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HIS HONOUR SIR MICHAEL O'DWYER,
G.C.I.E., K.C.S.I.,
Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab.
Lahore :
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1918.
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Index of Speeches.
1. Punjab Legislative Council on 19th September 19 14 ... I
2. University Hall, Lahore, on 4th May 1918
3. Punjab Legislative Council on 26th April 1918
4. Rawalpindi Darbar on 26th March 1915 ... 28
5. Kangra Darbar on 25th October 1916 ... 30
6. Montgomery Darbar on 17th January 1917 ..- 34
7. Karnal Darbar on 3 Oth July 1917 ... 37
8. Ambala Darbar on 1st August 1917 ... 40
9. Ludhiana Darbar on 3rd August 1917 ... 45
10. Ferozepore Darbar on 4th August 1917 ... 49
11. Kasur Darbar on 6th August 1917 ... 54
12. Gujranwala Darbar on 8th August 1917 ... 58
13. Rawalpindi Darbar on 30th October 1917 ... 64
14. Jhelum Darbar on 1st November 1917 ... 74
15. Jullundur Darbar on 28th January 1918 ... 82
16. Hoshiarpur Darbar on 31st January 1918 ... 88
17. Gurdaspur Darbar on 2nd February 1918 ... 96
1 8 . Multan Darbr r on 1 6th February 1918 ...10]
19. Dera Ghazi Khan Darbar on 18th February 1918 ...109
20. Amritsar Darbar on 17th April 1918 ...113
2 1 . Ferbzepore Darbar on 1 9th April 1918 ... 1 1 9
22 . Ambala D jrbar on 1 1 t.h May 1918 ... 1 25
23. Gujranwala Darbar on 3rd August 19 1 8 . ... 130
24. Sialkot Darbar on 5th August 1918 ... 188
THE HON'BLE SIR MICHAEL FRANCIS O'DWYER, G.C.I.E., K. C.S.I.,
Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab.
1 — Speech in the Punjab Legislative Council on
19th September 1914.
EESOLUTION IN REGARD TO THE WAR.
GENTLEMEN, — We have disposed of the ordinary business
of the Session, but before we separate I feel compelled to
refer to the one matter which is filling all minds and engross-
ing all hearts. It is only six short weeks since we were all
thrilled by the announcement that the Empire was at war —
not one of those local wars which we have seen in this or
the last generation and which, however important in them-
selves, do not raise the great issues which determine the fate
of nations — but the most momentous struggle on which
the Empire has embarked since it saved the civilised world
from the despotism of Napoleon.
It is unnecessary for me to dwell on the causes that
have led up to that struggle or to the manner in which India
has shown her determination to take her share in it. These
are summed up in the august and inspiring message which
His Majesty the King -Emperor has addressed to the Princes
and peoples of India through His Excellency the Viceroy
and which, with His Excellency's permission, I will repeat
to this Council. (The Council stood up when it was read) : —
" During the past few weeks the peoples of my whole
Empire, at home and overseas, have moved with one mind
and purpose to confront and overthrow an unparalleled
assault upon the continuity of civilisation and the peace
of mankind. The calamitous conflict is not of my seeking.
My voice has been cast throughout on the side of peace. My
Ministers earnestly strove to allay the causes of strife and
to appease differences with which my Empire was not con-
cerned. Had I stood aside when, in defiance of pledges, to
which my Kingdom was a party, the soil of Belgium was
violated and her cities desolated, when the very life of the
French nation was threatened with extinction, I should
have sacrificed my honour and given to destruction the
liberties of my Empire and of mankind. I rejoice that
every part of the Empire is with me in this decision.
Punjab Legislative Council
''Paramount regard for treaty, faith and the pledged
word of rulers and people is the common heritage of England
and India. Amongst the many incidents that have marked
the unanimous uprising of the population of my Empire
in defence of its unity and integrity nothing moved me more
than the passionate devotion to my Throne expressed both
by my Indian and English subjects and by the Feudatory
Princes and Ruling Chiefs of India, and their prodigious
offers of their lives and their resources in the cause of the
realm and their one-voiced demand to be foremost in conflict
has touched my heart and has inspired to highest issues the
love and devotion which, as I well know, have ever linked
my Indian subjects and myself. I recallto mind India's
gracious message to the British nation of good -will and
fellowship which greeted my return in February 1912, after
the solemn ceremony of my Coronation Darbar at Delhi,
and I find in this hour of trial a full harvest and a noble
fulfillment of the assurance given by you that the destinies
of Great Britain and India are indissolubly linked."
Gentlemen, His Majesty's words are an eloquent and
gracious recognition of the manner in which the Princes
and peoples of India have rallied spontaneously and unani-
mously to the defence of the common interests of the Empire.
1 need not dwell at length on the splendid response which
our own Province of the Punjab has made to the calLof duty.
The response has been worthy of the Empire and worthy
of the Province which justly claims to be the spear-head of
the Indian Empire.
All the Ruling Chiefs of the Punjab have offered not only
their Military forces but the resources of their States to
Government, and it is no longer a secret that a large number
of the Imperial Service Troops have been selected from the
leading States to go on active service and take their share
in the defence of the Empire.
We also know that the splendid Expeditionary Force,
which India has put at the disposal of the King-Emperor'
contains a very large proportion of Punjabis, and that in it
are represented the flowei of the martial races of the Punjab
— Ghakkars, A wans, Janjuhas, Pathans, Tiwanas from the
Northern Punjab, the. sturdy Sikhs of the Central districts,
Dogras from the lower hills, Jats, Ranghars and other
Rajputs from the south of the Province.
2
19th September 1914.
These are the races which have carried the banners
of the King-Emperor and spread the fame of the Punjabi
soldier throughout the East from Pekin to Cairo and to
Central Africa ; they have now gone to win fresh laurels
for themselves and their country fighting side by side with
the manhood of the United Kingdom and of her Colonies and
Dominions on the battlefields of Euiope. The enthusiasm
with which the troops called out responded to the call of
duty is, I believe, only equalled by the disappointment of
those who were left behind.
I am told that in Amritsar, Ferozepore and other centres,
when the reservists of certain regiments were summoned
to rejoin the colours, the reservists of all regiments came
rushing in. Those whose regiments were not ordered on
service in many cases refused to return to their homes, saying
they would not be able to show their faces in their villages
when the war was going on, and some of them even insisted
on joining theii regiments at their own expense in the hope
that they might be allowed to take part in the campaign.
That is the spirit in which the Army has risen to the
emergency and it will, I am confident, be reflected in the
keenness and enthusiasm with which recruits will now come
forward throughout the Province to fill up the gaps — the
inevitable gaps — caused by the war, and to maintain our
Punjab Eegiments at full fighting strength.
The spirit shown by the people of the Punjab, who have
not the opportunity of proving their devotion to the Empire
in the field, is not less admirable. It has taken various
forms expressive of patriotic loyalty from piactically every
community and association throughout the Province,
prayers for the speedy and complete success of our arms,
offers of service, of men, of money, of horses, of supplies
according to the resources of the would-be givers who em-
brace all classes from the Premier Chief of the Punjab — His
Highness the Maharaja of Patiala — who is himself going to the
front, down to the humble clerk, and the war-worn veteran.
It has not been possible as you know at this stage for
Government to accept more than a small proportion of these
offers, but their value does not lie AO much in the material
aid — great as that is — offered to Government, as in the
moral results that follow from the spectacle of a United
India rallying to the support of the Empire in this great
crisis. _ The value of such support has received the fullest
recognition in the august message of the King-Emperor —
8
Punjab Legislative Council
which I have just read— and in the eloquent words of the
Heads of His Government both in India and the United
Kingdom.
Such is the present situation as regards the war : the
war may be brief or prolonged, but while we all wish that it
should be brief, none of us, I venture to affirm, has any doubt
as to the final issue. Our national poet, who is perhaps
as much admired and studied among the German as among
the English-speaking races, has told us that " thrice is he
armed who hath his quarrel just," and the justice of our
cause, the patriotic enthusiasm of our people all over the
Empire, and the traditional valour of our army and our
fleet assure us of the final success of our arms. I will now
indicate to you a few practical ways in which the people
of the Province can find scope for their patriotic energies
while the war lasts. You are all aware of the Imperial
Indian Relief Fund which was established by the Viceroy
soon after the war broke out and of which a Provincial
branch has recently been constituted in the Punjab.
The primary object of the Fund is to relieve distress
among the families of those who have gone to the front
and to assist the widows and orphans of those who die on
service. In utilising the amounts collected no distinction
will be drawn between officers and privates, European and
Indian, combatants and non-combatants. The test will
absence on active service and straitened circumstances
among the families.
The second object of the Fund is the relief of acute
local distress among the poorer classes of the people caused
directly by the war and through no fault of their own. It is
not the intention to make good any losses suffered bv the
prosperous or comparatively well-to-do who, like all other
subjects oj Ethe Empire, must bear their share of the Imperial
burden. Nor is it the intention that the Fund should main-
tain in idleness labourers, whom the war has thrown out of
employment, if they are in a position to mid other employ-
ment elsewhere, but make no effort to do so. In short, the
assistance rom the Fund is intended to be given only to
the poor classes of the civil population who,g through^he
effects of the war and no lack of effort on their own part
are in actual want of the necessaries of life.
f J *h>? Ve ^^i en£eavoured ^ make it clearly under-
stood throughout the Province that the Fund is in no way
19th September 1914.
official, that official influence is in no way to be used in secur-
ing contributions, that only voluntary subscriptions are
desired, and that while no one is debarred from subscribing
for objects, which are so near to the hearts of the people,
especially in this Province, subscriptions should be invited
only from those who are both in a position to give and who
desire to support the Fund.
The response already received from the Province and
in particular from Lahore, Amritsar, Multan and Gurdaspur
has been most generous and gratifying, and though many
of the largest contributions have been made direct to the
Central Fund, the Provincial Committee is arranging to show
the total amount subscribed by the Province. A great war
must necessarily entail great sacrifices, but we here in India
may congratulate ourselves on the fact that while the Empire
is at war and we are bearing our share in it, we are spared most
of the sacrifices and all of the privations which fall on
the combatants in Europe. We are saved by the British
fleet not only from the horrors of invasion, but also from
the suffering and misery and sfarvation resulting from the
cessation of trade and commerce, the ruin of agriculture and
the closing of productive employment. Some anxiety has
been expressed as to whether public works, which provide
employment for so many thousands in this rapidly develop-
ing Province, will be suspended during the war. For that
anxiety there is not a shadow of foundation. We intend
to carry out our programme of canal extensions, 61 roads
and buildings to its full extent, and you will be interested
to learn that at present our difficulty is not to find work
for those seeking employment, but to find labourers suffi-
cient for the employment available. At present only one-
third of the labour employed on our canals is provided from
within the Province and we have to make up the deficiency
from outside.
As a further proof that we do not intend to curtail our
expenditure in any way, I may instance the fact that the
Secretary of State has just sanctioned the scheme for the
King Edward Memorial at Lahore at a cost of 35 lakhs,
of which 15 have been contributed by the Province and 20
by Government, and the work is]being pushed on as rapidly
as possible.
Other ways in which people can render practical help
are by using their influence in promoting a spirit of good -will
5
Punjab Legislative Council
among the different communities, in allaying dangerous
excitement, in contradicting false and exaggerated rumours
which spread alarm amidst the ignorant masses, in dis-
couraging that foolish panic which leads to wholesale with-
drawals of deposits from Banks and the Post Office, in keep-
ing prices within reasonable limits, and generally in main-
taining public confidence and showing that there is no ground
for suspicion or alarm.
In these matters a great deal can be done by the public
Press, and I desire here to acknowledge the patriotic spirit
and the discretion which the Press generally has shown since
the beginning of the war, and which I hope will be maintained
while the war lasts. In time of war the Government of
almost every country arms itself with special powers of
censorship and control in regard to the Press, but I sincerely
trust that the wisdom and self-restraint of the Press in the
Punjab will render the exercise of such powers unnecessary.
In the earlier stages of the war while troops were being
moved and dispositions made, it was imperative on Gov-
ernment to keep matters secret. But you have seen that
for the last few weeks full information has been afforded
of the progress of operations, of reverses — which have fortu-
nately been few — and of successes which have been many and
brilliant, on sea and land. There is therefore absolutely
no reason now for the suspicion, which is prevailing among
many people, that news has been kept back or is doctored
by Government to suit its own purposes.
As an instance of the false rumours prevalent, I may
mention the following : —
When I was at Lahore I was assured that the troopship
containing the 28th Punjabis had been sunk and a number
of lives lost. The 28th Punjabis had been recently stationed
in Lahore and had been moved to Ceylon. The Adjutant
was in Lahore. He telegraphed to Ceylon and found that
the regiment not only had not moved, but that there was
no intention of moving them.
The telegram, which the Viceroy almost daily receives
from the Secretary of State, summarising the situation is
published in the Press and this is a guarantee of genuineness
which no one can dispute.
The fuller information which is now daily made avail-
able should enable all sensible end intelligent people to
contradict false and misleading reports.
19th September 1914.
Government has recently made arrangements for the
supply of a daily telegraphic summary of Beater's telegrams
to all Commissioners and district officers. It is also supply-
ing a Da-ily Bulletin containing the telegrams in full to all
Tahsils and Sub- Divisions and a Weekly Summary is
supplied by means of the Vernacular Gazette to all Thanas.
Thus every possible measure has been taken for the supply
of authentic news, which will enable mischievous rumours
to be contradicted, and these measures will, I am sure, be
appreciated by the friends and relatives of the thousands
of Punjab soldiers who have gone to the front. One subject
indirectly connected with the war which comes home to the
great mass of the people is that of prices. When 1 was at
Amritsar and Lahore a few weeks ago it was brought to my
notice that the price of wheat had risen within a few days
from Rs. 8-8-0 to Rs. 4-4-0 per maund and the rise was having
a most disquieting effect on all classes and especially on^he
poor. When i enquired the reason of the sudden rise various
causes were assigned — the holding off of the September
rains, the probability of high prices next year in Europe,
the reopening of export, and the buying by those ill-omened
speculators who gamble on scarcity and famine. You pro-
bably have noticed that any cause, however trivial, is con-
sidered as an adequate ground for raising prices, while only
the most sound and cogent reasons can bring prices down.
On examination the above causes for the rise will be found
to be singularly unconvincing.
Our last harvest was an excellent one, and as prices
were low in Europe, an unusually small proportion of wheat
was exported thither, and though some went to the scarcity
districts of the United Provinces, the stocks of wheat in
the Province at the end of August were exceptionally high.
A statement showing the estimated stocks of wheat in the
Province will be issued in a few days. Though some anxiety
as to the harvest now on the ground was caused by a long
break of the rains in August, the timely and copious falls
throughout the Province within the last ten days have now
assured a bountiful harvest even on bwam lands. On irri-
gated lands this harvest beats all records. Our canals have
so far irrigated no less than Fve lakhs of acres more than
in any previous year.
The excellent rains and full canal supplies similarly
give us promise of an unusually large rabi harvest.
7
Punjab Legislative Council 19th September 1914.
4
There Avas therefore no real justification beyond panic
and rash speculation for the extraordinary rise in prices
ten days ago, nor was there any such rise in the United
Kingdom. Indeed you will have seen that the embargo
on the export of articles of food from Great Britain, which
was imposed as a precautionary measure in the first week
of the war, has now been withdrawn except as regards sugar,
doubtless in consequence of our having secured the mastery
of the sea. I am glad to learn from telegrams just received
that there has been a fairly substantial fall within the last
few days, and if those who by speculating on famine prices
created the panic have burnt their fingers, I don't think
they deserve much sympathy from us.
I can give you the assurance that Government is follow-
ing the movement of prices with the closest attention and
will not hesitate to propose drastic action should cir-
cumstances require it, i.e., if it finds that prices are being
unduly inflated by alarmist rumours, by gambling specula-
tion or by combination amongst traders to restrict the
operation of the laws of supply and demand.
Gentlemen, the qualities of the people of the Province
which are said to be most marked are their cool heads and
their stout hearts. Now is the time to prove these qualities.
The sons of the Punjab who have gone to the front will prove
them in the field, but it is no less essential for the rest of
us to prove them here at home, and by doing so we shall be
discharging our duty to our Sovereign and the Empire in the
great crisis we are now going through. It is in the full
assurance that the Punjab will now, as always in the past,
do its duty, that I venture to propose the following resolu-
tion : —
' That this Council desires to convey to His Gracious
Majesty the King-Emperor George the Fifth an expression
of the sincere devotion and staunch loyalty of His subjects
in the Punjab to the Throne and the Government and an
assurance of their solemn determination to maintain the
proud martial traditions of the Province by serving His
Majesty in every form in which their help may be required
in the present war against the enemies of His Empire."
2— Speech of His Honour the Lieu tenant-Governor
delivered in the University Hall, Lahore,
on 4th May 1918.
GENTLEMEN, — I welcome you all to this great gather-
ing, a gathering unique in itself and representative of all
classes, all creeds, and all interests in the province.
We are met here to-day in response to the call of the
Emperor. For four long years we have watched the great
struggle. But we in India have looked from a distance.
We have felt to the full neither the strain nor the thrill of
the conflict. We may have heard the legions thunder past
but many of us have sunk into sleep again. It is true
we have despatched to, and maintained at, the various
fronts several divisions amounting perhaps^ to over 200,000
men, men whose deeds have brought glory to their mother-
land and especially to our own Punjab, and we have contri-
buted 100 millions sterling to the cost of the war. Judged
by pre-war standards these contributions are magnifi-
cent, but those standards have altered ; our few lakhs of
men, great as their services have been, form only a small
fraction of the seven millions that the Empire has called to
arms, our hundred millions sterling represent only the ex-
pense of the war for a fortnight. That was all — or almost
all — that we were asked for, and it is all we have done. Our
optimism was strong, our imagination was weak ; the British
navy held the seas, and the war was far away. We were
confident that the cause of the Empire and her Allies was
just and would prevail. Germany was gradually being
crushed between the upper and nether mill-stones and in
the spring of last year the final crash seemed only a matter
of months. Suddenly when victory seemed within our
grasp, things changed. One of our Allies,v sapped by German
intrigue from without, by treachery and dissension from
within, dropped out of the struggle. The pressure on our
foe was relaxed. Her armies on the east were set free. The
resources which were sorely needed to save her from star-
vation were placed at her command. Hundreds of thousands
of German and Austrian soldiers who were interned in Russia
as prisoners of war again made a bid for liberty. A new
door to the East in place of those which we had sealed up
by our brilliant campaigns in Mesopotamia and Palestine
9
University" Hall, Lahore
was opened and in a few months the potential frontier of
the eastern war was rolled back from the Dwina and the
Carpathians to the Oxus and the Pamirs. Our far-flung
battle-line extended over three continents, rolling back the
Germans and Turks in Mesopotamia and Palestine, safe-
guarding Egypt, protecting Greece at Salonika, stiffening
the Italian resistance in the plains of Venetia and Lombardy.
But while our forces were thus divided the storm was gather-
ing on the western front in France and in Flanders. There
enemy reinforcements from the east were poured in and
there we found ourselves two months ago faced by vastly
superior numbers, organised with a merciless efficiency
unparalleled in the history of war. The blow fell ; our out-
numbered troops recoiled, stubbornly resisting, and for
the first time since the battle of the Marne we felt the
enemy's grip on our throat. And then the call came, the
call of the King-Emperor, and all India stands at attention.
I will read it to you : —
" I learn with deep satisfaction that in response to
the invitation of my Viceroy, the Euling Princes and Chiefs,
representatives of the Provincial Governments, and leaders
of all ranks and sections of the community, European and
Indian, are meeting in conference at Delhi to reaffirm the
abiding loyalty of the Indian people and their resolute will
to prosecute, to their utmost ability and to the full limit of
their resources in association with other members of the
Empire, the war which our enemies have wantonly provok-
ed, and which they are ruthlessly waging against the freedom
of the world. Great as has been India's contribution to the
cause of the Allies it is by no means the full measure of her
resources and strength. I rejoice to know that their develop-
ment and the fuller utilisation of her man-power will be the
first care of the conference. The need of the Empire is India's
opportunity, and I am confident that, under the sure guidance
of my Viceroy, her people will not fail in their endeavours.
Recent events have made the struggle on the western front
more bitter and more intense. At the same time the posi-
tion in the East is menaced by disturbances in Asia instigat-
ed by the enemy. It is of ever-increasing importance that
the operations of our armies in Egypt, Palestine and Meso-
potamia should be largely sustained from India. I look
confidently to the deliberations of the conference to promote
a patriotic spirit of unity, a concentration of purpose and
10
4thrMay 1918.
activity, and a cheerful acceptance of sacrifices without
which no high object," no lasting victory, can be achieved."
Gentlemen, we know now that we are wanted. We are
asked what we can do, and we are here to-day to give the
answer.
THE MENACE TO INDIA.
Now, I know what your answer will be if I put it
to you like that. But I want an answer from your intelli-
gence, as well as from your enthusiasm. An enlightened
self-interest is at the root of all loyalty that is not mere
sentiment, and what I want us all to feel is that, in respond-
ing to the call, we shall be acting in our own best interests.
The Premier has put it to us that we may be called on to
defend the sacred soil of India against invasion. His words
roused deep and widespread alarm. Assurances have been
given — I have given them myself — that the danger is not
an immediate one. That assurance I repeat. But the
danger is a real one for all that. The Viceroy in his speech
at Delhi warns us that the door to the East is open and we
must be on our guard. He tells us that Germany has not,
and could not yet have, made any military move in the direc-
tion of India, but that she has already, as is her wont, thrown
out into Central Asia her pioneers of intrigue, her agents
of disintegration, and he finally warns us that when the
ground has thus been prepared, then she will look for her
opportunity.
We in the Punjab have seen something of German
intrigue. For years she has been working through the small,
but dangerous, band of Indian seditionists in America to
foment rebellion and anarchy in India. Her attempt was
foiled by the vigilance of our administration and the loyalty
of our people ; and only in yesterday's papers we read
that the last of the German Consular agents, who had abused
their privileged position and the hospitality of a then neutral
State, had been convicted of engineering the so-called Indian
conspiracy in California. That menace is past, but
Germany is preparing others and we know that she can move
with terribly swift strides when the hour comes. I will
remind you of two instances. In August 1916 Eoumania
declared war. Great hopes were raised, and there was
bright promise of success. In the middle of November
the Germans were still beyond the Carpathian passes. By
11
University Hall, Lahore
the end of the month they had taken the capital and over-
run the fairest portion of the Kingdom. On the Italian
frontier the Austrians had been pinned to their position
for years. Suddenly, the Germans descend and in a week
they have thrown back the Italians from the Isonzo
to the Piave and captured 2,500 guns and 200,000 prisoners.
These examples show what the Germans can do if they are
given the opportunity. They have now the opportunity
of striking a blow to the East. I am not an alarmist. I
do not want to exaggerate the danger — that is why I have
quoted the Viceroy's words.
THE BRUTE MADE FEROCIOUS BY CIVILISATION.
But I want you to understand the position. If I had
been asked six months ago what I thought of the possibility
of invasion I should have said it was a -bogey. If you put
the same question to me now, I tell you that it is a danger.
It is a danger that we must face, a danger that we must
prepare to meet. Soldiers are not made in a day any more
than lawyers or professors. And the danger may be on
us before those who respond to the call are ready to take
their places in the field. Remember that the brunt of any
invasion falls on us in the Punjab. Remember what you
have read and what you have heard of the old invasions,
of the Huns, the Mongol hosts, Timur, Nadir Shah and
Ahmad Shah, of the Ravi running with blood and choked
with corpses. Remember, above all, not only the war creed
but the peace doctrines of the nation which will direct any
invasion which we have now to fear. Let me tell you what
Goethe, a German himself and perhaps the greatest genius
Germany has ever produced, said of the Prussians. The
Prussian, he said, was born a brute, and civilisation would
make him ferocious. That is one of the most marvellous
anticipations of the verdict of Mstory that I know. Let
me remind you how amply it has been fulfilled. Let the
German leaders speak for themselves. " A war conducted
with energy cannot be directed merely against the comba-
tants of the enemy State and the positions they occupy,
but it will, and must, in like manner seek to destroy the total
intellectual and material resources of the latter." That
is an extract from the official German publication on the
' Usages of War." I could multiply such quotations, but
I pass on to a different class of evidence which will show
what the destruction of the intellectual and material re-
sources of a country means. I take first the report of the
12
4th May 1918.
Bryce Committee on the Belgium atrocities. I am not
going to read you extracts from that report describing the
enormities that were committed. I will not, because, frank-
ly, I dare not. But the accusers are there, a great multi-
tude of them, men, women, and children, butchered, violated
and mutilated. The details are too terrible. I will say
no more. But if you wish to see the brute made ferocious
by his civilisation, read and study that report. Then transfer
the scenes to the streets of Lahore and Amritsar and you
will understand. 'The killing of non-combatants," so say
the authors of the report, " was carried out to an extent
for which no previous war between nations claiming to be
civilised furnishes any precedent. That the killing was
done as part of a deliberate plan is clear from the facts set
forth regarding Louvain, Aerschot, Dinant and other places.
The killing was done under orders in each place.
It began at a certain fixed date and stopped (with certain
exceptions) at another fixed date. The same remarks apply
to the destruction of property." And, again, " they seized7
the civilians of the village indiscriminately end killed them
without the least regard to guilt or innocence." These few
extracts are sufficient to show what was done in the first
flush of conquest. And subsequent history has shown
that the sequel is in keeping with it. A leading English
statesman told us a few days ago how every factory in
Belgium had been stripped of its plant. The country has
been plundered of everything which could make it a rival
of Germany in commerce, and the present system of slow
torture is even worse than the initial outrages. It is again
the destruction of the whole intellectual and material re-
sources. The highest form of civilisation is a return to
barbarism. Attila and his Huns are to be a model for the
Kaiser and his hordes. That was the ideal whicn the Kaiser
himself set before the German troops sent to China at the
time of the Boxer rebellion ; and the Germans make no
secret of the fact that they would apply the same policy
of terrorism here should they set foot in India. Speaking
two years before the war, when he was nominally our friend,
the Kaiser said " We shall not merely occupy India, we shall
conquer it ; and the vast revenues which the British allow
to be taken by Indian Princes will, after our conquest, flow
in a golden stream to. the Fatherland."
If the Indian Princes were thus to be robbed what
would be the fate of the Indian people ? The deeds of the
13
University Hall, Lahore
Germans in China, in East Africa, in South- West Africa, in
every colony where they have had a subject race to bully
and oppress, supply the answer.
AVERTING THE MENACE.
Now, Gentlemen, is it worth while making an effort
to avert this menace from India ? I am speaking for the
moment to those who take an interest in politics. There are
some among you here to-day who perhaps hope to see in
your time the promised land of responsible self-government.
The ideal is a natural and a noble one. If you want to enter
in and enjoy the land you must prove yourselves able and
willing to defend your country against foreign aggression.
If you fail in that, the promised land becomes a mere figment
of the imagination, a mirage of the desert, and you will
return to weary wanderings in the deserts with a
swift retribution to the murmurers — you will return to the
bad old days of discord and disorder, of rapine and riot.
With this possibility in prospect is there anyone here who
will turn a deaf ear to His Majesty's injunctions for a patri-
otic spirit of unity, a concentration of purpose and activity,
and a cheerful acceptance of sacrifices, all of which are
essential to victory ? Is there any one here who does not
realise that, if internal controversies are allowed to hamper
our efforts and paralyse our arms, the common enemy may
snatch from our grasp not only everything about which
we differ, but the vastly more important things about
which we are all at one ? It was said of a Eoman Emperor
that while he fiddled Eome was burning. Shall it be said
of us that while we argued about reforms our very liberties
were ascending to heaven in the fires of Louvain ?
I trust 'I have made everyone feel what the issues
are, and it is because I want you to help in saving India
and in saving the Punjab from these perils that I have
summoned this meeting to-day.
The Delhi All- India Conference has met, deliberated,
resolved, and dispersed. The resolutions that it has passed
are now before the provinces. They have been criticised in
some quarters as not going far enough, but I would ask the
critics to bear in mind that the Delhi resolutions only lay
down general principles of action suitable for all provinces
and that India's effort is the sum of the efforts of the
provinces. It was for Delhi to outline. It is for the pro-
vincei to fill in the details and if we think the outline
U
4th May 1918.
defective, there is nothing to prevent us from suggesting cor-
rections. We know our resources, we know the spirit and
determination of our people, and it is for us to-day to decide,
in so far as the decision rests with us, how to apply them
as 'speedily and forcibly as possible to the service of the
Empire and our own defence.
THE PUNJAB'S PROGRAMME.
You all know the Delhi programme. My application
of it to the Punjab I can explain in a sentence. Two hun-
dred thousand men for the regular army, voluntaryism if
possible, conscription if necessary, twice the thousand men
we have been asked for for the Indian portion of the Indian
Defence Force, a war loan effort which will eclipse the last,
the development to the utmost of our local resources, and,
by God's grace, victory in the end. How we hope to achieve
these objects is indicated in the draft resolutions before
you. The first assures His Majesty that we shall make
a loyal, prompt and practical response to His august mes-
sage. It pledges our word. The following resolutions show
how we propose to redeem that pledge.
*****
I ask you to consider each of these resolutions separately.
In the second resolution we offer a contribution in man-
power to the regular army, 200,000 men within the year,
of whom 180,000 prove to be combatants. Last year we
raised 127,000 combatants. That is, roughly for every
five men we raised last year we should raise seven this.
One-third of our districts have so far failed to make an ade-
quate response. If they can be brought up to the mark
there should be little difficulty. To show you what can be
done take the case of Gujranwala. From the beginning
of the war up to the end of November last — a period of 3J
years — it had furnished less than 4,000 men. In the last
four months, December to March, the number has been
over 5,000. What can be done there can be done elsewhere
and I shall not be satisfied until every district has a reason-
able proportion of its fit men of military age serving.
We are proud of the fact that since the war began we
have raised over a quarter of a million fighting men. As
I said in the Council last week, that is a remarkable
achievement for a single Indian province. But what is
it compared with that of the protagonists ? To take England
alone, we know that practically every man of military age
is serving as a soldier or in some occupation subsidiary to
15
University Hall, Lahore
the army ; we know that there is hardly a family which is not
mourning for one or more near and dear ones ; we know, or
we should know, that the cause for which these millions are
fighting and dying is ours as much as theirs. When we talk
of our quarter of a million men let us not forget that the
United Kingdom, with a total population of 45 millions,
has raised 6 million men for the army alone and now pro-
poses to raise a million more. At that rate the Punjab
with its 24 millions could raise over 3 million men. I
am only asking for a total of less than half a million by
next April. The Premier has called on us to redouble our
efforts. His Majesty tells us that India's contribution,
though great, is by no means the full measure of her re-
sources and her strength. Let us prove that the reproach
conveyed in those words does not apply to the Punjab.
Let us not haggle or bargain over our quota ; 200,000 men
represent only one in twenty of our manhood of military
age. Shall we, who profess our readiness to make every
sacrifice, hold back from that ? The Kuling Princes and
Chiefs have given us a lead. Patiala, Jind, Bahawalpur,
Kapurthala, Faridkot, Malerkotla — all of whom have already
sent splendid contingents of Imperial Service Troops to
the front — and Chamba have all made noble offers, most
of them to double or more than double their fighting forces,
and it is doubtless in recognition of the splendid services
of Patiala and of the Punjab States that our Premier Chief
has been summoned to the Imperial War Conference. Let
it not be said hereafter that the States have surpassed the
British Punjab in patriotic sacrifice. The raising of 200,000
men within the year will tax our resources and call for a great
and sustained effort. I am hopeful that the existing volun-
tary system, stimulated by the two special measures recom-
mended in the second part of the resolution, viz., the further
grant of King's commissions and the increase in pay to the
rank and file, will bring forth the men we need from most
districts of the province. As regards the further grant of
King's commissions the Government of India have already
laid their proposals before the Home Government and we
may be sure that they will receive early and sympathetic
consideration. Meantime, 11 representatires of the leading
martial tribes have received commissions in the King's
Indian forces within the last few months, but the number to
be granted will naturally depend in a great measure on the
response to the call for recruits. We have often been told
16
4th May 1918.
by those who claim to understand the Indian mind that the
one thing wanted to open the flood-gates of recruiting is
the grant of King's commissions. The next few months
should show whether that view is correct. The second
point is the increase of pay to the rank and file and here,
too we shall be all agreed, and we have just heard that the
matter is now under consideration by the Government of
India. We realise, I think, that no small burden of extra
taxation will be required to meet the charge, but we shall
not grudge it. New cantonments, new armaments and
transport and all the hundred other requirements of an army
will have to be provided, and all this will mean large expen-
diture. The special war taxation of India, I believe, does not
exceed 6 millions sterling per annum. In the United King-
dom it now exceeds 600 millions per annum. Lnere is,
obviously, a large margin which can be drawn upon here.
The Delhi Qonference did not touch on the question of taxa-
tion, but it 'is a question which, His Excellency the Viceroy
stated, must be faced in due course, and we shall face it
with as good a grace as a country ever faces burdens which
it knows to be justified.
THE QUESTION OF CONSCRIPTION.
Before I leave the subject of recruitment I must say
a few words about conscription. No one, of course, dreams
of conscripting the whole of India's manhood for the half
million combatants required ; and if we can do without
conscription in any form no one will be better pleased than I.
But, splendid as has been the volunteer response of
Punjab hitherto, we must face the fact that the strain has
been severe, that the burden has not been evenly distribut-
ed, and that the tribes and localities which have done their
duty are not a little resentful against those who have not.
The land-owning classes feel that they are paying the mam
burden of the war both in purse and in person and that
there are other classes who pay little or nothing in either
form. Inequality of burdens as between classes is a ways a
legitimate grievance. It becomes more acute as
for men becomes more insistent and the call for men more
imperative.
The contingency of failure of the voluntary system in
certain areas is there, and it would be cowardice not to face
it. We have given our pledge, and we must take measuie
in time to secure its fulfilment. I believe that in the Punjab
17
University Hall, Lahore
at any rate there is now a strong feeling in favour of some
form of conscription to raise the necessary quotas both with-
in the province and as between the various provinces, the
taking, for instance, of one fit man in ten or fifteen or twenty
by lot, with the option of some pecuniary forfeit to be paid
to the State. I hope I carry a large majority of my audi-
ence with me here and, if so, it is right that the province which
hitherto has borne the main burden should state its views
in no uncertain language. The decision, of course, rests
in other hands. But, gentlemen, the machinery cannot be
set in motion at once. The men are wanted immediately.
What, therefore, appears necessary is that Government should
take power to enforce the quotas allotted to provinces and
that all the necessary preparations should be made in
advance on the distinct understanding that the measure
will not be applied if the quotas are forthcoming on a volun-
tary basis.
THE INDIAN DEFENCE FORCE.
I pass on to the third resolution which supplements
the second. It aims at recruiting for the Indian section
of the Indian Defence Force a substantial number of young
men who, though unable to enlist in the army as com-
batants, are able and willing to share the burden of
internal defence and thereby set free combatants for
service in the field. Here I may say frankly that the past
apathy of the people in the towns furnishes the rural classes
with an excuse for holding back and with ground for the
complaint that the burden of service is not equitably dis-
tributed. My appeal here is mainly to the educated youth
of the province. I was reading the other day an account
of my old university, Oxford. The grey old quadrangles
are emptied of their students. Sentinels stand at the gates.
The halls are now hospitals, and where once was all the
brightness and the sparkle of youth the only occupants
are the sick and the wounded and the nurses and doctors
who minister to their comfort. Within the last year 42
members of my old college, Balliol, have met a soldier's
death ; nearly 200 have -been wounded. There are only
40 undergraduates where there used to be 250 and nearly
all the 40 are engaged on military service or Government
work. The college is occupied by the officers and 200 cadets
of the 6th Cadet Battalion and there are only two tutors
in residence. In the Punjab we have raised with difficulty
18
4th May 1918.
some 75 men from among University students for the Signal
Company and twice that number for the Indian Defence
Force. The appeal was, no doubt, made at an inopportune
time, but the response was disappointing. I hear excellent
accounts of the work these men are doing, their intelligence,
their discipline, and their soldierly spirit. They have felt
the call of a duty that was strange to many of them and they
have found that the able-bodied, high-spirited youth, no
matter what his ancestry or his caste, has in him the fibre
and the spirit of the soldier. The call now comes to others.
It is the call now not merely of their King and their Empire.
It is the call of their hearths and their homes and of all that
they hold most dear. We were asked last year for at least
1,000 men. This year I hope we shall be able to raise 2,000
and if they are forthcoming, I am sure the military authori-
ties will do all they can to facilitate their training and orga-
nisation. I am arranging for a committee to stimulate
and encourage recruitment, and Mr. Justice bhadi Lai, one
of the most brilliant products of our University, has con-
sented to act as its president, It is a happy omen for the
success of his campaign that over 100 members of the Chief
Court Bar Association have already come forward with
offers of service, offers which I hope will soon take practical
form.
THE WAR LOAN AND RESOURCES.
The two remaining resolutions on the programme
relate to the War Loan and the development of our local
resources for the purpose of the war.
As to the former, I said in my Budget speech the other
day that we could hardly hope to repeat the achievement
of last year The harvest, however, which is now being
reaped, is a splendid one ; there is a steady flow of money
to the province from its sons who are serving in the held,
laree profits are being made from war contracts, and trust
that the Punjab will make it a point of honour to maintain
its place among the provinces. I have again appointed a
committee to organise War Loan propaganda and Sir Henry
Rattigan has kindly consented to serve as president,
has often been stated that the local capitalists as a class
were backward in supporting last year s loan and, i that
is true, I would appeal to them to remove the reproach.
You may have seen that Lala Prabh Diyal, a millowner of
Multan, has already offered 3 lakhs for investment in any
19
University Hall, Lahore 4th May 1918.
form of the new loan, without waiting for the terms to be
published. That is a fine example of the spirit that shows
itself by deeds not words, and illustrates the Premier's saying
that nations and individuals grow great not by wiiat they
get, but by what they give.
As regards material resources I can say little at present
but we shall, no doubt, be told by the Munitions Board
in what directions we can help. I propose to ask certain
gentlemen with special qualifications to join the Eecruiting
Board, which will then be empowered to deal with all matters
referred to us by the Munitions Board.
VICTORY IN THE END.
There remains only one item more — the crowning
feature in the programme of all of us — victory in the end.
The idea that Germany should be victorious is one which
revolts our whole moral nature. If Germany triumphs
then is all our teaching in vain. The great fabric of inter-
national justice which the better mind of all nations has
been slowly raising for centuries past stone by stone will
all be levelled with the dust. That the future contains
any such fate for the nations of the world we will not, we
cannot, believe. For my part I believe that the State which
lays its foundations on militarism may be lilfened unto a
foolish man who built his house upon the sand and the rains
descended and the floods came and the wind blew and beat
upon that house and it fell. And great was the fall thereof.
3— Speech of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor delivered
in the Punjab Legislative Council on 26th April 1918.
******
I have endeavoured so far to give you some indication,
however rough, of the activities and policy of Government
in various spheres which are of special interest to the puhlic.
I hope you will agree with me that, notwithstanding the
serious pre-occupations of the war, we are not neglecting
the policy of steady administrative progress.
But the Premier s recent message—a message urgent
and solemn— to India and His Excellency the Viceroy's
reply have made it clear that the struggle which was forced
on us has now reached a critical stage, when its imperative
call must have priority over all other matters. India is an
integral part of the Empire. The existence of that Empire
and of everything for which it stands is at stake in the pre-
sent conflict ; the security of India's hearths and homes is
menaced : and for the Empire's defence and her own security
India is now called upon to put forth efforts and to make
sacrifices adequate to her great resources and worthy of her
loyal traditions.
It is with this object that the Viceroy has summoned
representatives from all parts of India to meet at Delhi on
the 27th in order to invite the co-operation at this crisis in
sinking domestic dissensions and political propaganda, in
securing their active support in all measures necessary for
the successful prosecution of the war, and in cheerfully
hearing the sacrifices necessary to secure victory. The
Punjab will be strongly and worthily represented in that
<*reat gathering, and you will be glad to know that three
past and three present Members of this Council will parti-
cipate in it. When the Delhi deliberations are finished,
meetings will be held in the various Provinces to concert
the measures necessary to give effect to them and I have
accordingly summoned a representative gathering to meet
at Lahore on the 4th May. But on behalf of the Punjab
1 have lost no time in assuring the Viceroy that he could
count on our complete co-operation in securing the objects
of the Conference and on our firm determination to give
practical effect to its resolutions.
21
Punjab Legislative Council
Hon'ble Members will remember that at a special
meeting held in Simla soon after the outbreak of war the
Punjab Legislative Council passed a Resolution humbly
assuring the King-Emperor of the determination of the
people of this Province to serve His Majesty in every form
in which their help might be required against the enemies
of his Empire. Those were no empty words. Looking
back over the last 3f years we can claim that the province
has fulfilled its promise. I have been often attacked else-
where for my insistence in season, and as my critics say out
of season, on the great war services of the Punjab, thereby
suggesting invidious comparisons with other Provinces and
certain political movements. In view of the Premier's
message and this week's meeting at Delhi I leave it to the
public to judge whether my action was misplaced. Anyhow
I have no fear of hurting the feelings of any one in this Coun-
cil by reciting briefly what we have done up to now and
thereby stimulating the Province for the further efforts
and sacrifices that the Viceroy's message and the Delhi
Conference foreshadow. Take first the supply of men
to the combatant ranks. A year ago 1 told you with pride
that since the war began the Punjab had furnished 124,000
men. That was "spread over 2J years. What have we
done within the last year ? We have furnished 127,095
combatants or more than in the previous 2J years. All the
rest of India including the Native States with more than
12 times our population has raised in the last year 137,000
men, or slightly more than our single Province. Since the
war began we have raised over 250,000 men to fight the
battles of the Empire, besides some 60,000 or 70,000 men
serving as non-combatants, followers, &c., and though the
effort may not seem great as compared with that of Great
Britain and the British Colonies where nearly every man
of fighting age is now serving as a soldier 01 in some work
subsidiary to the war, it is a truly remarkable one for a
single Indian province. Our quarter of a million combatants
are composed roughly as follows :—
Percentage of mala
population of
fighting age.
10-5 .. Muhammadans from
northern Punjab . . 98,000
7 -8 .. Muhammadans from
southern Punjab . . 19,000
22
26th April 1918.
Percentage of male
population of
fighting age.
14 .. Sikhs .. .. 65,000
11-8 .. Hindu Jats .. .. 22,000
9 .. Dogras .. 18,000
11 .. other Rajputs .. 7,000
18 Ahirs .. .. .7,000
6 .;'•;„ Gujars .. 5,000
Brahmins, chiefly
Gaur .. .. 4,000
9 .. Christians .. •• 3,000
Kashmiris .. .. 1,000
Others .. •• 1,000
The totals are —
Muhammadans .. .. •• 118,000
Sikhs .. .. • • •• 65,000
Hindus .. .. •• •• 63,000
Christians .. .. •• 3,000
Others 1,000
and 1 invite the attention of the great martial races not only
to the total numbers but to the proportion of their manhood
which they have enlisted. How well our men have fought
is proved by the fact that they have earned no less than
1,448 distinctions for gallantry in the field.
These include 3 V.Cs.— two to Punjabi Muhammadans
of Jhelum and Rawalpindi, one to a Dogra of Kangra—
18 M Cs., 88 O.B.I., 325 I.O.M... 790 D.S.M-, 98 M.S.M and
126 Foreign Orders and Medals.
Of these distinctions 700 or nearly half have gone to
Sikhs 371 to Punjabi Muhammadans, 43 to other Muham-
madans 121 Ho Dogras, 115 to Jats, 25 to Rajputs, and 11
to Brahmans, 4 to Gujars, 6 to Ahirs and other Hindus.
The districts which so far have the best records are
Ludhiana 142, Jhelum 136, Rawalpindi 125, Rohtak 99,
Hoshiarpur 94, Kangra 86, Amritsar 77, Ferozepore 67,
Guirat 63 Guiranwala 46, and the leading Native States
are PatiaU 98, Nabha 22; Jind 19. Those are the military
distinctions to officers and men in the field, but 1 think ^ we
in the Puniab may claim that we have not been forgetful
of the interests of the martial classes from whom
23
Punjab Legislative Council
gallant men have been drawn. I need not here refer to the
granls of land,, khillats, titles and other distinctions to the
many who have given up their time and influence to this
great cause. But I may refer to the two new and singular
distinctions granted almost exclusively for family or personal
services in connection with the war, viz., (1) the grant of
11 temporary commissions in His Majesty's Indian Land
Forces to prominent representatives of the great martial
races and (2) to the grant of jagirs for good services generally
and especially in connection with the war. Last year I
announced the grant of jagirs, value Es. 10,000, to such
individuals, and a resolution is now appearing which records
the grant of Es. 5,000 \njagir varying from Es. 750 to Es.
250 per annum to 15 gentlemen of whom 6 are Muhamma-
dans, 5 are Hindus and 4 Sikhs.
So far from any slacking off, the results in recent months
show a steady improvement, and in March we surpassed
all previous efforts with 13,7i3 combatants and 2,924
non-combatants, or a total of 16,637. The statements
published monthly show the progress of recruiting in every
district and Native State of the Province, and the following
districts have already contributed over 10 per cent, of their
manhood : — Eawalpindi and Jhelum 30 per cent., Attock
16 per cent., Eohtak 15 per cent., Ludhiana 14 per cent.,
Gujrat 13 per cent., Amritsar 11 per cent., and Shahpur
10 per cent. On the other hand the Multan Division in
spite of recent improvement has supplied less than 2 per cent.,
Karnal less than 3 per cent., Lahore less than 4 per cent.,
Ambala less than 5 per cent. The decisive factor in the war
will be Man Power. The defection of Eussia and the con-
sequenl collapse of Eoumania have given 0111 enemies a tem-
porary superiority in men. The advance of the enemy
on the West is, however, being firmly held, while the man
power of the British Empire and its allies is being mobilised
to deliver him the knockout blow which alone will restore
peace to a war-worn world. The United Kingdom with
less than double the population of our province has already
raised six million men for the army alone and is now taking
measures to raise at least another million in the present year.
The Dominions are making similar sacrifices. What share
of the burden should the Punjab shoulder in this crisis ?
I would suggest that we should endeavour to double last
year's contribution of men and raise a quarter of a million
JD the coming year. That would bring our total contribu-
24
20ttTApril 1918.
tiou to half *a million or one in eighk of the men of fighting
age. If we do that and I do not see why we should not, we
shall have gone a long way to justify the claim of an Hon'ble
Member that the Punjab is not only saving India but is abo
doing much to save the Empire. Within the last few weeks
the Ruling Princes and Chiefs of Patiala, Jind, Bahawalpur,
Kapurthala, Faridkot, Maler Kotla and Ghamba have come
forward with practical and generous offers, usually to double
their present contribution of fighting men. They thug offer
us a splendid example, and we in the Punjab feel honoured
in the selection of His Highness the Maharaja of Patiala
to represent the Princes of India in the Imperial War Con-
ference. That is a just recognition of the part played by
the premier Punjab State and the Punjab generally.
The drain on our manhood has been great, but it is
slight as compared with that on the rest of the Empire,
and the figures I have quoted show what great resources
are still available.
that His Majesty has called upon us through the
Premier to make even a greater effort in this great crisis,
we shall, I am confident, give further proof that the promise
solemnly made in September 1914 is a sacred obligation in
the discharge of which we shall flinch from no sacrifice.
But here I must point out that even within the Province
the burden of sacrifice has hitherto been unevenly distribut-
ed. The 2J lakhs of combatants have been drawn almost
exclusively, and the 60,000 non-combatants mainly from the
rural agricultural classes. The urban population of the
Province, it is true, forms only one-tenth of our population,
but in the matter of man power it certainly has not borne
a share pfoportionate to its number or its obligations. As
you know special efforts were made last year to recruit at
least one Double Company from University students, past
and present, and a battalion 1,000 strong from the urban
classes for the Indian Defence Force. The result, even
allowing for the difficulties in striking out a new line, was
most disappointing. Less than 100 young men were en-
rolled for the University Company, which had, therefore,
to be narrowed down to a Signalling section. Those
youths showed admirable keenness and intelligence and have
now been sent to the front, where we know they will acquit
themselves as good and staunch sons of the Punjab.
25
Punjab Legislative Council
For the Indian Defence Force, instead of the hoped-
for 1,000, only some 150 fit men were enrolled. They are
now going through their training, and their officers speak
highly of their spirit and eagerness to learn. But in the
face of the present crisis, do the educated classes of the Pro-
vince think that they are doing their duty by supplying
these few hundred men ?
I am sure they do not, and now that the urgency of the
need for men has been brought home to them, I look to them
to come forward and not be put to shame by their brethren
in the villages. I look to thorn to supply some substantial
addition to the combatant ranks and to rally in their thou-
sands to the Indian Defence Force which is now re-opened
to recruitment.
So far as to man power. Now as to other resouices.
The Province's response to last year's War Loan astonished
even those of us who thought we knew the strength of Punjab
patriotism. Our total contribution was nearly 6 crores.
In the General Section we have been surpassed by only
Bombay and Bengal including Calcutta ; in the Post Office
Section we were second only to Bombay.
When a New War Loan is issued we cannot expect
to repeat such a magnificent achievement, but the present
harvest is a splendid one, the receipts to the Province from
Military service are very great and steadily growing, many
firms are making enormous piofits from army contracts,
and finally the wealthy Capitalists in the towns, who for
one reason or another are unable to take an active share
in the defence of their country, have an effective way of
assisting by providing the sinews of war. I have been told
in many places that the capitalists as a class did not give
adequate support to last year's loan. If there is any truth
in that I hope they will remove the reproach when the new
loan is issued.
Before I leave this subject I must say a word in acknow-
ledgment of the splendid generosity with which the Province
subscribed to the appeal on behalf of the various War and
Relief Funds. The amount raised for " Our Day ' alone
was about 17 lakhs, and the Punjab again proved its solici-
tude for the welfare and comfort of its brave sons at the
front. I hope it will not be necessary to make any further
general appeal of this nature in the present year, but should
it be, I know the Province will do its duty.
26
26th April 1 918.
The third respect in which we are asked to help at this
crisis is by sinking domestic dissensions and political propa-
ganda and concentrating all our energies on repelling the
peril which threatens onr national existence. Here, too,
i am confident that, as in the past, the Punjab will be true
to its traditions. Since the. war began the people of the
Province as a whole, so far from doing anything to embarrass
the Government, have rallied enthusiastically to its support.
At times I have been compelled to take measures against
a few organs of the vernacular press, but that press on the
whole has maintained in troublous times a correct, a loyal
and helpful attitude which I am glad to acknowledge.
What is known as the " Anglo- Vernacular ' press has now
and again shown a disposition towards mistrust and carping
criticism of Government, but its general attitude towards
the supreme question of national defence, whenever it dealt
with that subject, has given no cause of complaint. At
the same time the various political and other associations
in the Province have, as a rule, conducted their discussions
and propaganda with a sobriety and restraint befitting the
anxious times we are living in.
Now that the gravity of the existing situation has been
realised by all, I am confident that all parties^ all shades
of opinion, political and communal, will combine in one
great united and national effort on behalf of King and
Country. The assurances given by all Hon'ble Members
who have spoken during the debate confirm that hope. And
when the present menace is averted by that united effort,
we shall approach the solution of those important but for
the time minor issues in the spirit of mutual toleration and
mutual comprehension bom of the feeling that we have
stood shoulder to shoulder in this great emergency, and by
our union have successfully resisted the greatest menace
with which our common humanity has ever been threatened
and laid the foundations of a just and enduring peace.
4— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Rawalpindi on the
26th March 1915.
GENTLEMEN, — I had yet another reason for addressing
you to-day and it is one equally gratifying to me and to you.
I desire publicly to congratulate the people of the three
districts of Pindi, Attock and Jhelum on their splendid
response to the call for men in defence of the Empire.
Everyone who knows the men of the Northern Punjab
recognises that, whatever their defects, there are two great
qualities which they possess — loyalty and bravery. The
present war has given them a special opportunity of proving
those qualities.
9
Some figures which I have just received from the Mili-
tary Authorities show that from the beginning of this war
up to 1st March, 45,000 recruits have been raised throughout
the Indian Empire. Of these I am proud to say one-half
or more were raised from the Punjab as a whole and no less
than 10,000 were raised from among the Punjabi Muhamma-
dans of which Bawalpindi is the recruiting centre, so that
these few districts with a population of under 4 millions
have yielded nearly one -fourth of the total number for India.
I understand that from Pindi alone nearly 4,000 recruits
have been raised and Jhelum comes a good second, and it is
a source of pride to us all that the first Indian soldier to
receive idie Victoria Cross was a Jhelum man— Khuda Dad
Khan of the 129th Baluchis. Attock and Gujrat have also
done well. While in Mianwali and Shahpur the results
have been relatively disappointing except in the case <rf the
Tiwana class which has set a splendid example of loyalty
and self-sacrifice worthy of their high traditions.
1 congratulate the people of Pindi on an exhibition of
martial spirit and loyalty which I think has been surpassed
in no part of the Indian Empire. The result is equally
creditable to them, to the people and to their leaders and to
>e District authorities, and to the tact, knowledge and
energy of the Recruiting Officer-Captain Mollison-who
has been working in close co-operation with them.
28
26th March 1915.
It has been a great pleasure to me to distribute to the
many gentlemen, who have done so much for recruiting,
the rewards and khillais which have been so generously
provided by the Army Department. I am betraying no
secret when I say that all accounts from the front show
that in the face of the enemy in Europe, Africa and Asia,
the men of these districts have shown that they are second
to none in endurance and pluck. We are proud to welcome
here to-day some of those who have shed their blood in the
cause of duty and honour, and we can assure them that, in
the future as in the past, Government will not be slow or
niggardly in showing its recognition of distinguished service.
One word more on this subject.
The care of the families and dependents of those who
are risking their lives for their King and country is one of
the first duties of Government, and I am glad to hear
from Mr. Renouf of the efficient arrangements being made
by local committees to meet any cases of distress.
29
5— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Kangra on the
25th October 1916.
While the people of Kangra have turned the Pax
Brittanica to good account they have not allowed it to ex-
tinguish those splendid martial qualities for which they
have been famous in the past. Of the 250 districts of the
Indian Empire, Kangra, with a population of only two- thirds
of a million, ranks 5th in the number of fighting men it sup-
plies to the Indian Army. On the 1st of January last the
number of Kangra men in the Indian Army was 7,450 and
it was surpassed only by-
Rawalpindi, with 13,000.
Jhelum, with 12,000.
Rohtak, with 8,500.
Hoshiarpur, with 7,700.
All, you will be proud to observe, are Punjab districts.
The fine fighting races known as Dogras (hill people) are
primarily associated with Kangra which furnishes over 7,000 of
the 18,000 Dogras in the Indian Army. You may therefore
claim a great share in the exploits of the three famous Dogra
regiments— the 87th, the 38th and the 41st— and of the many
Dogra companies and squadrons in mixed regiments in the
present war. Wherever they have faced the enemy— whether
in France, Egypt, Africa or Mesopotamia - the Dogras
by their steady discipline and splendid valour have proved
themselves worthy descendants of the men who in the past
held the Kangra Fort against Afghan, Turk, Moghal, Sikh
and Gurkha. The Army Department has kindly furnished
me with a list of special distinctions won by Dogras during
the present war. They include—
Victoria Cross . , . . i
Military Cross , . 1
Order of British India . . 5
Order of Merit . . 29
Distinguished Conduct Medal . . 56
Distinctions given by our Allies . . 4
Total . . 96~"
80
25th October 1916.
AH honour to the men who have won such distinctions
for themselves, the army and the races to which they belong.
Kangra will rejoice that a Kangra man has secured one of the
seven Victoria Crosses awarded to the Indian Army. This
hero is Lance Naik Lala of the 41st Dogras, a resident of
Parol in Hamirpur, who at the battle of Umm el-Hannah
in Mesopotamia on January 21st rescued two wounded
British Officers, Captain Nicholson of the 37th Dogras and
Lieutenant Lindot of the 41st, under the enemy's fire. I
have heard the details through one of the officers whose life
he saved at the risk of his own and they stand forth promi-
nent among the many deeds of bravery and self-sacrifice
which this war has witnessed. It is also my privilege to-day
to confer the Russian decoration of St. George (which in
Russia is the equivalent of the V.C.) on Havildar Ganga of
the 37th Dogras whose heroic exploit early in the war in
November 1914 caused a thrill of pride and delight to all
who followed the doings of the Indian Army Corps in FranceB
But exploits such as these entail corresponding sacri-
fices and the problem for the men in Kangra is to pro-
vide recruits to make good the wastage and fill up the
gaps caused in the Dogra regiments, companies and squad-
rons, by 2 years' continuous warfare. This is no easy task
for, as you point out, and as a comparison with other districts
shows, Kangra had been heavily drawn on by the army
before the war broke out. Since then you have provided
nearly 4,000 recruits, but this is not enough ; further efforts
are required and Government looks to you- to make them.
I know that your Rajas and leading men and in particular
Lieutenant- Colonel Raja Jai Chand of Lambagraon, the
Raja of Guler, T. Rajindra Pal of Kutlehr, Rai Megh Singh
of Kulu, are working, not only in their own ilaqa*, but
wherever Dogra recruits are to be found, to keep the Dogras
at full strength and enable them to share in the final triumph
of our Arms which is at last coming into sight. I appeal
to you here to-day to join in this good work and thereby
maintain the high reputation of Kangra as the nursery of
brave men and loyal soldiers of the King Emperor. The
action of the Thakur of Lahaul in raising 120 men among
the sparse population of those snowy wastes for service under
himself in the swamps of Mesopotamia is a fine example of
patriotic enterprise which you have done well to cite and
which I am glad publicly to acknowledge. It is his devotion
31
Kangra Darbar
to the task that has prevented him from attending to-day's
Darbar.
Any reference to the Kangra troops would be in-
complete if I failed to mention the two gallant battalions
of the 1st King George's Own Gurkhas who in peace time
are cantoned in the district and many of whom have made
their homes here on retirement. The first battalion of the
regiment has covered itself with glory in France in the
terrible battles of Festubert, Ypres, Neuve Chapelle, and
if that were possible has added to its laurels in some of the
bloodiest fightings in Mesopotamia. Its losses in officers and
men have been enormous. The distinctions it has gained
so far constitute a splendid record for a single battalion
and include for British Officers 1 C.M.G., 1 D.S.O. and 2
M.C.S., and for the Indian Officers and men 3 Eussian Orders
of St. George, 6 Indian Orders of Merit, 17 D.8. Medals.
The 2nd Battalion, which has furnished the fine guard of
honour at this Darbar, was garrisoning distant Chitral till a
year after the outbreak of war, and on its way back to India
took a prominent part in the fighting in the Swat Valley
and at Shabkadar last autumn. It is now waiting impatient-
ly to be sent to the Front when we may be sure it will rival,
for it can hardly surpass, the gallant deeds of the 1st Batta-
lion. Since the war began the 1st Battalion has enlisted
1.398 recruits and the 2nd 1,280. These figures are remark-
able and I quote them in the hope that they will move the
people of Kangra to friendly emulation.
I believe a generation or more has passed since a
Darbar was held by the Lieutenant- Governor in Kangra,
and it has therefore been a special pleasure to me to have
the opportunity of meeting you and talking to you to-day.
I hope that what I have said will convince you that though
remote from the head-quarters of Government, Government
is not ignorant of your history and services or unmindful
of your conditions and your needs. The district has always
been fortunate in having officers such as Barnes, Lyall and
O'Brien who were deeply attached to the people of Kangra
and staunch advocates of their interests, and I am revealing
no secret when I say that your officers to-day possess the
same qualities. This mutual confidence between the people
and their leaders on one side and the officers of Government
32
25th October 1916.
on the other is the sure guarantee of the loyalty and content-
ment of the people, which I am proud to think are marked
features of the Punjab generally and of your district in par-
ticular. No better proof of this could be forthcoming than
the splendid behaviour of the Province in furnishing 100,000
recruits to the Combatant Army since the war began, besides
tens of thousands of followers and non-combatants. In
response to the sudden demand of the Military authorities
we have in the first fortnight of October raised over 10,000
men for service as Sarwans, Drabis, etc., in Mesopotamia —
a feat of which the Government and the people of the Punjab
may be equally proud. In the rallying of the Punjab to the
cause of the Empire Kangra has already done much and will,
I trust, do what further is required. It only remains to
me to thank you again for your presence here to-day and for
your kindly welcome to me, to congratulate you on a healthy
season and on the bountiful harvest which is now being
reaped, and to assure you of the continued interest of myself
and my Government in the welfare of Kangra, its Rajas and
it« people.
SB
-Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Go vernor at a Darbar held at Montgomery on the
17th January 1917.
The Punjab supplies more than half the Indian Army
and the Punjab Government, therefore, proposed, and the
Government of India agreed, that 178,000 acres, or more
than one-fifth of the whole area available, should be set
apart for reward grants to the Indian Army, and put it at
the disposal of His Excellency the Commander-in- Chief
for distribution after the war, priority to be given to Punjabi
Officers and men who had served best in the war, and to the
heirs of those who had fallen in the service of the King-
Emperor.
Judged by this test, which is after all the supreme
test, the Punjab and in particular the fighting races of the
Punjab leave all the rest of India far behind, and you will be
interested to hear the figures which establish this.
From the beginning of the war up to the 31st March
last the total death casualties in the Indian Army were
11,015. Of these no less than 1,799 fell to the share of the
gallant Gurkhas from Nepal, leaving 9,216 for the other
Provinces and States of India. Of that number the detaili
are —
Punjab
United Provinces
Raj put ana
Bombay and Sind
North- West Frontier Pro-
vince.
Madras .. ..168
Behar and Orissa . . 21
Bengal .. ..18
Central Province* . . 16
Assam . . . . 13
Gentlemen, I ^ think we in the Punjab may well ask
those in other Provinces, who talk so much of the sacrifices of
the war and base their claims on it, to mark and digest these
84
5,183 or 56 per cent
17th January 1917.
figures. Compared with the sacrifices of Great Britain
and the Colonies the figures for India as a whole are not re-
markable, but we in the Punjab can claim that with less than
one-twelfth of the population of the Indian Empire we have
contributed more than one-half of the supreme sacrifices.
I know that the people of the Punjab are proud of those
sacrifices and are ready and willing to make even greater
ones. I am also glad to assure them that though they may
not talk loudly of their services or use them as a lever for
formulating demands (as I have said before, Punjab loyalty
and Punjab courage are not to be bartered in the market-
place like a bale of cotton or a bag of wheat), but I can assure
them that Government is not less but more grateful for their
services, not less but more mindful of recognising them.
One of the methods of recognition is the grants to the
landed gentry class, another is the reward grants to the
Punjab men who have won special distinction in the present
war.
Gentlemen, I regret to say that in this great struggle,
in which so many Punjabis have won honour and fame for
themselves, their tribes and their districts, Montgomery
has borne no share. Of the 128,000 Punjabis in the Indian
Army on the 31st December 1916, there were only 48 from
Montgomery, and of these 42 were from the very small com-
munity of Sikhs. Your neighbours in Multan, Muzaffar-
garh and Jhang have an equally bad record with 37, 27 and
44 respectively.
In fact the Muhammadan Districts of the South- West
Punjab are put to shame by their brethren in the North- West
Punjab. Compare yourself with Eawalpindi which has
13,000 men in the Indian Army, Jhelum 12,000, Attock 5,000,
Gujrat 4,000, Shalipur 4,000. I fully recognise the difficulties
of recruiting for the Army among a conservative and home-
loving people hitherto unaccustomed to military service,
but similar difficulties have been overcome elsewhere and
I should like to see them overcome in the Multan Division.
Three years ago, before the war started, I and my officers
have endeavoured to make some of the leaders of the Mont-
gomery tribes understand that military service exalteth a
tribe, that without khidmat there could be no izzat, and
that was why they had stagnated while the Muhamma-
dans of the North- West Punjab had gone far ahead in
honour, dignity and even material prosperity.
35
Montgomery Darbar 17th January 1917.
Since the war I have preached the same sermon in Mul-
tau, Jhang and Muzaffargarh. Hitherto there has been no
response. These districts are the only ones in the Punjab
which have not responded to the Empire's call. Of the
5,200 Punjabis who up to April last had given up their lives
for their King and country there was not a single man from
among the two millions of Multan, Muzaffargarh and Mont-
gomery. Jhang could claim two.
Gentlemen, in your address you not unreasonably
refer to the absence of the serious crimes and disorders that
have troubled adjacent districts since the war broke out.
I give you all credit for what you appropriately call " nega-
tive assistance. " But I do not hesitate to say that " nega-
tive assistance " is not a Punjab quality, however common
it may be elsewhere. It is not what Government expects
to receive or what the average Punjabi contents himself
with giving.
A final opportunity is now about to be given to the
districts of the South- West Punjab to prove their manhood
and their loyalty. Your Commissioner is being asked to
raise a battalion or even half a battalion — a thirtieth part
of what the single district of Eawalpindi furnishes — in
these three districts through your leading men. This will
be of little use to Government, but if successfully raised it
will do something to remove from these districts the re-
proach of being the only districts in the Punjab that failed
to play their part in this great struggle.
36
7 — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Karnal on the
30th July 1917.
I have great ^pleasure in welcoming you to this jalsa.
I am holding this and similar jalsas in various districts for
two reasons. In the first place, to announce and, as far as
possible, distribute the titles, honours and other rewards,
which His Excellency the Viceroy and the Army Depart-
ment have recently sanctioned in favour of those who have
done conspicuous service in connection with the war and
especially in the matter of recruiting. I heartily congratu-
late the gentlemen who have been thus honoured to-day.
The titles and rewards they have received are a precious pos-
session to which they and their descendants for generations
can point with pride as the recognition shown by the Gov-
ernment of King-Emperor for distinguished service rendered
in a great cause. This recognition will, I am sure, stimulate
to persevere in their efforts and encourage others to follow
their good example.
That brings me to my second reason for holding this
Darbar. As stated by the Commissioner, the efforts of
Karnal to provide soldiers for the King Emperor have hitherto
been poor, though there has been some improvement in
the past two months ; and it is my desire to explain to you
your duty and to stimulate your efforts to perform it. You
will understand how much ground you have to make up
when I compare your district- with those of adjoining dis-
tricts.
On 1st January 1917 the number of men from each
of these districts in the combatant ranks of the Army was
as follows : —
Eohtak .. .. .. 10,201
Gurgaon . . . . . . 6,221
Hissar . «- . . . . 5,581
Ambala .. 2,610
Karnal .. .. 977
You have a bigger population to choose from than
any of the other districts in this Division and yet Eohtak
has more than ten times your number in the army, Gurgaon
more than six times, Hissar five times, Ambala three times.
37
Karnal Darbar
I will compare your figures? with Gurgaon because the popu-
lation of the two districts is nearly equal : and the agricul-
tural tribes from which recruits are chiefly raised closely
correspond, being mainly Hindu Jats, Brahmins, Ahirs and
Gujars, and Muhammadan Rajputs, Gujars and Jats. If
Karnal had done as much as Gurgaon it should have
had 6,800 men in the Army on the 1st July last instead of
less than 1,000. One single Rais of Gurgaon — Rao Bahadur
Balbir Singh, whom Government has rewarded with a jagir,
with the title of Rao Bahadur, and to-day with a Sword
of Honour — has produced more than 1,000 Ahir recruits,
that is, more than the whole district of Karnal. Again,
since the 1st January 1917, Gurgaon has given 2,119 recruits,
Karnal only 705. It is therefore no matter for surprise
that, at to-day's Darbar, all the kliillats and swords of honour
have gone to Gurgaon and not one to Karnal.
In saying this I make no reflection on the loyalty of
Karnal. You have done much in other ways since the out-
break of war. You have contributed generously to the
Relief Funds, you have subscribed many lakhs to the Wai-
Loan, you have made generous provision for the comfort
of the sick and wounded from the Front in your splendid
hospital. These are all useful services ; but what Govern-
ment wants at this time is men. We are, I hope, in the
last year of this terrible War ; victory is crowning our arms
on every side, but the enemy is still making a stubborn re-
sistance in Europe and Asia, and to bring the war to a speedy
and successful end we want more men. The fighting men
of India are mainly raised in the Punjab. The Punjab has
never yet failed in its duty, and Government looks to the
Punjab, and specially to districts like this which so far have
held back, to put forth every effort in this final stage of the
struggle which will bring izzai to them, security to their
homes and peace to the world.
Is it necessary to remind the people of this district,
which contains Panipat and Kurukshetra and which has so
often been ravaged by armies contending for the sovereignty
of Hindustan, of the blessings of peace and security which
are at stake in the present war ? Will you let it be said that
the men of Karnal stood aloof when these great issues are
at stake and wrhen all your neighbours are rallying to the
good cause ? If you are to avoid that reproach all must
help — the Muhammadan Nawabs of historic houses and the
30th July 1917.
great Sikh Jagirdars, both of whom have a fine record of
loyal service in the past— the officials of all grades, zaildars,
lambardars, sahukars and zamindars of every class — Jats,
Brahmins, Eajputs, Gujars, Muhammadan and Hindu, town
and country. The arrangements for recruiting have now
been organized by the Civil authorities in communication
with Major Pye and his Assistant so as to give every possible
facility.
The recruits we now ask for are required only for the
term of the war and six months after. They can then return
to their homes and their fields. They receive on enrolment
a bonus of Es. 50 which they can, if they choose, leave with
their families ; they go then for six or eight months' train-
ing before proceeding on service. If they are fortunate
enough to be on service and take part in the final triumph
they will return home with the King-Emperor's medal on
their breast to prove that they have played a man's part
in the great struggle for the defence of the Empire and of
their hearths and homes. With this prospect before him,
I cannot understand why any jawan fit for the army should
hold back. I expect therefore within the next year to see
a friendly rivalry between the various classes — Jats, Brah-
mins, Ahirs, Eajputs, Gujars, Hindu and Muhammadan —
which will secure in Karnal results equal to those of other
districts. If those results are achieved, it will be a pleasure
to me to come here in the cold weather, as suggested by your
Commissioner, to congratulate the people of Karnal and to
show by the distribution of honours and khillats that Gov-
ernment is not slow to recognise loyal work and patriotic
sacrifice. Izzat, as I have often said, is the reward of khidmat
and there is no khidmat which Government values more
highly or will reward more generously than that which I
am now asking you to perform.
How highly it is appreciated by the King-Emperor
and the Queen Empress will appear from the gracious mes-
sage which Her Majesty has addressed to the widows, mothers
and daughters of the Indian soldiers who have given their
lives for their country and which will be read out to you
before the proceedings close.
Gurgaon has already given over 8,000 men to the army
and will, I know, give many thousands more. When your
Commissioner can inform me that Karnal is likely to raise
7,000 men within a year, I shall consider you have done your
duty.
& — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Ambala on the
1st August 1917.
DABBABIS AND GENTLEMEN OF THE AMBALA, ROHTAK
AND HISSAR DISTRICTS. — I am glad to welcome to this meeting
so many representatives of the Ambala, Hissar and Rohtak
Districts. I may say, at the outset, that it is a great satis-
faction to us all that the abundant rains of the last few days
have removed all possible anxiety and given promise of an
abundant harvest in this Division. As I explained at Karnal
two days ago, I am holding these meetings for two reasons,
to present in the first place publicly the honours and re-
wards which have been sanctioned by His Excellency the
Viceroy and His Excellency the Commander-in- Chief for
those gentlemen who have rendered distinguished service
in connection with the war, and my second object is to
encourage and stimulate similar service on the part of others.
One of the most striking features of the war has
been the great outburst of martial and patriotic spirit among
the people of Rohtak. This has won for the district the
honour of a special visit from His Excellency the Viceroy
last cold weather, and on that occasion he was pleased to
testify to the splendid work done in the first instance by
Rohtak and, secondly, by the neighbouring districts of
Hissar and Gurgaon. It is, therefore, a special pleasure to
me to-day to have the opportunity of conferring on Rohtak
men no less than four titles of honour which have been
granted by His Excellency in recognition of war services.
This is a unique distinction, but it is only a partial recogni-
tion of the great part which Rohtak is playing in the present
war.
Other rewards— ja^rs, titles, grants of land and
khillats — have, been given and still more will, I hope, follow.
In addition to the gentlemen who have been honoured here
to-day, I would specially refer to the valuable war services
of the Hon'ble Mr. Lai Chand and of Honorary Captain
Hanwant Singh, who, I am glad to see, has come here to-
day to stimulate the people of the Ambala District. No
40
1st August 1917.
two men in this part of the Punjab have done more to in-
spire the people of their own and neighbouring districts with
a sense of patriotic duty, and much as they have already
accomplished, I am confident that they will accomplish
still more.
To come to the Hissar District. The Hissar District
was at first slow in coming forward, but in the last year has
made great progress and that is recognised in the titles,
khillats and swords of honour which it has been my priv-
ilege to announce to-day. In Rohtak and Hissar there
has been a healthy rivalry between all classes — Jats, Rajputs,
Brahmins, Ahirs, Gujars, Hindu and Muhammadan. But
I must confess to some disappointment in regard to one
class — the Bishnois of Hissar and Ferozepore. Two years
ago at Hissar a special deputation of the Bishnois waited on
me, professed their eagerness to serve in the army, and
asked that I should use my influence with the Military au-
thorities to get the ban on their enlistment removed. With
some diffidence I did so. ; but though recruiting was thrown
open to the Bishnois, very few came forward, and I am afraid
of those who were enrolled a number soon deserted. My
face was blackened by this failure, but I trust it is not too
late for the Bishnois to redeem their good name. If they
miss this opportunity they are never likely to have such
another. For I have no hesitation in saying that hereafter
the strongest claim to consideration, whether social, economic
or political, that a tribe or community can put forward, is
the fact that it made a worthy response to the call of the
King Emperor in this great war. I wish to emphasise that
fact not only in relation to the Bishnois but as one of general
application.
Now, Gentlemen, I come to the Ambala District. It
has a population bigger than that of Rohtak and nearly as
big as that of Hissar, but Rohtak has given four times and
Hissar twice as many men to the army. On the 1st January
1917, Rohtak had 10,201 combatants in the army, Hissar
5,581, Ambala only 2,610, and of this lust numbor about 70
per cent, have been taken from the small community of Jat
Sikhs. Since then up to 1st July Rohtak has furnished
2,763 recruits, Hissar 1,340, Ambala only 437. I admit
that in other respects Ambala has not done badly ; in private
contributions to various war funds and in its solicitude for
the sick and wounded in hospital it has shown a commend-
41
Ambala Darbar
able spirit : but the fact remains that in its subscriptions
to the War Loan, Ambala, in spite of its greater wealth, its
big city and cantonment is still a long way behind Rohtak
and Hissar.
I will not say that this difference is due to lack of patri-
otism or martial spirit. I prefer to think it is due to lack of
organisation and of united effort in the past. We have now
an admirable local recruiting organisation established by
the District Officers in communication with Major Pye and
his Assistants. We shall have an Assistant Recruiting Officer
beside a District Assistant Recruiting Officer. I look to Am-
bala with these facilities to rise to the occasion and come into
line with its neighbours. We are now in the last stage of
the war, and though for the last year victory has crownod
our arms in every theatre — in Mesopotamia, in Egypt, East
Africa, France and in Flanders — and the power of the enemy
has been steadily shaken, it is not yet shattered, and a
great effort is still needed to bring the war to a speedy and
successful conclusion.
Even here in India, where we are protected by the
British fleet from the immediate horrors of war, we are begin-
ning to be conscious of the losses, suffering and distress
which the war has brought in its wake. The British Isles
with a population of 45 millions of men, women and children
has now five millions serving in the Army and half a million
in the Navy, besides three or four millions on works such as
munitions, shipbuilding and coal-mining which are indis-
pensable for the prosecution of the war. In all, there are,
perhaps, 10 millions engaged in these spheres. The colonies
out of a total population of some 15 millions have a million
men under arms.
By comparison with these colossal figures India's con-
tribution of man-power may be small ; but we in the Punjab
fed proud of the fact that wo are doing more than all the
rest of India. Of 294,000 men in the combatant ranks of
the Indian Army on the 1st January last, 147,000 or exactly
one- half came from the Punjab, and if we exclude the gallant
Gurkhas from outside India our proportion of the total com-
batant forcos was 58 per cent. In the future, as in the past,
it is to the Punjab that Government looks, and looks with
confidence, to supply the bulk of the fighting men. It is
for us to show that that confidence is not misplaced. But
to achieve the results expected fiom us we must treble our
42
1st August 1917.
efforts. I say this advisedly, for we must within the next
year raise as many men'as we have raised in the three years
since the war began.
That may seem a large demand, but I should ex-
plain that it is only a temporary one. The men now enrolled
receive as you know a bonus of Rs. 50, and they are asked
to serve only for the term of the war and six months after-
wards. I would ask you to bear that point particularly
in mind. It will be, perhaps, for two years at the outside
and possibly much less.
They can then return to their homes and fields, most
of them, I hope, wearing the King's medal on their breasts
to prove to the world that they have done their duty by
their King and country and have played a man's part in
overthrowing the German tyranny. That tyranny, as pre-
vious speakers told us, and as we know from bitter experi-
ence, carries with it intolerance, devastation and persecu-
tion. Gentlemen, if it was successful in Europe, it was meant
to overrun India through Baghdad, Persia and Afghanistan.
That was the settled design of Germany, but the bravery of
our troops, British and Indian, has enabled us to avert that
menace. Baghdad, which was to be the German base for an
attack on India, is now in our hands and is the outer line of
defence of the Indian Empire. Our Indian Army at the
Front is now mainly concentrated in Mesopotamia where
by its gallant achievements it is not only helping to over-
throw the enemy in Europe but is defending the hearths
and homes of us here in Hindustan.
I doubt if these cardinal facts are sufficiently recog-
nised and I would, therefore, ask you, Gentlemen, in the
recruiting campaign which is now being organised, to put
them before your people. I would appeal to all classes of
the Ambala Division — the big jagirdars who owe so much
to Government, and have such a fine record of loyalty, the
communal and tribal leaders in town and country, the pen-
sioned Native Officers of whom I am glad to see many here
to-day, and who have eaten the salt of the sarkar, the zaildars,
lambardars and zamindars — to mjake a great and united effort
worthy of the South- East Punjab.
Rohtak has set you a good example of what can be
accomplished. It is third of the 253 districts in India in
supplying man-power to the Indian Army. Let Rohtak
fetrive to overtake Pindi and Jhelum, which are at present
43
Ambala Darbar 1st August 1917.
first and second and let Hissar and Gurgaon, which are
already doing so well, endeavour to catch Rohtak and finally
let the old and historical districts of Ambala and Karnal
remove the reproach, that they are not playing at present a
part worthy of their population, of their traditions or of
their resources. I shall carefully watch the results of this
appeal as the recruiting figures by districts come in month
by month, and I have every hope that I shall be able hereafter
to congratulate the Ambala District as well as the other dis-
tricts of the Ambala Division on the success of their efforts.
As your Commissioner has indicated, if Ambala achieves
the results expected of it, it will be a great pleasure to me
to come here next year and distribute the honours jand re-
wards which it will have thereby gained.
9 — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Ludhiana on the
3rd August 1917.
GENTLEMEN, — I have to thank you for attending this
Darbar in such large numbers despite the inclement weather
which has ushered in the day, but I am sure you will overlook
any inconvenience you may have suffered in consideration
of the benefits which the heavy rain will assure to you in
the promise of an abundant harvest.
And now, Gentlemen, I turn to tho matter with which
we aro specially concerned to-day. Three years ago, as you
have reminded me, when I referred to the gallant deeds of
the Sikh Regiments that are so closely connected with Ludhi-
ana, you and I little thought that they would be so soon again
put to the test. They have since then been through the
fiery furnace in the great battlefields of Flanders, Gallipoli
and Mesopotamia, for wherever the British flag flies the Sikh
soldier is there to uphold it, and they have come out of that
terrible test with a more glorious record and a still higher
reputation. Probably but few — too few — of the gallant
men of the gallant 14th and 15th Sikhs who went to the
Front in France nearly three years ago now survive. You
have appropriately quoted the historic passage which com-
memorates the great deeds of the 14th Sikhs at Gallipoli
on 4th June 1915, when that gallant regiment was almost
annihilated. They died a glorious death, but their memory
survives as a splendid illustration of Sikh tenacity and Sikh
heroism, and I hope that some day — and that before long —
their great achievement will be commemorated in the same
way as that of the heroes of Saragarhi. It is an admitted
fact that the Sikh spirit instead of being daunted by that
terrible sacrifice of Gallipoli was roused thereby to a higher
pitch of martial ardour. I remember well that when the
news was made public numbers of my Sikh friends came to
see me not with sorrow but with a feeling of pride at
the heroic sacrifice, and it is a matter of history that
from that day the Sikh eagerness for recruiting received its
45
Ludhiana Darbar
strongest impulse. That, Gentlemen, is the true spirit of
an indomitable race which fears only disgrace., but is proud
of an honourable death ; that is the spirit which has enabled
your committee not only to fill the gaps made by the war,
but to provide thousands of fighting men over and above,
that is the spirit which in the concluding words of your
address will enable you to keep on sending "' men to the Army
in ever-increasing numbers till victory is achieved." I may
say that what Ludhiana has already done is remarkable.
On the 1st January Ludhiana had 8,037 fighting men
in the Army. Only five districts — Rawalpindi, Jlielum,
Rohtak, Gujrat and Amritsar — had a larger number, but
if regard be had to population, Ludhiana and Rohtak, with
9 per cent, of the male population of military age, under
arms rank equal, and come third below Pindi and Jhelum,
but above Gujrat and Amritsar. You also rightly claim to
be at the head of the Sikh districts, for though Amritsar
has a total of 8,174 against your total of 8,037, you can
boast of 6,787 Sikhs while Amritsar has only 6,678. The
Ludhiana Sikhs have made, as your Commissioner lias
stated, and will, I am sure, continue to make splendid res-
ponse, but I would draw attention to the figures quoted by
Mr. Hallifax which show that the Muhammadans and
Hindus of the fighting classes have hitherto done very little
and we now7 look to them to do their share in maintaining
the good name of their district.
Since the 1st January last Ludhiana has produced
538 combatant recruits and you have the satisfaction of
knowing that in a Division, where all Districts except Feroze-
pore have done well, you stood first, Hoshiarpur with 8,027
fighting men was, however, only 10 behind on the 1st Janu-
ary and has recently surpassed you, having recruited over
1,000 men in the last six months. I mention this as I shall
follow with interest within the next eight months your
friendly competition with Hoshiarpur and with Amritsar.
As you have already explained in your address, the ground
has already been prepared by the efforts of your committee,
the good seed has been sown, and I am confident that
the harvest will now be forthcoming in the further thousands
of men which you will provide to complete the final triumph.
The fine collection of sturdy recruits which I have seen
outside — all enlisted jresterday — gives good promise of
what you can do.
M
3rd August 1917.
The drain on your manhood, already considerable,
will no doubt be increased ; but under the conditions of re-
cruiting now established, as Mr. Hallifax has explained, it
will be only temporary. The men are required only for the
term of the war and for six months afterwards, probably
no more than two years at the outside, and those who now
come forward in addition to other advantages will be able
to share in the final overthrow of German cruelty and German
aggression, and. having done so, will be able to return to their
lands and their homes with the feeling that they have done
their duty to their King, their religion and their country.
This is a sacred cause that will appeal to all, Hindus, Muliam-
madans and Sikhs, as has been pointed out by all the speakers
to-day.
As I have said before, Punjab loyalty and Punjab
valour aro not to be bartered or sold for money or reward.
But at the same time it is the duty of a just Government to
show its recognition of those qualities. The grants of jcigirs
and land* which have already been made and to which you
have alluded in your address show that Government is not
slow to reward good and loyal service. The honours, titles
and rewards which His Excellency the Viceroy and His Ex-
cellency the Commander-in- Chief have recently sanctioned
and specially authorised me to announce to-day — those are
of a class and on a scale of which you, as representatives of
the Ludhiana District and I as head of the Province, may
both be equally proud.
It was a special pleasure to me to announce the
grant of the title of Kaja to Sardar Badan Singh, C.S.I.,
of Malaudh, who has always been conspicuous for his
staunch loyalty to Government and is one of the finest rep-
resentatives of the old Sikh aristocracy, being closely con-
nected with His Highness the Maharaja of Patiala, who is
rendering such splendid services to the Empire in the present
war. In conferring the title of Sardar Bahadur on Sardar
Rajindra Singh of Pakhoke, Government is recognising the
distinguished services of another branch of the same historic
and loyal Sikh family. The grant of the title of Sardar
Bahadur to Sardar Kagbir Singh of Ludhiana a year ago was
equally appropriate. He is one of the most zealous members
of your Rocruilmg Commit too and lm.s srl ;i fine example by
withdrawing his son from the Chiefs' College to enlist him
47
Ludhiana Darbar 3rd August 1917.
as a sowar in the Cavalry, where I am glad to hear that
in a short time he has won rapid promotion to the post of
Jamadar, and brought further honour to a distinguished
family. Chaudhri Nand Lai, who has done valuable work
for the Supply and Transport, has been selected for the title
of Bai Sahib by the Military authorities. No less than seven
gentlemen from thh district have been selected for the grant
of swords of honour — a particularly appropriate recognition
of war services, and one which will be treasured in their
families for centuries to come. I regret that it has not been
possible to give the swords to-day, but I may say that they
will bear inscriptions recording the services for which they
have been bestowed. Of the recipients I would refer parti-
cularly to the services of the Hon'ble Sardar Bahadur Gajjan
Singh, whose enthusiasm and powers of organisation have
done so much to raise the izzat of his native district, and
Sardar Bahadur Arjan Singh, who has actively used his great
influence, spiritual and temporal, in the Malwa on the side
of the administration and has boen particularly vigorous
in encouraging recruiting among his thousands of followers.
The recognition which he has to-day received will, I am
sure, stimulate him to further efforts. The district may be
rightly proud of the special recognition it has earned. I
doubt if any district in the Province can show more, and I
would remind you that you owe this in great measure to
your Deputy Commissioner, Sheikh Asghar Ali, who has so
wisely and tactfully directed and controlled the various
organisations which have produced these splendid results.
And here I must make a passing reference to your generous
contributions to the Punjab Aeroplane Fund, to St. John
Ambulance and other War Relief Funds, and your splendid
subscriptions to the War Loan. Your Deputy Commissioner
informs me that these already aggregate over 18 lakhs and he
is confident that they will finally exceed 25 lakhs of rupees.
That for a district with a population of only 5 lakhs and
with no big city or large industries is indeed remarkable.
I am never tired of saying that co-operation of Government
and its officers with the pooplo and their Iradora is the basis
of our policy in the Punjab. The history of Ludhiana within
the last three years is one striking example of what that co-
operation can accomplish, and the response which the district
will make within the next 9 or 10 months to the call for men
will, I am confident, furnish yet another illustration of
similar successful effort.
48
10 — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Ferozepore on the
4th August 1917.
DARBARIS OF FEROZEPORE AND GENTLEMEN OF THE
FEROZEPORE, JULLUNDUR AND HOSHIARPUR DISTRICTS, — I
welcome you here this afternoon. As the Commissioner has
explained, my object in inviting you to meet me was — (1) to
announce and distribute the honours and rewards sanctioned
by Government in these three districts for distinguished ser-
vices in the war ; (2) to stimulate all, and especially those who
have hitherto held back, to a sense of their duty. I have
within the last week held similar meetings at Karnal,
Ambala and Ludhiana, attended by representatives of
various districts. I have been able to give special congra-
tulations to Rohtak and Ludhiana for their splendid response
to the call for recruits and to commend Gurgaon and Hissar
for the increasing success of their efforts. I have also been
able to show how ready Government is to recognise good
services in this crisis by the grant of honours, khillats and
inams. In the case of Ambala and Karnal I had to point
out that the people have hitherto failed in their duty and
have consequently failed so far to earn the recognition of
Government. I should like to be able to place Ferozepore
in the same class with Rohtak and Ludhiana, but to my great
regret I have to place it in the same class as Ambala and
Karnal, that is, among the districts which have not awakened
to their duty. The figures which the Commissioner has
quoted tell their own tale.
Ferozepore, as he has told us, is the richest and most
populous district in the Jullundur Division. It has the
biggest Sikh population of any district in the Province
and yet it stands lowest in the Jullundur Division in the
number of men supplied to the Army. On 1st January 1917
the figures were—
Ludhiana— 8,037, or 1 man out of 11 of military age.
Hoshiarpur— 8,027, or 1 man out of 19 of military
Kangra— 6,851, or 1 man out of 18 of military ago.
49
Ferozepore Darbar
Jullundur-5,045, or 1 man out of 27 of military
age.
Ferozepore— 3,458, or 1 man out of 47 of military
age.
Even if we add the figures of recruiting from 1st Janu-
ary to 1st July, results are not much better-
Hoshiarpur has given 1,461 combatants and non-
combatants.
Ludhiana has given 673 combatants and non-
combatants.
Jullundur has given 749 combatants and non-
combatants.
Ferozepore has given only 617 combatants and non-
combatants.
I must confess that while Hoshiarpur is making a
splendid effort, which for the time being has placed it first
in the Division, the figures are disappointing as regards Jul-
lundur and particularly so for Ferozepore. They are certain-
ly not what I or any one who knew the people of Ferozepore
had expected. When I spoke to you at the beginning of
the war in the Darbar of January 1915 I ventured to say
that there were few districts in India which had sent so
large a proportion of their manhood to the front. At that
time I was thinking of the 14th, 15th and 36th' Sikhs and
other distinguished regiments who have since done so well
on the fields of France and elsewhere. I am afraid that the
position is very different now, and that Ferozepore instead
of being among the first is among the last of the districts of
the Province in its rally to the cause of the King-Emperor.
In other respects it is true that the district has not
been slow to do its duty. It has subscribed generously
to the various War Funds, the Belief Fund, the Aeroplane
Fund and to the War Loan. It has organised a most flourish-
ing branch of the Ked Cross, which, with Rai Sahib Earn
Rakha Mai as its efficient Secretary, has done particularly
valuable work in training compounders and dressers. In
the matter of maintaining internal order many of the lead-
ing men have rendered valuable assistance to the adminis-
tration, and I was glad to be in a position to recognis this by
the grant of khillats and sanads to the gentlemen of the Sikh
Committee. For all these the district deserves credit. But
in the present crisis it is not money the King-Emperor wants
from you but men, and it would be a lasting disgrace to the
50
4th August 1917.
district If, as the Commissioner has stated, you were to buy
recruits from outside instead of providing them from the
165,000 men of military ago which the district possesses, of
whom there were on the 1st January last less than 4,000 in
the army. Men are wanted to replace the wastage in old
and gallant regiments such as the 14th Ferozepore Sikhs,
which was almost annihilated in Gallipoli two years ago,
but has established for itself an undying memorial of Sikh
steadfastness and Sikh heroism. Men are also wanted to
raise the strength of existing regiments, and they are wanted
to form new units now being raised, e.g., the 2nd Battalion
of 54th Sikhs ; in a word they are wanted to take part in the
final overthrow of the Germans and the Turks and thereby
to save India from the danger of attack.
You have seen how races hitherto unaccustomed to
arms have responded to the call. You have read how a
battalion, 1,000 strong, has been raised from the Hhadra logot
Bengal, a province where the military tradition had entirely
died out, and after eight months' training in which they are
said to have pioved themselves keen and capable soldiers
have now been sent to face the Germans and Turks in Meso-
potamia, where we are sure they will profit by the material
example and martial experience of our gallant Punjab Eegi-
ments fighting by their side. Heie in Ferozepore you
have recently seen the Signalling Section raised from the
University students which I am told won high opinions from
the military authorities, and has now been sent to Poona
for final training before going to the Front, Those were
young men, who did not comt from military families. You
have also here the new battalion of Punjabi Christians that
is bei.ag rapidly raised and which hopes to take part in the
final struggle. With these examples before you it is to me
unintelligible why the Sikhs, Hindus and Muhammadani
of Ferozepore should now hold back.
The district of Ferozepore is full of martial memories
and martial associations. The Sikhs of Ferozepore have
always been particularly famous in arms ; the battlefields
of Mudki, Ferozeshahr and Sabraon are there to remind
you of the gallant struggle which the Khalsa fought against
the British 70 years ago. In the Mutiny 10 years later
there are the traditions of the splendid service of the Sikhs
on the British side ; since the Mutiny there have been cam-
paigns in all quarters in which the Sikhs have taken their
51
Ferozepore Darbar
part ; and there are the traditions come down through the
Second Afghan War of 1879-81, through Egypt, and
the Sudan to the Tirah campaign of 1897 ; and we have the
Saragarhi memorial to remind us of the splendid heroism
of 36th Sikhs on the Samana. That glorious episode has now
been surpassed by the immortal record of the 14th Feroze-
pore Sikhs at Gallipoli in June 1915.
With all those glorious associations and traditions,
can the Sikhs of Ferozepore continue to hold aloof from the
army ? Ludhiana has 7,090 Sikhs serving in the army
to-day. If the Ferozepore Sikhs were to come forward in
the same proportion as Ludhiana has done, Ferozepore
should already have 9,000 Sikhs fighting for the King. It
has only 8,000. However, relatively the Sikhs have done
their part better than other classes. To turn to the Mu-
hammadans, the facts are still more deplorable. There are
nearly 70,000 Muhammadans of fighting age in the district
and on 1st January there were only 418 in the army, while
Ludhiana , with less than 30,000 of fighting age, has furnished
1,212. Compare the figures with those of the Muhammadan
districts of Jhelum and Rawalpindi, which, with a Muham-
madan population little greater than that of Ferozepore,
had each 14,000 combatants in military service on 1st Janu-
ary against your 418. Hindu recruitment is worst of all.
Of the many thousands of Eajputs, Jats, Brahmins and
Gujars eligible there were only 13 serving in the army on
the 1st January last. In the case of all classes Sikhs, Mu-
hammadans and Hindus, I prefer here as elsewhere to think
that the deficiency in the past has been due less to any lack
of patriotism or martial spirit than to lack of method and
organisation. Since the recruiting arrangements have been
placed on a local basis a few months ago there has certainly
been some improvement, and you will find the District
Officers and Major Lyall, the Recruiting Officer, most
anxious to remove any obstacles that impede recruiting.
As you have been told by previous speakers, to make
the recruiting campaign a success what is wanted is a united
effort on the part of all, officials and non-officials, the leaders
of the various communities, spiritual and temporal, the big
Sardars who owe their estates to Government and have cor-
responding duties, the zaildars and lambardars, zamindars
and sahukars who owe their security to the British fleet and
the British Army of which the Indian Army ig an integral
4th August 1917.
part. A combined effort, on the part of all these will raise
the thousands of men that may reasonably be expected
from Ferozepore and will wipe out the slur which now
attaches to the district. This morning at Moga I enquired
why there was such enthusiasm for recruiting in Ludhiana
and such slackness in Ferozepore. I was told that the reason
is that the Ferozepore people have so much land and so
much canal irrigation that the army does not attract
them. If this is the correct explanation it is a reproach
to Ferozepore, it means that the people who owe most
to Government do least in return for Government.
But if there is any . truth in the statement, the people
of Ferozepore have still an opportunity of disproving it by
now coming forward and showing that they still possess the
spirit of their fathers. A cheering indication that the district
is waking up from its sleep, is the fine contingent of over 200
recruits, drawn up outside the hall and collected within the
last few days. I should, however, like to see non-Sikh Jats
and Muhammadans among them.
If any one asks what are the men wanted for. let this
be your reply, they are wanted not only to defend the British
Empire but to defend your own hearths and homes. Those
would be menaced by a German success in Europe or Asia,
and it is to protect India that we with our army, mainly
composed of troops from India, have driven the Turks and
Germans out of Basra and Baghdad, and hold Mesopotamia
from Samara for 600 miles down to the sea. Our position
there is strong, but it will not be quite secure till we have
dealt the final blow to the enemy, who though shaken is not
shattered.
11— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Go vernor at a Darbar held at Kasur on the
6th August 1917.
DARBARIS AND GENTLEMEN OF LAHORE AND AMRITSAR
DISTRICTS, — I am glad to see so many representative men of
the Manjha assembled here to-day in response to my invi-
tation. I have come here, as the Commissioner has told
you publicly, to announce and distribute the honours and
khillats sanctioned to residents of these two districts by
Government for distinguished services in the war, and at
the same time to encourage the willing to further efforts
and arouse those who are unwilling or apathetic to a
sense of their duty. I have purposely selected Kasur
rather than Lahore for this gathering, because Kasur
is the heart of the Manjha, and it is to the manhood
of the Manjha, whether in Lahore or Amritsar, whether
Sikhs, Muhammadans or Hindus, that I wish to appeal.
My first and last visit to the Lahore-Manjha took place over
30 years ago when much of what is now a rich and prosper-
ous country wes a barren wilderness. There is, perhaps,
no part of the Punjab, outside the Canal Colonies, which
has made greater progress in population and prosperity than
this part of the Manjha owing to the extension of canals
and'railways, and yet I regret to say that there is no district
in the Central Punjab that has hitherto made such a poor
response to the call for men to fight for their King and country.
Lahore is the most populous district of this Division : it is
in fact the most populous district of the Province : it is
foremost in wealth and education but, as pointed out by
the Commissioner, it shows the worst results of any district
in the Division excepting Gujranwala, where the Sikh popu-
lation is relatively small, and many tribes, particularly
the Muhammadan tribes, have hitherto held aloof from mili-
tary service. The natural comparison is between Lahore
and Amritsar. They are both in the Manjha and both are
great Sikh districts : they have the same tribes, the same
conditions of agriculture ; and though Amritsar has a larger
Sikh population (254,000 against 169,000 in Lahore) Lahore
has a larger total population by some 200,000 souls. Lahore
54
6th August 1911
shoujd, therefore, have supplied at least as many men to the
army as Amritsar. Yet what are the figures ? On the 1st
January 1917 Amritsar had 8,174 combatants in the army,
Lahore had only 2,657 or less than one-third of what Amritsar
had. Amritsar had given one man out of every 18 of fight-
ing age, Lahore only one out of 65. Amritsar was the 5th
among the districts of the Punjab in men supplied to the
Army, Lahore, though it has the highest population of
any district in the Province, only 18th.
On the 1st January, if Lahore had done its duty in
the way Amritsar has, it should have had 10,000 fight-
ing men in the Army ; actually it had less than 3,000.
And now let us see what Lahore has done since.
From the 1st January up to the 1st July it supplied
367 combatants and 250 non-combatants or 617 in all.
Amritsar in the same period supplied 921 combatants and
704 non-combatants, or a total of 1,625, and in the single
month of July Amritsar surpassed all records of any district
in the Punjab by furnishing the splendid total of 1,186 men.
Well, Gentlemen, you will see from this comparison
that unless Lahore makes a determined effort, and that
without delay, it will go down to history as a district which
failed to do its duty in the great war. In that case perhaps
some future Lieutenant- Governor will revive the scheme of
Maharaja Eanjit Singh to remove the capital of the Punjab
from Lahore to Amrjtsar because the people of Amritsar
have shown such splendid loyalty and spirit of service for
their King and country. In my present tour I have often
been assured that it is the desire and the duty of the people
to serve their King in the great crisis with tan, man and dhan.
Will Lahore allow neighbouring districts to say that while
the Sirkar has helped to provide Lahore with dhan, Lahore
refuses to give in return tan and man ? Will the people of
Lahore lay themselves open to the reproach that the spirit
of devotion and courage for which the whole Manjha was
once famous is now confined to Amritsar and stops short
at the Amritsar boundary ? The Sikhs of Lahore have no
doubt done better than the Muhammadans and Hindus,
but their total contribution is only 2,000 men — less than
that of a single tahsil in Ludhiana or Amritsar. Will the great
Sikh tribes of the Lahore District, Sidhus, .Sandhus, Gills,
Dhillons, whose name has stood so high in the past and
55
Darbar
whose ancestor* have founded by their swords half a dozen
principalities in the South Punjab— Patiala, Jmd, Nabha,
Kalsia and others— will they let it be said that prosperity
has deadened their military spirit and sapped their courage,
and that these qualities are now only to be found in the
Mazhbi and Labana Sikhs ? The Muhammadans of Lahore
number over 600,000 and the men of military age are over
100,000. The Muhammadans of Jhelurn and Pindi are
only 90,000 of military age and each has supplied about
14,000 fighting men, Lahore less than 500. Will the great
Muhammadan tribes of Lahore— Pathans, Moghuls, Jats,
Rajputs, Gujars, Arains— who up to 1st January had sent
less than 500 men to the army, allow it to be said hereafter
that they took no part in defending their country ? The
Hindu population of military age is over 35,000. On 1st
January there were only seven fighting men in the army,
Will the Hindus of town and country, the agriculturist
classes and the Brahmins, Khatris and Aroras, disregard
the injunction of their Shastras that to serve King and coun-
try is the first duty of a pious Hindu ?
We are, as I have said elsewhere, in the last stage of
the war. England and her Colonies have put forth their
greatest efforts in men and money. They have nearly seven
million men under arms in the Army and Navy. India's
contribution of 294,000 men on the 1st January is small
by comparison ; but it is being steadily increased, mainly
with a view to complete the defeat of the Germans and
Turks in Mesopotamia and thus to secure India completely
against hostile attack from the West. It is hardly necessary to
remind you men of the Punjab that every invasion of India
has comt from the West, and that the Germans hoped, and
perhaps still hope, to threaten India from Baghdad, which
our troops have taken, but which we must expect to fight
for. The men now called for are, therefore, primarily re-
quired to safeguard your own homes in the Punjab. Govern-
ment looks to the Punjab in the future as in the past to
supply at least half of the total number of the Indian Army.
We take pride in that responsibility, and most of the districts
of the Province are coming forward eagerly to meet the call.
Even in Ferozepore, which had hitherto been apathetic
(though better than Lahore) no less than 300 fine recruits
had been collected in a few days to prove to me at Saturday's
Darbar that the district had awakened to a sense of its duty.
56
6th August 1917.
I regret to see no such assemblage of recruits here to-day in
Lahore, but I am sanguine now that the King Empeior's
call and your own duty have been made clear to you that the
sturdy people of Lahore — Sikhs, Muhammadans, Hindus —
will no longer hold back.
The recruiting system has now been arranged so as to
make things as easy as possible : the recruits now enlisted
receive a bonus of Bs. 50 on enrolment, and those who do
not wish to serve on can claim their discharge within six
months after the end of the war and return to their lands
and their families with the feeling that they have helped to
bring the war to a victorious conclusion. Those who may
meet with a soldier's death know that Government makes
generous provision by Relief Funds and pensions for the
widow, the orphan and other dependents. The sacrifice
they may be called on to make is one which every religion
recognises as the most noble that a man can offer for his
King and country, and how much it is appreciated by our
illustrious King and Queen is shown by the letter which
Her Majesty herself addresses in Urdu, Hindi or Gurmukhi
to the widow or mother or sister of every Indian soldier
who dies in the good cause. A copy of Her Majesty's
letter will be read out to you before the Darbar closes.
But after all the proportion of soldiers who are killed
even in the biggest war is comparatively small. You have
seen the hundreds and thousands of your brethren that have
returned safe and sound from the battlefields of France,
Africa and Mesopotamia ; you see before you to-day scores
of retired Indian officers, whose medals and military honours
show that they have survived many a hard -fought campaign
and are still eating the salt of the Sirkar for the Sirkar does
not forget those who serve it. Those men can hold their
heads high. They have done their duty or are still doing it.
The tens of thousands of men of military age in the Manjha
of Lahore who are still loitering at home when the King-
Emperor wants men have still to do their duty, and I look
to you all here for your good name and theirs to encourage
and stimulate them to do it. You have much ground to
make up, the time is short and if you wish to redeem the good
name of your clan, your community and your district, you
must be up and doing. When you respond adequately to
the appeal that has been made to you to-day, it will be a
pleasure to me to come here again and to offerl you the
congratulations and recognition which you'wilj have earned.
57
12— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant--
Go vernor at a Darbar held at Gujranwala on the
8th August 1917,
DARBARIS OF THE GUJRANWALA DISTRICT AND GENTLE-
MEN OF THE GUJRANWALA, SIALKOT AND GURDASPUR DIS-
TRICTS,— I am glad to see such a large number assembled
here to-day. It is, I hope, an indication of your interest in
the objects for which I have asked you to come together.
These objects, I may explain, are—
(1) To announce and distribute the titles, honours
and rewards sanctioned by the Government
of India in favour of the individuals in these
three districts who have already rendered dis-
tinguished services in the war.
(2) To arouse and stimulate those who have hitherto
held back from rendering such services either
because they have not recognised the urgency
of the call or have not been told in what way
they can help.
I congratulate the gentlemen whose services have been
publicly honoured to-day by the Government of the King-
Emperor. The recognition shown to them is a proof, if
proof were needed, that Government is not slow to reward
good services, and there is no service which the Government
values so highly as service in connection with the war. You
will have noticed that most of the honours have gone to the
Gurdaspur District which next to Amritsar has the best
record of war service in this Division, and that, excepting
the two titles of Rai Sahib to Lala Udai Bhan, Civil Surgeon,
and Lala Sant Bam, contractor, — both well deserved —
"Gujranwala has received but little recognition.
When I quote to you the figures showing what each
district has done in providing men for the army, which is
the form of service that Government needs more than any
other, you will understand the reasons for this discrimination.
As several speakers have told us Gujranwala has a popula-
tion larger than Gurdaspur and nearly as large as Sialkot.
58
8th August 1917.
On the 1st January Gurdaspur had 4,384 combatants
in the Indian Army or 1 man from every 33 of fighting age ;
Sialkot had given 4,343 or 1 in 39 ; Gujranwala had only
2,473 or 1 in 66 (that proportion is even worse than that of
Lahore which was 1 in 65) ; Amritsar on 1st January lest
had 8,174 combatants or 1 in 18 ; and Ludhiana 8,037 or
1 man of every 11 of military age (which is between 18
and 35 years). So that of all the districts in the Central
Punjab Gujranwala shows the worst results. I am afraid
that no class whether Sikh, Muhammadan or Hindu, can
claim to have done ita duty.
Here as elsewhere the Sikhs are better than the rest,
but they compare badly with the Sikhs of adjoining districts.
The Sikh population of Gujrat is only 45,000, that of Guj-
ranwala 108,000, but there were 1,624 Gujrat Sikhs in the
army as compared with 1,938 from Gujranwala. If the
Gujranwala Sikhs had come forward in the same proportion
as the Sikhs of Gujrat they should have had nearly 5,000
men in the army.
The case of Muhammadans is even worse. Gujranwala
has about the same Muhammadan population as Gujrat,
yet on the 1st January Gujrat had 6,900 Muhammadans
in the army, Gujranwala only 417. Gujranwala has 176,000
Hindus, Gujrat only 49,000. Yet Gujrat has 972 Hindus
in the army, Gujranwala only 15, viz., 5 Brahmans, 4 Raj-
puts, 1 Dogra and 5 others.
These are the figures up to 1st January. Since then
up to the end of July the numbers of combatants and non-
combatants recruited in the Lahore Division have been —
Amritsar . . . . 2,825
Lahore .. .. 2,700
Gurdaspur .. .. 2,076
Sialkot .. .. .. 1,075
Gujranwala . . . . 915
Amritsar and Lahore have supplied three times and Gurdas-
pur twice as many as Gujranwala which is worse even than
Sialkot. I also notice that special arrangements were made
to recruit a (Double) Company of Muhammadans from the
Phalia and Wazirabad Tahsils. Phalia has already filled
up a Company of its own and is now willing to fill another.
Wazirabad, I fear, is still a failure. The question we should
now ask ourselves is, why has Gujranwala been so backward
as compared with its neighbours ? The Sikhs, Muhamma-
69
Gujranwala Darbar
dans and Hindus of Gujranwala have high martial traditions
and associations. This town of Gujranwala is famous as
being the home of Mahan Singh, and the birthplace of the
great Maharaja Ranjit Singh and also of the great Sikh
General Hari Singh Nalwa whose name is famous from Delhi
to Kabul. Some of Ranjit Singh's most famous generals,
such as Misr Diwan Chand of Gondlanwala and the Sardars
of Butala, Ruriala, Eminabad and Mananwala, belonged
to the district and their descendants still live here. In the
Second Sikh Campaign of Chillianwala and Gujrat many of
those families fought on our side and nearly all of them rallied
to the British cause in the Mutiny and won honours and
rewards. Some of them still follow arms as a profession,
and there are no finer soldiers. Among them I might men-
tion Sardar Bahadur Sant Singh Chimni now Resaldar-Major,
22nd Cavalry, for whom I got a commission 23 .years ago,
and who has done, his Colonel informs me, splendid work in
raising recruits for his regiment. But these cases are com-
paratively few, and the Sikh Sardars and Sikh clans as a
whole have not hitherto played the part expected of them.
As the Commissioner has told you, most of the Sikhs re-
cruited are Labanas or Mazhbis from the Colonies, and the
great Virak tribe which should do so much to provide
fighting men has done but little. To the Gujranwala Sikhs
I would quote the stirring words of His Highness the
Maharaja of Patiala in addressing his Sikhs on August 4th—
" We may take a legitimate pride in having amongst
us men true as steel who have given the Punjab the proud
title of the ' Sword hand of India.' These men you have
willingly offered in thousands and tens of thousands, and these
I hope you will continue to bring forward with a willing
heart. For it behoves all of you as true disciples of the
Guru to come forward and assist the British Government at
its hour of trial to-day with all the might that in you lies."
Similarly, there are many martial Muhammadan tribes
The Chathas, Barars, Bhattis, Lodhikes fought a good fight
for many years against the great Maharaja ; they rendered
valuable assistance to the British Army at Chillianwala and
Gujrat, and won further distinctions in the Mutiny. Some
of their leaders like Khan Bahadur Chaudhri Karm Ilahi
Chatha, Chaudhri Ghulam Kadir, Zaildar of Kot Bhagu'
and Khan Dauran Khan, Bhatti, of Sangla, have now set
a good example by offering their sons and relatives, but as
a body they have done little. What is 500 or 600 fighting
60
8th August 1917.
men from among the 6J lakhs of Gujranwala Muhammadans.
If, therefore, it is urged as a reason for holding back that
the Gujranwala tribes are not accustomed to the idea of
Military Service, I would reply —
(1) that these tiibes, whether Sikhs, Hindus or Mu-
hammadans, have shown their fighting qualities
in the past and should do so again ; and
(2) that even if the reason were a correct one, in the
present crisis thousands of men who had no con-
nection with the army have come forward to
serve their King and country.
Look at the battalion of 1,000 Bengalis which has now gone
to the front, look at the new battalion of Punjabi Christians
already 900 strong which I saw a few days ago at Ferozepore
and has been raised from the Christians of Gurdaspur, Sial-
kot, Gujranwala and Lyallpur through the special efforts
of the Rev. Mr. Clarke of the Church Missionary Society.
What previous connection with the army had those Ben-
galis and these Punjabi Christians ? Are you, the hereditary
owners of the soil who owe so much to Government, to allow
your battles to be fought for you by men who were formerly
your kamins ? I have spent many years in this district ;
I know the leading men and count many of them as my
personal friends. I know how much they owe to the great
canals which Government has constructed. Many of them
have also received and some perhaps still expect to receive
land, honours, rewards and appointments from Government.
But those grants of land, honours, etc., are meant to be the
reward of khidmat, and I ask where is the khidmat ? A few,
no doubt, have done well, but as a body the leading men of
this district are still apathetic. If you fail to seize this
opportunity you are not likely to have another. When you
press your claims on Government or its officers hereafter
you will be asked, what did you do for your Government
and your country in the time of need ? And what answers
can you then give '?
Moreover, your neighbours in Gujrat, Amritsar and
Gurdaspur will point the finger of scorn at Gujranwala, and
say-, " that is the district which stood aloof in the great war
when we gave our manhood in tens of thousands to fight for
the Sarkar." It will be said that you were either too cowardly
or too well off to do your duty. If those things are said,
and they certainly will be said, what izzat will you have
61
Gujranwala Darbar
with Government or your neighbours ? You have still a
chance— a last chance — of making good the lost ground,
of coming into line with your neighbours and of redeeming
the good name of your clan, your race and your district.
In matters other than recruiting you have shown yourself
good and loyal citizens, you have helped to maintain
peace and order in these last critical years. Yooi
have made a useful subscription to the War Loan and
have contributed generously to the various War Funds,
Relief Fund, Aeroplane Fund, Red Cross, and the
district has lately presented through the Comforts Fund a
Motor Ambulance for Mesopotamia — a most valuable gift—
for which Lady O'Dwyer asks me particularly to thank
you. Your Civil Surgeon, with the generous assistance
received from the district board, from Diwan Mangal Sen
and from Sardar Bahadur Kirpal Singh, has been able to
train and despatch for service with the troops a valuable
body of compounders and dressers and more are still under
training. You have succeeded in all these matters because
you took the trouble to organise. If you organise in the
same way to promote recruiting you can be equally success-
ful. The men are there in tens of thousands, and it only
needs example, explanation and exhortation by the leading
men to make the young manhood to rally to the call of
the King-Emperor.
Let the leading men of the various communities, Sikhs,
Muhammadans, Hindus, of the great agricultural tribes,
Viraks, Varaiches, Chimas, Chathas, Bhattis, Barars,
Kharals, the Honorary Magistrates, Zaildars, Chaudhris,
Lambardars each in his sphere of influence exert himself ;
let them form committees, let them point out in village
gatherings that the King-Emperor wants men to protect
India against the German and the Turk, to complete the vic-
tories already achieved with the help of the gallant Indian
regiments in France, Egypt, Africa and, above all, Mesopo*
tamia, and to bring the war to a speedy conclusion.
Let them make it clear to the ignorant that the outet
line of defence of India is in Mesopotamia : it is there that
new regiments and reinforcements are mainly wanted to
hold the line 600 miles long from the Persian Gulf to the
north of Baghdad from which we have expelled the Germans
and the Turks who were threatening India. Let them point
out how splendidly other districts are responding to the call
62
8th August 1917-
for men. Amritsar in July cdone supplied 1,200 and Gur-
daspur 800. If Gujranwala were only to do altogether
what Gujrat has already done it would have furnished
over 12,000 men instead of 8,000. That, after all, would
only be 1 man out of every 14 of fighting age, and I hope
within the next 8 or 9 months that Gujranwala will have
supplied at least that number, and that Gurdaspur and
Sialkot will have exceeded it.
Now, Gentlemen, only one word more as to the future.
As Lieutenant- Governor I am proud, intensely proud, of
what the Punjab as a whole has already done to meet the
needs of the Empire. I am confident that I shall have reason
to be still more proud of tho Province for the further response
it will make within the next 8 or 9 months ; but it would be
to me, in leaving the Punjab, a cause of pain and regret if
my old district were to be one of the few in which the res-
ponse had been unwilling or inadequate.
63
13 — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Rawalpindi on
the 30th October 1917.
GENERAL SIR A. BARRETT, COLONEL POPHAM
YOUNG, DARBARIS AND GENTLEMEN OF THE RAWAL-
PINDI, ATTOCK AND MIANWALI DISTRICTS, — It gives
me much pleasure to welcome you here to-day in* this
spacious hall which the authorities of the Khalsa High
School, anxious to identify themselves with the objects
of tliis Darbar, have so courteously placed at our disposal.
We are glad to see in our midst so distinguished a soldier as
General Sir A. Barrett who now commands the Northern
Army and so many military officers, Biitish and Indian,
on the active and the retired lists, whose presence here is a
proof of the common bond uniting us all in a matter of vital
concern to the Indian Army and to the Indian Empire,
namely, the mobilization of our man-power for the defence
of the Empire. Over 6 months have elapsed since the mili-
tary authorities decided that the civil administration should
in this crisis be directly associated with the work of recruit-
ment. We cheerfully accepted the responsibility, and we
recognize that such measure of success as has been achieved
is largely due to the cordial co-operation and good-will of
the military authorities who have ever been ready to place
at our disposal their advice and experience. The Commis-
sioner has reminded us that at the first public Darbar I
held in Eawalpindi in August 1913, 1 had occasion to comment
on the increase of violent crime and lawlessness which at
that time formed a blot on the good name of the loyal and
sturdy population of this Division. 1 then made an earnest
appeal to all classes to co-operate with the administration
in restoring law and order. Over 4 years have passed since
then, during three of which we have been enduring the strain
of the greatest war in history. To-day I am in the happy
position of being able to congratulate the officers and people
of this Division on the restoration of internal order and
security, on the steady loyalty that all classes have shown
in a period of unprecederted stress and trial, and above
all on the splendid response the fighting classes have made to
64
30th October 1917.
the call for men to safeguard India and the British Empire
against external aggression. In a speech last month in the
Imperial Council I described the signal services of the Punjab
in this war with an emphasis which some people considered
excessive as it involved a comparison with other provinces
and their action during the war. But while I had and have
no intention to disparage the efforts of other provinces or
to criticise individuals who may be working loyally for the
common cause, I still adhere to my argument that the loyal
services of the Punjab in providing men, money and materials
for the Empire stand out pre-eminent and establish a special
claim on the consideration of Government. Even within
the last three months the Punjab has raised 39,000 fighting
men, which is considerably above what the rest of India
has raised within the same period. I also re-affirm my con-
tention that the services of the martial classes, on whom the
burden of sacrifice has fallen, are receiving, and should con-
tinue to receive, prior recognition from Government, and
that as the so-called political concessions will be of less
benefit to them than to other classes, we have to look round
for forms of recognition and reward which they regard
as suitable and desirable. I have already indicated some of
them in my Simla speech of which extracts will be distribut-
ed to you, and I need not dwell further on the matter now.
To-day I am concerned with the Rawalpindi Division, and
you may take pride in the fact that as the Puujab stands
out first of the provinces of India, similarly Rawalpindi
stands first among the Divisions of the province in the matter
of war services. I shall have occasion the day after- to-
morrow to refer in more detail to the part which the Jhelum,
Gujrat and Shahpur Districts have played in the great rally
we have made and are making. - To-day, though I am speci-
ally addressing the representatives of Rawalpindi, Attock
and Mianwali Districts, it is convenient in some respects to
deal with the Rawalpindi Division as a whole. My object
in holding this Darbar has been threefold. I desire to pre-
sent in this great military centre, the citadel of Northern
India and the head- quarters of the Northern Army, the
honours and rewards already earned by distinguished war
services and to announce, with the special permission of
His Excellency the Viceroy, the further titles which the
Government of India have decided to confer. I desire to
congratulate once more the people of this Division and their
leaders on the success of their efforts to furnish the Indian
65
Rawalpindi Darbar
Army with the man-power that it requires : and I also wish
to stimulate the willing to fresh endeavour and to arouse
the apathetic to a sense of their duty to their King and
country. In March 1915 I was able to state that out of
45,000 men recruited for the Indian Army since the outbreak
of war this Division's share was 11,000. To-day your Com-
missioner has calculated the total existing contribution of
his Division at the splendid figure of 75,000. Gentlemen,
from the latest figures supplied to me by the military autho-
rities I find that this estimate, which takes no account of
wastage by casualties, retirement and disease or of the
numbers of men enlisted in local militias and military police
who constitute part of the armed forces of India, is below
the mark. Counting in the men who were already serving
when war broke out, this Division has supplied at least
100,000 men to the regular army of whom about five-sixths
are combatants. That is to say, out of the entire male
population which is under 2 millions one man in every 18, or
if we limit our calculations to the men of fighting age, one
man in every 6 is serving in defence of the Empire. And
not only have the men done their part, but the women have
inspired and encouraged the men to play a man's part, and
yesterday at Campbellpur it was my privilege to distribute
sanads and khillats to a Muhammadan widow who had
given all three sons to the army and lost two of them, and
to a Hindu widow who had sent her four sons to fight.
In this Division the overwhelming majority of the po-
pulation are followers of the faith of Islam. To-day you
have seen honours bestowed on representatives of the Sikh
and Hindu communities who, true to their traditions and
in emulation of their Muhammadan brethren, have exerted
their influence in aid of the cause for which we are battling.
But over 90 per cent, of the recruits enlisted in the army
from the six districts of the Division are drawn from the
hardy tribes who are classed under the generic name of
Punjabi Muhammadans : and to them the main credit for the
remarkable achievements of this Division must be ascribed.
Five and twenty years ago the splendid martial qualities
of the Punjabi Muhammadans were scarcely recognized
save by the officers who possessed a local knowledge of their
traditions, of their steady valour and inflexible loyalty.
When I was in Shahpur in 1889 military service was almost
unknown among the great Awan tribe of the Salt Range,
and I remember helping to collect some of the first recruits
66
30th October 1917.
for the then newly raised Hong Kong Regiment, It was
only when the re-organization of the army took place some
20 years ago in accordance with the advice of that great
soldier Lord Roberts, that the merits of the Punjabi Muham-
madans as soldiers came to be appreciated at their proper
worth. To-day the finest regiments of the Indian Army
pride themselves in having so many squadrons or so many
Companies of Punjabi Muhammadans on their strength.
Of the fighting qualities of the men you have sent to
the front it is perhaps not for me to speak. But in the many
letters I have received and seen from officers in the various
theatres of war, there is nothing but praise for the gallantry
and endurance of the Punjabi Muhammadan whether as a
fighting man or as a follower. Wherever he has been called
on to serve, in Europe, in Asia or in Africa, whether in Flan-
ders, Gallipoli, Egypt, the Cameroons, East Africa, Meso-
potomia, China or on our own frontier — whatever the theatre
of war, whatever the conditions of service— the Punjabi Mu-
hammadan has ever won the admiration and affection of his
officers. He has sought no advertisement : he has claimed
no rewards for his patriotism : it has sufficed for him to do
his duty as a very gallant man. You have supplied to an
extent unprecedented in India the flower of your manhood
to fight for a just and noble cause. The war record of the
martial tribes of these districts — Ghakkars, Janjuas,
Tiwanas, A wans, Jodhras, Ghebas, Bhangikhel and Sagrl
Pathans, Alpials, Mairs, Manhas and Khattars — is adding
a glorious page to the annals of the Indian Army, and will
further enhance the name and the honour of those clans
who are daily proving that their saying " Izzat is dearer-
than life " is no empty phrase. I could cite numerous in
stances which have been furnished to me by the military
authorities, but time will allow me to mention but two or
three. In one of these episodes figures a gallant soldier
whom we are all glad to see amidst us to-day. In Meso-
potamia it was necessary on one occasion to fetch a boat
from across the Karun river under heavy fire from the enemy.
Volunteers were called for : and the Hon'ble Captain Ajab
Khan, I.O.M., a Chhachhi Pathan of the Attock District,
at once undertook the perilous task with 19 Punjabis of his
regiment. They stripped and swam the river. The swift
current bore this brave party downstream, forcing them
to land under the walls of a fort which was subsequently
found to be strongly held by the^enemy. The intrepid
67
Rawalpindi Darbar
Punjabis attempted to launch one boat but it was damaged
and sank : but an attempt with a second boat was more
successful, and under fire this was brought safely across
the river. Take another instance : Subedar Hukam Dad
and 8 Punjabi Muhammadans of a frontier regiment
were recently brought to notice for special _ gallantry
in the defence of a picquet at Barwand on the night of the
19- 20th June of this year. From 200 to 300 Mahsuds made
three determined efforts to rush the picquet and were only
stopped within five yards of the position. This picquet
successfully maintained its ground until dawn, although
it lost one-third of its strength. Such examples of signal
bravery might be multiplied indefinitely. And now I trust
that you will bear with me, Gentlemen, white I turn to the
records of individual districts. I take first the Rawalpindi
District. In population it stands 20th of the 28 districts in
the Province, but in the numbers furnished to the com-
batant and non-combatant ranks of the army it has the proud
distinction of standing first among the 253 districts of all
India. From the first days of the war the people and their
leaders, inspired by their martial traditions and steady
loyalty, have rallied to the standard of their King- Emperor
in such numbers that at the present day nearly 30,000 men
are serving in the army of whom 21,000 have enrolled
themselves since July 1914. Of men of military age in
Rawalpindi more than one in every three is in the army
or its auxiliary services — the great bulk in the fighting ranks.
The only district in India which can rival this splendid
achievement is the adjoining district of Jhelum, and the
rivalry between the two is a healthy and a noble one. It
is true that in the last three months there has been some
falling off in the numbers who have enlisted, and I am con-
fident that I may rely on the district to strain every nerve
to regain its place and to maintain its supremacy. The
record of the deeds of its sons forms a glorious page in the
history of the district. Let me recount one or two. Naik
Shahamad Khan, Janjua, Rajput, of Takhti, in the Rawal-
pindi District, is one of the eight who have won the highest
decoration that a soldier can aspire to — the Victoria Cross.
Placed in charge of a machine gun section within 150 yards
of the enemy's entrenched position he beat off three counter-
attacks and worked his gun single-handed after all his men
except two belt-fillers had fallen. When after three hours
his gun was disabled by hostile fire he and his two companions
68
30th October 1917.
held their ground with rifles until ordered to withdraw,
whereupon he brought back his gun, his ammunition and a
wounded man unable to walk. Finally, he himself returned
and removed practically the whole of the remaining arms
and equipment left behind. But for Shahamad Khan's
bravery and determination our line must have been pene-
trated by the enemy.
Take another case. Subtdar-Major Farman AH, I.O.M.,
Danial Eajput, of Mohra Fatiman, Eawalpindi, won the
Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and ability at San-
naiyat in April last year. When all his British Officers had
been killed or dangerously wounded, he kept the men of his
companies together under heavy rifle and machine gun fire
and when it was clear that the enemy's counter-attack
would overwhelm his party, he maintained a rapid fire and
withdrew his men, being himself the last to retire. He has
been wounded three times in Mesopotamia and in addition
to winning the Military Cross he has, for services in other
actions during the last two years, been admitted to the Order
of British India, received the Indian Distinguished Service
Medal and been awarded the Indian Order of Merit. That
is a record of heroism which it has been given to few to equal.
I have, I fear, no time to do more than recall to your memory
the distinctions earned by j^bedar Tikka Khan of Karor,
Havildar Fazal Hussain of Syed, Naik Ghulab Khan of Maira
Shamas, and Sepoys Abdul Karim of Dhok Garwala, Burhan
AH of Khuian and Gheba Khan of Maira Mora among others
whose gallant deeds will long form a theme of admiration
in the countryside.
I now turn to Attock. Here the military tradition was
not so strong as in the Kawalpindi District and at the start
the people did not awake to the magnitude of the issues
at stake in this war. But leeway was soon made up. The
wise guidance and admirable organization of Mr. Butler
Deputy Commissioner, aroused the enthusiasm of the local
Maliks and Khans, many of whom have been singled out
to-day for recognition by Government and rallied to the
colours thousands of the loyal and sturdy clansmen of the
district. The Alpials, the Sagri Pathans and the Awans
of certain areas were, prior to the outbreak of war, the only
clans in the district who had taken regularly to military
service. Since we have beea involved in the present contest
enlistments from Attock have almost trebled, nearly every
69
Rawalpindi Darbar
tribe contributing its quota. Since the beginning of the
war over 8,000 recruits have been raised from this sparsely
populated district and I estimate that one man in every
20 of the total male population is serving in the army at the
present time. For this result the Khattak Pathans
and the Alpials, who have, respectively, 20 and 30 per cent.
of their total male population in the army, and the Awans
of Talagang deserve the chief credit. Kecently Mr. Butler
has called on the district for a special effoi fc, and two com-
panies for the 2nd Battalion of the 54th Sikhs and one com-
pany for the 2nd Battalion of the 89th Punjabis have been
quickly raised. In this connection I would particularly
commend the patriotic spirit of Khan Sahib Malik Muham-
mad Akbar Khan of Pindigheb in coming forward to lead
personally one of the new companies. But while the Punjabi
clans in this tract have rallied to their country's call the
Pathans of the Chachh, who owe so much of their prosperity
to the British Government, have hitherto held aloof. Such
apathy in this great crisis is deplorable and if persisted in
will cast an indelible reproach on the men of this tract.
Are they content to be held up to scorn by their neighbours
as too cowardly or too prosperous to stand by their side
in defence of their homes ? Will .they not even at this
late hour arise and redeem their good name and their honour ?
Let them take to heart ana endeavour to emulate the
examples of their own clansman, the Hon'ble Captain Ajab
Khan whose exploits 1 have already referred to, and of their
neighbours Sepoy Khan Zaman of Tnjra in Pindigheb Tahsil
who at Shaikh Sa'ad won the Order of Merit for the splendid
courage with which he brought up ammunition, water and
supplies for his regiment across a fire-swept zone, or of Sube-
dar Dost Muhammad Khan of Thattah in the same
tahsil who won a similar distinction in France when he took
command of bombing parties and carried out reconnais-
sance work by day and night under fire : or Sepoy Feroz
Khan who in Mesopotamia also gained this honour by the
gallantry and devotion with which he carried out of action
a mortally wounded British Officer.
Now let me turn to Mianwali. This district has hitherto
been the one dark spot in this Division. Although the Niazi
Pathan is a name well known in the annals of the Indian
Army yet such moderate military fame as the district has
acquired in this war is due almost entirely to the small clan
of Bhangi Khel Pathans which, as your Commissioner has
70
30th October 1917.
said, has a recruiting record in which any tribe might find
pride. But what of the Jats and the Awans of this wide
tract ? Had Mianwali done its duty like the rest of this Divi-
sion it would have in the army at the present day not 3,200
men but a total of at least 10,000 and if it sought to vie
with Rawalpindi it would have had more than twice that num-
ber. As it is, only one man in every 56 of the male popula-
tion has so far joined the army. There are, however,* some
indications that the people are awakening to the urgent need
for men which the situation demands, and now that special
companies of Pathans, Jats and Awans have been sanctioned
I have every hope that the requirements of all classes will be
met and that within the next 6 or 8 months Mianwali will
prove that it is not inferior to its neighbours in active
loyalty or in martial spirit. I can hold up to the men of
Mianwali for emulation such a gallant exploit as that of
Subedar Khawaja Muhammad, Bhangi Khel Pathan of
Sanda in Isa Khel, who gained the Order of Merit for con-
spicuous bravery in January 191C. Let the men of Mian-
wali set this example before them : let them come forward
and bear their fair share of the burden which this mighty
conflict has thrown on the shoulders of all who would play
a man's part. It is not for us in the Punjab to wait patiently
for victory while others fight our battles. We. must be true
to our traditions, and ourselves seek to be in the forefront
of the struggle for right and justice.
So far I have spoken to you of recruiting work and gal-
lantry in the field. But it is not only in these matters that
the people of this Division have shown an ardent patriot-
ism. All classes — Muhammadans, Sikhs and Hindus —
have subscribed generously to the Aeroplane Fund, to charit-
able war funds and to the War Loan. In the War Loan
Rawalpindi, though it possesses no industries and no large
commercial towns, stands sixth on the Provincial list with
nearly 19 lakhs to its credit. The people of the Division,
Muhammadans, Sikhs and Hindus, have given evidence of
their power of organization by establishing, both at the
divisional head-quarters and in the districts, successful
war leagues whose aims are to co-ordinate all movements in
connection with war services, that is, to stimulate recruiting,
to provide comforts for soldiers in the field, to assist soldiers in
hospitals or on discharges, to entertain soldiers; and to explain
the advantages of the war loans. A further development
of the Division's charitable activities has been the recent
71
establishment of a local branch of the Bed Cross Society
which has undertaken to manage the local hospitals and
supply the Comforts Funds with its needs : and I am pleased
to hear that, in response to your Commissioner's appeal, a
sum of Rs. 5,000 per month has already been guaranteed.
All these objects have been achieved with a gratifying
measure of success and I am confident that all will co-operate
to promote equally fruitful results for the scheme initiated
by Her Excellency Lady Chelmsford and known as " Our
Day," the aim of which is to enable the Red Cross and
St. John Ambulance Associations to carry on their benevolent
undertakings till the close of the war. I have given only an
incomplete summary of what these districts have done
in the past. For the future I am confident that you will
make good the Commissioner's assurance to redouble your
efforts, and above all to maintain the flow of recruits to the
army till the .enemies of the King Emperor have been de-
feated and humbled. The Government on its part is not
slow to show suitable recognition of your services. In
addition to the honours and rewards, which it is my privilege
to bestow to-day, grants of jagirs, of lands, of titles and of
khillats have already been liberally given on the recommenda-
tion of your Commissioner and his officers and of the Recruit-
ing Officers ;,and though your loyalty has a deeper founda-
tion than the hope of reward you will find in the present,
as in the past, that Government is not forgetful of those who
serve it and that it is not those who make the loudest de-
mands but those who make the greatest sacrifices whose
claims are receiving and will continue to receive the first
recognition. The Commissioner has paid a well deserved
tribute to the services of the district officers, Mr. Butler
and Colonel Barton and their Assistants and of the Recruit-
ing Officers — Majors Mollison and Tancred — who have done
so much to promote recruiting in Attock and Rawalpindi.
But I think everyone in this Darbar will agree with me that
the chief credit for the truly marvellous results already
achieved by the Rawalpindi Division is due to your Commis-
sioner whose influence and example have guided and inspired
the efforts of officials and non-officials and secured that
feeling of mutual confidence and co-operation which is so
marked in this Division. The Government and the people
have both been fortunate in having him at the head of affairs
in this crisis and he has earned the gratitude and recognition
of both.
72
30th October 1917.
I hope to moot yon once more before I lay down my office.
T am confident that 1 shall then be able to congratulate the
districts of Rawalpindi and Attock on having maintained
their efforts and to congratulate Mian wall on having recover-
ed the ground lost. I hope also that 1 shall then be justified
in again publicly honouring those who have shown signal
self-sacrifice and practicrl and active loyalty in the final
stage of the great struggle, and thereby helped to secure
that complete victory which is already in sight and in which
it should be our pride and our privilege to participate.
14— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Jhelum on the
1st November 1917.
DARBARIS AND GENTLEMEN OP THE JHELUM, Guj-
RAT AND SHAHPUR DISTRICTS,— Two days ago it was my
privilege to hold a Darbar at Rawalpindi for the districts
of Rawalpindi, Attock and Mianwali. The war services
of the Rawalpindi Division have, however, been of such
magnitude thai I felt I could not deal with them ade-
quately in one Darbar. I have to-day the pleasure of
meeting the representatives of the three remaining dis-
tricts of this division and of welcoming General Muspratt.
the General Officer Commanding the Jhelum Bri-
gade, and many distinguished military officers, British
and Indian, on the active and retired lists. Their presence
here indicates how closely we in the Punjab, whether British
or Indian* Civil or Military, are bound together in the great
enterprise of defending the Empire and bringing the war to a
speedy and triumphant conclusion. In the first place let me
say how much I regret to learn that in parts of Gujrat and
Shahpur the unseasonable rains which fell at the end of
September have wrought considerable damage to the homes
and harvests of the people and caused a serious epidemic
of malaria. In those trials you have the sincere sympathy
of Government. Where the loss of crops has been serious
Government will be prepared to assist the people by sus-
pension or remission of revenue and by the grant of takavi,
and to cope with the malaria epidemic Goi^rnment has sent
out into the tracts most severely affected, itinerating dispen-
saries stocked with a plentiful supply of quinine and other
medicines which 1 trust will alleviate the situation.
Twenty months ago when 1 held a Darbar here for the
Jhelum District 1 offered the people my hearty congratula-
tions on what they baa done and were doing in defence
of the Empire. And I added that Government would not
be slow to recognise the claims of those who are fighting for
it. Gentlemen, I claim that the promise is being steadily
fulfilled. As you are aware, Government has already made
74
1st November 1917.
grants otjayirs and of land to many of those who have ren-
dered conspicuous services in connection with the war and
has placed at the disposal of His Excellency the Cornmander-
in -Chief 178,000 acres in the Lower Bari Doab Colony to
be allotted as rewards to those who have rendered distin-
guished services in the field. Further evidence that Govern-
ment fulfills its promises is furnished by the distribution
of the honours and rewards which I have made to-day and
by the announcement of the new titles which His Excellency
the Viceroy has specially authorized me to make on this
occasion. Of .those honours and rewards Jheluin claims
the lion's share because its services have hitherto been the
greatest, but you all may rest assured that if you continue
to do your duty the future will not be less fruitful than the
past in this respect. And here I should like to endorse
fully all the commendations which have been bestowed by
Colonel Popham Young on the gentlemen whose services
he has mentioned by name. As I said at Rawalpindi I attri-
bute the splendid military results which have been achieved
in this Division to the cordial co-operation and mutual trust
between the people and their leaders and the officers of Gov-
ernment. Nowhere has this harmony of relations been so
conspicuous as in the Jhelum District which owes so much
to the tact, energy and enthusiasm of its Deputy Commis-
sioner, Mr. Wilson-Johnston, and also to his able assistants,
especially Mr. H. P. Anderson, Sub-Divisional Officer of
Chakwal. Gentlemen, you, who have borne so large a share
of the burden of this war, will be interested to know that the
Punjab's contribution to the Indian Army from the 1st
August 1914 up to the end of September 1917 has been about
220,000 men, of whom over f ths are combatants. This Divi-
sion's share has been over 70,000, of whom Jths are com-
batants. These figures are eloquent of the part the Divi
sion has played in the war and prove that its people have re-
alized that in fighting overseas against our enemies they are
also defending their country and their homes from aggression.
As I have repeatedly said the outer line of defence for India
is Mesopotamia and Baghdad which, thanks to the com-
bined efforts of the British and Indian forces, is now in our
hands, was intended by the Germans to be the base of their
aggressive designs against the Indian Empire. I will now
touch briefly on the war services of the three districts whose
representatives are gathered here to-day. It is a real pleasure
to me to be in a position again to express the gratitude of Gov.
75
Jhelum'Darbar
eminent to the people of Jlielum on the splendid recruiting
results they have achieved since my last visit — results which
enable it to share with Rawalpindi the signal distinction
of being one of the two foremost districts in India in the
sacrifices made for the cause of the King- Emperor. The
Commissioner has estimated that 20,000 of Jhelum's sons
are serving in the army. I said the other day that Rawal-
pindi's contribution to the present army might be estimated
at nearly 80,000. From the latest figures with which tho mili-
tary authorities have been good enough to furnish me I put
Jhelum's contribution >t about 27,000. That is to say, that
one man in ten of the total male population or one man in
every three of military age is at present in the army. Stories
of the wonderful enthusiasm for recruiting in tho district
reach me from all sides. Let me give you some instances :—
Sharaf Khan, Lambardar of Munara, has enlisted six
out of his seven sons, one grandson, and three nephews.
He is old and almost blind, and t'oi his declining years natur-
ally desired to retain by his side his seventh son. Twice
has that son endeavoured to follow his brothers' example
and join the colours.
Khudadad Khan, Lambardar of Chak Anira, has enlisted
three out of four sons, a grandson and three nephews. He
has ottered his remaining son, too, to the Recruiting Officer,
and he has been rejected only because he is at present too
young for service.
Bakhsh Khan, Lambardar of Jhandial Fazullah, has
enlisted all three of his adult sons, three nephews and a
cousin.
I could add numerous other instances did time allow,
but I will content myself with one other instance, this time
on the part; of a mother. Mussammat Sharfan, a widow, of
Murid in Chakwal, has insisted on enlisting all three of her
sons since the war began. Her name deserves to be re-
membered and honoured for such noble self-sacrifice. These
are individual cases, but the Deputy Commissioner has
told me of the magnificent patriotism of hamlets and villages
which have recruited over half of their total male population.
The hamlet of Jhalli Moghlan, in the Jhelum Tahsil, has
sent 1 6 out of 21 men to the army : Lehri Kalaran in Pind
Dadan Khan, 46 out of 66 : Mohra Khudlahi in Chakwal,
66 out of 154.
76
1st November 1917.
There are whole tracts like those of Lehri and Baragiran
where more than Jth of the whole Ghakkar male population
have joined up : Nara and Makiala where over -gth of the
Janjua males have been enlisted : of the A wans of the Vanhar
Jth are with the colours. The leading Chakwal tribes —
the Hair, Minhas, Khassars, and Kahuts who hitherto have
never enlisted— freely, have caught the enthusiasm and agre-
ed to form new companies. In Jhelum Tahsil the Gujars
have made a start, and even in the remote wilds of the Thai
the leading men are coming forward to ' show worthy ex-
ample to their brethren. In the village of Dulmial in Pind
Dadan Khan there are over 30 Indian officers on the pen-
sioned and active lists, allot* whom have won their way to
their commissions by their own merits. Last, but not
least, I must mention the A wan village of Kandwal in the
remote Thai where the enthusiasm of the men for service
in the army has been directly inspired by the public demon-
stration of encouragement from their mothers, wives and
sisters, who escorted the recruits in triumph from the village.
When the women show such an example, is it any wonder
that the district has made an imperishable name for itself
in the present war ? When I last addressed you here you
had already received back in your midst Jamadar Khudadad
Khan of the 129th Baluchis, the first Indian soldier to win
the coveted Victoria Cross for his conspicuous gallantry
in Belgium in 1914 when he remained working his gun
until all the other men of his detachment had been killed.
Subedars Jodh Khan, Janjua, Muhammad Azim of Dhariala,
Karam Dad of Wahali and Muhammad Khan of Pind Dadan
Khan, Jamadar Sardar Khan of Pind Dadan Khan and
Havildar Chanan Shall have all won the Order of Merit
by their devotion to duty, conspicuous gallantry and per-
sonal skill and courage. Truly we may say of the soldiers
of Jhelum that in lighting for their hearths and homes their
one desire is to experience —
' The stern joy, which warriors feel,
In foemen worthy of their steel."
In addition to the honours and promotion earned by
the nion of Jhelum at the front the Government, as to-day's
Darbar proves, is showing and will continue to show prompt
recognition of what you are doing in your homes to assure
and maintain the spirit of patriotism and sur.rifice. There-
cognition hitherto shown has necessarily been to individuals,
77
Jhelum Darbar
but I may mention that recently in consideration of the loyal
services of the Jhelum District as a whole I have sanctioned
a substantial grant from Government funds towards the
construction of a new hospital more worthy of the Jhelum
District than the present building, and one that will serve
to recall the splendid deeds of Jhelum's sons in the great
war. I turn now to Gujrat. I am able to congratulate
Gujrat also on the success of its efforts to obtain a high place
in the roll of honour. It now stands 6th of the districts of
the province. The people of Gujrat have long been known
for the adventurous spirit that prompts them to seek service
abroad or on the high seas. East or West of Suez : in the
London docks or on the quays of Hong Kong you will find the
hardy lascar who hails from Gujrat. And yo,u will see, as
I have seen, his face light up with pleasure when you
speak to him in his own homely Punjabi. It is then no
matter for surprise that the attractions of military service
appeal to such an enterprising race. At the beginning of
the war Gujrat boasted 4,500 men in the Army. Since then,
stimulated and encouraged by the energetic Deputy Com-
missioner, Mr. I.-C. Lai, the district has added 12,000 men
to the ranks apart from those who have been invalided or
died a soldier's death on the field. To-day Gujrat has ono
man out of every twenty-four of its total manhood and one'
out of seven of the men of fighting age serving in the army.
Owing to -the calamities of floods and malaria, to which
I have referred already, the district has in the last few
weeks been severely handicapped ; but its stout-hearted
people are not the men to be daunted by these temporary
misfortunes. Ina recent report on a tour he made in the
Kharian Tahsil^tne Deputy Commissioner wrote : " The
spirit among the Chibs, Awans, Gujars and Jats is excellent,
it is not possible to single out individual men for piaise as
it has become normal for a boy on reaching maturity—if not
before— to go off and enlist. A number of the villages in
this ilaqa contain only old men, boys and invalids." In
these simple words the Deputy Commissioner has paid an
eloquent tribute to the patriotism of the men of the Kharian
Tahsil. But the people of Gujrat are not, as in the other
districts of this Division, almost entirely Muhammadan
in creed : and it is not only the clans named that have played
their part m this great conflict. Gujrat contains within its
borders the two historic battlefields of Chilianwala and
-rujrat whereon the Sikhs proved their valour in that final
78
1st November 1917.
contest with the British which has left no rancour but on
both sides a sense of mutual appreciation. Upholding the
martial traditions of their faith the Sikh Labanas have cheer-
fully yielded up their manhood in the Empire's causa, and
JtlTof Gujrat's soldiers are Labana Sikhs. Here are two
fine examples— Arur Singh, Labana, of Bakrala, has enlist-
ed all of his six sons in the army ; Bisakha Singh, Labana,
of Killa Sura Singh, all his four sons. The Muhammadan
clans of Phalia Tahsil had little connection with the army
before the war and were slow to come forward. But I am
very glad to hear that the separate companies which were
allotted to them are being rapidly filled up and bring men of
fine physique and stout hearts, I am sure they will soon prove
themselves to be brave and enduring soldiers. I look confi-
dently to see Gujrat do even better in the future than it has
done in the past : for the need for men is still urgent. The
great war is waged with undiminished intensity, and though
for the last year we have gone on from victory to victory
in Flanders, in France, in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in East
Africa, in fact wherever our far- flung battle line extends,
further efforts are needed to complete our triumph.
Lastly, I come to Shahpur, my old district* where I can
still claim many personal friends of 30 years' standing. I
have for months watched closely the recruiting returns
and reports of each district, and I confess I felt some regret
that the people of Shahpur, with its martial tribes and
great families, should be so slow in responding to the King-
Emperor's call. Indeed, Shahpur to some extent lay open
to the reproach that the prosperity conferred on it by the
extension of the Government canals had sapped its martial
spirit. Some of the leaders of the people have set them a
worthy example. Major Sir Umar Hayat Khan, Tiwana,
whose absence to-day owing to illness we much regret, has
served with distinction in France and in Mesopotamia. Cap-
tain Muhammad Mumtaz Khan, Tiwana, who is now doing
valuable work as Assistant Kecruiting Officer, has served
in France and gained by his services one of the first nine
King's Commissions recently granted to Indian gentlemen.
My old friends, Nawab Khuda Bakhsh Khan and Nawab
Captain Mabariz Khan, have also, as the Commissioner re-
marked, nobly maintained the high traditions of the famous
Tiwana clan. Others of historic families have done their
part and they, too, have to-day been honoured by Govern-
ment. Yet while the Awans of the Salt Range too have
79
Jhelum Darbar
nobly responded, in large tracts' of Shahpur the call to arms
fell for long on deaf ears. But I felt sure that in reality
a want of organization lay at the root of the trouble : and since
your Commissioner and your Deputy Commissioner, Mr.
Gibson, set themselves, with their usual thoroughness and
local knowledge, to put matters on a right footing by estab-
lishing the territorial system of recruiting, the results I had
expected began to appear. The officers and the people and
their leaders deserve hearty congratulation on the success
of yet another example of united effort. Next to Gujrat,
Shahpur has* the greatest population of any district in the
Division. On the first of January last it returned only 4,229
men as serving in the combatant ranks and auxiliary services
of the army. If its efforts had been as vigorous and fruitful
as those of Jhelum, it should have had over 27,000 men in
service. Instead of being represented at the present time
by 8,200 men or one man in every 45 of its total population,
it would have sent one man out of every 10 to the front, or
nearly 37,000. Shahpur is now working hard to maintain
its high military traditions. I was particular!}' glad to learn
that the so-called Bar tribes of Gujrat and Shahpur — the
Gondals, Laks and others — have begun to realize that their
future izzat depends on their readiness to serve the King-
Emperor and his Government in the hour of need, and to
prove that in loyalty and courage they are not inferior to
their neighbours. In the month of September, despite the
deplorable ravages of malaria, Shahpur has gained the proud
position of being first in the Division, first in the Province
and first in all India in the number of recruits supplied. The
regimental depot, which was established in Sargodha by the
124th Baluchis, quickly gathered in 450 recruits and three
other regiments are prepared to imitate that gallant regi-
ment's example. The recruits that are called for are required
for the period of the war and six months after. To avert,
as far as possible, any temporary ill-effects, from an economic
or agricultural point of view, of the drain on your young
manhood the military authorities have now, at the instance
of the Local Government, prohibited the recruitment in this
Division of all non-combatants except regimental followers
who must obviously be enrolled from the same tracts as
those from which the combatants to whom they minister
are drawn.
None of these three districts is endowed with great
material resources. Agriculture is the staple occupation :
80
1st November 1917.
there are no great industrial or commercial undertakings to
be found within their borders : but you have contributed
generously according to your means to the various charities
and funds connected with the war. War is a great scourge,
but like other scourges sent by Providence 'it offers oppor-
tunities to men to show some of the highest human qualities
—patriotism, valour and self-sacrifice. Believe me, the
services rendered in this war will go down to history and
will be treasured for generations in the records of Govern-
ment and in the traditions of the clans and families who
have taken an active part in the great struggle : while the
clan, the family or the individuals who could have helped
in one form or another but failed to do so will never cease
to regret that they stood aloof when opportunities of service
and honour presented themselves. As I said last year, the
sacrifices of this war are great — the greatest in history — and
would bring sadness and mourning to many a home ; but
they are more than compensated for by the honour of fight-
ing for a just cause and the glory which will crown a righteous
victory. I am confident, therefore, that you will all combine
and redouble your efforts to assist the Empire with men and
resources until complete victory has under God's mercy
crowned our arms,
81
15 — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Jullundur on the
28th January 1918.
The scenes of the fighting are far from your doors
across the seas which our Navy is guarding so effectually
that no enemy can appear openly upon them. The war
might, therefore, seem to you a remote affair in which you
have little concern, but the work for which I have just given
rewards shows that there are some among you who
realise the justice of the cause and their duty as citizens of
the British Empire to assist in bringing the struggle to a
victorious conclusion. The spirit which animates ourselves
on the one side and the brutal enemy on the other has been
recently brought into sharp contrast. When General Allenby
entered Jerusalem, having delayed his entry till he could
occupy this Holy City without the use of force, his first
act was to issue a proclamation to the inhabitants, ' which
provided for the carrying on of business as usual, the safe-
guarding of all religious buildings, and the protection of the
inhabitants of all creeds.' He, at the same time, sent this
message to the King of the Hedjaz : — ' It gives me great
pleasure to inform Your Majesty that the Holy Shrines are
intact and that Muslim guards are protecting them. The
regular custodians have been retained and are carrying on
their duties as normally.' Contrast with this magnani-
mous proclamation the ruthless warning issued recently
by the German Commander in Italy, demanding the
delivery of all food in the homes of the people whose ter-
ritory he had occupied, compelling men, women and children
to work in the fields every day from four in the morning till
eight at night and threatening them with the following bar-
barous punishments :— ' Lazy workmen will be accompanied
to their work and watched by Germans, and after the harvest
they will be imprisoned for six months and every third day
will be given nothing but bread and water; lazy women will
be obliged to work and after the harvest will receive six
months' imprisonment ; lazy children will be punished by
82
28th January 1918.
beating. The Commandant reserves the right to punish
lazy women with 20 lashes daily.'
Let us thank God that no enemy will have the chance
of speaking to the people of India in such terms. But while
we have good grounds for our belief in victory we must all
remember that it can only be attained by unremitting labour
on our part. Britain has to supply fighting men, munitions,
money and ships. About one-half of the men of fighting
age are under arms, while more than half of the remainder
are engaged on munitions and other services connected with
the war.
These men are fighting your battles just as much as
our- own gallant Punjab soldiers. It is the part of the Punjab
mainly to supply the man who are needed for the armies in
Mesopotamia, Palestine and Egypt, and on the frontier of
India. German East Africa need not be mentioned, for,
thanks to the long and arduous campaign in which Punjab
troops, including the regiments of Jind and Kapurthala
and the Faridkot Sappers, have borne a great and worthy
part, it is no longer German. The armies in Mesopotamia
and Palestine have gone from victory to victory and one
consequence of their steady advance is the growing need
of men to hold the large territory now conquered. You
may ask why we should increase our responsibilities by
steadily advancing into enemy country ; why should we not
content ourselves with piotecting our own land ? The
answer is simple. It is that for years Germany has aimed
at using Asia Minor «,nd Mesopotamia as a base from which to
threaten India, and, in order to secure India, to secure the
homes of all here present fiom a pitiless invasion, followed by
the slavery that Belgium, Servia, part ofKoumania, and a
corner of Italy now suffer, we must make sure that Germany
and her allies have no starting point from which to launch
her armies against India. It is for the defence of your own
hearths and henus, as well as in order to right a great wrong
and free the world from a constant menace, that you are called
upon to provide recruits for the Indian army. Mr. Hallifax
has told us what the Jullundur District has done so far in
providing recruits and I will briefly review the facts. But,
first, I would say how glad I am to welcome here General
Peebles and the other military officers, British and Indian,
who have come of this Darbar. The medals and honours
which so many of them wear should be a stimulus to all young
83
Jullundur Darbar
men to seek a career of honour in the army which is now so
valiantly fighting the battle of freedom and justice in so
many parts of the world. The presence of these officers
here, side by side with their civil colleagues in the work of
recruitment, and the presence of the fine battalion of Sikhs,
which has been newly raised within the last few months,
largely from this Division, emphasise [the existence of
that cordial co-operation without which success would be
impossible, and I, as head of the civil administration, have
great pleasure in acknowledging in particular the unsparing
efforts and unfailing tact of the late Divisional Recruiting
Officer, Major Lyall.
The census of 1911 showed that there were four-and-
a-half lakhs of men in the district, of whom we may take it
that 180,000 were of military age, but up to the end of 1917
the total contribution of the district to the army was under
8,000 men, less than one in seventeen, while the Jhelum and
Rawalpindi Districts have contributed one in every four of
the male population of military age and your neighbours in
Ludhiana one in eight. Your district stands eleventh in
order of population but only fourteenth in respect of the
number of men supplied to the army. In the past year
the Ludhiana District, with a male population of military
age amounting to only 90,000, has produced 3,907 recruits,
while Jullundur, which has 138,000 men of military age,
contributed 3,357 only. These figures do not include
enlistments direct into regiments. Surely you will not remain
content with this position. The district has many martial
races. The Sikh Jats, Muhammadan Jats, Rajputs and
Pathans are tribes with a long and honourable military
history behind them. They form well over a quarter of
the total population ami they alone could easily provide
more than the total number of men which the district has
hitherto given to the army.
I am pleased to see that the Arains are speedily
establishing their position among the martial races of the dis-
trict. Since I was last here one of the leaders of that com-
munity, Hon. Captain Sardar Bahadur Ghulam Hussain
Khan, a distinguished Mutiny veteran, has passed away
full of years and honours. It was an Arain, Imam Bakhsh,
of Chukeke, in this district, who, disguised as a fakir, went
at the order of Sir Alfred Lyall from Kabul to Samarkand
to find the Amir Abdul Rahman and conduct him to his
84
28th January 1918.
throne in Kabul. He is still alive to tell the tale and to prove
that the spirit of adventure is no new thing among his
tribe. Another proof of the spirit of the Arains is furnished
by the career of Subedar Muhammad Ali, who belongs to
village Jandu Singha in the Jullundur Tahsil. After being
wounded four times he has retired on pension. He
has received the I.O.M., 2nd Class, and was mentioned in
despatches. Let us bid him welcome to his well-earned
rest at home. In the last four months of 1917, 262 Jats
enlisted in the army, 149 Eajputs and 127 Arains. These
three tribes alone supplied 538 of the 823 recruits obtained
in that period.
And what of the other tribes ? None of them, I am
told, has yet produced more than 40 men. They cannot
say they fear to face the unknown chances of life in foreign
lands. But they prefer to trade abroad under the protec-
tion of the Flag rather than to share the honours of its
advance. Enterprise is there and courage is not wanting.
Wherever these qualities are found, there is the stuff of which
soldiers are made, and I look to the recruiters of Jullundur
to turn it to account.
From your admirable District Gazette, I see that up
to the end of November last the order of merit of the tahsil
was —
Jullundur, with about 3,725 serving with the army.
Nawashahr, with about 1,830 serving with the
army.
Nakodar, with about 1,200 serving with the army.
Phillaur, with about 1,050 serving with the army.
The Daruli Zail alone has produced between 500 and
600 men. Next come the Talhan, Kukar Find, and Jam Sher
Zails, with about 300 recruits each. Among the villages,
Bara Jagir had pride of place in the beginning of last
December, with 11 per cent, of its population in the army,
while Bharuli Hardo and Biddi Find ran it close with 10 per
cent. each. I appeal to the Nakodar and Phillaur Tahsils
to come into line with the Jullundur Tahsil. In Nakodar
there are nine villages which have contributed 5 per cent,
or more of their total population ; the Jullundur Tahsil had
six such villages ; Nawashahr five ; and Phillaur, alas ! none.
And yet Phillaur produced the gallant Saran Singh, son of
Chaudhri Kishen Singh, Zaildar of Jandiala, who left his
' 85
Jullundur Darbar
land in Australia to join the Commonwealth forces. He
went with his regiment to the front and finally met glorious
death, fighting side by side with his Australian comrades
in arms.
You have heard of the recent home-coming of the
Kapurthala Imperial Service Troops after 3J years' meritori-
ous service in the deadly climate of German East Africa.
Mr. Hallifax, your Commissioner, conveyed to them my con-
gratulations on their having helped to bring the campaign
to a victorious conclusion by the complete conquest of
German East Africa. I am sure that the hearty welcome
they received from His Highness the Maharaja and his people
must have brought home to all the honour and glory that
await the soldier who has fought well in a worthy cause.
I welcome the presence here to-day of His Highness' son,
Kanwar Amarjit Singh, and the officials of the Kapurthala
Darbar who have accepted the Commissioner's invitation
to attend. I have just had the pleasure of presenting a
sword of honour for services in recruiting to Sirdar Kishen
Singh of Ranipur, who is one of His Highness' subjects,
and I would take this opportunity of acknowledging the
valuable help which the Darbar is giving us in supplying
men to the Indian Army while at the same time maintain-
ing a fine body of Imperial Service Troops for the service of
the King-Emperor. The population of the Kapurthala
State is only one-third of that of the Jullundur District.
In the year that has closed they provided 1,407 recruits for
the Indian Army, apart from large calls for the Imperial
Service Troops. In November Kapurthaja gave 330 recruits,
while in December it topped the list for the Jullundur
recruiting division and stood first among the Native States
of the province with 385 recruits.
Turn now from this splendid record to what
your own district has done. Eecruitment from Jullundur
has steadily declined. In December you only managed to
raise 172 men. What are you going to do to remedy that ?
If the raises, zaildars and lambardars produce their own sons
at the recruiting office there will be no doubt about the others
following. Any man who brings in 100 recruits within two
months will be given the rank of jamadar, and, if the
district raises 250 men for any particular regiment, the
Deputy Commissioner is given one nomination to a jamadari,
and to four posts of non-commissioned officers in that
86
28th January 1918.
regiment. Government is not slow to reward. You have seen
to-day what there is in store for the successful recruiter —
titles, khillals, sanads and grants of land — and if the
response to my present appeal is what it ought to be, I can
assure you that these rewards will not be the last. I have
still one other announcement to make. When I was in
Delhi last week I obtained the sanction of the Supreme
Government to announce at this Darbar that Commissions
as temporary Honorary Second-Lieutenants in the Indian
Land Forces of His Majesty are being conferred on Sardar
Jasjit Singh, Ahluwalia, and Sardar Bahadur Sardar Eajindar
Singh of Pakhoke. They represent families of high martial
traditions and proved loyalty. I congratulate them both
on the distinctions thus conferred on them.
The war is now in its last stage. Men are wanted to
complete our victory. They are asked to serve only for
the term of the war and' six months afterwards. Those
who wish can then return to their ordinary avocations,
but those who come forward in this crisis, trjeir descen-
dants can always point with pride to the fact that they
played a man's part on the right side in the decision of the
greatest issues with which the human race has ever been
faced.
16— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant*
Governor at a Darbar held at Hoshiarpur on
the 31st January 1918.
Three days ago in Jullundur I explained why it is
that Government is calling upon you to help in recruiting.
To-day I would only remind you that we are fighting a
ruthless race whose ambition it is to dominate the world and
who have no scruples as to the means they employ, or the
misery they cause, in attempting to secure that domina-
tion. The eyes of the world were first opened as to the
brutality of the German Government when they deliberately
set out to exterminate the Hereros, a race under their rale
in German South- West Africa, which had been goaded by
oppression into rebellion. That colony, like all their colonies,
has now been freed from their tyranny, and the troops that
freed it were composed, mainly of South Africans, who were
our opponents in war only 15 years ago but have so clearly
recognised that the British Empire, to which they now
belong, is based on justice, that they have of their own free
will undertaken the burden of the campaign in German
South- West Africa and have shared it with British and Indian
troops in East Africa. In this they were following the
example of the Sikhs, who, after struggle with the British
70 years ago, which left no rancour but mutual respect,
nine years later proved themselves to be our most loyal
supporters in repressing the Mutiny in Hindustan. Com-
pare this with the German attitude towards the unfortu-
nate people who has fallen under their sway. So harsh
was the treatment meted out by the Germans to their late
subjects in South- West Africa that when the German
settlers surrendered to the British forces they begged per-
mission to keep their arms in fear of the wrath of the people
whom they had oppressed. In East Africa, too, you will
remember that our troops captured official documents which
proved that the German Government had been scheming to
divorce their Muhammadan subjects from their religion, and
they only succeeded in attaching one or two of the fighting
tribes to their cause by permitting them grossly tcToppress
all the others. It was with their consent, if not at their
instigation, that six lakhs of Armenians were butchered by
their Turkish allies in cold blood. Their brutalities in
Belgium, Serbia, Eoumania, Italy, and on the high seas are
well known to you all, and I recall them only to help you to
realise that it is in a war against oppression and brutality that
the Empire calls on you to play your part. Mesopotamia
and Asia Minor have long been the scene of German
intrigue which was directed against India, and every soldier
that your district supplies to the Indian Army helps to keep
the threat of German savagery away from your doors.
Let us now consider whether Hoshiarpur has done,
and is doing, its part. The district in the past has had a
splendid military record, and in the beginning of 1915
Hoshiarpur stood fifth among the districts of the Punjab
and of India in the number of combatants in the army,
which was 5,901. The four districts then above it were
Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Rohtak and Amritsar. It now stands
seventh only, having given place to Gujrat and Gurgaon.
Between 1st August 1914 and the end of 1916 the district
sent 4,424 recruits to the army. In 1917 its contribution
has been 3,936, so that there has been a steady improvement
in the rate of recruitment. At the beginning of 1918 there
were, after making some allowance for casualties, approxi-
mately 12,226 men of this district in the army. This means
that 1 man in every 13 of those who were of military age is
serving as a soldier. This proportion is better than the Jul-
lundur figure of 1 in 18 : it is the same as the Kangra figure,
but it cannot compare with Ludhiana's 1 in 8. In popu-
lation Hoshiarpur stands fifth in the province : in its military
contribution it now stands seventh only. You surely are
not going to rest content till you have at least regained a
position worthy of your population and your past traditions.
The district contains two well-known martial races, the Jat
Sikhs and the Hindu Rajputs. The former contribute
more than 50 per cent, of the recruits, the latter over 25 per
cent. Of the Sikhs about 1 in every 6 of the total male popu-
lation is in the army and of the Hindu Rajputs 1 in 9. The
Hindu Rajputs have done well and the Sikhs have done
splendidly, but I am confident that both will do better. I
have not been able to get figures by tribes for the period
before September 1917, but in the last four months of that
year out of a total of 949 recruits 206, or ovor-onu-fiftli,
89-
Hoshiarpur Darbar
were Jat Sikhs ; Musalinan Rajputs contributed 109 and
Hindu Rajputs 110, or about one-ninth each of the total ;
Ramdasias and Arams about 70 each ; Sainis 57 and Gujars
40. These figures, however, do not include enlistments made
direct into regiments. The Mahtons have done very well
in proportion to their numbers both here and in Jullundur.
I am glad to see that Musalman Rajputs are now awaken-
ing to their duty but the Gujars and Brahmins, who form
a large proportion of your population, are still hanging back.
The Brahmins of the Una Tahsil are offered an unique op-
portunity of establishing their izzat for ever, as a company-
has been set apart for them in the historic Guides Regiment,
than which there is none with a more gallant record in the
Indian Army. 1 hope that they will take it, and that with-
out delay. Remember that he gives double who gives
quickly, and that saying is particularly applicable in the
case of recruits. The Gaur Brahmans of the Ambala
Division have already made a name for themselves by flock-
ing in thousands to the army since this war bagan. Are
the Saraswat Brahmans of the Doaba to show themselves
faint-hearted and unwilling at a time when they are called
upon to maintain the cause of Dharm ?
I corne now to the Gujars. In physique the Gujars
compare favourably with any race. What is wrong with
their spirit that they will not take to a soldier's career ?
The Hindu Gujars of the Ambala Division are coming for-
ward almost as freely as the Jats and Ahirs. The Muham-
madan Gujars of Gujrat have shown themselves to be in
the first rank of the martial tribes of the Pindi Division,
and the Deputy Commissioner lately wrote that there was
hardly a single man of fighting age in the villages. All had
gone to the army. Compare that with the Gujars of Ho-
shiarpur and their contribution of 10 men a month out of a
male population of 43,000. The Sainis, too, though they
have made a beginning, are not yet doing their proper share.
There are 20,000 males of the tribes in the district, but they
produce only 15 recruits a month. The Arains have done
slightly better. Their brothers in Jullundur provided 127
men against 68 from Hoshiarpur in the last four mouths.
But what are we to think of the Giraths or Changs, of whom
there are 26,000 men of that tribe, but only from one zail
have they enlisted under the personal influence of Chandhri
Dliani Ram, whose services Government recognised last
year by the grunt of a jayir ? Other zaildars who have
90
31st January 1918.
done well are Eai Sahib Mul Chand of Janauri and Sirdar
Ram Narain Smgli of Mahilpur, who have not only helped
regimental recruiters but have continuously furnished re-
cruits themselves. Your Deputy Commissioner tells me
that as a whole the zaildars of the district aie doing very
useful work. Sufedposhes, however, are not doing all they
should, and they must now make an effort to justify their
position. Slackness cannot be tolerated at a time like
this.
I would not have you think that the past efforts of
this district are not appreciated. I am glad to recognise
the loyal response which the Sikhs and the Hindu Rajputs
have made to the call for men. But, as the Commissioner
has shown, these two classes alone are bearing a burden
which all should share, and at the hospital entertainment
which the generosity of one of your citizens, Lala Doga-r
Mai, Sud, provided two days ago for over 800 wounded and
pensioned men, it was remarkable how few there were, besides
Sikhs and Rajputs, who had given proof of their gallantry
in the field. Here are a few instances from Dogra Rajput
villages. Badsali has given 109 men out of 119 of military
age, Chalola 24 out of 27, Dulehr 90 out of 110, and Chawar
12 out of 16. These have all given practically every avail-
able man. The Jat Sikh villages, Moranwali, Khanpur, Dial,
Chabewal, Ambala and Tanaoli, have given nearly 1 in every
2 of their men of military age. So have the Mahtons of
Bham, the Sainis of Paldi, and the Muhammadan Jats of
Pandori Khurd. Many families, too, can show a proud
record. Khyal Singh, Rajput of Chawar, has given all 4
sons to the service of the King-Emperor. The family of
Subedar Gopala, Rajput of Nangal Guzar, has 12 out of
14 males in the army ; Banka, Rajput, Lambardar of Saloh,
12 out of 30 ; Bishambar, Rajput of Badsali, 13 out of 28 ;
Bakhtawar Singh, Rajput pensioner of Nangal Jarialan,
5 out of 6 ; Praga, another Rajput Lambardar of Hambowal,
6 out of 8 ; and Suchet Singh, a retired Rajput Subedar
of Sapori, 4 out of 7. All these families, mark you, are
Hindu Rajputs. Does not their record stir the emulation
of other tribes ? How well those men, Sikhs arid Rajputs,
have fought, was shown us in yesterday's gathering. They
were proud of their wounds, and each of those who were badly
maimed was eager to " shoulder his crutch and show how
fields were won.' '
Hoshiarpur Darbar
The war records of the Sikh and Dogra regiments,
the 15th, 85th, 47th and 51st Sikh Regiments, the 37th,
38th and 41st Dogras, and the 29th, 69th and 89th Punjabis,
to mention only a few, show many instances of the gallantry
displayed by the men of Hoshiarpur in East Africa, the
Dardanelles, France and Mesopotamia. I will quote to you
a few cases only which have been supplied by the military
authorities. As their example is inspiring you will doubt-
less be glad to hear brief details of their courageous acts :—
Subedar. Labh Singh, village Jaugniwala, Tahsil Garh-
shankar, was awarded the Indian Orderof Merit for conspicu-
ous gallantry and devotion to duty in Mesopotamia. When
the attacking troops on the front of his position were waver-
ing he left his trench under heavy fire and, fearlessly exposing
himself, rallied them, led them back to the captured enemy
trench, and consolidated the position.
No. 1775 Sepoy Dalip Singh, village Kakuwal, Tahsil
Garhshankar, was awarded the Indian Distinguished Service
Modal for marked gallantry in Mesopotamia. He displayed
great coolness in collecting ammunition from the wounded
near him and continued firing at the enemy. When his
ammunition gave out he dug a temporary shelter for an
officer lying wounded near by, dangerously exposing himself
whilst doing so.
No. 2762 Kot-Dafadar Lai Singh, village Chitarah,
Tahsil Una, was awarded the Indian Order of Merit for
conspicuous gallantry at Kut-el-Amara. When in command
of his troop in front of the Turkish position on the right
bank of the Tigris under heavy enfilade fire he covered the
retirement of the remainder of his squadron and successfully
withdrew his troop.
No. 536 Naik Sundar Singh, village Kathe, Tahsil
Hoshiarpur, was awarded the Indian Order of Merit for
conspicuous bravery at Gurmah Safhah, Mesopotamia, on
July 5th, 1915, in making repeated attempts to bring some
maxim guns out of action under heavy fire at a distance of
only 50 yards from the enemy after all the guns had been
put out of action. He was killed in the attempt, but every
true Sikh would be proud of such a death.
No. 709 Lance Naik Ghajja Singh, village Marule,
Tahsil Hoshiarpur, was Awarded the Indian Distinguished
Service Medal for conspicuous gallantry at Khafa Jiyah,
Mesopotamia, on May 15th, 1915, in courageously swimming
92
31st January 1918.
the Karkheh river, a rapid stream 150 yards wide, in face
of a heavy fire from the enemy on the opposite bank.
No. 845 Sepoy Bawa Singh, village Moranwali, Tahsil
Garhshankar, was awarded the Indian Order of Merit for
conspicuous gallantry in Mesopotamia in 1917. When his
company had occupied a captured trench ammunition ran
short and more was urgently required to repel a counter-
attack. Sepoy Bawa Singh voluntarily left the trench and
collected ammunition from the dead and wounded who were
lying in the open. This was carried out under heavy shell
and machine gun fire.
No. 2870 Sowar Dalip Singh, village Thakkarwali,
Tahsil Garhsliankar, has recently been awarded the Indian
Order of Merit, in France for conspicuous gallantry in action.
He was one of a patrol of one British officer and six Indian
soldiers sent forward to reconnoitre the enemy's wire. The
patrol came under heavy machine gun fire at close range, and
two of the men fell wounded in full view of the enemy.
Realising the situation and acting on his own initiative
Dalip Singh carried both the wounded men back under
heavy machine gun fire and placed them under cover.
No. 2832 Lance-Naik Arjun Singh, village Daphar,
Tahsil Hoshiarpur, was awarded the Indian Distinguished
Service Medal for great gallantry when taking part in a raid
by night on the enemy's position across a river in Mesopota-
mia in 1917. He was severely wounded when attempting
to wade ashore and capture an enemy's machine gun. On
two previous occasions he volunteered to swim the river and
reconnoitre the enemy's bank.
No. 2102 Sepoy Rup Singh, village Dadoh, Tahsil
Una, was awarded the Indian Distinguished Service Medal
for great gallantry in action in Mesopotamia in 1917.
No. 3067 Dafadar Sant Singh, village Bhadsali, Tahsil
Una, has recently been awarded the Indian Distinguished
Service Medal for gallantry in France. He was in charge of a
telephone in action under heavy shell and trench mortar fire.
The trench was blown in on top of him and the telephone.
He then moved the telephone further down the trench.
The trench was again blown in, the telephone buried, and he
himself severely wounded. He endeavoured to keep
communication to the last.
Hoshiarpur Darbar
Noble deeds like these deserve to be commemorated
in the district " roll of honour " and to be told throughout
the district to inspire young men with the love of honour.
The first names on that roll should be those of the distinguish-
ed Mutiny veterans, among them Subadar Kahan Singh,
Rajput of Dharmgal, Una Tahsil, whose presence here to-day
we all welcome as a a indication of the loyal services rendered
by the men of Hoshiarpur in the dark days of the Mutiny
and as a proof of the consideration shown by Government
to those who have loyally served it. But it is not only
honour that a military career now brings. Government
fully recognises that the men whom it calls to the colours
have to think not only of the service of their King and
country, but also of the maintenance of themselves and their
families.' Hence, since the war began it has steadily
improved the pay and pension of the soldier, and the mate-
rial advantages of the army are now great. You have had
eloquent testimony of this from the Indian officers who
addressed you to-day. A bonus of Bs. 50 is given to each
combatant recruit, Es. 10 on enrolment and the remaining
Es. 40 immediately he is passed by the medical officer of his
regiment. Once he joins the colours he receives clothing
free, in addition to his pay. He can. if he wishes, save
practically all his pay, and the Indian officers here present
show you to what honour and comfort he can rise. I am
told that in Eawalpindi and Jhelum the remittances sent
home by men with the colours amount in each case to over
20 lakhs per annum, or more than double the land reve-
nue of those districts. In talking to brave men it would
perhaps be an insult to refer to the risk of a soldier's life,
and all I will say is that the dangers of military service, even
during a war, are in these days little more than those of civil
life. The explanation is that the soldier is well fed, well
clad and well looked after because his life is valuable.
Epidemic disease, such as plague or cholera, is not allowed
to approach the lines in which he lives. If wounded or
invalided his future maintenance is secured by a pension for
life, and if he gives up his life for his King and country his
family is provided for. The soldier's life is thus not without
material compensation. Of the honour and glory that
every soldier may win I have already spoken. All do not
have the same opportunities, and there is many a hero who
does not win a hero's crown. But whoever plays a man's
part in this mighty struggle knows that he will leave behind
H
him in his family a memory that they will prize as the most
precious of heirlooms for all the generations that are to come.
And to those who cannot take part in the actual struggle I
would say : — " Strain every nerve to obtain recruits — to keep
the fighting line unbroken. To-day's Darbar is proof that
Government will not forget your services. Let it mark
the beginning of a new effort which will bring you new
rewards, and which will not be relaxed till it has carried us
on to final victory."
95
17 — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Gurdaspur on
the 2nd February 1918.
I now turn to the main object for which I have come
here to-day. As you are well aware for the last If years
victory has steadily followed the British Flag in every theatre
of War — France, Belgium, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia
and East Africa. But the failure of some of our Allies has
thrown a heavier responsibility on the British Empire, which
now has 50 lakhs of men in the field and 5 lakhs in the fleet
that holds the seas. We are now at the extreme crisis of the
war, when we must exert our strength to the utmost if we are
to achieve a speedy victory and a lasting peace. The part
that India, and specially our own Punjab, has played, and
is playing, in this tremendous conflict is patent to the world.
This district too has not been behind hand, but what I want
you to ask yourselves is whether you are doing all you can
and all you should to further the great purpose. Let us look
at the recruiting returns. There are 144,000 men of military
age in the district. On the 1st of January 1918 Gurdaspur
had 8,776 men in the Indian Army, or 1 in every 16. The
number is double what it was a year ago, and I gratefully ac-
knowledge the efforts of all who have helped to produce that
result. But are you aware that in Jhelum and Eawalpindi
1 young man in every 4 is in the army, in Eohtak and Attock
1 in every 7, in Ludhiana and Gujrat 1 in 8, while in your
next door neighbour Amritsar, as in Gurgaon, the number
is 1 in every 10. Gurdaspur is eighth in population, but only
twelfth in respect of the number of soldiers contributed to
the army. What you can do was shown in August last
when the district provided 691 men, but in September the
number dropped to 324 ; in October it was 328 ; in November
310 ; and though in December it rose to 377, eleven districts
surpassed that number. I am aware that the heavy rains,
which caused so much fever and delayed agricultural opera-
tions, were mainly responsible for the falling off. But the
unfavourable conditions have now happily passed away,
and I look with confidence to you to retrieve your position
96
2nd February 1918.
in the coining months. Some may ask why they should
take a hand in this war, which is being waged so far from
their doors. My answer is this — you are concerned in this
\var as citizens of the British Empire which drew the sword,
in the first instance, on behalf of Belgium whose freedom not
only Britain but also Germany had sworn to protect. The
sword cannot be sheathed till we have righted the wrong
done to Belgium and other small nations and secured a
real guarantee that treaties shall be respected, that right
shall rule against might among the nations, and that the
world shall be freed from the constant threat of German '
aggression. But it is not merely as citizens of the
Empire that you are concerned. India has an immediate
interest in the overthrow of Germany and her Allies, as great
an interest as Belgium, or Serbia or Rouonama, although,
thanks to the prowess of our armies in Mesopotamia and
Palestine and to the power of the Navy, the threat has been
kept far from your doors.
That this is no empty warning is proved by the words
of the German Emperor which have recently been published
by a German journalist, words spoken — mark you — not in
the heat of conflict, but nearly two years before the war,
when he was nominally our friend :—
' We (that is, we Germans) shall not merely occupy
India. We shall conquer it ; and the vast revenues which
the British allow to be taken by Indian Princes will after
our conquest flow in a golden stream to the Fatherland."
If the Indian Princes were thus to be robbed, what
would be the fate of the Indian people ? Need I say more ?
Recall the massacres of the Hereros in South- West Africa,
the cruelties perpetrated on all Germany's subject races,
the insult offered to the Indian Army by the German General
in China in presence of Maharaja General Sir Partab Singh,
and you will understand what the Kaiser means by (l con-
quest " and what would be your fate if the Germans came
to India.
Gentlemen, you whom I address are mostly educated
men to whom much of what I have said must be familiar.
It is on you I rely to bring this position home to the public
and stir them up to a sense of their duty to their sovereign
whom they are bound to honour and obey, and to their coun-
try which it is their first duty to protect. The people of the
Punjab have never failed to respond to such an appeal, and
people of Gurdaspur are second to none in loyal and martial
97
Gurdaspur Darbar
traditions. If you Raises, Sirdars, Zaildars and Sufedposhes
enlist your own sons, as many I am glad to hear are doing,
the others will follow. If they still hang back, speak to
them of duty and dharm, of the obligation in every sacred
book, the Quran, the Granth Sahib, the Shastras and the
Bible, to fight for their King in a worthy cause. If they
plead the strangeness of the military life tell them that they
will be among their own comrades and will make new friends.
If they are in doubt about the terms of service, tell them
of the generous bonus on enlistment, the free food and cloth-
ing, and the excellent pay almost every anna of which they
can save, of the pensions for themselves and their families,
of the promotion and honours that await loyal service as
exemplified by the scores of retired Indian Officers whose
uniforms and decorations add splendour to this Darbar
and point to the soldiers of Jhelum and Rawalpindi who are
sending home 40 lakhs of rupees in a year. There will be
others whoso imagination you can fire by telling them of thu
brave deeds done by men of their o\vn elan or district. To
such you can repeat tales of exploits such as these :—
. No. 822 Bugle-Major Surain Singh, village Muridke,
Tahsil Batala, was aAvarded the Indian Order of Merit for
conspicuous gallantry during the action at Saihan, Mesopo-
tamia, on the 13th Novr. 1914, in going forward in the face
of heavy fire and setting fire to a building held by the enemy.
No. 1576 Lance-Naik Bachitar, village Paltui, Tahsil
Shakargarh, wTas awarded the Indian Distinguished Service
Medal, for gallantry in action in Mesopotamia in 1917. When
his Lewis gun was put out of action by a shell, he joined
a bombing party and bombed the enemy's communication
trench. When the supply of bombs was running short he
went back on several occasions under intense fire and
brought up more bombs to the bombing party.
No. 14*2!» Niiik Bhagat Singh, village Guniya, Tahsil
Batala, was awarded tlio Indian Distinguished Service Medal
for gallantry in Mesopotamia in 1917. He was in an ob-
servation post in the front line and volunteered to go forward
during daylight to discover if the enemy's line was still held.
He found it deserted and pushed forward to the second line
and found that also evacuated. The information gained
was of the greatest military value.
No. 2240 Havildar Dal Singh, village Manian, Tahsil
Batala, NYUS awarded the Indian Distinguished Service Medal
06
2nd Febniary 1918.
for gallantry in Mesopotamia in 1916. When all British
and Indian Officers had been killed or wounded, he rallied
-the remnants of his double company and maintained I ho light
until finally ordered to withdraw under cover of darkness.
No. 4439 Sepoy Atma Singh, village Baholewali, Tahsil
Batala, was awarded the Indian Distinguished Service Medal
for gallantry in Mesopotamia in 1916. He volunteered
to take an important message under heavy fire although he
had just seen a man wounded in attempting to do so. He
himself was badly wounded in getting the message through.
These men are all Sikhs and Rajputs — races that have
never been backward in giving their lives for the Sarkar.
Though a minority in the district, they have supplied the
bulk of your soldiers. But I look to them to make even
greater efforts, and I am confident that stimulated by
the example of such men as Rasaldar Gopal Singh of
Bhagowal, who is doing such splendid work as Honorary
Assistant Recruiting Officer, of Chaudhri Mehr Singh and
Chaudhri Kesar Singh, Rajput, who have both iweiveri
Swords of Honour to-day, and of others whom Mr. King
has mentioned, they will do so. At the same time I appeal
to the other tribes to seize an opportunity which will never
recur to do khidmat and thereby laise their izzat. History
will show that service in this war is not a burden to be
avoided but an honour to be sought, ana I believe this is
alieady being realised.
I am glad to hear that the Samis have furmsh< d a Double
Company for the 21st Punjabis, and it has been a great
pleasure to me to present a Sword of Honour to L. De\\ an
Chand who has been mainly responsible for this result ;
but this tribe has not come forward as was hoped for in the
last four months, and I trust that their effort has not been
spent. Among the Musalmans, the Jats, Kakezais, Arains
and Rajputs have done fairly well though they are much
behind the Sikhs and Hindu Rajputs, while the other tribes
of the district, Hindu ana Muhammadan, have so far done
little. They are letting others defend their honour and reap
the rewaras which they might have won and which are not
even now altogether beyond their grasp. The Military au-
thorities are ready to do all that is possible to make things easy
for you by establishing special companies for various tribes.
A special Company of Muhammadans is being raised for the
72nd, a special Company of Sikhs for the 76th, and even the
Gujars, who have hitherto been so shy of military service
99
Gurdaspur Darbar 2nd February 1918.
in these districls, though their brethren in Gujrat and the
South-Eastern Punjab have come forward in thousands,
will I hope also be offered a special Company if they will
provide the men. Will they let it be said that the Gurdas-
pur Gujars have big bodies but small hearts ?
I was glad to hear from Mr. King that so meny Eaises,
Zaildars, Sardars and others have rendered valuable assist-
ance. It was a great pleasure to me t j show in the Gujran-
wala Darbar last August and also to-day that Government
is not slow to reward such services by the grant of titles,
khillats, sanads and land. The zail which has produced
most recruits is the Birhe Zail, the number enlisted being
'294. The Zaildar, Achchar Singh, deserves to be congratu-
lated, and to-day ho has not only received a sanad and khillat
but al«o a grant of two squared of land. Only seven zails
have so far produced as many as 200 re emits each ; they are
all in the Batola Tahsil, which has the advantage of a long
standing connection with the army, but 1 hope soon to hear
that other zails in otl^er tahsils have done equally well.
The Commissioner has selected for special mention
Hakim Singh, Lambardai of Bhanri, Puran Singh of Dheri-
wala and Subedar Nabi Bakhsh, who have so meny near
relations serving in the army. All honour to these families
who have shown the spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotism
which is never wanting in the Punjab when the need arises.
When a district " Roll of Honour " is prepared the
name of Subedar Nabi Bakhsh should be given first place,
for not only is he a mutiny veteran — one of the few now
left — but he has given further proof that he has eaten the
salt of the Sarkar by giving three of his four sons to the
army. His example should stimulate all, but specially
his Muhammadan brethren.
I would once more appeal to you, Gentlemen, assembled
here, and through you to those whom you represent. Many
of you have already bestirred yourselves as to-day's list of
awards shows, but vtry much more can and should be done,
and your own Hindi proverb — turat dan mahan pun — tells
you that it should be done quickly. On you will the main
responsibility rest if the people fail to respond to the call,
to you will be the honour and credit if Gurdaspur does its
duty.
It only remains for me to join in your hope that within
the next year, with God's blessing, we may attain that peace
with victory which we all pray for.
100
18— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Multan on the
16th February 1918.
The Commissioner has claimed that the districts of the
Division in proportion to their me?ns are second to none in
supporting the War Loan and all War charities. I gladly
recognise the justice of this claim. The five districts rep-
resented here to-day have invested 57 lakhs in the War
Loan, Lyallpur being second in the Province with 35 lakhs.
They have also subscribed 7 lakhs to various War and Relief
Funds;. the contribution of nearly 2J lakhs to the "Our
Day" Fund was particularly generous, and I am glad of the
opportunity of acknowledging their patriotism and public
sphit. And now I appeal to you to display the same quali-
ties of patriotism and public spirit in another and even moro
important sphere. As you are aware the main object of
my visit here to-day is to stimulate your energies in the
matter of recruitment. A little over a year ago at a Darbar
held at Montgomery I pointed out that while the rest of the
Province was coveting itself with glory by its splendid res-
ponse to tht call of the King-Emperor, the Multan Division
alone was standing out. To give you an oppoitunity of
proving your manhood and loyalty I then announced that
as a beginning your Commissioner wras being asked to raise
a battalion from tha South-West Punjab. The Commis-
sioner has told us that half a battalion was raised by
August of last year, and I have just had the pleasure of
inspecting a Guard of Honour from the regiment in which it
is embodied, the 2-56th Rifles. I congratulate Colonel Ames
and the officers of the regiment on the soldierly bearing and
the fine physique of the men. The battalion has been raised
in Multan, and Colonel Ames and you and I look to it to
maintain the traditions of the Punjab Frontier Force to
which it belongs as well as of the Multan Division which it
now represents. But the Division has supplied little more
than half a battalion even now, and for the last three months
of 1917 the numbers have showed little increase. Men are
101
Darbar
coming in only by hundreds where wo had every reason to
expect thousands. What little has been achieved has be en
due in the main to the energy of Colonel Powney Thompson
who has been assisted by Khan Bahadur Muhammaci Zafar
Khan and also by Khan Sahib Makhdum Sayad Sher Shah.
1 tender them my hearty thanks. I trust that it will not
be long before the battalion is completed, and ready to take
the field. To do that it is necessary that every man should
fit himself by training and discipline to maintain the credit
of his tribe, his district and his regiment. Colonel Ames'
task is a very difficult on* ; it has been rendered more difficult
by occasional desertions. Desertions will cease if public
opinion will brand the deserter as a traitor to his King and a
disgrace to his class. That is whai he is, and our object in
raising this battalion will not be fulfilled unless every man
who joins it realises that once he dons the uniform and eats
the salt of the Sarkar, he must, be true to that salt and fit
himself as quickly as possible to fight the battles of his Kin^
and country. And DOW let me give you some figures to
show what your division as. a whole is doing. You have
643,000 men of fighting age, more than any Division except
Lahore. On the 1st January 1915, shortly after the war
broke out, there were only 463 combatants in the Indian
Army. At the beginning of 1916, the total number, comba-
tants and non-combatants, came to only 856 ; on 1st Janu-
ary 1917 it was 2,898 and at the beginning of the present
year it was only 5,734. Of these 2,790 belonged to Lyallpur.
The remaining five districts had supplied between them only
1,500 combatants and about the same number of non-comba-
tants, chiefly Sarwans. Compare your few thousands with
the 83,000 furnished by the Pindi Division, the 49,000 fur-
nished by Ambala, the 48,000 from Jullundur, and the 42,000
from Lahore. I am sure that no loyal and self-respecting
man of this Division can contemplate those figures without
some feeling of shame, but I trust that the feeling of shame
will give way to a determination to wipe off the stain, while
there is still time. I am glad to learn that a good beginning
has been made in the present year — in January the number
of recruits for the Division was 359 ; in the first half of Feb-
ruary it has been 376 ; and I can see no reason why, if all
realize their responsibilities, jrou should not quadruple
the present numbers during the year 1918. Your neigh-
bours in Bahawalpur began active recruiting only two
months ago, and though the population of the State is less
102
16tb February 1918.
than that of the Mult an District, ia January they raised 341
recruits, or as many as your whole Division. Surely the
men of Multan will not let it be said that Bahawalpur has
surpassed them in active loyalty and courage. I am appeal-
ing to you to give proof of those qualities not so much in
the interest of Government as in the interest of your own
good name. The thousands of men you may be able to
supply will not turn the scale in this war of millions, but I
do not want it to be said hereafter that any part of the
Punjab shirked its duty in this crisis and therefore before I
lay down my office 14 months hence I hope to see a total
of at least 15,000 men upholding the honour and credit of
the Multan Division in the army. This is a very modest
demand. The Rawalpindi Division, with a male population
15 per cent, less than yours, had 83,000 men in the army on
the 1st January of this year and gave no less than 25,000
men in the past year. You should have no difficulty in
finding at least 15,000 men by the end of the present year.
The districts of Rawalpindi and Jhelum have already given
one man in four of fighting age : is it too much to ask you
to give less than one man in forty ? Since the war broke out
the Punjabi Muhamrnadans, who form about one-thirtieth
of the population of India, have supplied nearly a fifth of
the total number of recruits. Are the men of the South-
West Punjab to go on leaving it to their brothers in the Rawal-
pindi, Lahore and Jullundur Divisions to achieve this proud
position, while they themselves sit idle at home. And now
I will say a few words about the different districts. Lyallpur
has furnished half the fighting men enlisted from this Divi-
sion, but those men are almost entirely colonists from other
Divisions, not South-Western Punjabis. The original in-
habitants of the district, however, have kept the four Grantee
Camel Corps up to strength and have produced some 1,800
Sarwans, but I am sorry to hear that even in this respect
the Kharrals, in spite of their good physique and pride of
race, have remained aloof and proved themselves in Lyallpur
as in Montgomery and Jhang useless to the Sarkar in time
of need. Let them now wipe out the blot on their name
and show themselves the manly race which they claim to be.
The only class in Lyallpur that has done well is the Indian
Christians whose battalion I had the pleasure of inspecting
at Ferozepore last August. Most of those men were formerly
humble menials, the servants of the zamindars, but they
have realised that khidmat brings izzat and they can now
103
Multan Darbar
hold up their heads for they have shown that they are
men.
Xext to Lyallpur comes Montgomery with a total con-
tribution of 1,014 on 1st January, but of these only 346
were in the combatant ranks. No tribe has done well, but
the Bhattis can at least claim to top the list in the number of
recruits supplied. The Kathias, like the Kharrals, have
deliberately stood aloof, and I would remind them that their
honourable position in the district must be justified by proof
of active loyalty.
There are redeeming incidents which encourage me to
hope that the people of Montgomery may still prove that they
have the right spirit in them. One such case is that of the
Aram family of Burj Jewe Khan, the head of which Chiragh
Din has sent 6 of his relations to the 2-56th Rifles. Another
is that of the Maneke Wattus who were the first zarnindars
of the district to enlist.
After Montgomery comes Multan with 759 men in the
army, of whom only 230 are combatants. These have nearly
all been raised in the last year and belong mainly to the
2-56th Rifles. Multan has at present the unenviable distinc-
tion of supplying fewer men to the combatant ranks than any
other district in the Punjab. I know that the Raises and
people of Multan have never been lacking in loyalty, but
unfortunately they are for various reasons slow to express
it in the form of military service, and I regret that the inertia
and — I hesitate to pronounce the word — the timidity of the
people have not yet been overcome. Timidity ! The
Multanis of 70 years ago who fought under Edwardes and
those who 9 years later rallied to the side of Government
in the Mutiny, would turn in their graves at & charge of
timidity. Will their grandsons by their inactivity in this
crisis admit the charge ? Surely not. I know the Raises
of Multan. I can claim among them many personal friends.
I know that though slow to move their spirit is willing and
their hearts are loyal, and 1 believe that all that is required
is that their influence and efforts should be properly orga-
nized and directed. That I am glad to think is now being
done. Mr. Dunnett, your Deputy Commissioner, before
coming here initiated recruiting operations in Hissar with
the result that in December the Hissar District broke the
recruiting record for all India by furnishing over 1,800
recruits. He has now put his hand to the task of organiz-
16th February 1918.
*p
ing the Multan District and already the returns of enlist-
ments for January exceed those of any previous month,
while February promises to be even better.
Muzaffargarh with only 387 men and Jhang with 366
bring up the rear of the districts represented to-day in Dar-
bar and also of the Province. In Jhang the people who have
done best are the Akla Hayats and Nur Mahrams, tribes
who have in the past had a bad name for preying on their
neighbours, but who have now seized the opportunity of
winning a good name and of putting their neighbours to
shame. The Sanghas of Jhang have also done well in giving
50 per cent, of their men of recruitable age.
- The Commissioner has explained the reasons why the
Division has so far held back — the absence of any recent
military traditions and of military connections, prejudice
against leaving home, and the fact that there is ample land
to absorb your energies. Similar difficulties have occurred
elsewhere, and they have been overcome, as I hope they will
be overcome here. I would remind you that 25 years ago
the Muhammadans of the Northern Punjab were but poorly
represented in the Indian Army. They might have put
forward the same excuse you put forward to-day (Fauji
mulazimat ki adat nahin). At the present time they are
the strongest element in the Indian Army, of which they
furnish over a fifth. The Muhammadans ofHhese parts
surely have not forgotten the stirring times in which their
grandfathers' lived when the Pathans and the ?ikhs kept
great armies at Multan and when Cureton's famous regiment
of Multanis was raised. Have they forgotten the words
spoken to Husain Khan Langah, a ruler of Multan in the
15th Century, by his Wazir, on his return from Ahmedabad —
1 India may be the country of riches, yet Multan can boast
of being a country of men." Have the people of Jhang
forgotten the military exploits of the Sials, of Walidad Khan,
Inayat Ullah and above all of the spirited lady Niamat
Khatun, who compelled even Maha Singh, father of the
Lion of the Punjab, to abandon his intention of attacking
the Sials in Jhang ? • And are the Sials ignorant of what
is now being done by the gallant tribes with whom they claim
kinship — the Tiwanas of Shahpur and the Ghebas of Attock ?
The men of Muzaffargarh gave willing assistance to the Gov-
ernment in the time of the Mutiny when they guarded the
fords over the Chenab and patrolled the country between
105
Multan Darbar
that river and the Indus. The tribes of Montgomery have
at least the reputation of being warlike, and now is their
chance of justifying it and of wiping out the memory of
their rebellious conduct in 1857 by serving the SarTear whom
they then defied in vain. Nor is the want of connection
with particular regiments any longer a just excuse as the
presence of the 2-56th here and of the 1-1 24th at
Montgomery proves. If you are strongly attached to your
homes I call your attention to the significant passage in the
address that has been read to-day : ' We have lain in the
path of almost every conqueror and we have suffered ac-
cordingly," to the further statement, " to-day we enjoy
complete security from external violence," and I ask will
you not stand by the Sarkar that has created your prosperity
and makes possible the peaceful enjoyment of your homes ?
There is no part of the Province for which Government has
done and is prepared to do so much. Before your eyes and
mine the arid -deserts of Lyallpur and Jhang have been
changed from Jongal into " Mangal, and now form the
granary of Northern India. That miracle has been wrought
in this generation by the Chenab Canal. A similar trans-
formation has been and is till being effected in Montgomery
and Multan by the Sidhnai and the Lowrer Bari Doab Canals,
and great schemes for further canal extensions in Multan
and parts of Jhang and Muzaffargarh are being worked out
and will in time undoubtedly attain realisation. These works
are bringing wealth and ease to hundreds of thousands who
thirty years ago found life a very hard affair, liberal grants
of land in the new colony have been made to the leading
men of the Division in recognition of their position and past
services. Are they unable to render the assistance expected
of them in the present crisis, unable to follow in the footsteps
of their ancestors of sixty years ago, unable to show that
active loyalty which has been their pride in tt^past, and
which is one of the conditions of their new grants ? The
Commissioner has told us that with few exceptions the lead-
ing men of the Division have not put forward their own rela-
tions for military service. How can they expect others to
listen to their exhortations to serve ? How can they expect
Government to continue its favours to men who do not meet
their obligations when the time for re.al service arrives ?
Once they have put forward their own relations, they will
then be able to co-operate effectively with the district
authorities in placing before the people the duty and ad-
106
16th February 1918.
vantages of military service. Its advantages may be realised
from the fact that the soldiers of Rawalpindi and Jhelum
are sending home twenty lakhs yearly out of their liberal
pay and allowances.
War is a great calamity, but it is also a supreme test. I
would ask all here to-day to look forward to the time when
the war is over and to consider what their position will then
be. Who are the men who enjoy the greatest izzat and
hold the most substantial rewards ? Are they not those
whose fathers rallied to the side of the Sarkar in the Mutiny?
Those of you who have received honours and khillats and
sanads to-day in recognition of your services — and I wish
the number had been greater — will carry away with you
the proof that you have done your duty and done it well.
Similar recognition awaits those who will come forward
ere it is too late, for in the future, as in the past, honour and
rewards will go first to those who show themselves mindful
of their obligations. But apart from the dignity and re-
wards which Government can bestow, I would ask you to
consider your position among youi ^fellows if in this time of
war you have failed to quit yourselves like men.
Look round 'this Darbar. It is our privilege to welcome
here Indian officers, back from the front, representing some
of the most distinguished regiments in the Indian Army.
Among them are Sardars from the 14th and 45th Sikhs, the
55th and 58th Rifles, the 10th and 27th Cavalry. Who are
these men who have been fighting the King's enemies and
your enemies in France, Egypt, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia ?
They are your Punjabi brethren. Sikhs, Dogras, Khattaks,
Jats, Punjabi Muhammadans, and among them I am
particularly glad to see representatives of that gallant regi •
ment, the 14th Sikhs, which won for itself undying glory in
Gallipoli on 4th June 1915. Those men have been fighting
your battles hitherto. Can you look them in the face
and say that they shall go on fighting your battles till the
end? '
I am confident that you are not the men to accept a
position so humiliating. £ut if vou are to justify yourselves
you must set about it at- once and in real earnest. I am glad
to note the signs of an awakening. I trust that though late
in the field the Multan DivisioD will yet show itself not un-
worthy of the Province which in this war more than ever
107
Multan Darbar 16th February 1918.
before has justified its claim to the proud title, the sword
arm of India.
We are, I hope, in the last year of the war. I ask
you to seize this opportunity so that you may be able to
claim a share in the final victory, which under God's pro-
vidence is assured.
108
19— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Go vernor at a Darbar held at Dera Ghazi Khan
on the 18th February 1918.
At the Darbar held here in 1915 I pointed out that the
army offered an honourable career to all and particularly
to those who found it difficult to earn a livelihood in their
homes, and 1 said'lTiat I should be glad to see the district
taking its share in meeting the demand for recruits. It is
true that you have not in the past been accustomed to serve
in the Indian Army and at the outbreak of war there were
less than a score of men from Dera Ghazi Khan in its ranks.
You slept away 1915 and 1916, ana the year 1917 opened
with only 40 men from this district in the army. A special
appeal for recruits was made in 1917, and by the end of the
year the number had risen to 418, of whom practically all
were combatants, and the latest figures gave a total of 640.
The improvement though slow is steady, and perhaps justifies
me in sharing your confidence that in time the Baloches,
Jats and Pathans of this district will come forward in some
proportion to their numbers and martial traditions. But
you will realise how inadequate the present numbers are
from the following figures : —
Number of Number
males. enlisted.
Baloches .. .. 115,000 450
Jats .. .. 77,000 140
Pathans .. .. 7,000 51
In the Kawilpindi Division, which adjoins you, one man
m every seven of fighting ege is now serving in the Indian
Army. In the adjoining North- West Frontier Province
one man in nine of the Pathan population* is with the
colours. Here in Dera Ghazi Khan you have given so far
only one man out of 150.
1 realise the difficulties of recruiting among a simple
and home-loving people who though brave and Joyal have
hitherto had no military connections or traditions. I admit
109
Dera Ghazi Khan Darbar
the good work you are performing by protecting 250 miles
of your own border. But with all this I am not satisfied,
that you have fully discharged your duty in this great crisis
and now that a beginning had been made, I ani sure you will
not rest content till the results are more worthy of a race
which rightly prides itself on its courage and its loyalty.
To the small results hitherto achieved the Sori Lunds,
the Mazaris, Legharis, Drishaks and Nutkanis have mainly
contributed, while the Bozdars, Kasranis, Gurchanis and
Khosas have so far been the most backward.
Most of the recruits have gone to form a Double Com-
pany in the 3- 124th Balochis at Karachi, and the fact that
the regiment is commanded by Colonel Holbrook, who
served so long in this district and whom we are all glad to
see here to-day, is a guarantee that your jawans will meet
with kind and considerate treatment. One encouraging
feature is that members of the Chiefs' families are beginning
to come forward. Sardar Hamidullah Kharv nephewr of
Nawab Sir Bahrain Khan, who originally enlisted in the
Punjabi Brigade Signal Section, is now a Jemadar in the
3-1 24th Balochis, and will, I am confident, uphold the name
and traditions of his family. A cousin of the Leghari Chief
is also a Jemadar, and offers of service have been received
from the eldest sons of the Bozdar and J£asrani Chiefs. I
• hear that some 30 men of the Btiloch Levy following the
excellent example of their Subedar-Major Nur Muhammad
Khan have volunteered for the army, and I congratulate
them on their patriotic decision. All honour to those who
led the way. Among these the first was Khan Muhammad
Khan, Khosa Leghari, Zaildar of Mamuri, who sent his son
and eight of his neighbours to the 10th Lancers, where they
have turned out so well that I hear the Commanding Officer
would like to have a troop of them Examples like these
should inspire all classes, Tumandars and tribesmen, Jats
and Pathans, with a similar spirit of patriotism. The Tuman-
dars have recently received liberal grants of land from the
Sarkar in the Ijower Bari Doab Colony in recognition of their
position and past services. Those grants are conditional
on active loyalty, and I am confident that they will give
proof of this by redoubling their efforts to raise recruits
from among their tribes. The Deputy Commissioner tells
me that the assistance given by the Mukaddams is less
than it should be, and that some of them imagine they have
discharged their duty when they have offered service in
110
18th February 1918.
their own homes. The defence of the fiontier is no doubt
important, but your Pathan neighbours in the North- West
Frontier Province are performing the same duty and also
giving onQJawan in every nine to the greater task of defend-
ing the Empire. T expect the Tumandars to make the
Mukaddams and all their tribesmen understand that it is their
duty to provide men for the army which, whether ifc is right-
ing in Egypt or Palestine or Mesopotamia, is in reality defend-
ing the frontiers of India. Let me quote the words addressed
by His Excellency the Viceroy to the Baluchistan Chiefs
at his visit to Quetta in October 1917 — " When I was told
that the martial races of Biluchistan still remain but scantily
represented in the army my surprise was almost as great
as my regret. I recognise and gladly acknowledge the
manly part your Frontier Province plays in standing guard
like a faithful sentinel at one of the gates of India. I recog-
nise the sparseness of your population and the other difficul-
ties peculiar to Baluchistan. B\it I trust, that you will now
set yourselvts in earnest to devise means to secure a more
adequate representation of Baluchistan in His Majesty's
Forces." Those words apply with equal force to you. In
answer to His Excellency's appeal no less than 500 recruits
were produced by Baluchistan in the second fortnight of
January. Are you contented to stand aside when your
neighbours in Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier Pro-
vince and the Punjab, are coming forward in thousands to
fight for a cause which is as much youis as theirs. To this
day your bards sing the deeds of the great Baloch wariiors
of the past. Their song hereafter will be hushed in very
shame if you do not now show yourselves worthy of your
fathers. But the call to arms is not for the Balochis only.
The Jats and Pathans of this district are equally subjects
of the Sarkar and equally bound by their duty to obey the
call of duty and to follow the example of their brethren in
other districts and to prove that the Jat and the Pathan
are still men."
So far I have appealed to you in the name of your duty
to the Sarkar and of the call of honour, claims which a loyal
and manly people are quick to admit. But the material
advantages which a military career now offers are substan-
tial. They may not be so well known in this district as in
the rest of the Punjab, and I will repeat what I have said
elsewhere. A bonus of Rs. 50 is given to each combatant
recruit, Rs, 10 on enrolment and the remaining Rs. 40 as
111
Dera Ghazi Khan Darbar 18th February 1918.
soon as he is passed fit by the Medical Officer of his regiment.
The soldier receives his clothing and food free at the hand
of the Sarkar. He can save practically all his pay, ana it is
said that in Rawalpindi and Jhelum as much as 20 lakhs a
year are sent home by soldiers of those districts. You can
imagine what a difference such a yearly income would
make in a poor district. The soldier is carefully guarded
against disease ; if disabled by wounds 01 illness he receives
a substantial pension, and if he loses his life on service—
and more lives were lost in this district in the recent malaria
epidemic than in the 3 years' campaign in Mesopotamia—
his family is not forgotten. The man who does his duty
well and has ability, can rise to the commissioned ranks and
establish his own izzat and that of his family for good. Those
who mays not wish to serve on in the army can take their
discharge six months after the end of the war and return
to their homes if they have been on service, with a medal on
their breasts to show that they have done their duty as brave
men. And finally Government has set apart 178,000 acres
in the Lower Bari Doab Colony as rewards to those whom the
Military authorities select as having rendered specially dis-
tinguished service. The honour, Millats and sanads which
I have distributed to-day prove that Government is not
slow to recognise those who have served it in times of need,
and I trust that your response to my appeal to-day will
justify even more ample recognition before the year is over.
We are now, there is reason to believe, in the last year of the
war, and if you are to play a part in it worthy of your fore-
fathers, worthy of your name, you must come forward
without delay, so as to share in the final struggle and in the
credit of the final victory.
112
20— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant
Governor at a Darbar held at Amritsar on the
17th April 1918.
The bulk of the Indian Army is recruited from the
Punjab ; and there is no district in India more famous as a
recruiting ground than yours, pre-eminently the home of
the Manjha Sikh. Even before the war practically every
regiment which enlists Sikhs drew on this district for recruits ;
for had not the exploits of the Khalsa Armies under the
Sikh Government made this tract renowned as the home
of brave men ? But the demands of this world- wide war
have created a new situation ; a year ago Amritsar was
called on to put forth increased effort ; and it is a great sa-
tisfaction to me to be able to come here to-day and to show
Government's recognition of what this district has hitherto
done. In July last it raised the splendid total of 1,095 men ;
in no month has the return fallen below 500 ; and the average
is just under 600. It is no surprise, then, to find that Amrit-
sar stands fourth in the number of men serving in the army
on the 1st January last ana fourth in the number recruited
last year, viz., 5,969. It is estimated that at the end of
last month Amritsar had 16,500 men serving with the colours,
of whom over 80 per cent, are fighting men, many of them
winning renown in the armies which are defending India
on the plains of Flanders and France, among the hills of
Palestine, or in the deserts of Mesopotamia, where 700 miles
up the river from Basra a fortnight ago our gallant British
and Indian troops wiped out a Turkish Army capturing
over 5,000 prisoners, with a total loss to ourselves of only
250 killed and wounded. The fighting spirit of the Khalsa
still inspires and animates the men of Amritsar. In
this war the district has already won no less than 69
honours and rewards for gallantry in the field, comprising
3 Military Crosses, 7 Orders of British India, 16 Orders of
Merit, 31 Distinguished Service Medals, 8 Meritorious Service
Medals, 1 Kussian Medal of the Order of St. George, 2 Crosses
of the Serbian Order of Karageorge and 1 Serbian Gold
Medal. Of these honours Amritsar Tahsil claims 37, Tarn
Taran 21, and Ajnala 11. Sixty of these honours have fallen
113
Amritsar Darbar
to the Sikh Jats ; one each to an Ahluwalia, a Mazhbi, and
a Brahman ; and four to Muhammadans. It would take
too long to read out the names of all those who have been
honoured ; their names and exploits may be found in the
Gazettes. But I would here mention specially the award
of the Military Cross to Jemadar Sohan Singh, a Jat of Dhari-
wal, in Ajnala, for conspicuous gallantry under heavy fire ;
the award of the Order of Merit to Naik Jhanda Singh, a
Jat of Chamba, in Tarn Taran, for conspicuous gallantry
and devotion to duty in action under heavy fire with a total
disregard of danger when assisting to bring in a wounded
British Officer ; the award of the same Order and the Cross
of Karageorge to Lance-Dafadar Khazan Singh, of Udai-
nangal, in Amritsar, for conspicuous gallantry and resource
in action. He voluntarily swam across a river and success-
fully boarded and captured an enemy boat containing Turks
and Arabs. Deeds of heroism like these show that the spirit
of Saragarhi is still alive among the Sikhs of Amritsar, and
they will, I trust, some day find a place on a district roll of
honour or on a memorial to be raised to those who have
fought and bled for the righteous cause of their King and
country during this war. I spoke just now of the defence
of India in Palestine and Mesopotamia. I have said again
and again publicly that there lies the first line of the defence
of India from German aggression. We know that the
Germans are aiming at India no less than at the other por-
tions of our Empire. We know that they have pursued
their object in the past by intrigue and conspiracy and by
plots to stir up disorder and dissatisfaction in India. Those
plots have failed, but ife is probable that the enemy will now
endeavour to gain his ends by force. In the past Russia
stood in the way of German aggression in Asia. The collapse
of Russia, which fell by its own folly a helpless prey to
anarchy and revolution (such as the Ghadr conspirators sought
to involve this Province in), has not only enabled Germany
to renew her offensive on the west with redoubled vigour,
but has also opened the door to her ambitions in the East.
There is, I need hardly say, not a word of truth in the foolish
rumours that the invasion of India is imminent, and that
serious trouble has already arisen in Baluchistan. The
petty rising of the Marri tribe has been promptly suppressed ;
the Chief and his followers surrendered unconditionally
on the 8th instant ; our troops are already returning ; and
our western frontiers were never more fiee from disturbance
114
17th April 1918,
or more securely guarded than they are to-day. We must,
however, be prepared to repel any possible menace to India
from Germany and her Allies by oui operations beyond the
borders of India — in Palestine, in Mesopotamia, and where-
ever else occasion requires. This is the meaning of the
solemn message which on the 2nd of this month the Prime
Minister of England addressed to His Excellency the Viceroy.
I will read his appeal :—
"Thanks to the heroic efforts of the British Armies,
assisted by their Allies, the attempt of the enemy in the
West is being checked, but if we are to prevent the menace
spreading to the East and gradually engulfing the world,
every lover of freedom and law must play his part. I
have no doubt that India will add to the laurels it has
already won and will equip itself on an even greater scale
than at present to be the bulwark which will save Asia
from the tide of oppression and disorder which it is the
object of the enemy to achieve."
His Excellency the Viceroy has sent the following
reply :-
' Your message comes at a time when all India is
stirred to the depths by the noble sacrifices now being made
by the British people in the cause of the world's freedom and
by the stern unalterable resolution which those sacrifices
evince. India anxious, yet confident, realises to the full the
great issues at stake in this desperate conflict, and your
trumpet call at this crisis will not fall upon deaf ears. I
feel confident that it will awaken the Princes and the
peoples' leaders to a keener sense of the grave danger which,
stemmed in Europe, now threatens to move eastward. I
shall look to them for the fullest effort and the fullest
sacrifice to safeguard the soil of their motherland against all
attempts of a cruel and unscrupulous enemy and to secure
the final triumph of those ideals of justice and honour for
which the British Empire stands."
Gentlemen, speaking for my own Province, I, too,
am confident that this call will not fall upon deaf ears
anywhere in the Punjab, and I look to Amritsar, with its
splendid past record, to lead the way in the central districts.
Amritsar, the centre of the Manjha, now has one man in
every ten of its enlistable population serving in the army ;
but Ludhiana, in the Malwa, has done better, and has one
man in every eight serving ; and Ferozepore is fast making
115
Amritsar Darbar
up leeway. Taking the present, male population of fighting
age in this district at 153,000 the Sikhs roughly number
63,000, the Hindus 20,000, and the Muhammadans 70,000.
On the 31st March, 1918, the number in the army was
roughly—
Sikhs . . 11,290, or more than one in &.
Hindus . . 1,100, or one in 18.
Muhammadans .. 3,900, or one in 17.
Christians . . 250.
But Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Eohtak, Gurgaon, Attock
and Hissar have all given a higher proportion of their
sons. And in response to the appeal that the Empire makes
f >r redoubled efforts I confidently roily on the men of Amritsar
to excel in the future their past efforts. You will see ^hat a
large reserve there is still to be drawn upon, and when I tell
you that in Great Britain nearly one-third of the total male
population is now under aims, 6 million men out of 20
millions, besides the millions occupied on munitions, ship-
building, &c., you will realise how small our sacrifice has been
as compared with theirs. I appeal *to the great martial
clans of the Manjha — the Sindhus, the Gils, the Dhillons, the
Chahils, the Randhawas and Sidhus, who formed the back-
bone of the Armies of the Khalsa - to show the martial
ardour and enthusiasm which distinguished them in the
past. If regard be had to available numbers the Mazhbi
Sikhs have far surpassed the Jats. All honour to the
Mazhbis ; but do the Jat.s view the Cavalry of the Mazhbis
with equanimity ? Can they afford to allow themselves
to be suipassed in loyalty because under the British Crown
they have grown rich and prosperous ?
Here in Amritsar it is appropriate to show how the
Sikhs as a whole have responded to the call. They are less
than 1 per cent, of the population of the Indian Empire,
but since the war began they have furnished 15 per cent,
of the recruits to the Indian Army. That is something to be
proud of specially as before the war they had been drawn
upon more heavily than any other military class.
Now, I turn to the Hindus. They more than any other
community have prospered under the British Government
and have benefited by the vast commerce of which this city
is now the centre. If they had done as well as the Sikhs
they would have supplied 800 men to the combatant ranks
instead of 86. True, some hundreds of Hindus have been
116
17th April 1918.
enlisted as muleteers or non-combatants ; but what have
the Brahmans, the Khatris, wh > claim to be a warrior caste,
and other Hindu tribes done to help their country ? Look
at the Gaur Brahmans of the South-East Punjab. They
had no previous military associations, no previous warlike
traditions, and ye't they have in this war made an undying
name for themselves. Look at the Hindu Jats of Eohtak
and Hissar and the Ahirs of Gurgaon, who. month by month,
have, with unfailing regularity, furnished their hundreds of
young men without regard to the sacrifice involved. Will
not the Hindus of Amritsar make a more determined attempt
to emulate their brethren in these districts ? Those who by
occupation or tradition are unfitted for active service can
at least come forward to join the Indian Defence Force for
which shortly recruiting will be reopened. Last year's
appeal only produced 140 suitable men for the Defence
Force from the whole Province. You will ask how many
of these were from Amritsar ? I regret to say only 11.
Ana now what of the Muhammadans ? In the past
12 months they have woken up and sent 1,404 men into the
fighting line out of a population of 70,000. The Jats and
Rajputs have between them contributed over one-third of
this aggregate and the Arains have here, too, begun to realise
their duty and made some contributions of men since the
new year. I am confident that the recent eloquent appeal
of the leaders of the community will yield good results in the
near future. The other tribes have produced but little.
Look at what the Mussalmans of Rawalpindi, Jhelum and
Attock have done, and are doing. The two former districts
have yielded up more than 25 per cent, of their young man-
hood ; the last-named has given over 14 per cent. Will the
Mussalmans of Amritsar rest content at this crisis with their
present insignificant contribution of 6 per cent. I cannot
believe it : I shall look to see them under the stimulating
example of their leading men and the wise guidance of their
Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Burton, whose efforts have
already begun to bear fruit, rise to a sense of their responsi-
bility and assist in averting from their homes the menace
of foreign aggression by coming forward in their hundreds,
month by month, to join the standard. I realise that for
another month or so the rural classes will be busy in reaping
the fine harvest now ripe for the sickle, and that full results
cannotjbe expected in this period. But I trust that you
will make use of it to organise a great effort for the
117
Amritsar Darbar 17th April 1918.
following months, and I look to all of you gentlemen here
present and to all others who have influence among the
people to make that effort worthy of Amritsar and worthy
of this great emergency. The Sardars and people of Amritsar
have never hitherto failed in their duty to then Government
or to their country whether in providing men to defend both
or in providing money to enable the war to be carried on or
to assist in other ways. I have to-day much pleasure in
acknowledging the generous manner in which this district has
subscribed to the various war funds and the care with which
they have tended the sick and wounded who have been sent
to your finely-equipped war hospital from the campaigns
overseas to recruit their health under the skilful treatment
of your Civil Surgeon, Lieutenant- Colonel Smith.
There is one further matter which I want to impress
upon you here, and that is the obligations imposed on you
of preventing by all means in your power any injury being
done to the interests of absent soldiers who are fighting
on your behalf. It is your duty to protect their honour
and their property, and I confidently look to see you dis-
charge that duty.
118
21 — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Ferozepore on the
19th April 1918.
You have referred to my visit in August last when it
was my unpleasant lot to point out Ferozepore's indiffer-
ence to its duty in providing men for the army which was
defending India from hostile menace and to arouse you to a
sense of your responsibilities. I then appealed to you to
come into line with your neighbours, and reach the standard
of recruiting which other Sikh districts like Ludhiana and
Hoshiarpur had set. I then hoped that when I next paid
Ferozepore a visit I should have the privilege of showing
Government's recognition of your response to the call of
duty and patriotism. Well, Gentlemen, you have given
the response which i expected from the men of Feroze-
por( , and to-day 1 have come here in order to congra-
tulate you on what you have achieved in the last eight
months and to show in some measure Government's recogni-
tion of your efforts. Under the spirited leadership and
untiring efforts of your Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Clarke,
of his officers, and of the many prominent members of various
communities, whose names Mr. Hallifax has specially
mentioned and whose loyal services I gratefully acknow-
ledge, you at once organised yourselves and you set to work
with such a will that Ferozepore, which last August stood
lowest in this Division in the number of recruits to the Indian
Army, had, by the end of the year, raised itself to the second
place, being surpassed only by Hoshiarpur which, as you
remark, had a long start in the race. In January 1917
you were about 20th of the 28 districts of the province in
military service ; to-day you have risen to th( 14th place.
Twice has Ferozepore gained the distinction — earned
by few districts — of exceeding in the month a total of 1,000
recruits, and its monthly average since its awakening has
been well over 600. This achievement, Gentlemen, shows
what organisation and determination can achieve. Out
of an available population of 165,000 you have, since August,
raised nearly 6,000 recruits, and have now nearly 10,000
men, or 1 man in 17, fighting for your country, but you are
still below the average for the whole province and you are
119
Ferozepore Darbar
still a long way behind the Muhammadan districts of Jhelum
and Rawalpindi, where the proportion is 1 in 3 ; the Hindu
districts of Rohtak and Gurgaon, where the ratios are 1 in
7 and 9 respectively, and the neighbouring Sikh districts
of Ludhiana and Amritsar, which have supplied one man
in 7 and 1 in 10.
While, therefore, 1 can congratulate you heartily on
what you have done since August last I would not have
you think, and I am sure that you do not wish to think,
that you can now rest on your oars and cease to put forth
your best efforts. On the contrary, the stirring message
which the Prime Minister of England has addressed to India
and the reply which His Excellency the Viceroy has sent
on India's behalf warn us that the Empire's need is now
greater than ever and that you must increase and multiply
your efforts to keep your hearths and homes secure from the
dangers whicl i menace them. As I said at Amritsar, in France
and Flanders, in Palestine and in Mesopotamia, stand the
gateways to India and it is there that we must repel the
onslaughts of our enemies. How violent these attacks are
the great struggle now proceeding in the West at the present
moment testifies. Reinforced by great masses of men and
material which the collapse of Russia has set free, the
Germans are staking their all on an attempt to roll back the
Allies' lines. The King-Emperor's armies have a great
burden to bear for not only have they in the West to defend
France and Belgium, stiffen the resistance of Italy, and
protect Greece from hostile attack, but in Asia they have to
safeguard India by holding Egypt, and by rolling back the
Turks and their German allies in Palestine and Mesopotamia.
It is in the Asiatic campaign that the Indian Army is doing
such splendid work, ana it is above all the duty of India so
to strengthen those forces as to avert all danger of invasion.
Here I may repeat what I said two days ago at Amritsar
that the rumours of an impending invasion of India are
absolutely groundless, and I would add that we need have
no fear of invasion provided we are strong and ready.
Whenever India wants fighting men she looks first to the
Punjab. We are proud of our pre-eminence and, heavy
though the burden may be, the Punjab has never shrunk
from it.
The statistics put before you to-day prove that there
is Hill great scope for further efforts in Ferozepore, and that
120
19th April 1918.
the burden has not yet been evenly adjusted between tahsils
or communities. The Sikhs, out of 45,000 men of fighting
age, have, up to date given 6,855 men or more than 1 in 7.
I congratulate the Sikhs most heartily, but here, as at
Amritsfr, I should like to see the proportion of Jat Sikhs
as high as that of the Mazhbis. The Muhammadans, out
of 70,000, have given 2,337, or ^1 in 30. The Hindus, out
of 48,000, have given 864, or 1 in 55. Compared with the
Sikhs, who have always had a high military reputation and
an established military connection with the most famous
regiments in the Indian Army, the Muhammadans and
Hindus are at a disadvantage. But they have shown a
remarkable improvement since August last and two-thirds
of the Muhammadans and of the Hindus have been enrolled
since. Now that the initial difficulties have been overcome
and a strong military connection established for the Muham-
madans and Hindus by the efforts of Mr. Clarke I am
confident of much greatei results in the future. Again
comparing tahsils, Moga, which has a strong Sikh population,
comes easily first in thb district ana is, perhaps, one of the
first in the province, with 5,500 men in the army, or 1 in 7.
Ferozepore, although it has a larger population, has furnished
less thao one-fifth the number of men provided by Moga,
viz., l',000. Fazilka, with the largest population of all the
tahsils, has done less than Ferozepore, having roughly 1,400
men, or 1 man in 27 serving. Muktsar with less than 1,000
men, or with 1 in 30, is below Zira, with 1,000 or 1 in 26.
I exhort Moga, which has already made such a name for itself,
to go on doing its duty with the same splendid spirit, and
I want the other tahsils to redouble their efforts and emulate
Moga's example. Of particular tribes I would invite atten-
tion to the fine example set in the last three months by the
Baurias, of whom 134 h&ve enlisted in the last few months.
I was glad to see a fine body of these men lately in the
Sikhs at Lahore Cantonment end t) hear good accounts of
their conduct from their officers. I have had much pleasure
in giving orders that not only men who have enlisted but
,also their nearest relatives are to be exempted from the
operation of the Criminal Tribes Act. T hope that by their
plucky behaviour the Baurias will not only raise the izzat
of their tribe but in time acquire as high a military reputa-
tion as the Mazhbi Sikhs. Even among tribes and classes
who had no military traditions, no connection with the
army, the spirit of military service is now being steadily
121
Ferozepore Darbar
established and they are beginning to realise that in the time
of the Empire's need it is their duty to serve and that khidmat
will bring them lasting izzat.
As your Commissioner has remarked, a soldier's life
is not all danger. You have only to look round on the
number of distinguished military officers, active and retired,
present in this Darbar to see that and to realise that military
service offers an honourable career to all who embrace it.
It also ensures many material advantages. The subtsantial
increases in pay and pensions announced at the beginning
of last year and the grant of free rations to the men are well
known. Further, the rates of batta have been raised and
batta is now drawn by silladar cavalry. Larger and better
accommodation has been provided in lines and quarters,
and in all new lines provision is made for a club for Indian
officers. A scheme for the grant of canal lands provided
by the Punjab Government and other rewards to Indian
soldiers, who have distinguished themselves during the war,
has, moreover, been improved by the Secretary of State.
It is proposed to allot some of these grants of land as soon as
possible, but the main scheme will not come into operation
until after the war, and every man who joins before the end
of the war and distinguishes himself in the field stands a
chance of receiving one. Another beneficial change has
been effected by the revision of the scale of allowances
attached to the Indian Order of Merit, while Indian officers
have been declared eligible for the Military Cross, and the
grant of a special money allowance to accompany this deco-
ration, amounting to Es. 40 per mensem for officers and
Es. 11 for warrant officers, has been sanctioned by the
Secretary of State. Special distinction awaits the leaders
of the great martial tribes who are taking an active part in
raising men for the service of the King-Emperor. At the
Jullundur Darbar a few months ago 1 announced the grant
of the King's Commission to two leading Sikh Sardars of
the Division, Sardar Jasjit Singh Ahluwalia and Sardar
Bahadur Eajinder Singh of Pakhoke, and two days ago at
Amritsar I was privileged to announce the grant of the
King's Commission to nine other gentlemen, viz. : — Sardar
Eaghbir Singh, Sandhanwalia, Nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan
of Kunjpura, Karnal, Eao Bahadur Balbir Singh, Ahir, of
Gurgaon, Khan Sahib Malik Muhammad Akbar Khan,
Jodhre, of Pindigheb, Attock, Khan Sikandar Hayat Khan,
Khattar, of Wah, Attock, Malik Sardar Khan, Nun, 01 Shah-
19th April 1918.
pur, Malik Khizar Hayat Khan, Tiwana, of Kalra, Shahpur,
Malik Muhammd Sher Khan, Tiwana, of Shahpur, and
Chaudhri Damodar Singh of Kawalpindi. Ferozepore does
not figure on the list, but many of your leading men have
received substantial rewards for their services. All here
will congratulate Khan Sahib Gul Muhammad on the grant
of five squares of canal land and the other three gentlemen
who have received two squares epch for their loyal services.
Over and above these I have now the pleasure of announcing
the grant oijagirs of Rs. 250 each to Jemadar Ajit Smgh of
Muktsar, late of the Central India Horse, afid Mehr Jalal Din,
Arain, of Karian, for their special services in recruiting.
You will, I know, like to hear of the honours that the
soldiers of this district have already gained in this war.
They number 45, and comprise 1 Order of British India,
16 Orders of Merit, 23 Distinguished Service Medals, 1 Meri-
torious Service Medal, 1 Cross and 1 Gold Medal of the
Russian Order of St. George, 1 Cross of the Serbian Oraer
of Karageorge, ind 1 Bronze Medal for military valour.
Moga Tahsil has won 33 of these distinctions, Ferozepore
end Zira 5 each and Fazilka and Muktsar 1 each. With
one exception, all thtse honours have gone to Jat Sikhs.
You have just seen, too, a fine body of men of the 14th
(Ferozepore) Sikhs to whom I have had the pleasure of
presenting war badges which they have earned by their
gallant services in Gallipoli and other theatres of the war.
But I am confident that before the war is over the Muham-
madans and Hindus of Ferozepore, who were late in coming
forward, will have proved that they have the same true and
steady Punjab valour as their Sikh brethren, and I am also
sure that the Sikhs, being brave men themselves, will be
the first to rejoice in the honours won by their Muhammadan
and Hindu brethren. It would take too long to 'mention
here all the recipients whose names have been published in
the official Gazettes, but I may mention especially Jamadar
Suba Singh of Sadasinghwala in Moga, who was awarded
the Order of Merit for conspicuous gallantry and devotion
to duty. When in command of a patrol of 9 men he surprised
and engaged 400 of the enemy under German officers.
Although severely wounded he continued to lead his men and
fought with great determination and courage. That is the
true spirit of the Khalsa. Naik Jawand Singh of Dina in
Moga gained the same distinction for great gallantry when
in command of a cable-laying party ; in his* efforts to remove
123
Ferozepore Darbar 19th April 1918.
a wounded man of his party he was himself hit. Lance-
Naik Sohan Singh of Lohgad in Zira also gained the Order
of Merit for conspicuous gallantry and ability in action ;
when his jamadar and havildar had been wounded he assum-
ed command of the men and led them to the final assaults
with great coolness and determination. These heroic deeds
are worthy of special mention, but I venture to say, and I
think everyone in this Darbar will agree with me, that the
four Sikh widowed mothers who have been honoured in
to-day*s Darbar for giving up their sons to fight for tht King-
Emperor have shoVn even greater heroism, and I trust that
their noble example will inspire many others. Now that
Ferozepore has begun to supply its thousands to the army
we shall confidently expect that this roll of honour will be
rapidly added to. For the organisation that has helped
you to the results achieved you have much to thank your
officers, but I would remind you of the proverb ' himmat-e-
mardan madad-e-Khuda ' (God helps those who help them-
selves). The most effective way in which men of influence,
such as you here present, can help is by giving (as Bhai
Takht Singh and others, who have been honoured to-day,
have done) your own relatives, not by purchasing other
peoples. After the next few weeks, when the lull caused
by harvest operations is over, I shall look forward to see
Ferozepore, with its great population, steadily improving
its place among the great recruiting districts in the province.
In population it stands third in the province, in the man-
power supplied to the army it is still only 14th, and you and
I will feel that it has not done its duty fully till it estab-
lishes a much higher place. To those whose occupations
prevent them from joining the combatant forces I would
point out that they have now a further opportunity of joining
the I.D.F.
124
22— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Ambala on the
llth May 1918.
**********
Gentlemen, — This Darbar is primarily concerned with
the question of recruitment. How, thei, does the Ambala
Division stand ? On the 31st March, excluding Simla, you
had 54,000 men serving in the army or 1 man in 11 of fight-
ing age. The proportion is the samf: as in Jullundur but
only half that of Rawalpindi. Eohtak comes 3rd in the
Province in numbers ana Gurgaon 6th : Hissar also has a
fairly good place, but Karnal with a much larger popula-
tion than Rohtak had only 3,400 men in the army against
Rohtak's 18,000, and Ambala with the same population
had only 5,500. In the 15 months ending 31st March
Gurgaon had supplied 8,000 recruits, being surpassed only
by Jhelum : Rohtak had given 7,500, being surpassed only
by Jhelum and Gurgaon : Hissar gave 7,000, standing 6th
iii the Province, while Ambala gave only 2,600 and Karnal
only 2,400. Excluding the Multan Division, which is now be-
ginning to move, Karnal is the worst district in the Province
with only 1 man in 40, and Ambala is also among the worst
with only 1 in 23 in the army. Compare these figures with
those of Rohtak 1 in 7, Gurgaon 1 in 8, and Hissar 1 in 10,
and it will appear how Karnal and Ambala have been put
to shame by their neighbours. I appealed last'auturuu to
these two districts to remove the reproach that they were
not playing in this great war a part worthy of their past
history and their resources. How have they responded
to my call ? Karnal, I am sorry to say, has not yet made
any adequate response, but I am told that the local authori-
ties have now carefully surveyed the position and organized
recruiting on new lines, and I earnestly hope that while
there is still time Karnal will set about doing its duty of
sharing the burden of defending the country and the
Empire.
As I said at Lahore the German menace must be faced :
it is not immediate : but it is none the less real, and if we
are to meet it we must be ready and forearmed. Our need
for men then is immediate. We hope to meet it by the
voluntary system, but time is short : seize it while you may
125
Ambala Darbar
and let it not be said that the failure of districts like Karnal
to do their duty voluntarily compelled Government to adopt
other measures.
Ambala for long showed the same apathy as Karnal,
but during the last 3 months under the vigorous organization
of Captain Trevaskis and the various Civil and Military
Officers, to whom the Commissioner has referred in his speech
and whose good work I gratefully acknowledge, apathy and
indifference have begun to yield to alertness and activity.
For the first 6 mouths after my last Darbar, Ambala produced
in all 934 recruits : in the last 3 months it has raised 1,289
men and has twice headed the Division. Ambala, which
could last July only show a ratio of 1 man in the army to
every available 33, has now a proportion of 1 io every 23.
I would also take this opportunity of congratulating the
Sirmur and Kalsia States on the success with which their
cordial co-operation with the recruiting officers has been
crowned. I am confident that both these States and Arnbala
having put their hands to the plough will not again look
back. I said last year that if Ambala achieved the results
expected of it, I should have much pleasure in coming here
this year and distributing the honours and rewards which
Ambala would have thereby gained. It is with particular
pleasure I have granted 5 squares of canal land to the widow-
ed Sikh mother and to the four Sikh fathers, each of whom
had given not less than 4 sons to the service of the King-Em-
peror, and I am glad to have ihis opportunity of announcing
the grant of 5 squares to the Hon'ble Eao Bahadur Chaudhri
Lai Chand of Eohtak who has done so much to bring about
the splendid response which the Jat community in those
disticts have made to the call and of 2 squares to Chaudhri
Taj Muhammad, su/edposh of Kalanaur. The Ahirs in Gur-
gaon and the Muhammadan Eajputs in Kohtak and Hissar
have indeed proved themselves second to none in martial
and patriotic spirit, and in addition to other rewards I have
had much pleasure in recognising their services by selecting
for the Provincial Civil Service Chaudhri Surat Singh, B.A.,
Ahir of Gurgaon, and Shamshad AH Khan, M.Sc., Muham-
madan Rajput of Kalanaur — a village famous throughout
the province for the number of brave soldiers it produces.
Shamshad Ali Khan showed that a student's career had
not dulled his hereditary spirit for he was among the first
to volunteer for the University Signalling Corps and is now
ab the front. But, Gentlemen, while I congratulate Bohtak,
126
llth May 1918.
Gurgaon and Hissar on their fine record, and hold them
up as an example to Karnal and Ambala, I must also point
out in the words of the King-Emperor that the contribution
of the Division as a whole is by no means the full measure
of its resources and its strength. The vast access of strength
which our enemies have received by the collapse of our
former Ally Eussia necessitates redoubled efforts on our
part ; and what might have been considered adequate a
few months ago is insufficient to meet the situation of to-day.
That is clearly brought out in the impressive message
of His Majesty and in the Premier's appeal. In the West
England and her colonies are employing enormous resources
in repelling the enemy's assaults on our Allies in Belgium,
France and Italy. In the East our gallant armies in Pales-
tine and Mesopotamia, consisting largely of Indian troops,
are pressing victoriously forward and throwing back the
Turks and Germans who menaced India from that side.
To maintain this pressure in the East and to bar any
advances from other directions the King-Emperor and the
Empire look to India. Are they to look in vain ? That is
why 5 lakhs of fighting men are required this year from
India, that is why knowing the share the Punjab has always
taken and is now willing to take in the defenct of the Empire,
1 have asked for 2 lakhs of men from the Province, of whom
180,000 are to be fighting men. Last year we recruited
1J lakhs of combatants. Eohtak, Gurgaon and Hissar
have given their fair share of that number : Eohtak and
Gurgaon even more. But knowing the spirit and determi-
nation of those districts I am confident their efforts in this
critical year will even surpass what they have done in the
past. Ambala and Karnal have much leeway to make up,
but i am glad to believe that they are resolved not to lag
behind. You may wish to. hear from me what share of the
2 lakhs of men the Ambala Division and each district
is expected to furnish ? Since last Saturday's conference
I have carefully considered this point with your Commis-
sioner and other officers, with regard to the man-power
of each district, its past efforts, the physique and martial
qualities of the people and their previous connection with the
army. Our rough conclusion is that these five districts,
which have already over 54,000 men in the army and raised
28,000 in the 15 months ending 31st March last, should supply
by 31st March next another 40,000, viz., Karnal 10,000,
Ambala 9,000, Gurgaon 8,000, Hissar 7,500, Eohtak 5,500.
127
Ambala Darbar
That would mean, if we include the numbers at present
serving, 20 per cent, of the men of fighting age from Rohtak,
18 per cent, from Gurgaon, 15 per cent, from Hissar, 12 J per
cent, from Ambala and 10 per cent, from Karnal. That
is a great advance, I know, on any previous demands : but
it is small as compared with what the rest of the Empire
is doing : the call for men has come, we know the men are
there and we must meet the call. Let me briefly examine
the position in a single district — Ambala. In the first place,
what have the various tahsils done in the past ? Kharar
heads the list with nearly 2,400 men in the army, followed
closely by Rupar with 2,000. These contain the Sikh tracts
which from the start have nobly done their duty. Ambala
has only 750 men with the colours, Jagadhri 500 and Narain-
garh out of its many thousands of men has hitherto only
furnished just over 300 men.
How are these recruits distributed among the various
communities ? Out of a total of 5,500 fighting men in the
ranks —
the Sikhs have 8,500, or 1 man in every 4 available,
the Muhammadans have 1,150 or 1 man in every 29.
the Hindus 800 or 1 man in every 79.
There are 50 Indian Christians.
For the district as a whole, I am asking only 1 man
out of every 8 between the age of 18 and 35. If the Hindus
and Muhammadans had enlisted in the same proportion
as the Sikhs we should have had already twice the number
of men required.
It is plain that the Muhammadans and Hindus have
lagged far behind the Sikhs and the Sikhs have so far won
all the 18 military honours awarded to men of the Ambala
District during this war. I will give you here the names of
three of those men who have earned fame by their heroism.
Jamadar Gurmukh Singh, a Saini Sikh of Gadram Badi in
Eupar, won the 1st Class Order of Merit and the 2nd Class
Cross of the Russian Order of St. George for his splendid
courage on the night of the 1st March 1916 when he advanced
under the greatest difficulties, continually crawling forward
and digging himself in. Havildar Dalip Singh, Jat Sikh
of Nigalia in Kharar, won the 2nd Class Order of Merit by
128
llth May 1918.
his conspicuous gallantry in action on the 17th November
1914 when with a party of Sappers under the command
of a British Officer he was always to the fore and led his men
with great determination into the enemy's trenches.
Subedar-Major Jagindar Singh, Saini Sikh of Kheri Salabat-
pur in* Bupar, gained the 2nd Class Order of Merit at the
battle of Loos in Belgium for striking leadership and con-
spicuous bravery in action after most of his company and all
but one British Officer in his regiment had been killed or
wounded. This officer was also awarded the 2nd Class of
the Order of British India for distinguished conduct in the
field.
Will not the other communities of this district bestir
themselves and seek to gain similar distinction ? Will
not Muhammadans and Hindus come forward in numbers
equal to the Sikhs ? The Koran and the Shastras inculcate
the same duty to support a just king and resist an unright-
eous enemy as the Granth Sahib of the Sikhs and the
scriptures of the Christians.
There are tribes such as the Hindu Bajputs who have
given 1 in every 9 available men to the colours and are pre-
pared to do yet more, but what of the Gaur and other
Brahmans who out of their great numbers have not yet
contributed 100 men to the army, or of the Hindu Jats, who
have spared but 250 men in 4 long years ? To the Hindus
and Muhammadans of Ambala and Karnal I would say ;
' Look at the splendid records of the .Gaur Brahmins in
Sonepat and neigbouring districts of the United Provinces
and of the Jats of Bohtak, Hissar and Gurgaon and Ahirs,
of the Muhammadan Bajputs of Bohtak and Hissar, of
the Meos of Gurgaon.'
Is it necessary for me to say that the soldier's career,
while it provides an honourable livelihood and opportunities
of fame and distinction to those who adopt it, is not all
fighting and danger. The Punjab has lost more men from
plague in the single month of April than the Punjab armies
have lost in the field since the war began, and the presence
of many gallant soldiers here to-day wearing the medals of
many a hard-fought campaign proves that even in the battle-
field no one dies before his appointed hour. I put these
broad facts before you and, I ask, will the Hindus and the
Muhammadans of Ambala and Karnal still hang back and
wait until their country is in immediate danger and they
are constrained to do their duty ?
129
23— Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieu tenant -
Governor at a Darbar held at Gujranwala on
3rd August 1918.
DAUB ARTS, SARDARS AND GENTLEMEN, — It is a great
pleasure to me to meet you in this Darbar and I express my
hearty thanks to the members of the District War League
for their admirable address. It is just a year since I stood in
this Hall among representatives of the three districts of Gnj-
ranwala, Sialkot and Gurdaspur. I then distributed rewards
and honours to those who had rendered conspicuous services
during three years of strenuous warfare and I exhorted the
people of this district in particular to throw off their
indifference and come forward to play their part in the
Empire's struggle. I said that I should look forward with
confidence to the efforts Gujranwala would make during
the coming year. I rejoice that the circumstances in which
i now revisit my old district are far different from those of
last year. I was then constrained to leproach you for your
apathy in the Empire's cause and to contrast your indiffer-
ence with the splendid record of your neighbours in Gujrat
and Amritsar ; to-day I can sincerely congratulate you on
what you have done to redeem Gujrahwala's good name.
A year ago I attributed your previous ill success in
recruiting not to any lack of patriotism or martial spirit—
the past record of the leading Muhammadan, Sikh and
Hindu tribes of the district establishes their martial quali-
ties— but mainly to want of organisation. That defect
has now been made good and at the Lahore War Conference
in May I was able to cite Gujranwala as a model to the whole
Province of what could be done by mutual co-operation
and systematized efforts. A year ago Gujranwala had 3,388
men in the Army, or only one man in every 150 of the total
male population. At the end of last month — it had 11,765
men with the Colours, which gives a ratio of 1 man in
every 44 of the total male population and 1 in every 14 of
military age. Thus within a year you have raised nearly
8,500 men. That is a triumphant instance of successful
organization, mainly due to the untiring activities of your
admirable District War League under the inspiring and
energetic guidance of your Deputy Commissioner, Colonel
130
3rd August 1918.
O'Brien, and his assistants, and backed up by the Divisional
Recruiting Officer, Major Barnes, and his recruiting staff.
But without the hearty co-operation of the people of the
district and their leaders it would have been impossible to
achieve these results : and it has given me very great pleasure
to-day to be able to present titles, khillats and sanads to so
many of my old friends who have taken to heart my words
of last August and shown that they realized wherein their
duty to their King and Empire lay. There is no other district
in the Province which can boast of having sent to the Indian
Army over 1,000 men a month for four consecutive months
as Gujranwala did in the period of December to March.
Of the quality of those recruits I have excellent accounts :
and if the guard of honour furnished by the 3rd Guides this
morning and the depots of the^lst-54th Sikhs, the 2nd-30th
Punjabis and the 71st Punjabis, which I have just inspected,
are fair samples, Gujranwala may indeed be proud of its
jjawans. True, since then the figures have fallen off more
sharply than I could have wished, and even allowing for the
pre-o ccupation of the spring harvest and the Ramzan fast,
the drop in the district returns for May and June has been
v.ery serious. The recovery in July, however, when the
district again raised over 1,000 men, has been splendid ana
inspires confidence for the future : but the need for men is
now even greater than it was last year and the demand
upon you is correspondingly heavier. In response to the
King-Emperor's message to the Princes and People of India
last April we in the Punjab have pledged ourselves to provide
2 lakhs of men by the end of May 1919, ana that pledge
we must redeem. You all know why we have undertaken
this burden. Since last year our enemies have been im-
mensely strengthened by the collapse of Russia and during
the last few months have been making the most desperate
attempts to break through our defences on the Western
Front before we should have received reinforcements from
our American allies. Thanks to the splendid resistance of
the British and French, assisted by the Americans and
Italians, these attempts have been foiled and the enemy
has been hurled back : the struggle has been severe but the
splendid victories recently gained in France over the Germans,
the collapse of the Turks in Mesopotamia and the steady
set back to the Turks and Germans in Palestine— all these
facts justify our confidence that under God's providence
the tide which is to bear us on to the haven of complete vie-
131
Gujranwala Darbar
tory has at last turned in our favour. But our dangers hare
not yet vanished and our foes will strain every norve to stir
up intrigue and trouble on our own borders. As I explain-
ed in my Darbars at Amritsar and Ferozepore last April, there
is no need for us in India to apprehend any danger of invasion
if we hold oui selves ready and on the alert. To use a homely
simile, the burglar does not attempt to break into your
house if he knows that you are prepared and watching for
his attack. So we must be prepared to meet danger from
whichever quarter it threatens ; and above all, we must
maintain the greatest pressure possible, by means of our
Indian Army, on the Palestine and on the Mesopotamian
Fronts in order that our enemies may have no rest, and no
time to mature plots against India. That is what the
Premier in his message exhorted us to do. But that message
was misunderstood in many directions and there are unfor-
tunately parts of the province, especially the west, where
false rumours of the-enerny being close to our borders have
alarmed a credulous and ignorant people, driven many to
hoard rupees and bury their jewellery, and deterred the
faint-hearted from enlisting and even in some cases to
oppose recruitment.
' Fame, the great ill, from small beginnings grows.
Swift from the first : and every moment brings
New vigour to her flights, new pinions to her
wings.
She fills the peaceful universe with cries.
No slumbers ever close her wakeful eyes :
Talk is her business ; and h%r chief delight
To tell of prodigies and cause afright.'
So sang the great Latin poet Virgil, but I do not suppose
that he ever imagined such ridiculous and fantastic stories
as gain currency in the bazars of this Province.
It would be futile to attempt to track down their origins:
often they are merely the credulous gossip of the ignorant :
sometimes they are the idle inventions of those who seek
to amuse themselves at the expense of their simple neigh-
bours : or, as in the case of the scare about bank notes
endeavour to profit by their ignorance : and sometimes,
I fear, their source may be traced to our enemies and evil-
wishers who seek to discredit the action of Government and
132
3rd August 1918.
spread alarm and distrust among the people. In this con-
nection I would commend to your notice an excellent article
contributed by your Deputy Commissioner a fortnight ago to
the Punjab Chronicle on the subject of combating false
rumours. I would strongly advise you all to study that
article and, as is the bounden duty of all good citizens,
impress the facts so lucidly stated therein on all your friends
who take alarmist views of the situation. You have an
excellent War Gazette, ably edited by Lala Amar Nath,
whose many-sided services have been recognised by the grant
of the honour of M.B.E., and you have recently formed a
District Publicity Committee. By the activities of these
organizations 1 trust you will dispel wild and childish
rumours and successfully propagate throughout the breadth
and length of this district sane and truthful accounts of
events as they occur.
\
I have explained to you already why the Province has
undertaken to furnish 200,000 men in the year ending 31st
May 1919. Taking into consideration the population of this
district and its military habits and what ii has already done,
we have fixed the quota to be furnished by Gujranwala
at 14,000 or say 1,200 per mensem. That is a fairly heavy
demand calling for persistent and unremitting endeavour,
but relatively to the district's resources in man-power it is
no more serious a burden than we are imposing on other
districts of the Division. I am asking you only for a total
of 15 per cent, of the men of fighting age ; while your
neighbours in Gujrat and Amritsar are being asked for 20
per cent, and Jhelum and Rawalpindi have already supplied
30 per cent, or double what you are being asked to give up
to May next. Your quota comes to only 1 man in 23. In
Great Britain to-day one man in every 4 is serving in the
army or navy, apart from those who are serving in munition
factories. The small colony of New Zealand, 10,000 miles
away from the motherland, out of a total male population
the same as yours, has already raised 120,000 men or more
than five times as many as you are asked to furnish. Yet
the war concerns you much more closely than it does them.
The total male population of Gujranwala according
to the last census is 518,000 and, counting those already
in the army, we want to have in the army by the 31st May
1919 a total of 23,000 Gujranwala men. I have detailed
figures before me for the district only up to the 30th June
133
Gujrauwala Darbar
last. There were then in the army, in all, 10,764 men or 1
in 48 of the male population.
The share of each community in theso figures was—
Out of 62,656 Sikhs, 3,985 or 1 in 16,
„ 346,374 Mussalmans, 4,567 or 1 in 76,
„ „ 99,682 Hindus, 491 or 1 in 204, and
„ „ 9,009 Christians, 485 or 1 in 18.
Well, Gentlemen, the Sikhs and the Christians can look
on these results with satisfaction. But all the Sikh tribes
have by no means reached the standard aimed at for the
whole district. While the Mazhabis head the list with 1
in 9, and the Lobanas have already furnished 1 in 21, the
Jat Sikhs have only given 1 in 68. The Sandhus and
the Varaiches among the Jat Sikhs aie doing well, but the
Viraks have so far not done well. Last year I made a par-
ticular appeal to the Viraks to retrieve the-unsatisfactory
name they have earned by their turbulence and be true to
their martial traditions. But although the Viraks of
Gujranwala Tahsil have now begun to respond to the call,
the Viraks of Khangah Dogran Tahsil have disappointed
expectations and in making this last appeal to them to prove
that they are true sons of the Khalsa, and eager to take
up arms in the just cause which has brought 70,000 of their
brother Sikhs to the King-Emptror's standard since the war
began, I warn them that at this juncture if they persist
in their piesent attitude and allow others to fight their
battles they will be taunted hereafter, as unworthy Sikhs,
and lose their claims on the consideration of Government
to whom they owe so much. Turning to the Mussalmans,
I find that among the larger tribes the Eajputs have given
1 in 46 of the men of military age, but the Jats only 1 in 79.
The Chathas and Sandhus, I am glad to learn, have, thanks
to the good examples set by their leaders, earned the com-
mendations of the Deputy Commissioner for their cheerful
sacrifices, but, with some honourable exceptions, the Kharals,
Bhattib, Lodikes and Bagsinkes aie still hanging back.
How long, I ask them, is this to continue ? II is now no
question of organization. Am I to attribute their hesitation
to unworthy causes ? Will they allowr themselves to be
looked down upon with scorn and contempt by their more
patriotic brethren ? These aie the tribes which have profited
most by the Government canal, and 1 would repeat to them
what I have said to the Viraks of Khangah Dogran.
134
3rd August 1918.
The Arains have as yet but 1 in 119 men in the ormy,
but now that a special company has been sanctioned for
them in the l-129tb Baluchis, I shall hope to see them rapidly
improve on their record. •
Then we come to the Hindus. With 11 times the
population of the Christians the Hindus have only produced
approximately the same number of soldiers. What has
come to the Khatris and the Brahmins, the tiaditional
leaders of the community and the-classes from which Maha-
raja Ran jit Singh selected bis famous generals ? They
have contributed much less than 1 man in every 200 !
Have the Rajputs, too, forgotten all the glorious traditions
which His Highness the Maharaja of Jodhpur recently
sought to recall to tbur memory ? They have 8 men in
the army out of 10,000 males ! The Jats have 1 in every
185, the Aioras, for whom a special company has beer recent-
ly sanctioned, 1 in 421. What keeps back the Hindus from
performing the duties which their sacred books enjoin ?
Is it cupidity or timidity ? I have frequently impressed
upon my audiences that the soldier's life is not all danger.
This has been pointed out to us in very practical fashion
by some of the speakers to-day. "It is not true that ' the
paths of glory lead but to the grave.' The risks and diffi-
culties incuired by the soldier are now/no greater than he
would meet with in his ordinary civil life : the rewards open
to him i re far more numerous. Let me prove my poin I. The
combatant rt cruit receives a bonus of Rs. 50 on enrolment,
and under recent orders a further bonus of Rs. 15 on passing
his recruit's course. By a further concession he then receives
a war bonus of Rs. 4 per mensem whether in India or at the
front with effect from 1st June in addition to his starting
pay of Rs. 11 per mensem. That is, he now gets Rs. 15
per mensem, and when on active service overseas earns an
extra Rs. 7 per mensem : he gets good food free : after a
period he is given leave home, many soldiers having already
in this war enjoyed this privilege two or three times. He
is comfortably housed : when he falls sick he receives good
medical attendance in a well-equipped hospital. Apart
from the pension which he can earn, he may also by specially
good service obtain a grant of canal-irrigated land from the
allotment of squares which has been placed at the disposal
of His Excellency the Commander-in- Chief. The timid
may reply that is all very well, but what about his chances
of being killed ? Well, I have figures here that will answer
135
Gujranwala Darbar
that question too. Since the war broke out up to the end
of May — a period of 46 months — 205 Gujranwala soldiers
in all have been killed or died from disease in the field — an
average of 4' 5 per mensem or about 1 each week. In the
same period 11,700 of the male population of fighting age
died of plague in their homes and 40,900 of fever. That
is, some 20 men of combatant age died each week in the
district of plague and 100 men of fever as against a single
soldier in the field. So much for the risk to life in the army.
What of the honours and rewards ? The men of Gujranwala
have since the outbreak of war won 43 distinctions for
gallantry, viz., 1 Order of British India, 1st class ; 5 Orders
of British India, 2nd class ; 2 Indian Orders of Merit, 1st
class ; 10 Indian Orders of Merit, 2nd class ; 18 I.D.S.M's ;
1 M.S. Medal ; 5 Crosses and Medals of the Russian Order
of St. George ; and 1 Serbian Medal. More than half these
honours — 23 — have, fallen to Jat Sikhs, and that is why I
want to see more of them in the army, 9 to Mazhabis, 6 to
Lobanas, 1 each to a Kamboh and a Brahman and 3 to
Punjabi Musalmans who have only recently been fully
recruited. Khangah Dogran Tahsil claims 18 of these
distinctions, Gujranwala 14, Sharakpur 7, Wazirabad 3
and Hafizabad 1. The Mazhabi village of Dhaban has
gained no less than 5 honours, ill eluding the 1st and 2nd
class O.B.I., and the Indian O.M., 2nd class, — all won by
Subedar-Major Natha Singh, for gallantry in the field—
and the Virak village of Jhabhar has gained 4 honours.
I have, I regret, no time to tell you how all these honours
were gained. You will find some account of them in the
latest number of your War Gazette. If further stimulus
is needed for the hesitating I would remind them that under
the rules lately published a soldier may now rise from the
ranks and gain by distinguished services the King's Commis-
sion in the army.
With all these incentives before their eyes I trust that
the people of Gujranwala will not fail to provide of their
own free will the quota which we have assigned to the district.
To do so, I know, will require a great and sustained effort
from all classes. But what you have done in the past year
inspires full confidence for the future. Government does
not desire you to use methods which savour of coercion or
intimidation. These would defeat their own end by provok-
ing irritation and discontent. But you should make it
clear that it is the duty of good subjects to fight for their
136
3rd August 19i8.
King in a just can 39, the duty of good citizens to defend
their country and homes against the danger of invasion and
aggression. You can point out to the apathetic or unwilling
that the risks of a soldier's career are not great, that the
rewards are considerable, and that those who do their part
in bringing this great struggle to a triumphant close can
ever after hold their heads high, confident that (hey have
brought honour to themselves, their families, their tribes
and their race or religion.
137
24. — Speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor at a Darbar held at Sialkot on
5th August 1918.
It is nearly four years since I held a Darbar in this
district shortly after the outbreak of war. I then appealed
to you and to the province generally for such genuine and
whole-hearted support as would enable it to pass through
the crisis without any stain on its splendid record of staunch
and unswerving loyalty. The Punjab has as a whole nobly res-
ponded to that appeal. Attempts to create internal disorder
have been promptly repressed with the active co-operation
of the people, and most of our districts have made notable
and generous sacrifices towards the successful prosecution
of the war and the defence of the Empire. Your district has
so far played a respectable but not a conspicuous part, and
my objects in coming here to-day are to present some of the
rewards and sanads which residents of Sialkot have earned
by their good services ; to 'review briefly the efforts
you have already made ; and above all to stimulate you to
redouble those efforts in this, the last, stage of the war. It
has been suggested that before the wai Sialkot was not dis-
tinguished as a recruiting district. But here as elsewhere
the Jat and Mazhabi Sikhs, the Muhammadan Eajputs and
the Hindu Dogras had maintained the martial traditions of
their respective races and at the end of 1914 Sialkot had
2,700 combatants with the colours, of whom over 2,000 were
Sikhs, 440 were Mussalmans, over 200 Dogras and the
balance — less than 20 — was composed of Hindus. Your
neighbours, Gujranwala and Lahore, had but 1,600 and 1,500
men respectively in the lighting ranks : and I may compare
the subsequent efforts of these two districts with yours.
Sialkot has a male population of 542,000 against Gujranwala's
518,000. By the end of 1917 Lahore had raised the number
of its men in the fighting line and transport to 6,100, Guj-
ranwala to 5,400, while Sialkot still easily led the way with
nearly 7,100 men. In the first 6 months of the present
year Lahore had raised only 1,880 men, Sialkot 2,692,
whereas Gujranwala from a smaller population had recruited
over 5,000. In July the disparity was even greater, Gujran-
138
5th August 1918.
wala had reciuited over 1,000 men, Sialkot less than 500.
On the 1st August Gujranwala had nearly 12,000 men in the
army, Sialkot only 11,442. Frankly, Gentlemen, this is
not as it should be. We pledged ourselves last May to raise
200,000 men in the Punjab by the 1st June 1919, and that
pledge the honour of the Punjab requires us to redeem.
Every district must take up its share of the burden and
Sialkot has not yet shouldered its share. We have fixed the
quota of the district, inclusive of those already in the army,
at 20,750 men or one man in every 26 which is 3,000 less than
we are asking from Gujranwala and 10,000 less than we are
asking from Amritsar, both of which have a smaller popula-
lation to draw* upon. In the twelve months ending the
31st May 1919 we. want 8,800 recruits from this district —
say 750 per mensem on the average. In June and July
you recruited little more than half the required quota. I
think you all understand why we want these men. It
is unnecessary, I conceive, for me to repeat what I said at
Gujranwala as to the foolish and idle rumours which fly
through the bazar. If you have placed credence in wild
stories of the triumph of our enemies, and of the early
invasion of India, reflection and recent events have, I hope,
convinced you of their folly. The defeat of the Austrians
in Italy, the growing resistance to the German tyranny in
Russia, the steady advance of the British and Indian forces
in Mesopotamia and Palestine, the recent triumph of the
Allies in France, prove that the pendulum has begun to
swing in favour of the Allies. * * * Let us see the numbers
each of your great communities had furnished to the army
by the end of June. I take the figures for the combatant
ranks and the transport :—
The Sikhs as usual hold first place
Out of 47,038 males the Sikhs had given 8,528 or
1 in 13.
Out of 332,197 males the Mussalmans had given
4,452 or 1 in 75.
Out of 134,585 the Hindus had given 1,661 or 1 in
81 (of whom over half were Dogras).
Out of 27,306 the Christians had given 511 or 1
in 53.
Of the Sikhs the Lobanas have done best, of the
Muhammadans the Rajputs.
13
Sialkot Darbar
The Jat Sikhs, the Awais and Muhammadan Jats who
have shown such fine spirit in other districts are still hanging
back here, and the Hindu tribes and castes — excepting tlio
gallant Dogras who are always in the front rank — have
hardly moved at all. I cannot congratulate you on these
results. They are not worthy of a district which contains
such a large and sturdy peasantry, which has received such
special favours from Government in the form of 7,000 squares
in the colonies and in a 30 years term of a lenient settlement
and which shows such splendid, but unfortunately rare,
examples of patriotism as that fine old veteran Subedar-
Major Hashim Khan who has produced over 1,000 recruits
from his tribe the Salehria Rajputs and whom Government
has gladly honoured by the grant of &jagir. Among the
Sikhs, S. Harnam Singh of Manawala has set a fine example
of individual effort. I would also cite the example of that
heroic mother, Mussammat Hako of the village Eupo Chak,
who enlisted two sons in the army and, when one was wound-
ed, made good the deficit by enrolling her third remaining
son. I have been glad to show Government's appreciation
of her spirit by granting her a square of land to-day. Sialkot
has the reputation of being one of the most litigious districts
in the province. Every man has of course the right to protect
his personal interests, but do not let your own petty disputes
blind you to the greatei issues — the principles of Right and
Justice for which the Empire is contending and in which
you are asked to help. Gujranwala has given you a striking
proof of what can be done by sinking petty differences, by
combination and co-operation, and I am glad to learn that
you are going to follow its example by founding a similar
War League. I trust it will be equally successful in yielding
practical results. It may be that many of you hold back
in the ignorant belief that to become a soldier is tantamount
to courting self-destruction. I pointed out the day before
yesterday at Gujranwala that, paradoxical as it may seem,
the life of a soldier on service is in reality more secure than
that of the man who shirks his duty and stays at home.
For the latter is exposed to the epidemics that sweep through
the countryside, while the soldier in cantonments or on
service is carefully protected from them. In the 46 months
that elapsed between the outbreak of war and the end of
May, only 888 Sialkot men were killed in action or
died in the field from wounds and disease. That is to say,
8 • 6 on an average died each month — or less than 2 per week,
HO
5th August 1918.
In the same period from the same class of men— men of
fighting age— on an average there died each week in their
homes in Sialkot 91 men of plague and 296 men of fever.
But brave men are not deterred hy the risk of death
and I will not thro w doubt on the spirit of the Sikhs, Rajputs
and Jats of Sialkot by dwelling longer on this argument.
It is, however, one which is commonly used to deter the
hardy but ignorant and home-loving people of the Multan
Division from taking to military service, and I may take this
opportunity of saying that while the Multan Division, exclud-
ing Lyallpur, ha^ some 10,000 men in the'army the total
number of death casualties in the war up to the end of May
was less than 100—
Montgomery . . . . . . 21
Multan . . . . 10
Jhang .. .. ..7
Muzaffargarh . . . . . . 5
Dera Ghazi Khan . . . . 5
If these trifling losses frighten people off from the army,
well perhaps the army is better without them. But can
they ever again hold their heads up and claim to be true
Punjabis ? If you want to know more of the risks and the
advantages of a soldier life ask the soldier himself, ask any
of the distinguished Sardars who are here to-day, who have
been through many a campaign in India, China and Egypt
and who have eaten the salt of the Sa'kur for years. Many of
you have seen relatives and friends return to your midst
having won their way to officer's rank. There can scarcely
be a family with a representative in the army which has not
benefited by the remittances that he has sent home. I
desire specially to bring to your notice the great concessions
recently announced. First, as to King's Commissions. It
will now be possible for a soldier by distinguished conduct
to rise to the high honour of holding such Commission from
His Majesty the King-Emperor ; while a career is held out
to young men of high family and martial traditions, which
compares in its opportunities with any profession in the
world. Again, the Secretary of State has just sanctioned
additions to the emoluments of the native officers, non-
commissioned officers and soldiers of the Indian army.
Every recruit on completing his course or on proceeding
overseas, whichever happens first, will receive a bonus of
141
Sialkot Darbar
Rs. 15 over and above the enlistment bounty of Rs. 50. A
further bonus will be given to every combatant in the army
after the completion of each 6 months of service, equivalent
to Rs. 4 per mensem for non-commissioned officers, sowars
and sepoys, Rs. 5 per mensem for resaidars and jamadars,
and Rs. 10 per mensem for native officers of higher rank.
For such ^'js/-combatants as muleteers and the army
bearer corps personnel the bonus will be Rs. 2 per mensem ;
while officers of these classes will gel the same bonus as the
corresponding ranks of the righting classes. The staiting
pay of the sepoy at home is therefore now Rs. 15 ; if serving
overseas it is Rs. 22, that is, I believe, more than the pay
of any European soldier except the British ; it is nearly double
the pay of our gallant French brothers in arms. Again,
the zamindars of Sialkot more than any other district have
reason to realize the value of colony squares — especially in a
year of drought like the present. And over 7,000 such
squares have been put at the disposal of His Excellency
the Commander-in-Chief for distribution to those who have
specially distinguished themselves in this wai. 1 believe
the allotment has already begun but most of the land will
be held up till the war is over : and as the end of war is now
coming into view your ' jawans ' must make haste if they
want to qualify themselves for a share.
These, Gentlemen, are some of the reasons, all genuine
and forcible reasons, why Government appeals to you and,
through you, to the young men of military age to lose no
time in flocking to the colours and completing the 8,000
men still required from Sialkot. The full quota for the
district is 20,750 or about one man in 26. The distant
Colony of New Zealand, with a male population less than
yours, has raised 125,000 men, or nearly one man in 4, the
United Kingdom has given to the Army and Navy alone
two men in seven. Duty, honour, advantage in this world-
merit in the next — all call to you and I am sure they will
not call in vain. You cannot all, of course, seek to enter
the regular army and go to the front ; but special facilities
have been given now to the educated glasses to join
the Indian Defence Force for service within India
and, ordinarily, close to their own homes. It was the
unanimous opinion of the Lahore War Meeting of the 4th
May last that we should endeavour to raise 2,000 volun-
teers in the Province for the Defence Force. The quota
whicli this district should supply is at the least 100 men,
and if you provide sufficient numbers, I am sure the local
142
5th August 1918.
military authorities will render all reasonable assistance to
train the volunteers to take their part in the defence of India.
Many of the educated classes are doubtless interested in the
recent Reform Scheme, but I would remind them that all
advance on the path to self -Government implies a readiness
to defend their country from foreign aggression. Again,
those who cannot take their place in the fighting line can
still actively help the Empire in other ways. Sialkot sub-
scribed a little ovei 6 lakhs to the first war loan, not a notable
performance for a district with such trade and material
resources, and nearly half of that sum was made up of sub-
scriptions by local bodies. I hope this poor result will be
easily surpassed in the second war loan. There are numbers
of men of the commercial and trading classes who while
they reap the full benefits of the British Eaj have so far
failed to bear any fair share of the burden of the present
war. Their only interest in the contest has been to reap large
profits for themselves. Government does not at present
ask of them to risk their lives or even to sacrifice their capital.
It merely asks them to lend for a few years at favourable
rates to the Government, which is defending them in this
great struggle, some of the capital which the protection of the
British Eaj has enabled them to amass in comfort and
security. It also calls upon them not to embarrass Govern-
ment when it needs all its resources in men and money,
by hoarding or melting the King's coin, thus helping the
King's enemies, by endeavouring to discredit the bank notes
or by taking advantage of the war to corner stocks of salt,
grain and cloth, unduly forcing up prices and causing distress
to the poor. Let me conclude by appealing to all in words
adapted from the war song of our first Punjab Poet : —
" To arms now lot the Punjab spring,
Behold (he Summons of the King,
Unnumbered as your golden grain,
Come from the mountain and the ph'jn ;
And ye whose arm too weak for tight,-'
Your wealth shiJl *tay the Empire's might."
As I said in the message which appeared in the Haq
newspaper on the fourth Anniversary of the war, the Punjab
has never failed in its duty in the past : let it not be said that
it failed in the final stage of this groat struggle fort Right.
But if it is not to fail, districts like Lahore and Sialkot, which
have not yet fully responded to the call, must now promptly
come forward and do their duty.
U3
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