India]
ARM I E S
artillery attached to it, continued under the Punjab Government. In addition, the Hydrabad contingent of 4 cavalry, 6 infantry regiments, and 4 batteries native artillery, and a local force in Central India of 2 regiments cavalry and 6 infantry, were retained under the Government of India. After all the arrangements had been completed the army of India consisted of 62,000 British and 125,000 native troops. The Company’s military college at Addiscombe was closed in 1860, and the direct appointment of British officers to the Indian local forces ceased in 1861. In that year a staff corps was formed by Royal Warrant in each Presidency “ to supply a body of officers for service in India, by whom various offices and appointments hitherto held by officers borne on the strength of the several corps in the Indian forces shall in future be held.” Special rules of pay, pension, and promotion were laid down; the principle of the last being promotion by length of service in the various ranks from second lieutenant up to lieut.colonel. The corps was at first recruited partly from officers of the Company’s service and partly from the royal army, holding staff appointments (the new regimental employment being considered as staff duty) and all kinds of political and civil posts ; afterwards by young officers from the British service, and recently in addition by second lieutenants drafted direct from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. The native artillery and sappers and miners were to be officered from the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. The only English warrant and non-commissioned officers now to be employed in the native army were to be those of the Royal Engineers with the sappers and miners. Officers of the old Indian army who did not accept service in the artillery, engineers, and new line regiments transferred to the British army on the amalgamation, remained in their former cadres for promotion. Now all have disappeared from the active list except a few generals. A radical change in the regimental organization of all the native armies was effected in 1863. The Punjab Frontier Force was from the first organized on the irregular system, which was there seen at its best, as also were the new regiments raised during the Mutiny. This system was now applied to the whole army, each regiment and battalion having seven British officers attached to it for command and administrative duties, the immediate command of troops and companies being left to the native officers. Thus was the system reverted to which was initiated by Clive, in the early days, of a few British officers only being attached to each corps for the higher regimental duties of command and control. Time had shown that this was more effective than the regular system instituted in 1796 of British officers commanding troops and companies. Selection for all regimental commands was now the order. A new spirit was breathed into the army. The supremacy of the commandant was the main principle. He was less hampered by the unbending regulations enjoined upon the old regular regiments, had greater powers of reward and punishment, was in a position to assume larger responsibility and greater freedom of action, and was supported in the full exercise of his authority. The system made the officers. Up to 1881 the native army underwent little change, but in that year financial considerations prevailed and 18 regiments of infantry and 4 of cavalry were broken up, while the rank and file of the rest were increased. Almost the same number of men were maintained as before, but in fewer and stronger regiments and better organized for war. The only reduction made in the British troops was in the Royal Artillery, which was
653
diminished by 11 batteries. The events of 1885, however, on the Russo-Afghan frontier led to an augmentation of the army. The 11 batteries Royal Artillery were brought back from England, each of the 9 British cavalry regiments in India received an addition of a fourth squadron; each of the British infantry battalions was increased by 100 men and 3 battalions were added. The native cavalry had a fourth squadron added to each regiment; three of the four regiments broken up in 1881 were re-raised, while the native infantry was increased in regimental strength, and 9 new battalions raised composed of Gurkhas, Sikhs, and Punjabis. The addition in all amounted to 10,600 British, and 21,200 native troops. In 1890 the strength of the army of India was 73,000 British, and, including irregulars, 147,500 native troops. Many important changes have taken place since 1885, which have vastly improved the efficiency of the native army. Seven Madras infantry regiments were converted into regiments for local service in Burma, composed of Gurkhas and hardy races from Northern India; six Bengal and Bombay regiments were similarly converted into regiments of Punjabis, Pathans, and Gurkhas; the native mountain batteries have been increased to ten; the system of linked battalions has been introduced with the formation of regimental centres for mobilization; and reserves for infantry and mountain artillery have been formed. The number of British officers present with each regiment has been increased to nine, and the two wing commands in battalions have been converted into four double-company commands of 250 men each, under a British commander, who is responsible to the commandant for their training and efficiency, the command of the companies being left to the native officers. This system, which is analogous to the squadron command in the cavalry, admits of closer individual attention to training, and distributes among the senior British regimental officers effective responsibility of a personal kind. An addition to the army of five native battalions at the expense of the imperial Government was made in 1900 as the result of India being called upon to furnish garrisons for Mauritius and other colonial stations over sea. These new battalions are raised from such warlike and hardy races as Sikhs, Punjabi Mahommedans, Jats, and hillmen in Northern India. Of these three are included in the Punjab army, and two in that of Bengal. The unification of the triplicate army departments in the different Presidential armies was completed in 1891, all being brought directly under the supreme Government; and the three separate staff corps of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay were fused into one in 1891 as the Indian Staff Corps. These measures prepared the way for the new system of army organization, which, by authority of Parliament, abolished divided control and placed the whole army of India under the Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief in India. On the 1st April 1895 the army of India was divided into four great commands—Punjab, Bengal, Madras, Bombay. These commands are under lieutenant-generals, styled as commanding the forces therein, all under the direct command of the Commander-in-Chief, and the control of the Government of India. The Punjab command includes the whole of the Punjab province. The Bengal command includes the territories under the civil governments of Bengal, Assam, the North-West Provinces and Oude, and part of the Central Provinces. The Madras command includes the Madras Presidency, Burma, and the Belgaum district. The Bombay command includes the Bombay Presidency, Baluchistan, and parts of Rajputana, Central India, and the Central Provinces. The two local cavalry regiments and six battalions in Central India are now included in the Bengal and Bombay commands. The Hydrabad contingent remains as a separate force under the direct orders of the Government of India. It is commanded by a
