Diamond Thoughts

In this post, I am aiming to detail how Punjabis viewed the infantry at first and how they started to join the infantry. It is dictated by facts from contemporary sources and scholarly research, which I will be pleased to provide, if asked.

During the Misal period, cavalry was king. Strength of a Misal was dictated by the number of horses a Misal had. Infantry and the common foot soldier without a horse was viewed in contempt by the Punjabi’s. It was viewed as a second rate arm of the army, with cavalry being the most prestigious arm. Many Punjabis saw infantry as a garrison force and not a serious combat arm. When maharajah Ranjit Singh aimed to create a national army for the Sikh state, initially Punjabis of all beliefs scoffed at the idea of joining a European style infantry. He saw the growing importance of infantry and artillery on the battlefield. A few Punjabis did join but the majority of the infantry during the early years was composed of East India Company deserters from Hindustan (Bengal, UP and Bihar), both Muslims and Hindus with smaller contingents of Rajputs, Ranghars, Afghans (Pathans, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras) and Gurkhas. These elements dominated the Lahore Durbars infantry with Sikhs making up a vast contingent of the cavalry and Punjabi Muslims being artillerymen until 1813 because Ranjit Singh’s ultimate goal was to create a national infantry which included Sikhs and other Punjabi’s. Slowly and slowly Maharajah Ranjit Singh eased the idea of serving as infantry into ethnic Punjabis. His European instructors persuaded people to join the infantry by offering large cash prizes and lavish meals. Finally, Ranjit Singh donned the uniform of an infantryman and learned infantry tactics. These methods chipped away the previously mentioned contempt and by 1839, the infantry was dominated (60%) by Sikhs with the other 40% being the aforementioned groups of people. Maharajah Ranjit Singh hand selected men for infantry service, this was in stark contrast to the cavalry, which was often drawn from nepotistic recruits from privileged familial relations of the cavalry officers, as a result it unfortunately produced many less than stellar cavalrymen. They had to stand at least 5’8” (1.727 metres), any caste or tribe could serve in infantry, proficient in hand to hand combat and had to be able to shoot well.