Infantry kit in the Interwar Indian Army or principalities? (new question)

[FramFramson]

After 1918, there was some allowance for higher ranking officers of Indian origin. What would the highest rank have been for King' Commissioned Indian Officers? Would that be Subedar Major (equivalent to Major), or were higher ranks possible?

What about forces of the autonomous principalities? I know very little of their late militaries - would they have any real military capability to speak of? If so, did they have a full army structure with equivalent ranks? I.E. could a post-1918, pre-1947 independent principality had colonels, generals, and the like of Indian origin?

[Mahanfan]

I know that Hyderabad resisted its inclusion into the State of India in 1947-8; the Nizam even appealed (in vain, I'm afraid) to the British for protection under a treaty his state had signed.  Your best bet might be Farwell's The Armies Of The Raj (IIRC), which deals extensively with this topic.

[FramFramson]

I'm thinking of it for a Sikh character, so while Hyderabad did have a fully independent military, it won't work as well for the character narrative. If the Jammu & Kashmir princely state had an independent military, there's possibly something I can put together there. Otherwise the character will probably just be a KCIO from Punjab province.

[Mahanfan]

Assuming what I've found online is correct, the Princely State *did* have an independent military, but relied on the Indian Army (pre-1947) for the majority of its defense.  When partition came, since Kashmir borders both India and Pakistan, the State was invaded by Pakistan-backed tribesmen, which were resisted by the Maharaja; however, the Maharaja had to appeal for assistance to the Governor-General (Mountbatten) who sent aid conditional on the Princely State joining India.

What I take away from all of this muddle is that your character should be able to be a member of the Princely State's military. 

[FramFramson]

 

Now to try and find out more about Jammu-Kashmir's military... 

[Mahanfan]

Would these help?

http://www.princelystates.com/ArchivedFeatures/fa-01-02c.shtml

[FramFramson]

That adds a little. I was also able to find out that in 1925, the last ruler of Jammu & Kashmir turned out the British troops and replaced them with princely troops.

My main concern was to not give the character an impossible rank (i.e. if the J&K forces used distinct Indian terms, like Havildar, Subhadar, etc. rather than English ranks, he should have an Indian rank), but I think given the quick change and the fact that the British served as the military for J&K for a long period, that the Rajah probably used European ranks and that giving the character a European rank (I settled on Colonel) is fine. In fact the change in 1925 fits perfectly with my idea of a man who starts out as a KCIO but leaves British service to join a princely military.

I could still be wrong, but that's enough research for what is comparatively a very minor point.

Thanks!

[Plynkes]

The J&K Rifles fought under their own officers and rank structure. In peacetime each battalion had just a single attached British officer, while this was increased to three during the Great War (they served in East Africa and Palestine). Local designations were used for the lower ranks and junior officers, but above them you had majors and colonels.

Your fellow being a Sikh may be problematic. The Kashmir battalions were made up mostly of Dogras and Gurkhas, but the J&K Rifles did have 200 or so Punjabis in its ranks out of a total of just over a thousand men. However, I have yet to see a photo of a single Sikh associated with these units, and the higher ranked officers don't seem to have been Sikhs.


Having a native colonel in the Kashmiri military is however not only plausible but perfectly historical. I'm just not sure about him being a Sikh. There are multiple "Singhs" among the officers of the 2nd Battalion in a photo dating from 1917, but not a man of them is sporting a beard. The 2nd Batt. also had a Major Singh, but again he doesn't look like a Sikh to me.




Edit: No wait, there is a Jemadar Bal Singh, and he is bearded. He looks like a possible candidate for promotion after the war.  

[FramFramson]

Keen info! Very nice and useful. Especially the main composition of the J&K rifles.

It'll be for pulp anyway, so a few liberties can be taken with an invented person. If there are a few hundred Singhs on the rolls in any case, I think I can get away with it without it being too much of a crime against historical accuracy.  

[Plynkes]

I agree! 

[FramFramson]

New question, sort of related to the first.

For regular princely infantry troops, would WWI-era kit work fine for the interwar period? It would probably be men of the J&K Rifles, but I may use men from other principalities or even British troops proper.  I assume there's a great variety of uniforms to be had overall, but most of what I've found seems to be dress uniforms, or more modern references.

I'm not going to be too picky because it's for pulp, but I just want to make sure I'm not going totally wrong.