HISTORY
Where did the Muslims come from?
The principal area of recruitment was the then undivided Punjab, now formed of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and that part of Western Punjab now in Pakistan. The principal groups or classes recruited included Punjabi and other Muslims as shown in the table below, as well as Sikhs, Jats, Pathans, Rajputs, Dogras, Garhwalis and Gurkhas.
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A soldier of 15th Punjab Regiment by Harry Sheldon, war artist
From the late nineteenth century the British considered that only those from selected geographical areas, and from among selected ethnic groups and sub-groups, were deemed to be ‘competent’ to bear arms in the service of the Empire. This policy was based on what was called the ‘martial races’ theory. The Muslim element within that categorisation included Pathans, Baluchis, Punjabi Muslims, Kashmiris, Hindustani Muslims, Rajputana and Central India Muslims, Deccani Muslims, Madrassi Muslims and Hazaras from Afghanistan and Meshed.
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With regard to World War 2, and looking more closely at the Muslim community, the following table shows the recruitable population by specific class, the numbers serving pre-war, numbers recruited during the war, the total of pre-war and wartime recruited and their percentage of the total recruitable Muslim population.
Class
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(a)
Pathans
Assamese
Baluchis
Bengalis
Dekhanis
Punjabi (incl. Hazarawals)
Hindustani
Meos
Morats (Katats)
Rajputana & Central India
Ranghars
Others
Recruitable population
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(b)
128,200
80,565
11,780
764,720
156,478
1,087,450
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450,848
17,300
1,300
53,760
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28,160
161,040
2,941,601
Serving pre-war
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(c)
6,048
nil
57
nil
164
33,935
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654
384
nil
1,001
​
1,857
nil
44,100
Recruited from 3 Sep 1939 – 31 Oct 1944
(d)
59,951
3,031
987
60,777
18,564
314,668
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23,785
2,535
940
9,210
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6,763
50,408
551,619
Total enrolled pre-war and during war i.e. (c) + (d)
(e)
65,999
3,031
1,044
60,777
18,728
348,603
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24,439
2,919
940
10,211
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8,620
50,408
595,719
Percentage of total enrolled to recruitable population
(f)
51.5
3.8
8.9
7.9
12.0
32.1
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5.4
16.8
72.3
19.0
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30.6
31.3
In addition to the Muslim soldiers of the Indian Army in both World Wars, the Muslim sailors of the Royal Indian Marine (World War I) and Royal Indian Navy (World War 2) and the Royal Indian Air Force (World War 2) , we should also remember those from other countries who fought for the Allied cause in both world wars.
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Although not a part of the Indian Army, the Indian diaspora in different parts of the British Empire contributed to other Colonial armed forces. Both the Malay States Guides and the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery were comprised of 50% Muslims of Indian descent.
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Long before the outbreak of World War I, Muslims from the Indian Army had formed part of the volunteers drawn from different Indian Army regiments that served in East Africa in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. An all-Muslim unit, albeit a short-lived one and outside the ambit of the Indian Army, was The Hong Kong Regiment circa 1892-1902.
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We should not forget those Muslims from countries under the influence of our allies, particularly the French, who also fought for the Allied cause. Recent research suggests that, during World War I, enlisted fighting soldiers included 200,000 Algerians, 100,000 Tunisians, 40,000 Moroccans, 100,000 West Africans, 5,000 Somalis and Libyans, 5,000 American Muslims and 1.3 million Russians. As well as the 40,000 non-combatant Indian labourers there were many others at the front; 100,000 Egyptians, 35,000 Chinese Muslims, 130,000 North Africans and 200,000 Sub Saharan Africans.
Sources
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See also www.muslimsinww1.com in the Links section below.
Vivek Chaudhary. ‘Forgotten brothers in arms: the Muslim heroes who fought on the western front’, The Observer, 12 November 2017.
4
There was no Indian Air Force during World War I though Indians did fly as combat pilots in the fledgling Royal Flying Corps, forerunner of the Royal Air Force.
3
In addition to the very large number of seamen and lascars who served on board RIM ships during the war others also served on Royal Navy ships.
2
Willcox Report, Vol 2, Appendix C
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