Indian Brahmins in War Services.

    

Indian  Brahmins  in  War  Services.

The four varnas i.e Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vyshya and shudra, were the ancient sorting out of human beings as followed in "Manu Smrithi", as per their hereditory lineage and general aptitude. It was certainly a majority classification, but, a few exceptions were there.

The Brahmana community was the scholarly group, who mastered the various texts like Upanishads, the Vedas and Shaastras. They were operating gurukulas, to teach their disciples, who might have been from all the four communities. Primarily, they were scholars and they had the patronage of their kings, who were generally Kshatriyaas. As a rule and convention as per Hindu Scriptures, a Brahmin is definitely barred from The battlefield and he or she must not indulge in Killing and bloodshed of either human beings or animals, as it is the duty of a Brahmin to abstain from violence and Killing at any stage. Some warrior type brahmins married kshatriya girls, against the approval of the majority brahmin community. But, after Parashuram’s three trips of Kshatriya killing spree, there were many kshatriya girls and widows without any social  protection of a male, and to give them the right protection, some acharyas like Agastya, did approve a brahmin youth marrying kshatriya girl or widow. They became “brahma-kshatriyas”.

The ruling kings of the various regions of India, claiming to be descendents of Surya and Chandra Vamshaas. By heredity, they ruled and expanded their kingdoms, and often fought with their neighbouring kingdoms. In this community also, were exceptions, in that the son did not get the throne next, but some other suitable relative of the king or even an outsider, got to the throne.

The vyshyaas were mostly the business class, traders, who were the backbone of any kingdom’s economic growth. Here also hereditary acceptance and practice of the trade or business continued.

The last one, that is shudraas, were mostly labour class who were in majority agriculturists, and taking other vocations and serving all the people.

It was not uncommon to see a Kshatriya becoming a scholar and well learned in scriptures like King Janaka, who was respected by brahmins also. King Vishwamitra by the incidents in his reign, took up keen interest in studying and performed “tapas” and became first a “Rajarshi”. He was not satisfied at that, and wanted a confirmation as a “Brahmarshi” by none other than Sage Vasishta, which he eventually achieved. Digressing slightly, the famous sage Parashurama, a brahmin, took up the arms, after his father was killed by a Kshatriya King. Parashurama went three times around India, killing all kshatriyas. The other brahmin scholars like Dronacharya and Kripacharya, who taught the Kauravas and Pandavas, later took up arms and fought in the Kurushetra war of the Mahabharatha, including Ashwathama son of Dronacharya.

The remarkable history of Brahmin  warriors  who once flourished on the banks of the mighty Sarasvati river and hence fought every single invader who attacked India, right from Alexander to the Arabs, from the Pathans and Turko-Mongols to the Uzbeks. The Mohyals under King Porus put up a strong fight against Alexander and later, as the Hindu Mohyal kings of Afghanistan, repulsed Arab invasions. (Ref:  " Guardians of the Gate: Military History of the Mohyal, Fighting Brahmins " This book  by  retired Maj. Gen  (Dr)  G.D. Bakshi, who has seen a great deal of combat himself and who has gone ahead in quest of his roots and military lineage to compile this path-breaking history.)

Pushyamitra Shunga ( 185 - 149 BC )( a brahmin) was the founder and first ruler of Shunga dynasty.He was originally a general ( senapati ) of the famous Maurya dynasty . Devbhuti, Susharma, Shimuk, Poru, are other Brahmin Rulers. The Kanva, Parivrajaka, Kadamba, Varman, Aryachakravarti (Tamils), Peshwa, Patwardhan(Chitpawan Brahmins) etc were famous Brahmin dynasties

Rahab Singh Dutt, an upper caste Hindu belonging to Mohyal community, was a warrior who joined the forces of the Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet,  since he was standing for the righteous. The war of Karbala began in 680 AD against forces of Caliph Yazeed. Rahab Singh Dutt joined the losing battalion of Hussain. Dutt did not die in the battle, but his seven sons who accompanied him lost their lives shortly after the beheading of Imam Hussain. After the battle, he met Hussain’s sister, Zainab and narrated his story. According to Vipin Mohan Jhingran, who claims to be a Hussaini Brahmin, Zainab was moved to tears after confronting Dutt. “The family of Prophet Muhammad told our ancestor Rahab Singh Dutt that from now you are not just Brahmins, but ‘Hussaini’ Brahmins,” said Jhingran

The Hussaini Brahmins thrived in the regions of Pakistan in the pre-independence era. The community members are identified with surnames such as Mohan, Bali, Chibber, Dutt, Bakshi,(famed Gen.G.D.Bakshi) Lav, Bimwal and Jhingran. After the partition, they migrated to India and settled in various parts of the nation.

It was 712 AD. The region of Sind was ruled by a brave Brahmin king called Dahir. It is said that several ships carrying presents for the  ruler of muslim world  Caliph Abd-Al-Malik   from the ruler of Ceylon ( present Srilanka ), were plundered by pirates of Debol ( present Karachi ), a major port of Sind.  The Caliph  was very angry and demanded compensation from Dahir. Dahir refused to own the responsibility of the misdeeds of pirates. The Caliph retaliated by launching an attack on Sind.  Consecutively two times, the Caliph was badly defeated by gallant brahmin king, Dahir. The Caliph was badly shocked and finally dispatched Muhammad-Bin-Kasim. In the battle of Rawar, Arabs conquered Sind and Dahir died fighting like a legend.

There were many Brahmins who were Commander-in-Chief of the Chola Army. They were given the title “Brahmaraya” meaning Brahmin King, by the respective Chola King. Krishnan Raman  was an officer in the Chola army who served as the Commander-in-chief of the Chola forces under Rajendra Chola. He held the title Mummadi Brahmarayar Niyomanam.  Krishnan Raman was an Iyer. His sons were also in the Chola Army who ascended to the post of C-i-C after the time of their father. There was one Aniruddha Brahmarayar too, an Iyengar [Sri Vaishnavaite] during the time of Sundara Chola.(957–970 CE)  who ruled for about twelve years. Also known by the name Parantaka Sundara Chola, he was the son of Arinjaya Chola and Kalyani, a princess from the clan of Vaidumbas.

Baji rao, a brahmin, was a general of Maratha kingdom  in India. He served as prime minister of Chatrapati Shahu from 1720 AD  to his death. Baji Rao is credited with expanding the Maratha Empire.  In his military career spanning 20 years, Baji Rao never lost a battle.

 Lakshmi Bai (Manu Bai) ( 19 November 1828 at Benares-18 June 1858 Gwalior) (wife of Maharaja  Gangadhar Rao Newalkar)  was the Brahmin Rani (Queen) of Jhansi and her fight against the British, is well known. She was accompanied by  a number of  brahmins and others. Nana Saheb (19 May 1824 – 1859), born as Dhondu Pant ( a brahmin), was an Indian Peshwa of the Maratha kingdom, aristocrat and fighter, who led the rebellion in Cawnpore (Kanpur) during the 1857 uprising.  Tatya Tope ,also spelled Tantia Tope (1814 - 1859), was an Indian freedom fighter. He was a General in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. His full name is Ramachandra Pandurang Tope ( a brahmin). Tope was a close associate of Nana Saheb. Tope and Nana  led the Indian forces in the Siege of Cawnpore

This change of the vocation of the brahmins from the "Manu Smrithi", could very well be seen in the present day armed forces. The British had also followed for some time, the myth of Martial race selection for the army and named units after the presidencies, and they had some regiments of   Brahmins, Lingayats, Rajputs, Mahrattas, Gurkhas, Jats, Shekhawats, Sikhs,Dogras,chamars, etc.,.

                                                      Headstone for !st Brahmans Soldiers

The 1st Brahmans was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised at Oudh (Avadh) by Captain T Naylor in 1776 for service in the army of  Nawab Wazir of Oudh, and was known as the  Nawab Wazir's Regiment. It was transferred to the East India Company in 1777. While in the service of the East India Company, the regiment was awarded battle  honours for service in the 2nd Maratha War 1803-05, the Anglo-Nepalese War 1814-16, the 2nd Anglo-Burmese War 1824-26 and the  Bhurtpore Campaign 1826. The regiment was the senior-most among the twelve Bengal Native Infantry regiments that survived the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857-58. It was accordingly one regiment to retain in Company service in the new post-Mutiny army. Renumbered as the 1st of the Bengal line, it subsequently saw active service in the 3rd Anglo-Burmese War of 1885-87. Following the Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army, when the names of the presidencies were dropped, the regiment became the 1st Brahman Infantry in 1901.

In 1914, the regimental centre of the 1st Brahmans( found in 1901) was located at Allahabad    and it was linked with the 3rd Brahmans.   1^st Brahmans  and 3^rd Brahmans   consisted of  mostly people  from Barabanki, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Fyzabad, Cawnpore, Unao, Benares etc of the then United Provinces, presently Uttar Pradesh, and  Garhwali Brahmins and some Punjabi Muslims. Brahmins were religious and  vegetarians and they would not easily mix with other soldiers while taking food etc. There were a number of Brahmin Soldiers in Rajput Reg, Bhopla Reg. etc, who saw acction in WW 1.

The 1st Brahmins Regiment,  spent part of  World War I in India, before being posted to Aden, which was then under threat from Ottoman forces. The  2nd Bn.  raised in 1917 and  saw service in the  Sinai/Mesopotamian area. CWGC  War Memorials  show  soldiers of 1st Brahmins martyred at Aden;  1st Brahmins 2nd Bn and 3rd Brahmins 1st Bn.  soldiers martyred in Mesopotamia, at Basra.  We do  not have data on how  many of the Brahmins of both the Regiments, returned   home in India, their motherland,  and brought light to their families, but, we have data on those who were martyred.  65 martyrs of 1st Brahmins are listed in  Aden (Heliopolis) Memorial, and  25 of 1st Brahmins 2 Bn. and 95 of 3rd Brahmins 1st Bn,  were martyred in Iraq area, are listed at Basra Memorial. The data on missing Brahmins, is not known.

Among the 1^st and 3^rd Brahmin Regiments, out of 120 who were martyred, the distribution is as follows:

Agnihotri: 2, Awasthi: 3, Bedi: 1, Bajpai: 2, Chaube: 3, Dikshit: 3, Dube: 9, Misra: 19, Pande: 14, Shukla: 11, Tewari: 31, Trivedi: 1, Upadhya: 6,   No surname: 15.

 After the War, in the major reorganization, the 1st Brahmans became the 4th Battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment in 1922. It was disbanded in 1931 due to retrenchment in the Indian Army. What Amit Kaushik has said is 100% true. Martial races is just a myth created by British rulers for their benefits. All Indians more or less have same physical strength, and boosting and motivating them is the work of their leaders.

 Post Indian Independence:

For his dauntless valour while fighting Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir Valley, Lt Puneet Datt was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, India’s highest gallantry award in peacetime (equivalent of the Paramvir Chakra).  Somnath Sharma was serving as a Major in the Delta Company of 4th Kumaon regiment when the Pakistani invasion of Jammu and Kashmir began on October 22, 1947. He was the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India's highest military decoration, posthumously, for the battle of Badgam.

Four Mohyal officers won the Mahavir Chakra and four, the Vir Chakra. Six Mohyals have risen to the rank of Army Commander and equivalent posts in the Army and Air Force and three became Governors of states. Ten became Lieutenant Generals, five became Air Vice Marshals and 15 were Major Generals—all from a minuscule community just about 600,000 strong. They have truly been the guardians of the gates of Hindustan.

After Independence of India, till date (June 2020), the Indian Army had/has  the following  Brahmin Generals, out of  27 Indian Generals. ( Gen.S.M.Srinagesh  was the only Lingayat )

Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri ; Gopal Gurunath Bewoor ; Tapishwar Narain Raina; Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao;  Arun Shridhar Vaidya; Krishnaswamy Sundarji ; Vishwa Nath Sharma; Bipin Chandra Joshi;  Shankar Roychowdhury; Sundararajan Padmanabhan ; Manoj Mukund Naravane   (present General)

Brahmins have excelled in their own field of knowledge, scientific investigations. Three of the Indian Nobel Prize winners in science hail from Tamil Nadu and all of them are Brahmins. (Sir C V Raman, Dr Subramaniam Chandrasekhar and Dr Venkataraman Ramakrishnan). The list of Bharat Ratna Awardees   shows that out of 48 recipients 23 are from Brahmin community. They have never lagged behind in literature and see the list of  Jnana Peeth Awardees, and  even in Cinema field   they have got  name .

PS: This is NOT a compilation  to show any superiority or inferiority of any   Caste/community of India. This  is only for a proper understanding  of  how  peaceful person/s  get/s  into war field  under adverse circumstances in history of India. In the past few decades,  taking army employment/commissions,  has become  a career of importance.