Brief History of the Pre-Partition Indian Army

By Gen KV Krishna Rao

Issue: Book Excerpt: Prepare or Perish: A Study of National Security | Date : 19 Aug , 2021

Considering that the Indian Army, as it was inherited from the British period, was patterned generally
on the system as evolved for India, and the fact that the present Indian Army has been built up on
the foundations laid by the British, it would be useful at this stage to recapitulate briefly the history of
the British Indian Army. In this Section, an attempt is made to cover broadly the birth of this Army, its
growth and exploits during the British period including its participation in the two World Wars and
ultimately its division into the two Armies of India and Pakistan.

The Indian Army developed from very small beginnings in the early part of the 17th century, to be
one of the greatest volunteer armies in the world. Some of the European powers, namely, the
Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the English, in pursuit of trade, established trading
companies such as the East India Company in India, gradually colonised the country, and taking
advantage of dissensions among the local rulers, ultimately conquered the whole country. To start
with, they employed Indians as watchmen, messengers and guards. As time went on, they raised
units, formations and even armies in some cases. In the early stages, the European powers fought
among themselves, with the result that the Portuguese and the French were left with small
territories on the West and East coasts, while the British conquered the rest of India during the
course of the next two hundred years or so. The bulk of the forces for these internecine wars among
the European powers were strangely the Indian troops that they raised, while there were also some
elements of their own national forces (Europeans). In the succeeding paras only the development of
the British Indian Army is covered.

The English East India Company was formed in 1600 under a Royal Charter, in order to trade with
India. In 1608, Captain Hawkins landed in Surat and established a factory there. In 1611, a factory
was established at Masulipattam and a Fort was built at Madras, named Fort St. George. Guards
were employed for the security of these factories and the Fort. When King Charles II received the
Island of Bombay as part of his wife’s dowry, he transferred it to the East India Company for
administration in 1661; and to guard it he sent a small detachment of Royal Troops comprising five
English officers and 200 men. In 1685, two companies of Rajputs, of 100 men each, and
commanded by their own officers, but under the control of English, were raised to serve with the
Bombay Garrison. This was the real beginning of the Indian Army. In 1697, Fort William was built in
Calcutta and a small guard was raised for its protection.

With the expansion of the trading interests in all the three Presidencies of Madras, Bombay and
Calcutta by 1708, the forces for their security were organized into three separate armies, each
under their own commander-in-chief; and all three Chiefs were responsible to the directors of the
East India Company in England. The Armed Forces comprised both English and Indian units; the
latter being in majority, wore their own uniforms and were commanded by officers of their own
nationality. In 1748, Major Stringer Lawrence, was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of all the
Armed Forces belonging to the East India Company in India. He is regarded as the Father of the
British Indian Army. The three Presidencies’ armies were made liable for service in any part of the
East India Company in India, i.e., in the Presidencies other than their own, also. During the period
1749-1757, when the English were at war with the

French in Europe, the side effects spread to India also; and French and English forces got involved
in fighting in India, in order to gain dominance. The English forces led by Robert Clive defeated the
French in the battle of Arcot in 1752; and this became the turning point for the British rule in India.
After this, Clive introduced certain reforms. He formed regular Indian battalions, armed and dressed
them on European lines and had a mixture of English officers and NCOS and Indian officers, NCOS
and Other Ranks (English 1 Captain, 2 Subalterns, 1 Sergeant Major and a number of Sergeants;
Indian 1 Commandant, 1 Adjutant, 10 Subedars, 30 Jemadars, 50 Havildars, 40 Naiks, 20
Drummers, 10 Buglers and 700 Sepoys). Each battalion had 10 companies. The English officers
and NCOS formed the staff; and although the senior English officer was a Captain, on parade, the
Indian Commandant had to follow him.

The first such battalion was known as the ‘Lal Pultan’. Clive felt that the system would be
strengthened by these measures. In 1757, Clive defeated the local Indian ruler Siraj-ud-Dowlah at
the battle of Plassey. It would be of interest to note that Clive, with about 3000 men, including one
English regiment, defeated an Army of 50,000 fielded by the Indian ruler. After this battle, the
English became the rulers of Bengal, besides being traders. Subsequently, the army was expanded
and Clive introduced English Commandants and English Company Commanders in Indian
battalions. Cavalry and Artillery were also raised. During the next 40 years, the English extended
their territories particularly under Warren Hastings, the successor of Clive and Governor General, by
a series of campaigns. These included the first and the second Mysore wars (1780 and 1790)
resulting in the defeat of Tipu Sultan at Seringapatnam in 1799 and the first and second Mahratta
wars (1775 and 1802) under Sir Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington). Apart from these, by 1816
Gorkhas of Nepal were defeated by General Ochterlony, the Mahrattas were defeated in a final war
in 1817, Sind was conquered in 1843 and the Sikhs, after fighting two wars (1845 and 1849) were
defeated by Sir Huh Gough, under Lord Dalhousie the Governor General of India. An expedition
was also sent to Afghanistan to counter Russian Penetration in 1839 and although it ended initially
in disaster, in 1842 Kabul was recaptured by the English. It may be mentioned that, apart from these
various campaigns, detachments of Indian troops also fought in Phillipines, Ceylon, Egypt, Mauritius
and East Indies (Indonesia). At this time, the army comprised an English element consisting of 5
Brigades of Horse Artillery, 10 battalions of Fort Artillery, 6 Regiments of Infantry’; and an Indian
element of 19 Regiments of regular Cavalry, 7 Regiments of irregular Cavalry, two Corps of Sappers
and Miners, two Corps of Pioneers and 144 battalions of Infantry. The total strength was about
277,746. The proportion of Indians to English troops was about 6 to 1.

As a result of the progressive conquest of the various princely states in India by the British and due
to their policy of divide and rule, great resentment against the British had built up within the country.
Dalhousie’s policy of annexing states without any genuine cause, under his ‘doctrine of lapse’,
further aggravated the situation, particularly with the annexation of Oudh and Jhansi. There were
also other reasons such as dissatisfaction with pay and allowances, neglect of welfare of troops,
weakness in leadership caused by the transfer out of better lot of officers, compulsory service in
newly conquered areas under difficult conditions and so on, which had an adverse impact on the
Indian elements of the Army. Then came the provocation for these soldiers of having to use greased
cartridges (allegedly with cow and pig fat which they had to break, open with their mouths), which
added fuel to the fire. Under these conditions, the Indian soldiers revolted against the British,
starting with Meerut on May 10, 1857, and spreading to Delhi, Kanpur, Jhansi, Lucknow and so on.
The Indian troops took control of the various garrisons and state capitals for a while and got
Bahadur Shah to declare independence of the country.

However, after suffering a number of casualties, the British, by utilizing troops from the other areas
and by taking stem repressive measures, put down what they called as ‘mutiny’. By and large, it
was the troops of the Bengal Presidency Army that revolted, although some elements of the other
two armies also participated in the revolt. After firmly dealing with the revolt, the British Crown took
over the control of India from the English East India Company, under the Government of India Act
1858, for ‘better Government of India’.
A royal commission was appointed and certain re-organizational measures were taken under Sir
John Lawrence. These included reduction of the proportion of Indian to British troops to 3 to 1,
mixing up of various classes and castes in Indian Regiments, disbanding of Indian Artillery except
mountain artillery, disbanding of 55 out of 70 infantry regiments of the Bengal Army, disbanding of
all the Cavalry with the Bengal Army, raising of more infantry regiments from Punjab and Gorkhas,
introduction of Summary Court Martial and so on. With the implementation of these measures, the
British were able to regain full control over the Indian elements of their army in India. Soon
thereafter, war broke out in China (1860), to participate in which six irregular regiments from Punjab
were sent. Subsequently, Indian troops participated in expeditions/operations in Bhutan in 1864-
1865, Swat in 1864, Abyssinia in 1867-1868, Afghanistan in 1878, Malta in 1878, Egypt in 1882,
Burma in 1885, Hunza-Nagar and Chin and Kachin Hills in 1888-1892, Waziristan in 1894, Chitral in
1895 and so on. In 1895, the Presidency Armies with their separate organizations were abolished
and four territorial commands were established, namely, Punjab, Bengal, Madras and Bombay in
order to achieve better cohesion in the Indian Army.

Once again, Lord Kitchener, who was regarded as one of the great commanders-in-chief in India,
reorganized the Army from 1903 onwards. The role of the Army was defined as, to guard the
frontiers of India with special reference to the North West Frontier, the maintenance of internal
security and the defence of other parts of the British Empire in general. 3 armies, namely, Northern
(Punjab), Southern (Bombay) and Eastern (Bengal), and a Burma Command (old Madras army)
were formed. Cavalry regiments and infantry battalions were re-numbered on all India basis. 3 of
the 39 Cavalry regiments were made regular and 36 were kept on the old Sillidar system (whereby
the man provided his own horse, weapons and military attire; and regular maintenance grant was
given to him). British officers became Indian Army Officers. Some Indian Princes were given
honorary commissions. Units and formations were re-located, in order to carry out the assigned
roles in an efficient and speedy manner. For reasons of economy, the Army was once again re-
organized in 1907, into Northern and Southern Armies. The composition of these armies as under,
gives an idea of the deployment of the troops at the time, to meet the roles laid down:

(a) Northern.

1st (Peshawar) Division.

2nd (Rawalpindi) Division.
3rd (Lahore) Division.
7th (Meerut) Division.
8th (Lucknow) Division.
and some Independent Brigades.

(b) Southern.

4th (Quetta) Division.

5th (Mhow) Division.
6th (Poona) Division.
9th (Secunderabad) Division.
Burma Division.
Aden Brigade.

At this time, the field Army had a strength of 152,000 and the troops for internal security numbered
82,000.
When the first World War broke out in 1914, an Indian expeditionary force of initially two divisions
was sent to Europe, to participate in the war. These were the 3rd (Lahore) Division and 7th (Meerut)
Division. These Divisions joined battle at the nick of time and saved the cause of the Allies. Others
followed subsequently. For the first time, Indian troops fought against a first rate modern enemy, the
Germans, and acquitted themselves admirably. A number of battle honours such as Neuve
Chappelle, Messines, Ypres, Givenchy and so on were won. For conspicuous valour, a large
number of Victoria Crosses (the highest award for gallantry in war) were awarded to Indian soldiers.
Subsequent to the initial troops, further forces were sent and participated in different theatres of the
war, such as Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli, East Africa, Aden, North Persia, South
Persia and Persian Gulf and so on; and earned a great reputation for their courage, discipline,
devotion to duty and fortitude.

Sir John French, the Commander-in-Chief, placed on record his opinion, “the Indian troops have
fought with the utmost steadfastness and gallantry whenever they have been called upon.” A total of
552,000 Indian soldiers served overseas; 36,696 gave their lives and 160,594 were wounded. It
would be of interest to note that the strength of the Indian Army went upto 985,000 during the war.
Apart from fighting overseas, Indian troops also had to keep peace on the North West Frontier. A
number of useful lessons were learnt from the war, such as the need for some mechanization,
converting the Cavalry to regular force as opposed to the Sillidar system, reorganization of infantry
on a proper regimental system with a training battalion for each regiment, improvement of
communications and enlargement of Indian Signal Corps, improvement of logistics including supply
of reinforcements, maintenance of adequate reserves in peace, and so on.

After the First World War, certain reforms and reorganization were carried out in the Indian Army,
based on the lessons learnt. Under the Government of India Act 1919, it was laid down that the
control of the civilian and military would be under the Viceroy and Governor General of India, who
was required to act under the orders issued by the Secretary of State for India (a minister of the
King Emperor’s Government in Britain). The defence of India was to be an imperial obligation and if
India were attacked, her troops would be supported by those of Great Britain. A Committee known
as the Esher Committee recommended a number of reorganizational measures, which were
implemented. These included the following;

4 Commands were set up, namely, Northern Command with Headquarters at Murree,
Southern Command with Headquarters at Poona, Eastern Command with Headquarters
at Nainital and Western Command with Headquarters at Quetta.
Battalions were grouped into regiments and based on a Regimental Centre which trained
recruits for the entire regiment.
The Sillidar system was abolished and the 21 regiments of Cavalry were grouped like
infantry battalions under three Regimental Centres.
The Signal Corps was made permanent and enlarged.
Departmental Corps were raised for other Services such as Ordnance. Logistics were
overhauled.
Troops were divided into Field Army (Strike Force), Covering Troops (NWF) and Internal
Security Troops, according to their tasks in each command.
Nationalisation was started though in a slow way, whereby Indian cadets were sent to
Royal Military College Sandhurst, King’s commissions were given to Indians, preliminary
training was organised at Dehradun and 8 regular units were Indianised.
Later, the Indian Military Academy was opened at Dehradun in 1932, and Royal Indian
Artillery Field Regiments were reformed in 1935.

After the First World War, Indian Army participated in a number of operations between the two World
Wars. These included Mesopotamia 1921-1922, Shanghai 1927, Burma 1930-1932 and North West
Frontier.

A Committee known as the Chatfield Committee recommended further reorganizational measures in

1938. These included mechanization of the Indian Army, production of small arms and ammunition
within India, further improvement of logistic set up by raising different services, raising of institutions
for developing leadership and so on. As these measures were under implementation, the Second
World War broke out.

When the Second World War broke out on September 1, 1939, the Indian Army was undergoing a
process of mechanization and modernisation. Once Britain joined the war on September 3, 1939,
Indian troops were sent to different theatres of war at different times, to fight along-side British
troops and other Commonwealth forces. 4th Indian Division was the first Indian formation to see
action in Eritrea in December 1940. 5th Indian Division fought the epic battle of Keren and captured
it on February 27, 1941 (as part of Wavell’s force), which resulted in the collapse of the Italian East
African Empire. 10th Indian Division landed in Basra (Iraq) in April 1941 and made the supply route
to Russia safe. 4th and 5th Indian Divisions saw continuous action against the German Army under
Rommel in North Africa, in the spring of 1941. 4th Indian Division participated in the decisive battle
of El-Alamein in October 1942, which was the turning point of the war in Africa. 8th and 10th Indian
Divisions participated in the fighting in Sicily and Italy in 1943-1944 against the Italians and the
Germans, and earned a fine reputation for themselves.

In the fighting against the Japanese in the East, a number of Indian troops were taken prisoner
along with their British counterparts when Hongkong and Singapore fell to the Japanese in 1941-
1942. Against heavy odds when Alexander’s army was withdrawing from Burma in the face of the
Japanese advance, 17th Indian Division gave an excellent account of itself in the battle of Sittang,
although it suffered very heavy casualties. By this, considerable time was gained, to prevent various
facilities from falling into Japanese hands, including Port, Oil and communication facilities. By the
time the troops reached the Indian frontier in May 1942, rains had set in and the enemy advance
was held up. Indian troops played a useful role behind enemy lines, as part of Wingate’s Chindits in
1942. A number of Indian Divisions (14, 23, 26) participated in the Akyab Campaign. The
determined attacks by the Japanese on Imphal and Kohima were repulsed with heavy casualties to
the Japanese. The Battle of Kohima proved to be the turning point in the war with Japan. After this,
14th Army, which generally comprised Indian troops, advanced into Burma, captured Mandalay on
March 20, 1945 and Rangoon on May 4, 1945. When the war with Japan came to an end, after the
dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, the bulk of Burma was in
possession of the 14th Army.

In the Second World War, Indian Army units were awarded a large number of battle honours on both
the Western and Eastern fronts. A number of Victoria Crosses were also won by personnel of Indian
units for valour. Commenting on the part played by Indian Troops, Field Marshal Slim said, “India
was our base, and three quarters of everything we got from there. The best thing of all we got from
India was the Indian Army. Indeed, the campaign in Burma was largely an Indian Army campaign.
The bulk of the fighting troops and almost the whole of those on the lines of communication were
soldiers of the Indian Army, and magnificient they were. India, too, trained and sent us our
reinforcements.” It would be of interest to note that by the end of the Second World War, the
strength of the Indian Army exceeded two million. During the war, a number of Indian cadets were
given Emergency Commissions in the Army. Some of them got regular commissions later and
formed the backbone of the Army. Further, as the war progressed, the Army kept modernising itself
for the tasks in hand. After the surrender of Germans and Japanese, Indian troops were sent as
Occupying Forces along with other Commonwealth and American forces to different countries such
as Greece, Malaya, Indonesia, Japan and so on.
© Copyright 2023 Indian Defence Review