Maharajas ‘helped British in WW-I’

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 26

For many of the princely states that formed part of British India, their rulers regarded themselves as fighting men and leaders of fighting men who wished to play their part in battle and it was their perceived sense of honour and duty that inspired them to provide soldiers as well as financial and material support to the British during the First World War.

Delving upon the little-known role of rulers in pre-Independence India, AN McClenaghan, Secretary of the Indian Military Historical Society, UK, said some of the rulers were mindful of the honours and awards they received from the British Crown and felt that they had to give something in return. He was here to deliver a talk on “The Maharajas’ Contribution to the First World War”, organised by the Center for Indian Military History at the Center for Research in Rural and Industrial Development here today.

“Some rulers who had embarked on social, representational and economic improvements within their states saw in their response to the war an obligation on the part of the British to pay something in return, namely loosening of the interference in running their states and a more open approach to place India on an equal footing with the dominions of the Empire,” he said.

There were 560 princely states at that time and they contributed nearly 22,000 troops for WW-I, out of which 18,500 saw overseas service along with horses, camels, motor vehicles and even passenger ships. Another 27,000 odd non-combatants and labourers were also provided. Besides opening up their state treasuries as well as personal purses for the British war effort, the troops were maintained in the field by the rulers themselves.

Touching upon the role of rulers away from the frontline, McClenaghan, author of three books on Indian princely states and imperial forces, said that after service in France, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala undertook inspection tours, which was a great morale booster for Indian troops, besides representing India at the Imperial War Conference and Imperial War Cabinet in London.

Similarly, Sir Ganga Ram of Bikaner served in France and while pressing for political reforms during meetings in 1917 did much to influence British public opinion. The troops from Jodhpur were led by their regent, Maharaja Sir Pratap Singh and his 16-year-old son Sumer Singh.

Within days of the beginning of the war, troops from Alwar, Bhartpur, Bikaner, Faridkot, Gwalior, Jind, Jodhpur, Kashmir, Patiala and Rampur had been nominated for service. Other states were advised to keep reserves on standby. As war progressed, traditional recruiting areas had become overdrawn and the British, compelled to look for alternate means, encouraged princes to raise Indian Army units from within their states. The state troops won a total of 689 decorations and 132 battle honours.