Martial race
From the collection of the British Library
Martial Race was a term used by Lord Robert Clyve in his book Historical Essays. He divided the entire Indian ethnic groups into two categories: Martial and Non Martial or Feminine. The term originally was used by the British Empire who observed that the Scottish Highlanders were more fierce in battle than the others on the British Isles. Of late, this concept is being dismissed as an Imperialistic thought based on racial stereotypes.
Criteria
Martial Race was a designation created by officials of British India. The British officials described these races as naturally warlike and aggressive in battle, and to possess qualities like courage, loyalty, self sufficiency, physical strength, resilience, orderliness, hard working, fighting tenacity and military strategy. The British recruited heavily from these Martial Races for service in the colonial army. [1] Critics of this theory state that the First War of Indian Independence may have played a role in reinforcing the British belief in Martial races. During this Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the "loyal" Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims, Dogras, Gurkas, and Pakhtuns (Pathans) did not join the mutiny and fought on the side of the British Army. From then on, this theory was used to the hilt to accelerate recruitment from among these races, whilst discouraging enlistment of "disloyal" Bengalis and high-caste Hindus who had sided with the rebel army during the war.[2]
The geography and culture of these martial races had common marks, such as hilly and mountainous terrain, a basis as hunting or agricultural societies, and a history of conflict, whether internally or with external groups. A case in point are the Gurkhas, who challenged British imperial expansion and gained the respect of their enemies for their fighting prowess and tenacity, thus earning them their reputation and their continued employment in the British Army.
Races designated by the British as martial races
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Unlike the martial races, the inhabitants of the hot, flat plains of the country were supposedly unwarlike, flabby, dark-skinned and therefore unfit for military services. Still others were excluded due to their "ease of living" or branded as seditious agitators.[3] The Dravidian people were called non-martial with many derogatory remarks about their looks, ethnicity and history. However, the nature of this is debatable, as a large number of Indian martial arts, such as Adithada and Kalaripayat originated from the the southern regions of the Indian subcontinent. Further, one of the greatest Kingdoms in India to rule across the seas and capture kingdoms in Sri Lanka and Indonesia was the Chola dynasty, a dravidian race. The naval power of the medieval Cholas was not matched by any of the other Kingdoms ruled by martial races until many centuries later.
Modern usage
Though seldom used in today's context, it was used until the early 1970s, especially by the Pakistan Military which believed that since the Pakistan Army comprised soldiers of the "martial races", they should easily defeat India in any war. According to their version of the martial races theory, one Pakistani was equal to four to ten hindus[4][5] and thus numerical superiority on the battlefield could easily be overcome. However, the Indo-Pakistan Wars of 1947 and 1965 proved otherwise as Pakistan Army lost more men than India in its many attempts to gain the whole of Kashmir. The Pakistan Army was also accused of bias and racism by the Bengalis of East Pakistan who felt humiliated by this dubious theory that was being floated West Pakistan, that they were not "martially inclined" compared to the Pathans, Balochs and Punjabis.[6] This was to be one of the factors for the Bangladesh Liberation War, where Bengalis aided by the Indian Military handed them the worst military drubbing in recent times by defeating the Pakistan Army in just a fortnight taking nearly 1 lakh Pakistani soldiers as Prisoners of War - the largest surrender since WWII. Since then, the "martial race" theory was rarely, if ever, used at all by Pakistan.
References
- ^ Glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and NWFP, H A Rose
- ^ Country Studies: Pakistan - U.S. Library of Congress
- ^ Ethnic Group Recruitment in the Indian Army by Dr. Omar Khalidi
- ^ Indo-Pakistan War of 1965
- ^ According to Stanley Wolpert's India, "India's army... quickly dispelled the popular Pakistani myth that one Muslim soldier was “worth ten Hindus.”"
- ^ Library of Congress studies