pretty, educated, spoke fluent French and felt comfortable socializing with British. Timmy and Nina were fully accepted in British society because of their unique background and they in turn felt fully comfortable in British company. Timmy was the poster child of a successful Indian officer.
The experience of Captain Kunwar Daulat Singh was totally opposite. Daulat was a Rajput from the royal house of Kotah. He was commissioned in December 1919 from the Temporary School for Indian Cadets (TSIC). In 1927, he was the senior most Indian officer with 4/19 Hyderabad Regiment at the rank of Captain. He was a good soldier and intelligent man but had extreme negative views about British. British officers in turn were not very fond of him. He was not hesitant to confront fellow British officers at even the minor slight. He was conservative and religious and was observant of all religious rituals. After the day's routine, he would change to dhoti (loin cloth) and always ate native food. His wife was with him in the cantonment but she was kept in purdah (not appearing in public without covering the face). He soon left the army or more correctly hounded out.
Experience of Shahid Hamid with 3rd Cavalry in 1934 is another example of how early experience set the stage. Shahid's one year stint with British Regiment (Prince of Wales Volunteers) was very good. He got along with officers very well, played polo and on completion of his one year, his CO wrote in his report that if allowed he would like to keep this officer permanently. It was a British officer of 3rd Cavalry Harold Watkis who asked Shahid to join his regiment. In 1922 reorganization, 5th Cavalry and 8th Cavalry were amalgamated to form 3rd Cavalry. Officers of old regiments (all British) didn't like each other and even a decade after amalgamation they sat on opposite sides of the table in mess. 3rd Cavalry was Indianized in 1932 and all British officers thought that this had diminished the prestige of the regiment thus creating a gulf between British and Indian officers. In the process of Indianization, several Indian officers from other regiments were posted to 3rd Cavalry (Iftikhar Khan from 7th Cavalry, K. K. Varma from 16th Cavalry and K. P. Dhargalkar from an infantry 4/12 Frontier Force Regiment). These Indian officers were not happy to leave their parent regiments. CO Colonel Julian D Wilton was not popular with all the officers. There was no camaraderie among officers and regimental bond was not strong. Shahid had not only problems with his CO but also with fellow British as well Indian officers. This was the main reason that he decided to transfer to Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC).
Demands of Second World War opened the doors of Indian army wide for Indians. In five short years, nine thousand Indians were given emergency commission and these officers were called Indian Emergency Commissioned Officers (IECOs). In 1945, over seven thousand Indian officers were serving in combat arms while over eight thousand were serving in non-combat arms. Most of IECOs would have ended their careers at the end of the war but imminent departure of British and need for native officer corps for successor Indian and Pakistani states resulted in retention of many IECOs.
By the end of Second World War, there were three main categories of Indian officers; KCIOs, ICOs and IECOs. KCIOs considered themselves as elite and a select lot and some ridiculed ICOs as 'Dehra Dun pansies'. Those officers who started their careers in the ranks were considered at the bottom of the social class of officers and even ridiculed by their brother ICOs. IECOs were also not considered equals by KCIOs and ICOs and generally viewed as being able to get into the army due to relaxation of all standards. IECOs only had six months of training before getting their commission. This was due to the necessity of rapid expansion of officer corps during Second World War.
Indian officer corps was not monolithic. Socially, Indian officers on the eve of independence can be subdivided into several categories:
1- Scions of Princely families i.e. General Rajendra Sinhji, Major General Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, Lieutenant General Sahibzada Yaqub Khan.
2- Young men from urban middle class families entering through open competition with no tradition of military service, i.e. General Yahya Khan.
3- Educated young men from mainly rural backgrounds with long tradition of military service. Most were sons of VCOs but they got their education before entering military academy, i.e. Field Marshal Ayub Khan, Lieutenant General Azam Khan, Major General Iftikhar Khan.
4- Men who served several years in the ranks before becoming officers. These men also had long family tradition of military service but had little education and were much older when they joined military academy. They were groomed at Kitchener College at Nowgong before entering Dehra Dun. This preparation helped them both in terms of education as well as refined them socially to ease their transition from soldiers to officers, i.e. General Musa Khan, General Tikka Khan.
5- Men from communities that had no tradition of military service and
soldiers were not recruited from these communities. Major General Ishfakul Majid (an Assamese Muslim), Major General Shahid Hamid (a Muslim from Lucknow), Major General O.A. Mitha (member of Memon business community), Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw (member of Parsee business community).
All Indian officers were westernized to a certain extent due to the very nature of their profession as well as close association with British officers. It invariably had impact on the personal life as well as religious outlook of the officers. However, there were several shades of this westernization. Officers from rural and culturally conservative areas were westernized up to the limits of cantonments. They generally had simpler life style. On the other hand more Anglicized officers were as good as any British in their personal life in manners, dress and food.
Many religious and cultural taboos were broken by majority of officers. Thimayya was assigned to Muslim Ahir company of 4/19 Hyderabad Regiment. He learned Hindustani from his sepoys and ate their food. Mitha was assigned to Hindu Jat company of 2/4 Bombay Grenadiers. He mixed freely with his soldiers and ate their meals. In case of Muslims, some enjoyed their gin and soda in private and more discreetly (i.e. Ayub Khan) while others felt comfortable drinking publicly (i.e. Yahya Khan). Many Hindu officers broke the centuries old tradition of prohibition of consumption of meat. Musa Khan (6/13 Frontier Force Rifles) and B. M. Kaul (5/6 Rajputana Rifles) were friends from their subalterns days right up to independence in 1947. Both shared meals, something that could have horrified their parents. A deeply religious Muslim Musa sharing meal with a high caste Brahmin Kaul was not earth shattering in concept but was not common among general population of India. Many Hindu officers had Muslim batmen while Muslim officers had Hindu batmen cooking and serving meals that was almost unheard among general population. Decades after partition, a senior retired Pakistan army officer had some of his old Dehra Dun Hindu officers of Indian army as his guests in Pakistan. In deference to Hindu religious prohibitions, he had vegetarian meals arranged in one room and meat dishes were in another room. Looking at the all vegetarian dishes, his Hindu friends inquired about the meat stating that they had not come all the way from India to eat vegetables. They all went to the room where meat dishes were arranged and partook from the 'forbidden' to their heart's content. A small percentage remained deeply religious in personal life even in their 20s (i.e. General Musa Khan, Lieutenant General Nathu Singh).
In case of female emancipation, there were two main factors; one female education and second leaving the segregation and participating in mixed gatherings. Majority of Indian army officers were instrumental in educating their female family members. Females of majority of Muslim households and Hindu Rajputs were restricted to homes. Some officers despite being personally westernized still preferred to keep their wives in 'purdah' (i.e. Nathu Singh, Ayub Khan). One reason may be that their wives were not literate and from conservative rural backgrounds making adjustment to a highly westernized military cantonment environment very difficult if not impossible.
During the Raj and for several decades after independence, army officers were high up on the social ladder and most desirable candidates for marriage. This provided an opportunity of breaking down of some social barriers and in some cases even religious barriers. Young officers from humbler backgrounds such as sons of soldiers predominantly from rural backgrounds and from urban lower middle class being the most desirable bachelors were sought by traditional aristocracy of landlords, nascent professional class and members of the Raj administration as well as princely states. We see many examples of wealthy landlords, highly educated aristocratic and professional families such as doctors marrying their daughters to young officers from humbler backgrounds. This helped in breaking many social especially caste taboos.
Some officers became thoroughly Anglicized due to their peculiar background of early education at convent schools in India (i.e. Thimayya) or education in England (Russi Bilimoria, J. N. Chaudhri). Most of them were fully integrated in British company due to their manners and some like Thimayya became excellent dancers on the ballroom floor. Some officers completely identified with British and avoided anything 'native'. They were sometimes called 'Brindian'. Iftikhar Khan, J. N. Chaudhri and K. P. Dhargalkar were representatives of this class. Chaudhri when instructor at Staff College at Quetta didn't interact with Indian officers or students. His wife Kukoo also kept a distance from natives. Their behavior was irritating for all other Indian officers and students and they resorted to boycott the couple.
On the other end of the spectrum, the world of officer corps was opened to the least educated and very conservative class of India. One example will show the enormous adjustment problem for both the Indian officers and their spouses of this class. Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon enlisted as soldier and spent three years in an infantry battalion (4/14 Punjab Regiment). Light machine gun section of infantry battalions had mules for transport and every soldier was rotated to take care of the mules. Gurbaksh on his turn also performed this duty while his wife Basant helped him in polishing the mule saddle. Gurbaksh qualified for Dehra Dun and after successfully completing his training was commissioned as an officer in 1/14 Punjab Regiment. One can easily imagine the psychological barrier that Gurbaksh and his wife had to cross as the worlds of sepoy and officer were poles apart. On the other hand, an officer from a princely family had interaction with British on a different social level. One example is of Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan Pataudi. As a child he visited Governor House where his family was guest of the governor and played with children of the governor. Such officers were more comfortable and had less adjustment problems.
One can easily visualize enormous adjustment problems for British officers. A British officer interacting with the Sepoy Gurbaksh taking care of the battalion's mule is now asked to accept him as brother officer and equal in the mess. The British officer was much more comfortable with scions of princely families like Rajendra Sinhji, Sher Ali Khan and Yaqub Khan as well as less blue blooded but more Anglicized officers like Chaudhri, Thimayya and Atiq ur Rahman. Relationship with officers commissioned from the ranks such as Gurbaksh, Tikka Khan, Musa Khan was official but not very close in view of huge social gulf. It is to the credit of British officers that majority of them adjusted adequate enough for the Indian army to come out of the cauldron of Second World War with good reputation.
Despite lingering racial prejudice in all other areas, army broke many racial barriers first. In most cases, if Indian officer was confident and social enough, he was generally well accepted by his British colleagues. On the other hand, sons of VCOs had only professional interaction with British and due to inhibitions on both Indian and British side had very little family interactions. However, it is quite obvious that the simple fact of British being the rulers and Indians as subjects was facing Indian officers of all classes at every corner. Second World War was a catalyst for both rapid Indianization as well as smooth integration of the officer corps. Many factors such as large scale induction of British officers through emergency commissions with no or much less pre-conceived prejudices against Indians, British and Indian officers serving together in combat, good performance of many Indian officers in war and lead role played by C-in-C Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck in advancing Indian officers cause helped to integrate British and Indian officers in the army with very little friction.
The problem of adjustment persisted even after the departure of British and many struggled to bridge the gap. Sam Manekshaw caused uproar when he was commanding National Defence Services Staff College. He remarked that he will not allow any officer in the academy whose wife looked like an 'aya' (female servant). In 1947, Pakistan Military Academy was established at Kakul with a small staff. Two highly educated sisters from an aristocratic family of Bhopal were married to Deputy Commandant Colonel M. A. Latif (later Major General) and a company Commander Major Abid Bilgrami (later Major General). Commandant of the Academy Brigadier F. B. Ingall made sure that ladies club activities were all inclusive including wives who remained in 'purdah'.
In case of Pakistan, a certain class difference existed even among second generation of officers. Sons of officers who joined army were brought up in an urban environment and educated in convent schools. Naturally they were comfortable speaking English and more modern in their outlook. On the other hand officers who were sons of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) had their early education and grooming in a rural environment. They were more conservative and not very outgoing. Sons of officers tend to be alumni of Cadet Colleges at Hassan Abdal and Kohat while the alma mater of sons of JCOs is Military College at Jehlum. There is some social gap between these two groups that exists even today. Some officers complain that present army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has disproportionately promoted large number of officers to senior ranks that belong to his own alma mater Military College, Jehlum.
The first generation of Indian officers had to cross many barriers but it also opened many doors that were closed to Indians of previous generation. There is no doubt that Indian army provided a unique opportunity to young Indian men from humbler backgrounds to break the social barrier. In case of India, a native of Madras P. P. Kumaramangalam and a Parsi Sam Manekshaw became army chiefs. Both belonged to the so called 'Non-Martial races'; communities that did not prefer army as a profession and were excluded by British. In case of Pakistan, there is no way that Ayub Khan, son of Rissaldar Major Mir Dad Khan of Hodson Horse could have become President, Musa Khan, son of Subedar Yazdan Bakhsh of Hazara Pioneers and Azam Khan son of Rissaldar Major Muhammad Akram Khan of Hodson Horse could have become governors or Yahya Khan son of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sadat Khan could have become army chief and President if it was not for the Indian army.
Selected Readings:
1- Apurba Kundu. Militarism in India: The Army and Civil Society in Consensus (New York: Tauris Academic Studies, 1998)
2- Pradeep P. Barua. Gentlemen of the Raj: The Indian Army Officers Corps 1817-1949 (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2003)
3- Daniel P. Marston. Phoenix From The Ashes: Indian Army in the Burma Campaign (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003)
4- Lt. Colonel ® Gautam Sharma. Nationalization of the Indian Army 1885-1947 (New Delhi: Allied Publishers Limited, 1996)
5- Humayun Mirza. From Plassey to Pakistan: The Family History of Iskandar Mirza (Lahore: Ferozsons, 2000, Pakistan Edition)
6- Humphrey Evans. Thimayya of India (Dehradun: Natraj Publishers, 2009 Reprint)
7- Major General A. O. Mitha. Unlikely Beginnings: A Soldier's Life (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2003)
8- Major General V K Singh. Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers (New Delhi: Sage Publishers, 2005)
9- Major General ® Shahid Hamid. General Ki Aaap Beeti (General's Autobiography). In Urdu (Lahore: Jang Publishers, 1992)
10- The INA Heroes – Autobiographies (Lahore: Hero Publications, 1946)
11- Brigadier Francis Ingall. The Last of The Bengal Lancers (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1988)
Bangladesh Defence Journal, September 2011
A very interesting take which is not the run of the mill.
