Indian Army: History (1761- ) - Revision history

Jyoti: /* Pay and perquisites during British Raj */

2024-08-01T19:55:23Z

‎Pay and perquisites during British Raj

Pdewan: /* See also */

2024-06-13T17:41:18Z

‎See also

Pdewan: /* Nawab Shuja ud-Daulah of Avadh */

2016-11-06T18:09:00Z

‎Nawab Shuja ud-Daulah of Avadh

Pdewan: /* A caveat: Is India's investment climate truly improving? */

2016-11-06T17:57:28Z

‎A caveat: Is India's investment climate truly improving?

Pdewan: /* Pay and perquisites during British Raj */

2016-11-06T17:32:51Z

‎Pay and perquisites during British Raj

Jyoti at 07:03, 11 October 2016

2016-10-11T07:03:49Z

Jyoti: /* Part 1: Panipat to Festubert */

2016-10-11T06:55:39Z

‎Part 1: Panipat to Festubert

Pdewan: /* See also */

2016-09-28T21:09:29Z

‎See also

Pdewan: /* See also */

2016-09-28T21:08:24Z

‎See also

Pdewan: /* World War I */

2016-09-28T21:06:59Z

‎World War I

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 The pensions varied across ranks and number of years spent in service and was , in the range of 50%-70% of sal aries (until 1973, officers were paid 50% and sepoys, 70% of f their salary as pension. Today , it is 50% across ranks.) While the salaries and perks were good, the men were treated, says Dr Singh quoting Kipling, as `half-devil and half child' -in need of a nurturing hand and back-of-the-hand discipline. “Flogging re, mained a summary puni, shment until 1921, about 60 years after it disappeared from the British Army,“ he says. When India became inde pendent, Raj-era privileges were systematically taken , away from the armed forces.
 =A mercenary tradition converted into a nationalist tradition in August, 1947=
 [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=AAKARVANI-Nothing-can-be-said-about-our-faujis-06112016022050  AAKAR PATEL,  Nothing can be said about our faujis, they're above criticism, Nov 06 2016 : The Times of India]

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 =See also=
 [[Indian Army: History (1947- )]]
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 [[World War II and India]]
-and many more...
+[[World War 1: The Dogras]]

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 [[File: Sadashivrao Bhau with Ibrahim Khan Gardi.jpg|Sadashivrao Bhau with Ibrahim Khan Gardi; Picture courtesy: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms ''The Times of India''], September 26, 2014|frame|500px]]
-==='''Nawab Shuja ud-Daulah of Avadh===
+===Nawab Shuja ud-Daulah of Avadh===
 But it was '''Nawab Shuja ud-Daulah of Avadh '''who was among the first to utilise lessons learnt at Panipat. He had allied himself with Ahmed Shah Abdali, but neither he nor his forces took any active part in the battle. In 1764, his moderately Europeanised army led by westerners-including Walter Reinhardt Sombre or 'Samru sahib', the husband of Begum Samru-gave a tough time to the English at Buxar, the first battle fought by the English for territorial control in India. Shuja's army also had Rohillas and Afghan cavalry, who were mostly veterans of Panipat. His artillery directed devastating fire on the British. But the British held out with the wily Hector Munro in command and some disciplined musketry by the infantry, the backbone of which was formed by over 5,000 sepoys. Shuja's forces, with all their bravery, had no answer for the Anglo-Indian bayonet charge.
 Despite the defeat, Shuja continued to modernise his army, raising 18 European-styled infantry battalions by the 1770s. But he would never get the chance to measure swords with the English again as Avadh became a vassal state of the English after Buxar.
 === Buxar===

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 The pensions varied across ranks and number of years spent in service and was , in the range of 50%-70% of sal aries (until 1973, officers were paid 50% and sepoys, 70% of f their salary as pension. Today , it is 50% across ranks.) While the salaries and perks were good, the men were treated, says Dr Singh quoting Kipling, as `half-devil and half child' -in need of a nurturing hand and back-of-the-hand discipline. “Flogging re, mained a summary puni, shment until 1921, about 60 years after it disappeared from the British Army,“ he says. When India became inde pendent, Raj-era privileges were systematically taken , away from the armed forces.
-==A caveat: Is India's investment climate truly improving?==
+=A mercenary tradition converted into a nationalist tradition in August, 1947=
-[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=SWAMINOMICS-Surveys-mislead-when-firms-control-the-investment-06112016022034  SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR,  Surveys mislead when firms control the investment climate, Nov 06 2016 : The Times of India]
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=AAKARVANI-Nothing-can-be-said-about-our-faujis-06112016022050  AAKAR PATEL,  Nothing can be said about our faujis, they're above criticism, Nov 06 2016 : The Times of India]
-Is India's investment climate truly improving? The `Doing Business 2017' report of the World Bank shows India improving only marginally from 131st to 130th position among surveyed countries. Meanwhile Assessment of State Imthe industry ministry's ` plementation of Business Reforms 2015-16' claims that implementation of a 340-point reform programme by the states has improved to 48.9% from just 32% the previous year.
+I am revealing no secret when I say that what had been a mercenary army on August 14, 1947 renamed itself a nationalist army the next morning. We have no history before that of a nationalist army, unlike, say, Turkey .
-Which version should readers believe? Neither.Both reports describe changes in rules rather in practice. The reports cannot capture the role of money and influence to get clearances. Enormous hurdles can vanish with a bribe or telephone call.
+The mercenary tradition of the Indian armed forces goes back at least 2,500 years. The first Greek historian Herodotus describes Indians at the battle of Plataea in 479 BC hired by the Persian emperor Xerxes (the Indians acquitted themselves well, though the battle was lost to the Greek alliance).
-The Doing Business report shows India is a difficult place for honest, rule-bound business.But it's not bad at all for businesses that can handle the system. That's why billions of dollars of foreign investment are pouring in even as World Bank ratings show countries like India and China in a poor light.
+Ghalib, who died in 1869, said famously: “Sau pusht se, hai pesha-e-aba sipahgari“ (for a hundred generations, our family profession has been soldiery).The world has long respected the Indian soldier's abilities. It is he who taught the European trench fighting in what they call their Great War.
-Critics have long pilloried the shortcomings of the Doing Business report. Yet it has become popular, warts and all, because it captures at least the formal hurdles facing honest business, and promotes competition between countries.
+Alexander the Great's fawning biographers, Arrian, Quintus Curtius Rufus and Plutarch, say only one action stained the conqueror's record. He concluded a treaty with a group of Indian mercenaries and then treacherously had them murdered after they disarmed. He did so because he respected and was threatened by their fighting ability .
-The most devastating expose of its shortcomings came in a World Bank study by HallwardDriemeier and Lant Pritchett. They compared data for a large group of countries from the Doing Business survey with that from a separate Business Enterprise survey, also done by the Bank. They examined three indicators -the time taken for obtaining construction permits, starting a business or operating licence, and the delay in importing goods. They found the average time taken for all three was far less in the Enterprise surveys.
+Every day, on my way to work, I go past the headquarters of the Madras Sappers in Bengaluru. A tank in desert camouflage is at the gate, its cannon overlooking the pretty Ulsoor Lake. I'd like to row on it but civilians are forbidden. On the lake are little rock islands on the walls of which are painted the names of great Sappers victories, like Assaye Ganj.
-Why? For many technical reasons, but mainly because the Enterprise surveys got data from businessmen across a country , whereas the Doing Business surveys got data from a single city , from lawyers and technocrats familiar with changing rules.So, the Enterprise surveys captured the reality inclusive of bribes and influence, whereas the Doing Business surveys captured changes in rules that would benefit honest, but possibly non-existent, businesses. In India, even reputable firms hire “consultants“ to handle speed money .
+Who was defeated at Assaye? The Marathas. Who were the Sappers fighting for? Arthur Wellesley, later to become Duke Wellington (of Waterloo fame).The Sappers HQ gate proudly announces the year the unit was formed: 1780, more than a century and a half before Independence. Who did the Sappers shoot and bayonet and mine and blow up all these years? Other Indians.
-The Doing Business report gives a single number for the time taken in clearances. But Hallward-Driemeier and Pritchett found huge variations for different firms: it mattered greatly who your contacts were. The investment climate is not the same for everybody: some can control it, others cannot. The biggest, best-connected firms have a big advantage.
+Colonel Dyer only gave the order in 1919 at Jallianwala Bagh. Aim was taken and triggers pulled by the Gurkha Rifles, and by the Punjabis of Baloch Regiment (the Baloch did not and do not have a tradition of soldiery).
-In practice, clearances are faster than rules suggest. The time taken for construction permits in 80 countries was only one-sixth as much in the Enterprise surveys as in the Doing Business surveys.
+This country sleeps because its soldiers are awake, in the words of the Prime Minister. Such sentiment is accepted unquestioningly . It is because of this sentiment that a nation that spends Rs 33,000 crore on the health of its citizens paid Rs 59,000 crore for 36 warplanes this year. There was some criticism of this government because it actually cut the health budget.
-−
-So, should we ignore surveys on rules and focus only on “realities“? Sorry , but businessmen don't tell the full truth to surveyors about “realities“ either. Still, Enterprise surveys carry more credibility than the Doing Business report.
-−
-With the caveats already expressed, the industry ministry's survey of states deserves attention for what it reveals in trends, even if its figures need a generous pinch of salt. This survey looks at 340 changes in laws and rules agreed upon to improve the investment climate. These are more relevant for honest than dishonest business. That does not make them irrelevant. Rules must be changed to make honest business easier. This may not have a revolutionary short-term impact, but is essential for the long term. We need to shift from an influence-based to a rule-based system.
-−
-Modi has cut big corruption in New Delhi but it continues at the state level. The survey shows that NDA-ruled states are far more reformist than others, occupying most top rankings. This drives home Modi's strategy to get re-elected by job creation in a vibrant economy , not through giveaways or Hindutva.
-−
-The BIMAROU states, once the pits, now figure high in the rankings. This includes BJP-ruled states (Rajasthan, MP , Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand) and nonBJP ones (Bihar, Odisha, UP). Although placed 14th and 16th, UP fulfilled 84.5% and Bihar 75.8% of promised reforms. West Bengal, another laggard, fulfilled 84.2%. It remains to be seen how far changed rules translate into reality . Huge gaps can be expected. Nobody should believe that the states have improved the investment climate fabulously , or that climate control by influential firms has disappeared. Yet the direction of change is positive.
 =See also=

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 At Delhi's Jantar Man tar, armed forces veter ans have been sitting on a relay hunger strike since June 15 to protest against the Modi government's flip-flops on the implementation of OROP (One Rank, One Pension) scheme. “Is this a government of our people? Even the British treated us better,“ a war veteran mutters.
 So, did the Raj really treat Indian soldiers better? The Indian Army sepoy was never really paid well at any point in history . After the Mughals, the East India Company became the best paymaster in the subcontinent, and the prospect of regular pay attracted talent from all corners of the country . It was perhaps rivalled only by the Sikh Empire after Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death and that too for a short time (the Khalsa Army's pay was double the Company salaries).
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 The pensions varied across ranks and number of years spent in service and was , in the range of 50%-70% of sal aries (until 1973, officers were paid 50% and sepoys, 70% of f their salary as pension. Today , it is 50% across ranks.) While the salaries and perks were good, the men were treated, says Dr Singh quoting Kipling, as `half-devil and half child' -in need of a nurturing hand and back-of-the-hand discipline. “Flogging re, mained a summary puni, shment until 1921, about 60 years after it disappeared from the British Army,“ he says. When India became inde pendent, Raj-era privileges were systematically taken , away from the armed forces.
 =See also=

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 [[Category:Defence |A]]
 [[Category:History |A]]
 ==Part 1: Panipat to Festubert ==
 '''Evolution of Indian military: From Panipat to Festubert '''
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 [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms The Times of India ] Manimugdha S Sharma,TNN | Sep 26, 2014
-[[File: Lal Singh.jpg|Lal Singh let his army down when he withdrew at Ferozeshah during the First Anglo-Sikh War; Picture courtesy: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms ''The Times of India''], September 26, 2014|frame|500px]]
+[[File: Lal Singh.jpg|Picture courtesy: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms ''The Times of India''], September 26, 2014|frame|500px]]
 ===1761: Panipat ===

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 [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms The Times of India ] Manimugdha S Sharma,TNN | Sep 26, 2014
+[[File: Lal Singh.jpg|Lal Singh let his army down when he withdrew at Ferozeshah during the First Anglo-Sikh War; Picture courtesy: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms ''The Times of India''], September 26, 2014|frame|500px]]
-−
 [[File: Lal Singh.jpg|Lal Singh let his army down when he withdrew at Ferozeshah during the First Anglo-Sikh War.|frame|500px]]
 ===1761: Panipat ===
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 But despite the defeat, Panipat made it clear to the Indians that subsequent battles in the subcontinent will be won by the boom of artillery and rattle of musketry. According to Dr Uday S Kulkarni's exhaustive account of the battle titled 'Solstice At Panipat: 14 January 1761', Maratha generals like Scindia, Holkar and Gaekwad, who were staunch critics of Maratha commander-in-chief Sadashivrao Bhau's touching faith in Ibrahim Khan Gardi and his European style of fighting, would change their minds and increasingly repose faith in European-styled drilled infantry and artillery. In fact, they would also abandon their traditional strength of guerrilla warfare or ganimi kava, a process that started right from the Panipat battlefield. But the Marathas weren't alone in this: soon, most Indian rulers were racing one another to modernise their armies. This phase also saw a gradual departure from the mediaeval practice of assigning more weightage to cavalry than any other combat arm.
-[[File: Sadashivrao Bhau.jpg|Sadashivrao Bhau with Ibrahim Khan Gardi |frame|500px]]
+[[File: Sadashivrao Bhau with Ibrahim Khan Gardi.jpg|Sadashivrao Bhau with Ibrahim Khan Gardi; Picture courtesy: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms ''The Times of India''], September 26, 2014|frame|500px]]
 ==='''Nawab Shuja ud-Daulah of Avadh===
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 Hyder Ali and '''Tipu Sultan ''' also abandoned the common Indian practice of engaging militias raised by provincial governors in war time and went for a fully centralised recruiting and training system. A very rudimentary form of regimental system was also followed. But by Tipu Sultan's time, Mysore artillery had attained a high degree of finesse. Tipu introduced a rocket artillery corps organised in kushoons. Tipu's guns were also known for their longer range and accuracy. It's not known how many artillery pieces he had; but at the fall of Srirangapatnam and Tipu's death in 1799, the British found 421 gun carriages, 176 12 pounders and 4,12,000 iron round shots ranging from four to 42 pounds inside the fort.
-[[File: Tipu Sultan.jpg|Tipu Sultan doggedly defending his capital on May 4, 1799|frame|500px]]
+[[File: Tipu Sultan doggedly defending his capital on May 4, 1799.jpg|Tipu Sultan doggedly defending his capital on May 4, 1799; Picture courtesy: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms ''The Times of India''], September 26, 2014|frame|500px]]
 A few years after Tipu Sultan's collapse, the process of the end of the Maratha Empire began as well. The Peshwa signed the Treaty of Bassein with the English in 1802, agreeing to station a 6,000-strong British force in his territory. The Poona Horse (now 17 Horse, Indian Army) was thus born.
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 Just before the First Anglo-Sikh War, the Sikh army had grown bigger than the state could support. According to UK-based military historian Amarpal Singh's book, 'The First Anglo-Sikh War', in 1839, the Lahore state had an army consisting just under 47,000 regular infantry,16,000 regular and irregular cavalry, and 500 pieces of artillery. The artillery was mostly manned by Muslim gunners.
-[[File: Sikh artillery.jpg|Sikh artillery pieces being carried away by the English as war trophies |frame|500px]]
+[[File: Sikh artillery pieces being carried away by the English as war trophies.jpg|Sikh artillery pieces being carried away by the English as war trophies; Picture courtesy: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Evolution-of-Indian-military-From-Panipat-to-Festubert/articleshow/43541983.cms ''The Times of India''], September 26, 2014|frame|500px]]
 But after Ranjit Singh's death, there was a period of anarchy that saw too many court intrigues and rapid decline in leadership of the army. The army, though, continued to expand (over 80,000 in 1845) and went out of control. It functioned through village panchayats that were subservient to none. The soldiers were paid twice the sum that a sepoy in HEIC's army received every month. The soldiers also resorted to loot and plunder whenever they wanted.

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:09, 28 September 2016
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	[[World War II and India]]		[[World War II and India]]
		+
		+	and many more...

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:08, 28 September 2016
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	=See also=		=See also=
	[[Indian Army: History (1947- )]]		[[Indian Army: History (1947- )]]
		+
		+	[[World War I and India]]
		+
		+	[[World War II and India]]