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Collaboration and British Military Recruitment: Fresh perspectives from colonial Punjab, 1914–1918*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2015

TAHIR MAHMOOD
TAHIR MAHMOOD*
Affiliation:
Department of History, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article examines the ways in which rural elite collaborators mobilized recruits for the British Army during the First World War. It thus not only increases knowledge of Punjab's military history, but adds to the understanding of collaboration as a process involving competitive groups in which elites manipulated the process for their own ends. The case study material drawn from the Shahpur district of the colonial Punjab argues that while there may have been a degree of indoctrination into the colonial state's values, it was mainly the desire to use its patronage to bolster family influence or to transform local hierarchies that was the key factor in securing willing collaborators. The competition for local power and influence provided a local dynamic to the collaborative process. The state could of course take advantage of this competition to serve its interests, just as the Punjabi tribal chiefs could utilize state patronage to beat off rivals to their power. Collaboration was thus a dynamic two-way process, rather than, as it is often portrayed, a top-down, one-way relationship.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 5 , September 2016 , pp. 1474 - 1500
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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Footnotes

*

An earlier draft of the article was presented at a Punjab Research Group meeting held at Coventry University. Comments and feedback by Ian Talbot helped to improve this article. Responsibility for the views expressed in it lies solely with the author.

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16 M. S. Leigh termed these five months as the ‘blackest months’ of the entire period of the war. There was great demand for more recruits from Punjab as Lloyd George had sent an ‘SOS’ message to India in the wake of German offensives. Russia had left the war after the October Revolution and apparently there was no force in Europe strong enough to stop Germany reaching India via the Caspian route. Leigh, M. S., The Punjab and the War (repr. Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1997), p. 37Google Scholar.

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18 Jagan Nath, President Sargodha Municipality to M. S. Leigh, 10 November 1918 in File U/XIV/194, Deputy Commissioner Record Office [henceforth DCRO], Sargodha. Besides this there are many other letters written to M. S. Leigh, when he was serving as a sub divisional officer in Khushab tehsil, regarding the services during the First World War.

19 Leigh, M. S., War Services of the Shahpur District (Lahore: Civil and Military Gazetteer Press, n.d.)Google Scholar.

20 Michael O’Dwyer, who served in the Shahpur district as deputy commissioner during his early Punjab administrative career, writes about the Tiwanas: ‘Hence in every subsequent campaign, the Tiwana Chiefs were the first to come forward. In the Great War Lt. Col. Sir Umar Hayat Khan was perhaps the most distinguished Indian soldier—one who served on every front from Flanders to Mesopotamia, and by his influence and example raised thousands of fighting men in the North Punjab. Nawab Mubariz Khan, a fine soldier himself and the son of veteran Jahan Khan (for many years the chief Indian officer of the Tiwana Lancers), was also a tower of strength. Nawab Sir Khuda Bakhsh Khan, then a Minister in the Bahawalpur state, was recalled by me to the Punjab in 1916, to help in a great emergency, and raised, in and around his native district, six thousand mule and camel-drivers for Mesopotamia in a few weeks. All these were young men when I was in Shahpur (1887–89), and we became fast friends, hunting, shooting, and hawking together when one could get away from the strain of work.’ O’Dwyer, Michael, India as I Knew It, 1885–1925 (London: Constable and Co., 1925), pp. 40–41 Google Scholar.

21 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

22 The services of the Tiwanas of Mitha Tiwana were highly valuable as all the leading members of the family were present in the Multan Campaign in 1848. Malik Fateh Khan, who was under orders not to leave the Bannu fort, lost his life, whereas his son Malik Fateh Sher Khan was on the side of the British at the Multan siege. Malik Sher Muhammad Khan captured 12 forts from the Sikhs. Malik Umar Hayat Khan's father, Malik Sahib Khan, assisted the British throughout all the campaigns. A Brief Account of the Career of Captain the Hon’ble Malik Umar Hayat Khan Tiwana, C.I.E., M.V.O. [Henceforth A Brief Account], p. 1., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

23 Malik Fateh Sher Khan, Sher Muhammad Khan and Fateh Khan received the title of Khan Bahadur. Malik Sahib Khan, besides getting the title of Khan Bahadur, was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of the Star of India. Many other members of the family got titles of honour such as Lieutenant, Captain, Nawab, Khan Bahadur, Sardar Bahadur as well as medals for their services.

24 Leigh, War Services, p. 37.

25 See his letters in File U/XIV/194, DCRO.

26 Leigh, War Services, p. 36.

27 Griffin, L. H. and Massey, C. F., Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab, Vol. 2 (rev. edn) (repr. Lahore: Sang-e-Meel, 2004) p. 189. Also see Leigh, War Services, pp. 24 and 53Google Scholar. Hodson's Horse afterwards came to be known as 10th Bengal Lancers. See Allen, Charles, Soldier Sahibs the Men who Made the North-West Frontier (London: John Murray, 2000), p. 262 Google Scholar.

28 Talbot, Ian, Khizr Tiwana: The Punjab Unionist Party and the Partition of India (Surrey: Curzon Press, 1996)Google Scholar.

29 The term was first used by Tan Tai Yong. See Yong, Tan Tai, The Garrison State (New Delhi, Sage Publications, 2005)Google Scholar.

30 A Brief Account, p. 2.

31 For details see Talbot, Khizr Tiwana, p. 36.

32 A Brief Account, in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

33 Griffin and Massey, Chiefs and Families of Note, p. 198.

34 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

35 See Kalra Recruitment Record, in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

36 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

37 Talbot, Khizr Tiwana, p. 39.

38 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

39 Khuda Bakhsh Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

40 Ibid.

41 In 1916 his only son Malik Allah Bakhsh was sent to Basra and returned after only four months after suffering from typhoid fever due to the inhospitable climate there. After his return he supplied a number of recruits in the Gujrat district, endangering his life on many occasions. Khuda Bakhsh Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

42 Khuda Bakhsh Tiwana to M. S. Leigh n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

43 Leigh, War Services, pp. 74–75. Also see Khuda Bakhsh Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

44 Many of the estate managers were Hindus with whom Umar enjoyed a very close relationship. For example, Munshi Hari Ram was his mukhtar-e-aam, which means he had a power of attorney on his behalf. FIR Report, Police Station Jhawrian, 16 July 1903.

45 Leigh, War Services, p. 24.

46 Ibid, p. 77.

47 Khuda Bakhsh Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

48 Leigh, War Services, p.13.

49 Ibid, p. 14.

50 Yong, The Garrison State, pp. 114–117.

51 Batalivi, Ashiq Hussain, Iqbal Ke Akhri Do Sal, (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2000), p. 62 Google Scholar.

52 Noon, Feroz Khan, From Memory (Islamabad: The National Book Foundation, 1993), p. 77 Google Scholar.

53 Batalivi, Iqbal Ke Akhri Do Sal, p. 62.

54 See confidential letter from Camp Gurdaspur to H. P. Tollinton, Deputy Commissioner, Lahore, 10 February 1918, in PGPH(M), Part B, September 1918, Nos.419–422.

55 About the murder of tehsildar, Feroz Khan Noon writes that it was because of his ‘unseemly part in forcing recruitment’. Noon, From Memory, p. 77 Also see Leigh, War Services, p. 11.

56 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M.S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

57 Mubariz Khan Tiwana to M.S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha. Lak was a proprietary village situated near the Kalra estate of Umar Hayat Tiwana. It was called Lak after the Lak tribe. The Lak village as well as others in the surroundings fiercely resisted recruitment. Warrants under the Defence of India Act were issued to arrest the culprits. When police approached the village, a mob of about 1,000 men attacked the police party, whereupon the police opened fire and some of the offenders were killed while several were wounded. Leigh, War Services, p. 10.

58 A Brief Account, p. 7.

59 Bahk Lurka was name of the proprietary village and it was named after the Lurka tribe. The tribe resisted recruitment. Ibid.

60 Leigh, War Services, p. 61.

61 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, 27 May 1919, in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

62 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

63 The internalization of colonial notions like ‘service’, ‘loyalty’ and ‘reward’ on the part of tribal Maliks was not a simple case of ‘colonial mimicry’ as claimed by some writers. We require a nuanced approach to understand this. Their usefulness depended on the degree of consonance they had with the indigenous culture and notions. The aforesaid colonial notions worked well because they were merely the continuation of the indigenous concept of izzat, which provided cultural justification for their internalization. Rewards added to one's social status, loyalty was considered prestigious and service as an honourable thing in Punjabi society. The notion of izzat, therefore, encompassed all these concepts and we cannot dismiss their internalization as ‘colonial mimicry’. On colonial mimicry, see the influential essays by Homi Bhabha, ‘Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse’, October 28 (Spring 1984), pp. 125–133; Bhabha, Homi, ‘Signs Taken for Wonders: Questions of Ambivalence and Authority Under a Tree Outside New Delhi May 1817’, Critical Inquiry 12 (Autumn 1985), pp. 144–165 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

64 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

65 Leigh, War Services, p. 49.

66 Ibid, pp. 163–164.

67 Ibid, p. 49.

68 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

69 A Brief Account, p. 6.

70 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

71 See Statement Showing Pay of Self and Servants in France and Basra, as well as the Statement Showing the Expenditure in France and Basra, Kalra Recruitment Record, in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

72 See Statement Showing Pay and Food Allowances of the Servants in Recruiting Office, Kalra Recruitment Record, in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

73 Umar Hayat Tiwana to M. S. Leigh, n.d., in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

74 Ibid.

75 Ibid.

76 British patronage could disturb the local balance of power. The exaggeration of claims was mainly because of the inherent sense of competition prevailing among the collaborators that was fed by the proposition to serve more and be better rewarded. However, nobody wanted to lag behind at the time of the recording of their services, so we can say that to a lesser extent the collation of services in itself might have prompted the exaggeration of claims and rivalries.

77 It is the same account that was later published with a slight modification under the title A Brief Account of the Career of Colonel Nawab Malik Sir Umar Hayat Khan Tiwana (Shimla, 1927). Umar, encouraged by this, deputed Gulam Rasul Mehr to write his biography entitled Sir Umar Hayat Khan Tiwana. The book has been reprinted by Fiction House, Lahore. Ghulam Rasul Mehr was a prolific writer, critic and journalist. For some time he worked as an editor of Zamindar and later started his own newspaper, The Inqilab. For more details, see Batalwi, Ashiq Hussain, Chand Yadain Chand Tausurat (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publishers, 1992)Google Scholar.

78 A Brief Account, p. 7.

79 Ibid.

80 O’Dwyer retained his office a little longer than was originally envisaged. This was because of the disturbances that broke out in connection with the Rowlett Act. He finally left his office on 29 May 1919. Leigh, War Services, p. 61. Also see O’Dwyer, India as I knew It, p. 316.

81 M. F. O’Dwyer to Sir Umar Hayat Khan, 20 May 1919, in File U/XIV/194, DCRO, Sargodha.

82 Ali, Imran, The Punjab Under Imperialism 1885–1947 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

83 For a complete account of the desertion of erstwhile collaborators by the British and victory of the Muslim League in the wake of pressures arising out of the Second World War, see Talbot, Khizr Tiwana; and Talbot, Punjab and the Raj.

84 Gilmartin, Empire and Islam.

85 Talbot, Punjab and the Raj.