How war veterans transformed Haryana

Ranbir Singh
Senior Fellow, Institute of Social  Sciences, New Delhi

BEFORE World War I (1914-18), Haryana was a drought-prone and famine-ridden region of the Punjab province. Tagged with Punjab in 1858 as a ‘punishment’ for the participation of its princes and people in the 1857 revolt, it was subjected to repression and discrimination by the British rulers. It was denied canal irrigation as well as facilities for education. It had no college; high schools were located only at the district headquarters. There were primary and middle schools only at the tehsil level. Very few students from Haryana could afford to go to distant Lahore for higher education. 

The recruitment of a large number of youth from the region during WW-I not only provided economic benefit to their families, but also helped in bringing socio-cultural changes in Haryana. This happened because the soldiers from the region got exposure to modern ideas through postings in other parts of India which were socially and culturally advanced. They also got an opportunity to go abroad to fight for the British. Some of them visited France and other European countries. They worked with the Indian Army’s British officers, who became role models for them. This enabled soldiers from the Haryana region to change their lifestyle and acquire a progressive outlook. They also began to recognise the importance of education. 

These soldiers introduced trousers, coats, half-pants and shorts in the area where people used to wear kurtas of home-spun khadi and dhotis of malmal. Even the headgear was changed by them. The lacklustre khandkas were replaced by the elegant saffas (turbans). Hats and caps were also brought by former soldiers. The traditional dress of women — kurti and ghagra — was gradually replaced by kurta (shirt) and salwar. The footwear also underwent a transformation in a phased manner. The juttis were replaced by fleets, gurgabis and shoes. The eating habits of the residents of Haryana, too, were changed by them. Mandas (wheat chapattis) were served to the guests instead of chapattis of gochani (mixture of wheat and grams), barley, bajra and maize. The practice of serving cooked vegetables instead of only pulses and chutney was introduced by them.  Some of those who went on to become Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) began to consume rum and meat during the war and continued to have these even after demobilisation.

The soldiers also promoted hygienic practices in rural areas. The use of soap for bathing and washing clothes, and the construction of bathrooms (gusalkhana) and toilets (pakhana) took place due to their initiative. They also constructed baithaks (drawing room) in place of darwajas. They also began to build pucca houses with a modern design instead of the kutcha houses (made of mud), having saals (halls) and obries (small dark room).

The faujis introduced bicycles and motorcycles (fitfitias) as modes of transport to replace horses and bullock carts. They popularised bus and train travel in a society where even long journeys were mostly covered on horseback, by bullock cart or on foot.

The army personnel even modified the vocabulary of the people in rural areas. The polite aap made a place for itself beside tunh and tanney. They introduced villagers to the gramophone and the radio, besides weekly newspapers such as Jat Gazette and Haryana Tilak and Urdu dailies like Partap. The use of post offices to keep in touch with one’s kin was popularised by them.

Above all, the war veterans contributed a lot towards improving the standard of education in Haryana. They sent their children for higher education to Lahore, Lyallpur, Delhi and Agra, but at the same time opened institutions. All India Jat Heroes Memorial School (Rohtak) and Bryne Ahir High School (Rewari) — both later upgraded to the college level — were established by them. It is hard to disagree with a doyen of Haryana history, Prof KC Yadav, who regards World War I as a game-changer for Haryana.