Famous Fights of Indian Native Regiments

by Reginald Hodder

Mahrattas are generally divided into three classes:—

1. Brahmans.
2. Chatris—i.e., those who claim Rajput descent.
3. Sudras—those belonging to agricultural and trading classes.

The best of the soldiers are probably those recruited in the Dekhan, who are short, hardy and brave. Most of the Mahrattas in our ranks are recruited from the Konkan. They are taller and smarter than the Dekhanis, who, nevertheless, excel in endurance. The hillmen are nearly always more hardy than the inhabitants of the plain.

There is no history of the early Mahrattas, but as it is tolerably clear that the Mahratta language is Aryan, it follows that the race has at least Aryan blood, although ethnologists set it down clearly to be of Turanian or Dravidian origin.

It seems a curious thing that the Mahrattas were not brought up from the cradle of their race as fighting men, since they have proved in our first meetings with them such excellent foes. It is certain that if they are not born fighters, they have become good soldiers. Mr. Grant Duff in his "History of the Mahrattas" distinguishes them very clearly in a military sense from the Sikhs and the Gurkhas, while admitting that they make excellent soldiers. "The very fact of their having played so conspicuous and not always ignoble a part in the history of India," he says, "marks them out as a race with some qualities of the genuine soldier. The Duke of Wellington, who had such ample opportunities of forming a judgment in regard to them, rated them highly; and there can be no doubt that, with the discipline which the British officer enforces, and his personal example of courage, constancy, and devotion to duty, the Mahrattas can still be made into good soldiers, despite the enervating and softening influence which a long spell of peace appears to have on India."

Authoritative historians have said that the courage of the Mahrattas of old was the courage of the freebooter; that they were at the best bold buccaneers, who were capable at times of courage because it paid them, but that the moment the prospect of gain was taken away, their courage oozed out. These writers maintain that the highest instincts of the soldier were never theirs. The reason of that was necessarily that the loyal and steadfast adhesion to a good cause, which has led the highest human types, in all ages, willingly to sacrifice their lives, never inspired them. Consequently, they were devoid of that spirit which takes death with proud indifference from motives of patriotism. One of these writers says: "The Mahrattas all through history have never sacrificed a whole skin unless there was something very tangible and substantial to be got thereby." Neither has Britain. We have never sacrificed, and never intend to sacrifice, our men for anything less than "something very tangible and substantial to be got thereby." The criticism on both sides then simply amounts to this: that courage is not a thing in itself, but a quality depending on motive, with knowledge; and the Mahratta, although he may have lacked both in the past, has certainly acquired them now.

Again, it has been contended that the Mahratta lacks the elegant proportions of the Jat Sikh, the robust, well-knit figure of the Gurkha, the lofty personal courage of the Pathan—in short, that he is cast in a mould that is anything but heroic. But, when we come to consider that there is in the Mahratta an essential sturdiness and tenacity, we find eventually, and apart from all superficially striking characteristics, the pabulum out of which the finest soldiery can be made.

In physique, the Mahratta is somewhat under the average height. His skin is dark, and his features irregular. But in those features one can discern a tremendous capacity for endurance. He may not be a cultured man—either falsely or truly—but, in the ranks, he possesses those natural adjuncts to steady, quiet strength, tractability, gentleness, patience, and a general willingness to fall in with the idea of someone who obviously knows more.

The Mahrattas in the 1st Bombay Infantry (Grenadiers), now the 101st Grenadiers, proved their grit at Maiwand. In a tough fight they held good till more than half their number were gone. Again, at Suakin, in 1885, the Mahrattas in the 28th Bombay Infantry (Pioneers), now the 128th Pioneers, proved, without a doubt, the nature of the qualities already mentioned, which will indubitably find further development in the present state of war.

Like the Rajputs, the Mahrattas are chiefly Hindus. They have strange objects of worship, such as trees and snakes. Their deities are principally incarnations of Shiva, the Destroyer, such as Etoba and Kandoba. Like all the Hindus, they still maintain a strong belief in Spirit, and, like all races who, in their early stages, have clung to that belief in darkness, they have developed a broader knowledge, which has always walked arm-in-arm with superstition towards enlightenment. Yet, especially in time of war, the Mahrattas throw aside all caste prejudices, even eat in common among themselves, and are not unwilling to accept a drink from Tommy Atkins himself.