All references and statistics concerning the Indian Army will be found
to relate to the pre-war establishment; and no class of sepoy is
included which has been enlisted for the first time since 1914. At the
outbreak of war the strength of the Army in India was 76,953 British and
239,561 Indian. During the war 1,161,789 Indians were recruited. The
grand total of all ranks sent overseas from India was 1,215,338. The
casualties sustained by the force were 101,439. Races which never
enlisted before enlisted freely, and the Indian Army List when published
on the conclusion of Peace will be changed beyond recognition.
One or two classes I have omitted. The introduction of the Gujar, Meo,
Baluchi and Brahui, for instance, as separate types, would be an error
of perspective in a volume this size. It is hardly necessary to
differentiate the Gujar from the Jat; the origin of the two races is
much the same, and in appearance they are not always distinguishable.
The Meo, too, approximates to the Merat. The Baluchi proper has
practically ceased to enlist, and the sepoy who calls himself a Baluch
is generally the descendant of immigrants. There is also a scattering of
Brahuis in the Indian Army. They and the Baluchis are of the same stock,
and are supposed to have come from Aleppo way, though in some
extraordinary manner which nobody can understand the Brahuis have picked
up a Dravidian accent.
It is difficult, too, to write of the Madrasi--Hindu, Mussalman, or
Christian--as an entity apart. All I know of him is that in the Indian
Sappers and Miners and Pioneer regiments, when he is measured with other
classes, his British officer speaks of him as equal to the best.
The names of the officers to whom I am indebted would make a long list.
I met them in camps, messes, trenches, dugouts, and in the open field.
Some are old friends; others are unknown to me by name; many are unaware
that they have contributed material for these sketches; and I can only
thank them collectively for their help. For verification I have
consulted the official handbooks of the Indian Army; and for certain of
my references to the achievements of the Indian Army in France I am
indebted to the semi-official history ("The Indian Corps in France," by
Lieut.-Col. J. W. B. Merewether, C.I.E., and Sir Frederick Smith)
published under the authority of the Secretary of State for India. One
chapter, "The Drabi," I have taken almost bodily from my "Year of
Chivalry," which also included the story of Wariam Singh; my thanks are
due to the publishers, Messrs. Simpkin Marshall, for their permission to
reprint it. For the account of the Jharwas I am indebted to an officer
in a Gurkha regiment who wishes to remain anonymous. For illustrations
my thanks are due to General Holland Pryor, M.V.O., Major G. W.
Thompson, and Lieut.-Cols. Alban Wilson, D.S.O., R. C. Wilson, D.S.O.,
M.C., F. L. Nicholson, D.S.O., M.C., H. M. W. Souter, W. H. Carter, E.
R. P. Berryman, and Mr. T. W. H. Biddulph, C.I.E.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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