Martial race

"Rajputs" (anonymous, c.1860)
From the collection of the British Library

Martial Race was a term used by Lord Robert Clyve in his book Historical Essays. He divided the entire Indian ethnic groups into two categories: Martial and Non Martial.

Criteria

Martial Race was a designation created by officials of British India. The British officials described these races as naturally warlike and aggressive in battle, and to possess qualities like courage, loyalty, self sufficiency, physical strength, resilience, orderliness, hard working, fighting tenacity and military strategy. The British recruited heavily from these Martial Races for service in the colonial army.

The geography and culture of these martial races had common marks, such as hilly and mountainous terrain, a basis as hunting or agricultural societies, and a history of conflict, whether internally or with external groups. A case in point are the Gurkhas, who challenged British imperial expansion and gained the respect of their enemies for their fighting prowess and tenacity, thus earning them their reputation and their continued employment in the British Army.

Races designated by the British as martial races

• Balochs
• Cheema
• Jats
• Rajputs
• Awans
• Gujars
• Pashtuns
• Marathas
• Gurkhas

The Dravidian people were called non-martial with many derogatory remarks about their looks, ethnicity and history. However, the nature of this is debatable, as a large number of Indian martial arts, such as Adithada and Kalaripayat originated from the the southern regions of the Indian subcontinent. Further, one of the greatest Kingdoms in India to rule across the seas and capture kingdoms in Sri Lanka and Indonesia was the Chola dynasty, a dravidian race. The naval power of the medieval Cholas was not matched by any of the other Kingdoms ruled by martial races until many centuries later.

Modern usage

Though seldom used in today's context, it was used until the early 1970s, especially by the Pakistan Military which believed that since the Pakistan Army comprised soldiers of the "martial races", they should easily defeat India in any war. And thus numerical superiority of India on the battlefield could easily be overcome.

Indo-Pakistan War of 1965

Despite India having 3 times the numrical superiority over the Pakistani Army the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 ended in a stalemate.

Indo-Pakistani Conflict of 1947 - 48

According to GlobalSecurity.org:

"The intensity of the conflict and the inability to forsee a quick end to the conflict without involving considerable resources on the part of India to expel the Pakistani forces led Indian leaders to approach the United Nations who ultimately introduced Observers in June 1948. A UN brokered cease-fire went into effect on Jan 1, 1949. In all, 1,500 soldiers died on each side during the war and Pakistan was able to acquire roughly two-fifths of Kashmir which it established as Azad Kashmir, meaning free Kashmir."

This was seen as a military victory by Pakistan despite India having numerical superiority over Pakistan.

Racism

The Pakistan Army was also accused of bias and racism by the Bengalis of East Pakistan who felt humiliated by this theory in West Pakistan, that they were not "martially inclined" compared to the Pathans, Balochs and Punjabis.

The Dravidian people were called non-martial with many derogatory remarks about their looks, ethnicity and history. However, the nature of this is debatable, as a large number of Indian martial arts, such as Adithada and Kalaripayat originated from the the southern regions of the Indian subcontinent. Further, one of the greatest Kingdoms in India to rule across the seas and capture kingdoms in Sri Lanka and Indonesia was the Chola dynasty, a dravidian race. The naval power of the medieval Cholas was not matched by any of the other Kingdoms ruled by martial races until many centuries later.