The Moplah Rifles (1902-1907)
Posted by Labels: Malabar - English period 1900 -1950, Malabar Moplah, Moplah rebellion, Moplah rifles
A Short Lived experiment
Many have asked me why I continue to use the word Moplah,
and not the word Mappila. I have no real answer to that, perhaps it is because
it is more often used in historical text and finds more results in searches. I
have also never been a great supporter of changing well accepted names like
Bombay to Mumbai and Madras to Chennai, but then I should not digress. We will
spend some time today studying the creation and the untimely disbanding of the
Moplah Rifles in the British Army.
The Moplah rifles owes its lineage to the 17th Battalion, former the Cochin State Infantry of the Princely State Forces. This went on to become the 17th Carnatic Battalion and later the 17th Regiment of Madras Native Infantry in the Madras Army. In 1796 it was the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Madras Native Infantry. By 1824 it had become the 17th Regiment of Madras Native Infantry and in 1885 became 17th Regiment of Madras Infantry. It was in 1902 that the 1st Moplah Rifles were constituted and in 1903 became 77th Moplah Rifles. The first Moplahs were enlisted in 1900 as part of the 25th and the 17th Madras regiments and these were the ones which became the 1st and 2nd Moplah Rifles.
Stephen Luscombe opines - Although the Moplahs took on the position in the Madras infantry line
of the 17th and 25th, it is unlikely that any Moplahs were in those regiments
prior to 1902 as they had, as a race, a reputation for causing trouble. An
official report had earlier dismissed them as 'a turbulent and fanatical
community'. In the previous 60 years they had participated in no less than 33
outbreaks which required military assistance to suppress. Troublesome races had been successfully
recruited into the army before (e.g. Sikhs and Gurkhas) so it seemed a good
idea to try the Moplahs.
In 1885, District collector HV Connolly had been murdered
and the British came down on the community with an iron hand. Soon, the Moplah
outrages as the British called them, in Malabar, had subsided and there was
some agreement in assimilating them into the British forces after having
observed their vigor in battle during these skirmishes. The District magistrate
observed thus (not sure if it was W Logan or CA Galton) about their entry into
the armed forces - In 1900 the enlistment
of Moplahs was commenced in the 25th Madras infantry, and that regiment and the
17th Madras Infantry are now being gradually reconstituted as the 1st and 2nd
Moplah Rifles. The men when treated with discrimination, are found most
amenable to discipline and are well behaved. Their soldierly qualities are
evident from their history, and their physique leaves nothing to be desired. As
these people number a total of over 200,000 males, they should be able to
supply us with a number of battalions of efficient soldiers, and no doubt when
the time comes, they will prove their efficiency in and value on the field of
battle.
At the beginning of the 20th century the basis
for recruitment was changed from Madrasis to Moplahs. The Moplahs had a
reputation as an aggressive race and it was hoped to make use of their martial
skills in the Indian Army. A problem from the beginning was that the population
numbers available for recruitment were limited. In 1907, shortly before
disbandment, the regiment numbered only 350 men.
Two battalion-sized regiments of Moplah Rifles were thus
formed and the 78th was posted to the North West Frontier in 1905 to
be tested under active-service conditions. The experiment was not considered a
success. It is explained that this was possibly die to the difficulties
experienced by British officers in learning Malayalam ( a language they said did
not include any military terms!). Another problem mentioned was that the Moplah
sepoy, accustomed to the moist humidity of Malabar did not take kindly to the dry
climate of the Punjab frontier.
In 1902, the 2nd Moplah Rifles were shipped to England for
the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Their costume attracted much
attention, and their scarlet Zouave jackets and red tarbushes (Turkish style
Fez cap) - a headdress not previously worn by the Indian Army stood prominent.
In 1903 when the two
battalions became the 77th and 78th Moplah Rifles, the
uniform of the senior battalion changed to one that was green faced with
scarlet and that of the junior became red faced with green.
Getting back to the Moplah recruitment process, Major Pryor
notes - Small isolated attempts,"
Major Holland-Pryor writes, " to recruit Mappillas were made by various
regiments quartered in Malabar some years ago, but without success. This was
probably owing to the fact that the trial was made on too small a scale, and
that the system of mixed companies interfered with their clannish propensities.
The district officers also predicted certain failure, on the ground that
Mappillas would not serve away from their own country. Their predictions,
however, have proved to be false, and men now come forward in fair numbers for
enlistment." In 1896, the experiment of recruiting Mappillas for the 25th
Madras Infantry was started, and the responsible task of working up the raw
material was entrusted to Colonel Burton, with whose permission I took
measurements of his youthful warriors. As was inevitable in a community
recruited by converts from various classes, the sepoys afforded an interesting
study in varied colouration, stature and nasal configuration. One very
dark-skinned and platyrrhine individual, indeed, had a nasal index of 92. Later
on, the sanction of the Secretary of State was obtained for the adoption of a
scheme for converting the 17th and 25th regiments of the Madras Infantry into
Mappilla corps, which were subsequently named the 77th and 78th Moplah Rifles.
These regiments," Major Holland-Pryor continues, "at present draw
their men principally from Ernad and Valuvanad.
Laborers from these
parts are much sought after by planters and agents from the Kolar gold-fields,
on account of their hardiness and fine physique. Some, however, prefer to
enlist. The men are generally smaller than the Coast Mappillas, and do not show
much trace of Arab blood, but they are hardy and courageous, and, with their
superior stamina, make excellent fighting material." In 1905 the 78th
Moplah Rifles were transferred to Dea Ismail Khan in the Punjab, and took part
in the military maneuvers before H.R.H. the Prince of Wales at Rawalpindi. It
has been observed that "the Moplahs, in dark green and scarlet, the only
regiment in India which wears the tarbush, are notable examples of the policy
of taming the pugnacious races by making soldiers of them, which began with the
enlistment of the Highlanders in the Black Watch, and continued to the
disciplining of the Kachins in Burma.
So a few words on why the reorganization and disbandment
took place would be in order. It was during the period 1885-1911 that the
ethnic composition of the army gradually changed from what is termed as a
Hindustani majority/Hindu/Non-Muslim dominated army to a Punjabi Majority/Punjabi
Muslim heavy army by 1911. The Martial races theory and recruitment policy
states - The Punjabi was generally regarded as a better soldier not because he
was a Muslim, but because they belonged to a rugged area where the weather,
terrain and climate made him tougher and sturdier, and thus a better soldier.
It was in this situation that a new threat assessment was made, with the
possibility of a Russian conquest of India over the Northern border looming
near as part of the ‘great game’.
General Lord Kitchener was in late 1902 appointed
Commander-in-Chief, India and quickly he recommended preparing the Indian Army
for any potential war by reducing the size of fixed garrisons and reorganizing
it into two armies, to be commanded by Generals Blood and Luck, much to the
dismay of Lord Curzon, the Viceroy, who had been the person recommending him. Until
the arrival of Kitchner, the Indian armies were mainly for internal security
aspects and not built to fight an external enemy. With the thinking that the
Russians would set out to conquer India, the British reorganization of the
forces took on some urgency. Agha Amin explains - According to Kitchener's perception, the Indian Army was ill organized
to face the external enemy i.e. a likely Russian invasion of India, which was
regarded as a serious likelihood by the British since the Panjdeh incident of
1885. The brigades and divisions as per Kitchener’s system were to train as
complete formations in peacetime Staff College for the Indian Army was
established on the lines of Camberley in 1905. Kitchener stressed the fact that
general officers must lead in war the field formations that they had trained in
peace.
Perhaps the problem was actually with Kitchener who was
instrumental in pushing the MR to the NWFP to test them out as Conrad Wood
opines in more details after a fine study. It is clear that Kitchener was one
of the main reasons for the weeding out of the Moplah sepoy from the Indian
army.
 |
| Kitchener |
Even so, by the 1900s
they had attracted the antagonism of the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces
in India. It is clear from his own private papers that, at least as early as
1904, Lord Kitchener was most anxious to see Gurkhas take the place in the
Indian Army of Madras regiments like the 77th and 78th Moplah Rifles to which
he showed himself antipathetic. Meeting resistance to his plans from high
government circles, Kitchener seems to have obliged the authorities to accept
his plan for the disbandment of the Moplah regiments by what was
contemporaneously described as “a cruel scheme for bringing the officers and
men of the two Battalions into general contempt”. In 1905 there was arranged a
sudden transfer of the 78th Moplah Rifles from the tropical south of the
sub-continent to the North-West frontier where, Kitchener had disingenuously
assured his superiors, the regiment would “have the advantage of being
associated with frontier troops, and enjoy special facilities for training”.
CJ O’Donnell questioning in Parliament shows that this is a
fact- To ask the Secretary of State for
War if he will state the necessity of moving a Moplah regiment last winter from
the hot, humid climate of South Western Madras, where it was recruited; to Dera
Ghazi Khan, in the Punjab, where the temperature was under freezing point when
it arrived; what was the barrack accommodation prepared for this regiment; and
whether 400 out of its strength of 820 men were in hospital a few weeks
afterwards.
Sadly no formal answer was provided. Another sad fact was
that these forces were hit by a plague outbreak while at Dera Ghazi Khan.
Maj Pryor adds - In the general overhauling of the Indian
Army, the fighting value of the Moplahs has come into question, and the 78th
Regiment is now at Dera Ismail Khan being measured against the crack regiments
of the north." In 1907, the colors of the 17th Madras Infantry, which was
formed at Fort St. George in 1777, and had had its name changed to 77th Moplah
Rifles, were, on the regiment being mustered out, deposited in St. Mark's
Church, Bangalore.
Another issue noted with the Moplah was the difficulty in
assimilating them with other troops due to their ‘clannish propensity’. But
they were recruited for a while and ironically, while they were serving
reasonably well, the district authorities in Malabar had started to brand them
as criminal in nature, due to the disturbances which culminated in the Moplah
rebellion of 1921.
Whatever happened to the disbanded units now without any
means of subsistence? The second battalion of the 10th, recruited from the
eastern region of Rai and Limbu, was split in two and they became the two
battalions of the new 7th Gurkha Rifles. The majority of officers for this new
regiment came from the 78th Moplah Rifles which had just been disbanded. They
brought with them mess silver and band funds and instruments. The sepoys
drifted away back home and it is stated that some of them supported the armed
factions of the 1921 revolt in Malabar.
Conrad wood explains - Although
isolated cases occurred of Moplah ex-sepoys rallying to the side of government
in the course of the rebellion, in general those with experience of service in
the armed forces of the Crown showed little of the resistance to the rising
which was evident among other categories of government servant. In fact there
can be no doubt that the insurgents were able to draw on the military expertise
of large numbers of Moplah ex-sepoys who joined their ranks which in some
cases, such as with the gang of Kunhamad Haji, were made up largely of men of
this type.
That it was considered to be one of the many causes of
disillusionment among the Moplahs prior to the 1921 revolt is clear and
evidenced by this missive in the British parliament in 1907 related to the
reduction of Strength of Moplah Rifles. Mr. REES: To ask the Secretary of State for India whether the two battalions of
Moplah Rifles have each been reduced to 200 non-commissioned officers and men
by stopping recruitment, though a recruiting officer is maintained in Malabar,
and by offering discharges to men who had not served their proper time; whether
the Governments of Madras and India did not decide against the proposed
disbandment of these battalions and, seeing that if the answer is in the
affirmative, the action of the military authorities practically amounts to
overriding the decision of the Government, whether he will make inquiry into
the matter on account of the political objections to introducing discontent
among the Moplahs, as well as on account of the merits of the case.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Morley.) I have not the
information required for a reply to this Question, but I will refer it to the
Government of India….
The military colors of the 77th Moplah Rifles infantry
Regiment, after disbandment (1907) are displayed on the west wall of St. Mark’s
Cathedral Bangalore. But while the officers were commemorated, this soldier of
the Raj was sadly forgotten as a dismal failure, mainly due to characters such
as Kichtener who as history recorded went on to become a Field marshal (he was
hoping to become the Viceroy!) and after spearheading Britain’s WW 1 efforts and lost his
life at sea in 1916 when a German U boat 75 torpedoed HMS Hampshire (another
conspiracy theory involving the ace spy Duquesne exists) which was taking him
on a diplomatic mission to Russia.
But Conrad Wood concludes that some of these sepoys did not
participate in the 1921 rebellion, and is emphatic - The history of the Moplahs in the Indian Army from 1905 to 1921
affords an explanation for the failure of one section of the Ernad Muslim
community with experience of government service, to reject participation in the
rebellion of 1921-22.
References
Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Volumes
30-33-Some accounts of the Moplahs and Corrgs – Maj RG Burton
Expansion of the Indian army during WW1- Brian DN Stevens,
Journal of the society for army historical research
Ethnicity, Religion, Military Performance and Political
Reliability -- British Recruitment Policy and The Indian Army -- 1757-1947 Maj
(Retd) AGHA HUMAYUN AMIN
Sons of the John Company – John Gaylor
The Rise and Fall of Modern Empires, Volume I: Social
Organization - edited by Owen White
Recruiting, Drafting, and Enlisting: Two Sides of the
Raising of Military Forces - edited by Peter Karsten
The Moplah Rebellion and Its Genesis – Conrad Wood
Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4 – Some
accounts of the Moplahs
Pics
77th and 78th Uniform, officers and
sepoys – courtesy Stephen Luscombe britishempire.co.uk
2 comments:
Hello Maddy,
Have you come across material on the Wayanad Rifles?
This was a unit formed in or shortly before 1812 and which survived until some time in the 1830's. It disappears then, and I have no idea if it was disbanded or merged into other units.
I believe it was formed for counter insurgency in the Wayanad, and that it might have been locally recruited.
Regards
Nick Balmer
Thanks Nick
No I have not come across Wayanad Rifles, could not find anything on it. During those period, I presumed that EIC troops from Madras or Bombay handled insurgencies, but much later the Nilgiri Malabar battalion was formed around 1860...
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