The Story of the Jodhpur Lancers: 1885–1952

The origin of the Jodhpur State Forces goes back to long before the Indian Army came into existence in 1795. The Marwar army had a reputation going back to the early period of its history—a reputation signified during the Mughal period by the saying that their chief could command the services of one lakh swords, ‘Lakh Talwaran Rathoran’. This force was largely composed of light cavalry and formed an obedient and homogeneous army. Every soldier was the son of the soil and most of them were proud of being the descendants of the same ancestor as their chief. Their battles have now passed into the realms of song and story, which are still narrated dramatically by bards with patriotic enthusiasm. Numerous stories abound of its army clad in saffron robes fighting to the last man against frequently terrible odds and when inevitable defeat came, their women immolating themselves in a mass holocaust in faithfulness to their dead. Such astonishing sacrifices, known as Johar, are not to be found in the annals of any other country.

Richard Head and Tony McClenaghan in their book, The Maharajas’ Paltans have said that the armed forces of Marwar were formed from the feudal contingents provided by Jagirdars (nobles) when needed, until Maharaja Vijay Singh’s reign (1753-1793). However, the growing power of these nobles and increasing menace of the Marathas led Maharaja Vijay Singh to raise a small force of his own, chiefly composed of the foreign mercenaries—Rohilas, Afghans, Nagas and Purbias. At the time when the Maratha power was in the ascendant and the Pindaris were ravaging India, the Jodhpur forces numbered some 12,000 men, of whom 4,000 were Jagirdar Sowars. The latter, were called out to aid in time of war, whilst the remainder were a mixed force including guns, cavalry and infantry. These mercenaries were more unscrupulous and less faithful than the indigenous force. Thus, the Marwar army degenerated into a heterogeneous, indisciplined and poorly equipped force till conclusion of the treaty of 1818, whereby the state was freed from all fear of external attack, the necessity of maintaining a large standing army for the defence of the Raj disappeared.

Some of these men were habitual consumers of opium, which they consumed just before going to war. The Rajputs always fed some to their horses as well, so as to make them immune to fear and to permit them to better endure the fatigue of battle. Opium, which made the warriors fearless and oblivious to danger and increased their force and courage tenfold, worked as a cure-all for their soul. This excessive consumption of opium at the time of war led to a habit of daily consumption. Sanctioned by its usage, comes the Rajput expression of ‘sharing of opium,’ to ratify a solemn engagement, an inviolable promise. (The consumption of opium was not illegal and it was consumed openly and distributed to users while on active service even during the Great War. This practice was, however, completely eradicated during the inter-war period of 1919 to 1939).

On 6 January 1818 a treaty was signed with the British at Delhi, thereby bringing the State fully under British protection. Under article 8 of the Treaty of 1818, the Jodhpur Maharaja was required to furnish a contingent of 1,500 horse for the service of the British Government whenever required. This proved unsatisfactory and it was revised on 07 December 1835 by substituting the payment of 1.15 Lakhs annually for the obligation to furnish a contingent of 1,500 Horse.

This sum was at first devoted to the formation and maintenance of a Corps known as the Jodhpur Legion Cavalry and stationed at Erinpura. Recruitment for this force started in January 1836 at Ajmer, but in November of the same year the force moved to Erinpura, about 78 miles south of Jodhpur. The Jodhpur Legion was a composite force of cavalry, infantry and artillery.

The Panjdeh incident in March 1885, when the Russians attacked an Afghan force on the North West Frontier, led to fear of an impending war with Russia. This led Viceroy Dufferin to announce on 17 November 1888, the scheme of Imperial Service Troops (IST) i.e., the troops held for the support of the Imperial interests. He asked the Indian Princes to locally recruit their troops, train and equip them at their own cost, to a standard of regular army, so as to be available to the Government of India in times of war. Great care was taken that these troops should be the real state troops and not resemble the old contingents of foreign mercenaries. It was hoped, incidentally, that these troops would furnish interesting and more active employment for young nobles and gentry to whom the life within the State might fail in affording a career, and to a certain extent it had these results.

[Niyogi Books has given Fair Observer permission to publish this excerpt from The Story of the Jodhpur Lancers: 1885-1952, by Mahendra Singh Jodha, Niyogi Books, 2018.]

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