The Indian army during the days of the Raj was a volunteer force with British officers and was instrumental in helping Great Britain control the subcontinent. In addition this army also manned many outposts of the British Empire where the adage 'The Sun never sets on the British empire' held true.
One fact that is glossed over is that this army was for the greater part of its existence supported by Indian taxation. London hardly financed this volunteer force. Despite being financed by Indian tax payers this army was an essential cog in the wheel of British domination over the globe, more particularly its grip over India. Perhaps they would never have been able to rule India without this army at their call.
Changes after 1857
The Indian mutiny 1857-1858 was a watershed in Indian history and had far-reaching consequences. Firstly the force was downsized in numbers and artillery and engineering were put exclusively out of the reach of native troops and were thus manned only by Britishers. The second transformation was the induction of the Sikhs, Gurkhas, and Pathans in a main role in the British army as a reward for their loyalty during the mutiny. They replaced the Bengalis, Marathas, and other groups who were earlier part of the East India company army.
The Use of the Revamped Army
This revamped army was used to put down internal dissent and was also used to cow the Indian population. It was also used as a mercenary army against Indians as well like the Jallianwala massacre when Indian troops under General Dyer had fired on unarmed civilians.
The Indian army after 1857 became a trusted part of the Raj and was used for action against the Afghans during the Anglo-Afghan wars. They were also used to enforce the British writ in the North West frontier province. In one famous battle at Saragrahi in 1897 21 Sikh soldiers faced Muslim horde of 10,000 all for the Raj and empire.
The Indian army was also used to defeat Tibet with the YoungHusband expedition in 1903-04. The British Indian army thus became an essential element of the Raj.
The Indian Army in World War I
The revamped British army gave a telling account of its ability during various campaigns for the Raj. As an example the Indian troops fought for the crown during World War I. They were active in the trenches of the Western Front and took part in battles at Neuve-Chapelle, Loos, and Ypres.
This Indian army was to a great extant able to help Britain sustains its battle positions after their arrival in France and the Mediterranean during 1915. This fact is now belatedly acknowledged by military historians. It is on record that some of the Indian units fighting this Great War suffered over 100 percent casualties for the cause of British Imperialism. In the period between the wars the British Indian Army policed the North Western Frontier and also served in Malaysia and Singapore.
Indianization
As World War II unfolded the Indian Army which then numbered 270,000 men with 64,000 British was very much a traditional colonial force. The process of Indianization as envisaged by the 1919 and 1935 India Acts had hardly begun, as in a force of over 200,000 soldiers only 577 Indians held commissions. This situation underwent a dramatic change with the defeat of France in June 1940 and suddenly, the Indian Army assumed greater importance in helping Britain hold its lifeline through Suez and the Middle East.
The pace of expansion and Indianization got a tremendous fillip as Japan mounted an assault on the British Empire in SE Asia towards the end of 1941. This war did not go smoothly as the Japanese Imperial army took large numbers of Indian soldiers as POWs. This caused a split in loyalty of the Indian soldier as a nationalist appeal by Subhas Chandra Bose made many Indian soldiers trade their POW status for freedom by getting recruited into the anti-British Indian National Army. Thus the whole idea of a European empire in Asia was under threat from Japan
Indian Army in World War II
The Second World was now was thrust on the British by Hitler. The British had now no choice but to expand Indian regiments and as there was a shortage of British officers Indians had to be accepted as officers. In addition it became necessary to expand the recruiting base as more sepoys were required. Thus in addition to the Sikhs, Rajputs, and Pathans other religious groups and races like the Madrassis and Biharis were also recruited.
However there was a plus side as the Indian Army modernized rapidly and troop levels reached 2.5 million by 1945. Another plus point was that nearly 16,000 Indians were commissioned as officers and for the first time some British junior officers served under Indian commissioned officers.
Western Theatre
The Indian army was also used on the western front and in 1940 they participated in battles against the Wehermacht during FALL GELB (1940), the fall of France and the Low Countries. Many were taken prisoner by Hitler's army, and join as the Indian national league to fight along the Germans.
The British Indian army units also fought in the campaign in North Africa against the Italians and were a critical element in the British victory over Italy in the East African campaign.
Eastern Theatre
The battle in the East was a disaster as at the end of 1941 Indian and British units were overrun by the Japanese in Hong Kong, and in early 1942 they suffered more terrible defeats and prisoner losses in Malaya and at Singapore. Then, began the long retreat in Burma in 1942 as the Japanese pushed the British and Indian regiments to the Indian border.
At that juncture the Indian army had lacked heavy weapons, motorized transport, and armor. From 1942 to 1943 the British Indian army helped the British to a holding operation in Burma as well as manning garrisons in the Middle East. A point to be noted here is that the war-time expansion and modernization of the Indian army was paid by heavy contributions from Indians and American aid. These steps of re-equipping the Indian army with better and heavier weapons had an effect and during 1944-1945, Burma was retaken. In this theatre alone Indian casualties reached 89,000, including 24,000 killed.
Epilogue
The end of the war saw a greatly weakened Great Britain and it had its effect by their decision to leave India and two states of India and Pakistan were created. The British Indian army was divided between these two states though most of the physical assets remained with India. Thus history records that the Indian army was the main cog in controlling the British Empire.
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