This book documents, for the first time, India’s contribution to the first world war
[alert type=”e.g. warning, danger, success, info” title=””]India and the First World War
Vedica Kant
Publisher: Roli Books
Pages: 255; Price: Rs 1895[/alert]
The First World War was probably the last war that soldiers went to with a sense of glory and the feeling that something good may come of it. The war itself was to prove otherwise, particularly as the leaders of the military proved inadequate to either understand slaughter on an industrial scale or to manage the administration and logistics for millions of men.
The Indian army, an all-volunteer force, was one of the few that could be thrown into the trenches to stem the tide against ‘civilization’ as the purpose of the war was defined. Raised, outfitted and equipped to fight Britain’s colonial battles in tropical climes, the Indian troops were ill-equipped to deal with a European winter. All troops were unprepared to deal with the slaughter of the trenches, but the Indians, more than the rest, were stunned by the lack of physical contact of trench warfare and by the death caused by firing at remote distances.
Great literature came out of the First World War in English, and a whole generation of Indians were exposed to the poetry of Sassoon and Owen. As the leader of the Indian expeditionary corps quite rightly noted – all combatants from Europe would have their experience in the war recorded and published – but the poor Indian soldier, who went loyally to Europe to fight a war, neither comprehended nor agreed to have a chronicler.
In that sense Vedica Kant has done a great service by writing this book about an army that lost 74,000 solders to the British cause without or at least with little dissent. In macro terms, the Indian nation’s contribution to the war was truly monumental.
Vedica has worked out that India’s financial contribution alone amounted to eight billion pounds in today’s money but nothing, of course, equals the loss in lives that the Indian army cheerfully contributed.
The first battle that the Indian corps fought in was Neuve Chapelle, where the Indian contribution helped stem the German advance and where the Indian casualties amounted to almost 5,000. Vedica has sourced much correspondence from Indian soldiers, recording their impression of going abroad, the social turmoil and the strange wonder of being sent to fight ‘white men’.
The author refers to an initial reluctance on the part of Britain to involve Indian troops in a white man’s war, for the consequences it could have on keeping the Indians without home rule after the war. But the urgency of the situation on the western front necessitated throwing the Indian army into the cauldron.
Although the soldiers went without demur, Indian nationalists expected that Indian participation would force the British morally to give India home rule after the war. As quoted, Bal Gangadhar Tilak advised Indians to buy war bonds as they would be uncashed after the war to trade for home rule. So incumbent upon the Indian soldier was the loyalty to cross Kala Pani, to die for the honour of the regiment, and to come back to India without having been corrupted by the idea that he had defeated white men.
A century later Vedica Kant poignantly illuminates a forgotten chapter of India’s military history, says IANS writer.
Raja Menon
