Soldiers of Empire: Indian Sepoys in and Beyond the Imperial Metropole
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SOLDIERS OF EMPIRE INDIAN SEPOYS IN AND BEYOND THE IMPERIAL METROPOLE DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR, 1914-1919 A dissertation presented by Andrew Tait Jarboe to The Department of History In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of History Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts April, 2013 1 SOLDIERS OF EMPIRE INDIAN SEPOYS IN AND BEYOND THE IMPERIAL METROPOLE DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR, 1914-1919 by Andrew Tait Jarboe ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate School of Social Sciences & Humanities of Northeastern University April, 2013 2 Abstract In late 1914, the British Empire deployed Indian soldiers (called sepoys) to Europe in a desperate bid to halt the advancing German army and thereby save the Empire. Although a variety of studies have explored the subject of Indian soldiers in Europe, few venture beyond their military contributions to the situation on the Western Front. In contrast, I devote considerable attention to the more ―intimate frontiers‖ of the British and German Empires, especially British hospitals for wounded sepoys and German prison camps where captured sepoys were detained. Comparison of the policy and practice of British and German military authorities, vis-à-vis Indian soldiers, is therefore one contribution of this work. I argue that tactical, military considerations and imperial concerns – namely, protecting racial hierarchies and the loyalty of Indian troops – shaped the experiences of sepoys in Europe. Yet this study does more than look at top- down approaches to Indian sepoys during the war. Drawing on Indian soldier letters and previously unconsidered testimonies collected by British and German government officials, I demonstrate that the sepoys were keenly aware of the countercurrents shaping their experiences in Europe. They engaged with, reshaped, and resisted many of the policies of the British and Germans, revealing in the process that they valued a safe return home far more than winning the battles of their ―King-Emperor.‖ Finally, this dissertation demonstrates that the war and the deployment of sepoys to Europe had profound implications for people distant from the actual fighting. By comparing British, German and Indian newspaper accounts about the performance of Indian soldiers in Europe, I argue that the war led to an intensification of ideas about race for European audiences on 3 both sides of no-man‘s-land, while in India accounts of the war fueled claims for racial equality within the British Empire. In all these ways, this study shows that the experiences of Indian soldiers in Europe during the First World War were embedded within an interconnected imperial framework that included Britain, India, and Germany. 4 For MRJ 5 Acknowledgements During the process of researching, writing, and completing this dissertation, many wonderful people provided thoughtful feedback and words of encouragement. My first thanks go to the outstanding scholars on my dissertation committee. My chair, Timothy S. Brown, has been an excellent mentor and resource since my first semester of graduate school. He has perhaps read more of my work than anybody during my career as a graduate student. Tim taught me how to think and how to write like a historian. Kathleen A. Luongo pushed me from early on not to lose sight of Indian and subaltern perspectives. Tim, Laura L. Frader and Heather Streets-Salter have offered so much guidance and direction as I have gone through the writing and re-writing process. Whatever substance this dissertation has is a credit to the countless hours they put into reading, re-reading, and commenting on early drafts. Finally, a special thanks to Richard S. Fogarty. Back in 2010, he agreed not only to undertake the task of advising this work, but to take on the no-less-daunting task of collaborating on an edited volume. Many of the ideas and methodologies we hashed out and articulated while completing that project have informed my approach to this dissertation. My deepest and sincerest thanks must go to two very special people. First, to Melanie, the love of my life and the mother of my child, who was with me when I first read the acceptance letter from Northeastern University in 2008. And to my dad, Gregory M. Jarboe, who made my research trips to London possible, who helped me hash out the ideas that became this dissertation over pints and mushy pees, and with whom I have had an ongoing conversation about history since childhood. 6 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Dedication 5 Acknowledgements 6 Table of Contents 7 Introduction: World War I and the Imperial Moment 8 Chapter One: Arrival 40 Chapter Two: Front 105 Chapter Three: Hospital 177 Chapter Four: Prison 224 Chapter Five: Homecoming 277 Conclusion 304 Bibliography 310 7 Introduction The First World War and the Imperial Moment ―To-day it has been my great good fortune to assist at the making of history,‖ wrote a correspondent to The Times on October 2, 1914. ―I have seen the troops of one of the world‘s most ancient civilizations set foot for the first time on the shores of Europe. I have seen proud Princes of India ride at the head of thousands of soldiers, Princes and men alike fired with the ardour of the East, determined to help win their Emperor‘s battles or die.‖ The correspondent observed that since the outbreak of the war two months earlier, ―Marseilles streets have echoed to the tread of a remarkable medley of soldiers,‖ from ―picturesque Zouaves and Turcos from Algeria‖ to ―swarthy Moors from Morocco‖ and ―coal-black negroes from Senegal.‖ Though all had been received with heartiness, ―the welcome the high-spirit Marseillais extended to the Indians transcended all others in spontaneity and warmth.‖ Every road within a mile of the docks ―was a mass of excited Latins, and every second-storey window and every roof within a like area was a coveted vantage seat.‖ As for the Indian soldiers, ―happier fighting men never landed in a country where death or glory was to be their goal.‖ Comparable to any martial force in the world, the Indian troops, our correspondent assured his readers, have only one fear: ―It is that the war may be over before they get to the front!‖1 Desperate for bodies to halt the German onslaught in 1914, the British Empire deployed Indian and British soldiers belonging to the Lahore and Meerut Divisions to 1 ―The Indian Troops at Marseilles,‖ The Times, October 2, 1914. 8 France and the trenches outside Ypres in late October 1914. Over the next fourteen months, 20,748 British soldiers and 89,335 Indian sepoys – as Indian riflemen were known - supplemented by 49,273 Indian laborers, fought for the Indian Corps at the battles of Ypres, Festubert, Givenchy, Neuve Chapelle, Second Ypres, and Loos, suffering some 34,252 casualties.2 In late November 1915, the Indian Corps withdrew from the front lines and in December the soldiers embarked at Marseilles for fronts in the Middle East, leaving behind only a single Indian cavalry Division in France. The war on the Western Front had decimated the ranks of the Indian infantry, and commanders worried that another winter in the trenches might compel the sepoys to mutiny. The soldiers left the war in Europe quietly: there were no demonstrations or cheering crowds as there had been upon their arrival fourteen months prior. The Prince of Wales delivered to them a message from the King-Emperor, George V, who assured them: ―In a warfare waged under new conditions and in particularly trying circumstances, you have worthily upheld the honour of the Empire and the great traditions of My Army in India.‖3 Although a variety of studies have explored the subject of Indian soldiers in Europe, few venture beyond their military contributions on the Western Front. In contrast, this dissertation devotes considerable attention to the more ―intimate frontiers‖ of the British and German Empires, especially British hospitals for wounded sepoys and German prison camps where captured sepoys were detained. Comparison of the policy 2 George Morton Jack, ―The Indian Army on the Western Front, 1914-1915: A Portrait of Collaboration,‖ War in History 13.3 (2006): 329; Lt-Colonel J.W.B. Merewether and Lt- Colonel Sir Frederick Smith, The Indian Corps in France (London: John Murray, 1918), 459. 3 Merewether and Smith, Indian Corps, 463. 9 and practice of British and German military authorities, vis-à-vis Indian soldiers, is therefore one contribution of this work. I argue that imperial concerns – namely, protecting racial hierarchies and the loyalty of Indian troops – profoundly shaped the experiences of sepoys in Europe. Yet this study does more than look at top-down approaches to Indian sepoys during the war. Drawing on Indian soldier letters and previously unconsidered testimonies collected by British and German government officials, I demonstrate that the sepoys were keenly aware of the countercurrents shaping their experiences in Europe. They engaged with, reshaped, and resisted many of the policies of the British and Germans, revealing in the process that they valued a safe return home far more than winning the battles of their ―King-Emperor.‖ Everyday forms of self- help and resistance like malingering in hospital, deserting to the German lines, or imploring friends and family in the Punjab to hide from British recruiters significantly limited the wartime ambitions of British policy makers and battlefield commanders. Finally, this dissertation demonstrates that the war and the deployment of sepoys to Europe had profound implications for people distant from the actual fighting. By comparing British, German and Indian newspaper accounts about the performance of Indian soldiers in Europe, I argue that the war led to an intensification of ideas about race for European audiences on both sides of no-man‘s-land, while in India accounts of the war fueled claims for racial equality within the British Empire.