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Maintaining the Military Districts: Civil—Military Integration and District Soldiers' Boards in the Punjab, 1919–1939

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Tai Yong Tan
Tai Yong Tan
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
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Extract

The vital importance of the Indian Army as the guardian of the imperial order in India was never more evident than during the interwar years. The period from 1919 to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 was a testing time for the Raj; state authority was being challenged by a mounting nationalist movement, and public order was frequently disrupted by civil disobedience campaigns, as well as recurrent outbreaks of communal violence. In maintaining public order the colonial state had always been prepared to rely on that ultimate guarantee of its authority and power–the Indian Army. However, in frequent discussions of the deployment of the military in 'aid of civil power', the continued loyalty of the bulk of the army the Indian soldiers and officers, was never questioned, and seemed to be taken for granted.2 Yet, both the Government of India and the to be taken for granted.2 Yet, both the Government of India and the Army Headquarters were well awar that the 'loyalty' of the Army could never be guaranteed, and that it was conditional upon a stable and pacified recruiting base; if that base were to be 'subverted', then the Indian Army, or portions of it, would not only cease to be of use as an instrument of state power, but could ultimately pose a threat to the Raj itself

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Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , October 1994 , pp. 833 - 874
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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References

1 For discussions on official thinking concerning the role of the Indian Army in defending and holding the Indian empire, see Clayton, Anthony, The British Empire as Superpower (London, 1986), pp. 32–8;Google Scholar and Major-General Gwynn, C., Imperial Policing (London, 1939).Google Scholar

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4 The Punjab had long been the critical area where the battle for the loyalty of the Indian Army was to be waged and home to about two-thrids of the combatants of the Army during the inter-war years, and a substantial number of ex-servicemen. By 1927, if Gurkhas were excluded from the Indian Army, Punjabis accounted for 60 per cent of the total strength of the Indian Army. British officials recognized that the Punjab was a province of key military importance, and as long as it, and especially the military districts, remained loyal and pacified, the British could rely on the Indian Army, and ‘could face with confidence any situation that might arise in the other provinces’. See Sir Henry Craik to M. H. Brabourne, 10 Sept. 1938 in Linlithgow's Papers, OIOR: MSS EUR F.125/87; and Sir Malcolm Hailey to sir Frederick Hirtzel, 13 Nov. 1924, in Hailey's Papers, OIOR: MSS EUR E.220/6c.

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7 The General Officer Commanding Lahore Divisional Area reported claims of bad treatment by soldiers on demobilization; some even reported that they were deprived of their kits and clothes and ordered to clear the cantonments or they would be handed over to the police. GoI, Home (Pol), ‘B’ File 373, Feb. 1920. List of grievances of demobilized soldiers submitted by Umar Hayat Khan to Punjab Soldiers’ Board, 7 June 1919, in Punjab Government Home (Military) Proceedings, hereafter PHP(M), Punjab Archives, Lahore, Pakistan, ‘B’, pro 72, June 1920.

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21 Ibid.

22 The Indian Soldiers' Board as constituted in 1919, was presided over by the Law Member of the Viceroy's Council, Sir George Lowndes, and its members included the Lieut Gov. of Punjab, the Revenue and Finance Member of the Viceroy's Council, R. A. Mant, the Adj.-Gen. of the Indian Army, Secretary of the Government of India in the Army Department, A. H. Bingley, Financial Advisor in the Military Finance Department, Sir G. B. H. Fell, and the Maharajahs of Gwalior, Bikaner, and Patiala. See GoI, ibid.

23 In 1920, beside the Punjab, provincial boards were established in all other provinces except in Bengal.

24 The scheme was originally suggested by the Divisional Recruiting Officer of Jullunder to the Adj.-Gen. in India in November 1918 (corresponmdence no. 2044, dated 29 Nov. 1918), and was endorsed by the Indian Soldiers' Board in February 1919. See Major C. W. Gwynne, Secretary, Indian Soldiers' Board to the Punjab Soldiers' Board, 12 Feb. 1919, in PHP(M), ‘B’, pros 359–60, March 1919.Google Scholar

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30 This was the protest against the findings of the Hunter Commission on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which the Congress regarded as a ‘whitewash’ of the dreadful deed. The Government of India disavowed Dyer's use of force, but the disciplinary action which was meted out–early retirement–was not regarded as strong enough.

31 For a fuller account of the Khilafat movement see Minault, Gail, The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India (Delhi, 1982).Google Scholar

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35 The call was issued at a Khilafat Conference in Karachi in July 1921. Weekly Report, 8 July 1921, Punjab, OIOR: L/P&J/6/1726. See also telegram from Mitra, R., sec District Congress Committee, Etawah city to The Zemindar (Lahore) in Deputy Commissioner, Lahore to Commissioner, Lahore Division, 27 09 1921 in PHP(M), ‘B’ File 10, 1922.Google Scholar

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46 A. C. Blunden to Sir William Marris, 23 June 1919, Home (Pol), ‘B’ pro. 76, Jan. 1920.Google Scholar

47 There were three such officers operating in the Punjab in 1920: Risaldar-Major Harnam Singh, whose lecturing activities were confined to the Lahore Division; Khan Bahadur Zafar Muhhamud Khan, an Extra Assistant Commissioner, who worked in the Rawalpindi Division; and Risaldar-Major Prem Singh, who was employed as a propagandist lecturer in the Ambala Division. Sheikh Asghar Ali to all Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners, 3 Nov. 1920, PHP(M), pro. 132B, Dec. 1920.Google Scholar

48 Ali, Sheikh Asghar to Marris, W. S., 26 July 1919, PHP(M), ‘B’ pros 89–95B, Aug. 1919.Google Scholar

49 An Urdu pamphlet, dealing with the Khilafat question, was published and distributed to the Muslim population, while another, published in Gurumukhi, dealing with the benefits of British rule to the Sikhs, was circulated among them. PHP(M), ‘B’ pro. 132B, Dec. 1920.Google Scholar

50 Letter, dated 18 Dec. 1921, Home (Pol), 1922, File 669/1922.Google Scholar

51 Thompson, J. P., Chief Sec. Punjab Govt, to all Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners, 25 Aug. 1920, in PHP(M), ‘B’ pro. 132B, Dec. 1920.Google Scholar

52 Ibid.

53 Minutes of proceedings of Punjab Soldiers' Board, May 1915, PHP(M), ‘C’, File 418, 1926.

54 Ibid.

55 See pamphlet produced by General Staff, Indian Army, entitled ‘Notes for Assistance of Members of District Soldiers' Boards and Officers Touring in Recruiting Areas’ (Simla, 1935) in PHP(M), ‘B’ File 127, 1935.Google Scholar

56 Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur District, to the Commissioner, Jullunder Division, 9 Oct. 1920, in PHP(M), ‘B’ File 30, 1922. See Table 1 for committee members of DSBs in the Punjab.Google Scholar

57 Minutes of Meeting of Punjab Soldiers' Board, 28 April 1921, in PHP(M), File 171, ‘B’, Nov. 1921.Google Scholar

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61 This problem was not limited to the immediate post-war period, but was a perennial complaint amongst the soldier population throughout the 1920s and 1930s. See Tour Reports of Officers in Punjab in 1930, GoI, Home (Pol), 265/30.

62 See minutes of the proceedings of the meeting of Punjab Soldiers' Board, 6 Nov. 1920, in PHP(M), ‘B’, file 41, Jan. 1921.Google Scholar

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70 Ibid.

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74 It was reported that the first batch of twenty trainees passed the course in 1922 and were performing satisfactorily in the schools they were posted to. New teachers began with a salary of twenty rupees, an income which was an important supplement to the military pension they were drawing, and many of them had found employment near their homes to be a very satisfactory arrangement. See Note on the subject of training of discharged soldiers as school masters by G. Anderson, Director of Public Instruction, Punjab, 23 Nov. 1921, in PHP(M), ‘B’ pros 56–9, File 34, 1922.Google Scholar

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78 In districts where these two bodies existed, they were usually merged into a single district soldiers' board to coordinate their activities and make them more efficient. Where only ex-Indian officers' associations existed, they were renamed soldiers' boards and prominent civilians were invited to join. D. J. Boyd, Sec. Home Dept, GoP, to all Deputy Commissioners, Punjab, 24 Sept. 1923, File U/IX/40, Deputy Commissioner's Record Office, (DCRO) Rawalpindi District, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.

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84 see for example the functioning of the Sargodha and Mianwali district soldiers' boards in Tour Reports, Sargodha and Mianwali, Aug. 1930, GoI, Home (Pol) 112/31.

85 This exchange of information between the army and the local authorities of the districts from where the soldiers were recruited had in fact been recommended by the Esher Committee in 1920. See Esher Committee Report, p. 37.Google Scholar

86 Consolidated Circular from Home Sec. GoP, H. M. Cowan, 10 Dec. 1922, in PHP(M), ‘B’, File 32, March 1922.Google Scholar

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88 Major A. F. R. Lumby, Sec. Indian Soldiers' Board to all local governments and administrations, 4 June 1930, File U/XIV/134, DCRO, Rawalpindi.Google Scholar

89 Mant, R. A., Sec. Revenue and Agriculture Dept, GoI to all local governments and administrations, 22 Feb. 1918, GoI, Home (Pol), 1924/403.Google Scholar

90 Major Lumby to all local governments and administrations, 4 June 1930, Rawalpindi DCRO, File U/XIV/134, Rawalpindi.Google Scholar

91 Prices began falling in 1929 and continued during the winter and spring of 1929–30. In the middle of May 1929, what was priced at Rs3–2-6 per maund, and by July 1930 this had fallen to Rs1–6-6. See Punjab Administrative Report (PAR), 1930–31 (Lahore, 1932).Google Scholar

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94 In 1921 Anup Singh presided over a local darbar to honour the visit of the Prince of Wales. The darbar, an assembly of four thousand soldiers and ex-soldiers, subsequently formed the basis of the local soldiers' association, a loyalist association which Anup Singh helped to establish. Upon his retirement from the army, Anup Singh was appointed to a senior position in the police department in the North-West Frontier Province. Things began to turn sour for him after a few months, however, and he was forced to resign and his properties forfeited. Thereafter the disillusioned Anup Singh went on a personal campaign to spread discontent amongst the soldiers and ex-soldiers in Lahore, Hoshiarpur, Jullunder, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur, where he spoke to soldiers about the uncaring Raj and openly urged them to support Congress. Ibid.

95 According to the above fortnightly report, these rolls were collected for the purposes of allowing the authorities to investigate the individual cases of grievances of the protesters. However, it also suggests that the government was wanting to know the names of the demonstrators, for the purpose perhaps of keeping a surveillance on their future activities.

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100 Ibid., p. 106.

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110 Captain H. B. Harrison, ‘Report of Tour of Jhelum District’, 11 Sept. 1930, in GoI, Home (Pol) File 265/1930.Google Scholar

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114 Ibid.

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125 Tour Report Amritsar District, Feb. 1931, GoI, Home (Pol), 112/31. See also Brown, , Gandhi and Civil Disobedience, pp. 146, 301;Google Scholar and Gulati, K. L., Akalis Past and Present (New Delhi, 1974), pp. 52–6.Google Scholar

126 ‘Tour Report’, Amritsar, Feb. 1931.Google Scholar

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132 During the war thousands of men from the Punjab were enlisted to fight in the European and Eastern fronts. Most of them served only for the duration of the war and were considered ‘Short Service’ men. With the exception of those in receipt of Wound and Invalid Pensions, ‘Short Service’ men did not qualify for pensions after their discharge fron the army.

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134 Ibid.

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136 Ibid.

137 PAR, 1931–32 (Lahore, 1933), p. 4.Google Scholar

138 Tour Report of Jhelum District, 11 Sept; 1930, GoI, Home (Pol), 265/30.Google Scholar

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143 see for example ‘Report of Tour of Sargodha and Mianwali Districts’, 25 May 1930 in GoI, Home (Pol), 265/30.Google Scholar

144 Annual Report of the Working of the Punjab Soldiers' Board and its subordinate organizations for 1936. PHP(M), ‘B’ File 76, 1937.

145 The roles and functions of District Soldiers' Boards could be compared to the Courts of Wards in nineteenth-century Bengal. For a study of the latter, see Yang, Anand, ‘An Institutional Shelter: The Court of Wards in Late 19th Century Bihar’ in MAS, 13, 2 (1979), pp. 247–64.Google Scholar