"Help me with some Indian military history?" Topic

I'm mentoring a young kid from India & he's expressed an interest in my wargaming. I thought it might be nice to pick a historical battle from his area & either refight it with him, or at least paint up some figures for it to give to him. He's from the northern part of Punjab in India. & since his last name is Singh, I'm guessing his heritage is at least Sikh, if not his immediate family.

Right know, I have no specific plans on a time period, so ancients up through moderns is fine. But, something of significant historical value to the Punjab would be great. Probably something more directly relating to the Sikhs & Punjab area than maybe something like the Sikhs serving overseas in WW2. I do already have some WW2 Sikhs though. Oh, & I also have a number of Foundry's India line here:

link
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So, bonus points to a battle that in which I can use these figures. Also, something very basic would be best since we'll only have about an hour to set up & play.

Thanks in advance,
Nils

Perhaps the two Sikh Wars might be a bit close to the bone, Foundry did some nice figures and Eureka have a small line of Sikh infantry for the Khalsa.

Failing that maybe look at Chitral,1895. Sikhs were prominent in one of the more outstanding 'against all odds' sieges of the 19th C.

Google "Saragarhi" and take your pick of accounts of the battle, from the Tirah campaign of 1897. It is *the* example of military excellence celebrated by Sikhs around the world.

Allen

If you want to avoid a faux pas, stick with DBA Alexander vs. Porus. That's long enough ago that the grudges have mostly faded.

Not everyone named Singh is Sikh. Many Indians are secular and modernizing in their outlook. Others are into identity politics. The Raj is still pretty unpopular in modern India. Presnting Sikhs as soldiers of the British Empire may or may not please your young guest.

Be aware, BlackCavalier, that there are also quite a few Hindus named Singh. You might want to gather a little more information before you plan your game.

Good work, Zippy, you beat me to the caveat.

Indian troops have been involved in a number of dust ups in their peace keeping roles. link

In particular their participation in keeping the peace in Sri Lanka led to a number of skirmishes and small battles.

Like the others said, Singh was a name sometimes used by non-sikhs; for example, by Rajputs-see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singh. If your Indian friend is a Sikh, there is quite a bit of scope for fighting battles between Sikhs and other Indians. And if your friend is not a Sikh, well the British didn't bring warfare to the subcontinent. The various Indian nations pretty much all fought somebody long before they fought the Brits.

For nearly 50 years before the Sikh wars with the Brits, Runjeet Singh built up his control of the Punjab by taking on all comers. So battles between the Sikhs and about anyone else in the area would be reasonable; as I recall, the Afgans invaded at least once. Readily available sources include Carmichael-Smyth's "A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore," and Joseph Davey Cunningham's "A History of the Sikhs from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej."

Tim Tilson is in the process of preparing a book of scenarios for the Sword and the Flame for the rise of the Sikh nation. At least one of the battles in Tim's scenario book is for Naushera, a 1824-battle between Sikhs and Afgans. I'm not sure when Tim's book is due out-I haven't seen or spoken with him in over a year, but I think it would be useful for those interested in the Sikh's and their various wars.

Also, one of the many, many books written by Col. George Malleson about India, "The Decisive Battles of India from 1746 to 1849," covers some of the battles between Indians, sans Europeans. If you want I can look to see if I can find my copy at home and maybe I could find something for you.

Dennis

Oops, I guess I misremembered. Malleson's book is all Brits, all the time. The best bet for 18th or 19th Century Indian on Indian action would be Cunningham, Carmichael-Smith for the Sikhs. The Marathas fought other Indians, but that was in the Deccan, south of the Punjab. Most of the well-documented stuff involves Europeans of some sort, mostly Brits or French.

Dennis

Battles of Medieval India (A.D. 1295-1850) by M.S. Naravane is worth looking at. It cover the main battles so you should get a good idea of various conflicts and participants over the period.

The only problem is that it's printed in India so I don't know how easy it is to get a hold off.

All the old Indian soldiers I've met (and their families), as well as serving Indian Army & Air Force officers are enormously proud of their military heritage – Raj or not. Remember that the Indian Army throughout the Raj was an entirely volunteer force and in WWII formed the largest volunteer army there has ever been in history.

If you're in any doubt, you could keep both opinions happy, by playing a game such as the battle of Frontier Hill, Burma 1944, where the 7th Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment (under command of 81st (West African) Division), fought a fierce battle with 1st Battalion, 1st 'Subhas Bose' Brigade, Indian National Army (attached to I/29th Imperial Japanese Infantry Regiment). Both battalions included two companies of Punjabi Sikhs! :o)

I agree with R mark Davies the Indians don't have too much of a hang up over their roles in WW2--All volunteers… maybe North Africa or Italy as some of the best British formations were from the Indian army 4th Indian Division especially was renowned as an elite formation…Also means your mentee gets to play with tanks!!!

Thanks all for the help & advice. I'll definately not assume a Sikh heritage & try to stay way from the colonial period. Probably best to just pick something completely unrelated to be safe.

Well, I kind of feel vaguely qualified to answer this since I'm a not so young anymore Indian kid who's lived in Canada for ages. Had a relative from the generation before my parents who fought in WWII, but he himself never really told me anything about it and I was too young at the time to initiate questions.

Anyhow, he was from my mother's side, and my dad's side is still mired in identity politics over that entire issue. R Mark Davies may well be entirely correct, but outside of veterans and current people in the army, my experience has been that the Raj and any kind of service in it is a touchy subject at best. My mum's dad was a railway engineer and thoroughly Anglicised, but I think later in life he really got the cold shoulder from both Indians and the British.

Postcolonial nations generally have serious concerns about history, so you might think about sticking to something before the latest round of colonisation. Problem is, if you look at say the Wikipedia article on the Rajputs, there's the same sort of haranguing. At least as far as India goes, there's enough issues over identity and legitimacy that it's touchy at best.

While I myself would be interested in the Ghaznavid conquest or the Mughal conquests, even this seems to be grounds for communal religious strife amongst some people.

Stick with Alexander and Porus, IMHO. Kind of dull these days, I think, but that's part of what would make it fairly neutral. Unless the kid shows a particular interest in a period or place, anyway.

I have often toyed with the "Mahabarata" period. Looks a lot like Homeric style intrigues and family conflicts. Chariot warfare and i little role playing might also add some spice to the game. What out for Shiva. KK

From your post you mention a very short time frame to be able to set up and play and your friend is a novice or non-gamer. May I suggest a very small " THE SWORD AND THE FLAME " colonial skirmish scenario. You could use Foundry colonial Sikh troops and the NWF tribesmen. The game may only require 20-30 Sikh/Indian troops and 40-75 tribes men. The rules set I mention "TSATF" is fast and fun and is a great way to introduce someone into the hobby, and as a skirmish game as few figs as you have may be used. Though we have played these rules with hundreds of figs on the table with tremendous enjoyment.

In the back of the original rules set is a small scenario with one house, 2 hills, and approx 40 figs, very basic as you requested. I could email you some pics of our games if you'd like for inspiration.

JB

For Anceint-Med history send me an email at scottnelson@bellsouth.net and I will email you some notes on India and that era from a book that I am editing.