47th Sikhs. Raised 1901.
Consists of 8 companies of Sikhs.
Uniform.—Scarlet, facings yellow.
The 48th Pioneers, 51st Sikhs (Frontier Force), 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force), 53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force), and 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force) are Sikh regiments with other tribes intermixed.
[THE RAJPUTS]
The chief characteristic of the Rajput is his pride of blood. Representing as he does the higher military castes of India, his one ambition has always been to wield a sword, and wield it well. For ages in the past the Rajput maintained his supremacy in one or another part of India. Claiming descent from the sun and the moon, and later from those two heroes of the Mahabharata—Rama and Krishna—the Rajput maintains that his ancient and noble blood has flowed in the veins of kings from times more remote than any other history can record. That old but immortal legend of the Bhagavad Gîta, in which Prince Arjuna held a discourse with Krishna, the supreme Deity, in his war-chariot, drawn up between the opposing forces of Kauravas and Pandavas, is regarded by the Rajput as peculiarly his own. It is not to be wondered at, then, that, possessing from time immemorial this lofty poem, so sublime in its aspiration, so pure and tender in its piety, the Rajput has always been a man of high and noble sentiment and lofty ideals. He is, as the literal rendering of his name implies, the "Rajah's son," and in war has always displayed most noble and fearless qualities.
It cannot be said that the Rajput is content to shine in the reflected glory of the past. In ancient times he devoted his life to making epic history, and in these days this serves him for an ever-present tradition from which he will draw the necessary material to add another volume to that history. Let him dream of the past achievements of his race, his ancient glory in war; let him sing the songs that he has made, and shake off the sloth of peace, and so rush into battle; for out of such dreams and stirring songs springs all human greatness.
There is no questioning the bravery and stamina of the Rajput. Under a good commander who knows how to appeal to him, the Rajput will face death in any grim form. He has a spirit so fierce and dauntless that naturally it is tinctured with the changing tides of strong emotion, which at times may have its drawbacks; but he is, even more than the Gurkha, a soldier fit for a special task; indeed, his dash and heroism are so remarkable that even the Gurkha will sometimes claim to be directly descended from the Rajput.
There is no history to record of the Rajput as a race, for each Rajput state and clan—and there are a large number of them—has its own history. Roughly, they may be described as more or less pure-blooded, modern Hindu (Brahminical) representatives of the early Aryan emigrants into India.