When the British Indian Army Marched on Beijing!

bengalraider

DFI Technocrat
Ambassador
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
3,779
Likes
2,666
Country flag

Troops of the Eight nations alliance of 1900. Left to right: Britain, United States, Australian colonial, British India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan.


The Boxer Rebellion, also known as Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" in China between 1898 and 1901, opposing foreign imperialism and Christianity. The uprising took place in response to foreign "spheres of influence" in China, with grievances ranging from opium traders, political invasion, economic manipulation, to missionary evangelism. In China, popular sentiment remained resistant to foreign influences, and anger rose over the "unequal treaties", which the weak Qing state could not resist. Concerns grew that missionaries and Chinese Christians could use this decline to their advantage, appropriating lands and property of unwilling Chinese peasants to give to the church. This sentiment resulted in violent revolts against foreign interests.
In June 1900 in Beijing, Boxer fighters threatened foreigners and forced them to seek refuge in the Legation Quarter. In response, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi, urged by the conservatives of the Imperial Court, supported the Boxers and declared war on foreign powers. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers, and Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days. The Chinese government was split between destroying the foreigners in the Legation Quarter and extending olive branches. Clashes were reported between Chinese factions favoring war and those favoring conciliation, the latter led by Prince Qing. The supreme commander of the Chinese forces, Ronglu, claimed three years later that he acted to protect the besieged foreigners. The siege was ended when the Eight-Nation Alliance brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and captured Beijing. The Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901 ended the uprising and provided for severe punishments, including an indemnity of 67 million pounds (450 million taels of silver), more than the government's annual tax revenue, to be paid as indemnity over a course of thirty-nine years to the eight nations involved.


, Indian regiments made their way to the foreign quarter "crawling through the Imperial sewage canals", undetected by the Boxers, and were the first troops to come to the aid of the besieged foreigners.

At another point and date, On August 4, 1900, a relief force of more than 3000 soldiers from Sikh and Punjabi regiments left Tianjin, part of the larger eight-nation alliance that was dispatched to aid the besieged quarter, where 11 countries had set up legations. Indian troops were also dispatched to guard churches and Christian missionaries, the targets of the Boxer uprisings.

Later, the British also dispatched Indian regiments to China leading up towards the Opium War, which ended with the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 and the opening up of Chinese ports to the British.

The British deployed Sikh soldiers as law enforcement officers in ports like Shanghai, where their trading companies had set up a large presence by the early twentieth century. The Sikh soldiers were feared by the Chinese with their imposing figures, so much so that the British deemed that they did not even need guns when on duty, Colonel Jaishankar said, citing records from the time.

While these accounts of history don't paint Indian troops positively, historians claim that the acts need to be placed into context, where both India and China were colonies and made to be aggressive towards each other for foreign profit. There are also accounts of Indian soldiers sympathizing with Chinese peasants - Gaddhar Singh, a Rajput who was in Beijing in 1900-01, empathized with Chinese grievances in his accounts, arguing it was an entirely justified peasant rebellion.

Other examples include the Battle of Hong Kong during the Second World War, when Indian and Chinese troops fought together against the Japanese. The 585 Indians who lost their lives are still remembered today in Hong Kong's war cemeteries.

Another case in point was in 1994, when the Indian army returned a bell that was looted by British troops from Beijing's Temple of Heaven when the city was ransacked by foreign troops following the Boxer Rebellion. The bell was later put up for display by the Chinese military.


Some of the Indian Origin Regiments that fought in china during this campaign were
51st Sikhs (Frontier Force)



Skinner's Horse


Sources
http://bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=411
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51st_Sikhs_(Frontier_Force)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellion
 
Last edited:

Ray

The Chairman
Professional
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
43,132
Likes
23,834
Nice information!
 

Godless-Kafir

DFI Buddha
Senior Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2010
Messages
5,842
Likes
1,837
Country flag
That was a stupid thing we got used for their ambition, all over the world. Indian soldiers fought and died in Sahara and Europe. Not even one THANKS for that.
 

amoy

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
5,982
Likes
1,849
Many Indian (Sikhs) served in police Shanghai Municipal Police - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Up to date in Shanghai or Hong Kong dialects there're slangs related to Indians (sometimes a bit derogatory, like about their turbans etc.) But no offence, just a cultural phenomenon.

Even now some hotels in China hire Indians (supposedly Sikhs) in their traditional costumes as doorkeepers or guards to give themselves an exotic or nostalgic touch.

More Indians in China nowadays than u think


Below taken in an Indian restaurant in West China

 

bengalraider

DFI Technocrat
Ambassador
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
3,779
Likes
2,666
Country flag
That was a stupid thing we got used for their ambition, all over the world. Indian soldiers fought and died in Sahara and Europe. Not even one THANKS for that.
The India Gate in Delhi stands testimony to their thanks,If you think that's nothing note that no government of independent India has ever built a national war memorial for our war dead.

The British might have been our colonial masters and we may have fought their war but they showed left a monument in mute testimony to their gratitude for the brave Indians who died in foreign lands for the cause of Britain.I have no love lost for the British Raj but neither will i stay back from giving credit where it's due.
 
Last edited:

amoy

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
5,982
Likes
1,849
The India Gate in Delhi stands testimony to their thanks,If you think that's nothing note that no government of independent India has ever built a national war memorial for our war dead.

The British might have been our colonial masters and we may have fought their war but they showed left a monument in mute testimony to their gratitude for the brave Indians who died in foreign lands for the cause of Britain.I have no love lost for the British Raj but neither will i stay back from giving credit where it's due.
Still a problem of "political correctness", as mercenaries

Not only they fought for the "cause of Britain" (foreign), but also often fought locals who rose against Brits (imagine Saharan nomads)
 

W.G.Ewald

Defence Professionals/ DFI member of 2
Professional
Joined
Sep 28, 2011
Messages
14,139
Likes
8,594
That was a stupid thing we got used for their ambition, all over the world. Indian soldiers fought and died in Sahara and Europe. Not even one THANKS for that.
You might say the same about the Irish and the Scots and many others.

The respect due to soldiers goes to them, their loyalty, bravery and suffering, not to the flag they fight for.

Ideally a nation acts so that it deserves all of that from its own armed forces.
 

bengalraider

DFI Technocrat
Ambassador
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
3,779
Likes
2,666
Country flag
Still a problem of "political correctness", as mercenaries

Not only they fought for the "cause of Britain" (foreign), but also often fought locals who rose against Brits (imagine Saharan nomads)
The time and age must be taken into consideration before we fall prey to what we deem politically correct today! this was the age of empire mind you with the Germans,French, British ,Russians and Japanese armies being primary routes of employment for those militarily inclined in the empires skin color and race not withstanding,Even Chinese Mercenary armies supported the Kwantung in their subjugation of china
 

civfanatic

Retired
Ambassador
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
4,562
Likes
2,570
This was a disgraceful period of Indian history, when Indian soldiers were used to oppress people all over the globe as lackeys of the British Empire.
 

Shaitan

Zandu Balm all day
Mod
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Messages
4,654
Likes
8,363
Country flag
When the British used their Indian subjects against another nation.
 

bengalraider

DFI Technocrat
Ambassador
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
3,779
Likes
2,666
Country flag
While i will agree with all your assessments that the British empire used us against the Chinese, i remind you once again that there was little of the current India in the subcontinent at that time what we had was a motley crew of feudal lords and rulers who lent and deputed their personal armies in the service of the British crown in order to continue getting the patronage and support of that crown,this was an age where gaining political mileage in India meant service to the crown for the rulers of the princely states. If there is anyone we must decry for Indian forces being sent to foreign lands it is them not the common grunt who simply did in the service of the British crown what his "sarkar" back home in the opulent palaces that were once the multiple seats of governance in India ordered him to!
 

balai_c

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
420
Likes
462
Nothing to be proud of......
I concur. I have admiration for the skill and valour of those mercenaries, but not respect. These were merely paid workers, like in many other professions. If anything I exude pity and sympathy for unfortunate souls, who had to die without a worthy cause, merely as cannon fodders for someone else's war.
 

Bhadra

Professional
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
11,991
Likes
23,758
Country flag
I concur. I have admiration for the skill and valour of those mercenaries, but not respect. These were merely paid workers, like in many other professions. If anything I exude pity and sympathy for unfortunate souls, who had to die without a worthy cause, merely as cannon fodders for someone else's war.
Why do not you try and use such "mercenaries " against jihadies today ? Try using ? your comment was without historical context and time. You are judging yesterday with today's standards.

You would definitely pronounce Akbar's entire Army including Raja Man Singh or Jai Sing as mercenaries !!
 
Last edited:
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
29,799
Likes
48,281
Country flag
I concur. I have admiration for the skill and valour of those mercenaries, but not respect. These were merely paid workers, like in many other professions. If anything I exude pity and sympathy for unfortunate souls, who had to die without a worthy cause, merely as cannon fodders for someone else's war.
You are being to harsh in judging soldiers who were taught
their loyalty belongs only to Mother England..
They had no idea their loyalty would mean nothing.
 
Last edited:

civfanatic

Retired
Ambassador
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
4,562
Likes
2,570
Many Indians joined the British Army simply because there no viable alternative. The British destroyed many indigenous industries which would have employed these men in an earlier age. Given a choice between living in poverty or joining the army, many chose the latter.

During WWII some 28 lakh Indians volunteered to fight for Britain, but I doubt many of those 28 lakh soldiers cared about the Battle of Britain.
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top