From the man who defeated Napoleon

[W.G.Ewald]

In later life the Duke of Wellington, when asked which was his hardest fought battle, said "Assaye"

Battle of Assaye - Second Mahratta War

The practice for Mahratta gunners, on being overrun, was to feign death under their guns, wait for the enemy to pass and resume fire, now into the rear of the attackers. This they did, catching the British and Madras regiments in the rear with a renewed bombardment.

Wellesley is reported to have said before the Battle of Assaye "If I do not give battle to the enemy there will be nothing left for me but to hang myself from my tent pole."

 

[Param]

Without the victory in the battle of Assay the Brits would have not managed to conquer the subcontinent.And later on those colonial rascals rewarded the regiment that they used to conquer peninsular India by calling them a non martial race.

 

[KS]

------got a bit confused------

 

[civfanatic]

This battle showed the growing technological and tactical backwardness of Indian warfare in the 19th century.

Only 6,500 British and Madrasis were able to defeat over 40,000 Marathas. Compare this to the guerrilla warfare of Shivaji's day when the Marathas were overwhelmingly outnumbered by Aurangzeb and all the resources he had at his disposal, and yet still managed to fight a successful resistance.

 

[KS]

This battle showed the growing technological and tactical backwardness of Indian warfare in the 19th century.

Only 6,500 British and Madrasis were able to defeat over 40,000 Marathas. Compare this to the guerrilla warfare of Shivaji's day when the Marathas were overwhelmingly outnumbered by Aurangzeb and all the resources he had at his disposal, and yet still managed to fight a successful resistance.

I guess it was the European artillery to which the Marathas really had no answer. Morover they were severely weakened by the Third Battle of Panipat and this was only logical.

Ranjit Singh made a huge mistake in not supporting the Marathas against Abdali.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Two more excerpts:

On the British left, where the artillery fire was less heavy, the 78th Highlanders and Madras Native Infantry stormed the Mahratta line and pushed on, the French officers commanding the Mahratta battalions in the front line apparently abandoning their soldiers and riding for the rear, causing the collapse of a number of these battalions.

With almost all the 74th's officers casualties, Quartermaster James Grant joined the ranks of the regiment from his post with the ammunition at the rear and assisted the one remaining, but wounded, officer, Major Swinton, in leading the regiment for the remainder of the battle. At the annual parade in commemoration of the battle, the Assaye colour was carried by the quartermaster, in memory of the actions of James Grant.

 

[Param]

Two more excerpts:

On the British left, where the artillery fire was less heavy, the 78th Highlanders and Madras Native Infantry stormed the Mahratta line and pushed on, the French officers commanding the Mahratta battalions in the front line apparently abandoning their soldiers and riding for the rear, causing the collapse of a number of these battalions.

Karthic said,

It was more of a penalty for the 1857 event.

The 1857 revolt happened north of the Vindhyas. It was limited to a particular geographical region and the troops that mutineed were not from the Madras regiment.
Infact Madras regiment was one of the most loyal regiments during in 1857. The other loyal sections were Punjabi troops and Gurkhas.

But the colonial @#$%$# showed their true racist colors by reducing the strength of the Madras regiment using the racist Martial Race crap theory.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

You DFI guys are always sending me off to consult Wiki.

Martial Race - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martial Race was a designation created by Army officials of British India, where they classified each ethnic group into one of two categories: 'Martial' and 'Non-Martial'.[citation needed] A 'martial race' was typically considered brave and well built for fighting.[1] The 'non-martial races' were those whom the British believed to be unfit for battle because of their sedentary lifestyles.[2] "Race" in 19th-century terminology corresponds to the contemporary term "ethnic group", and is here not used in the modern sense of race. The genesis of this idea has been attributed to the belief that the Scottish Highlanders were more fierce in battle than others in Britain, and this concept was later extended to India.

The Brits were right about the Scots, however.:thumb:

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Jat Regiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The British in their quest for power and domination in India came into conflict with the Hindu Jat people and recorded that they caused them the maximum trouble along with the Jat Sikhs. So impressed were they by the martial qualities of the Jats that they soon started recruiting them in ever-increasing numbers into all branches of the Bengal Army. The 1st Battalion was raised as the 22nd Bengal Native Infantry in 1803.

 

[Iamanidiot]

I only know that scots are tight fisted and that the men wear mini skirts

 

[Iamanidiot]

I only know that scots are tight fisted and that the men wear mini skirts and do cacophony with a bundle of pipes

 

[Param]

You DFI guys are always sending me off to consult Wiki.

Martial Race - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_Race
Defence writers in Pakistan have noted that the 1971 defeat was partially attributable to the flawed 'Martial Races Theory' which merely led to, 'wishful thinking' that it was possible to defeat the Indian Army based on the theory alone.[53] Author Stephen P. Cohen notes that "Elevating the 'martial races' theory to the level of an absolute truth had domestic implications for Pakistani politics and contributed to the neglect of other aspects of security."[50] Since then, the 'martial race' theory has rarely, if ever, been used by Pakistan.

The Brits were right about the Scots, however.:thumb:

Then why did the English rule the Scotts and not the other way round?

Did the Highlanders become less martial against the Nazis and Japanese when they were routed from continental Europe and SE Asia during WW2??

 

[civfanatic]

I only know that scots are tight fisted and that the men wear mini skirts and do cacophony with a bundle of pipes

Apparently, this satisfied the British criteria for "manliness".

 

[Param]

Jat Regiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Do you believe in the martial race theory???

PS: Any body can edit Wikipedia. There were plenty of ethnicities and kingdoms that were a very big challenge to the British in their 'quest for power and domination in India'.
Marathas, Mysore, Poligars are a few examples.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Martial Race - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Defence writers in Pakistan have noted that the 1971 defeat was partially attributable to the flawed 'Martial Races Theory' which merely led to, 'wishful thinking' that it was possible to defeat the Indian Army based on the theory alone.[53] Author Stephen P. Cohen notes that "Elevating the 'martial races' theory to the level of an absolute truth had domestic implications for Pakistani politics and contributed to the neglect of other aspects of security."[50] Since then, the 'martial race' theory has rarely, if ever, been used by Pakistan.





Then why did the English rule the Scotts and not the other way round?

Did the Highlanders become less martial against the Nazis and Japanese when they were routed from continental Europe and SE Asia during WW2??

English ruled the Scots because the clans fougnt each other as willingly as they fought the English, I believe.

The second question makes assumptions I reject, so I decline to answer.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Do you believe in the martial race theory???

PS: Any body can edit Wikipedia. There were plenty of ethnicities and kingdoms that were a very big challenge to the British in their 'quest for power and domination in India'.
Marathas, Mysore, Poligars are a few examples.

Every time I cite Wiki I know that anybody can edit it. I will make "Anybody can edit Wiki" my tagline.

No, I do not believe the Marital Race theory. There are just some people I would prefer not to mess with.:-D

People from Eastern Tennessee, for example.

 

[Param]

English ruled the Scots because the clans fougnt each other as willingly as they fought the English, I believe.

Btw the reason you have given also explains the reason why some people in our country were able to put up a more fierce and stronger resistance compared to others.
The dumb colonialists did not understand this simple logic and were instead overawed and preoccupied their own romantic idea of "martial races".

The second question makes assumptions I reject, so I decline to answer

.

Weren't British troops driven out of SE ASIA by the Japs? Were they not made leave Belgium in the face of the Nazi invasion? I don't think these are assumptions.

 

[Param]

Every time I cite Wiki I know that anybody can edit it. I will make "Anybody can edit Wiki" my tagline.

No, I do not believe the Marital Race theory. There are just some people I would prefer not to mess with.:-D

People from Eastern Tennessee, for example.

LOL Nice one

 

[Virendra]

Marathas were experts of Light Cavalry and Skirmish wars, although some huge head on battles were also won. I don't know how much their cavalry adapted to the British artillery over the decades but we know the results. The outcome of ones like Palassy proved fatal for many Indian powers directly or indirectly. Palassy is well known as the military turning point for East India Company's India venture.

Regards,
Virendra

 

[The Messiah]

a better question should be why are madrasis fighting alongside the british ?