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{{Short description|British Indian colonial military recruitment theory}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}

[[File:Officers 1st Brahmins, 1922.jpg|thumb|British and Indian officers of the [[1st Brahmans]], 1912.]]
'''Martial race''' was a designation which was created by army officials in [[British India]] after the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], in which they classified each [[caste]] as belonging to one of two categories, the 'martial' caste and the 'non-martial' caste. The ostensible reason for this system of classification was the belief that a 'martial race' was typically brave and well-built for fighting,<ref name=rand>{{Cite journal|last=Rand|first=Gavin|title=Martial Races and Imperial Subjects: Violence and Governance in Colonial India 1857–1914|journal= European Review of History|volume=13|issue=1|pages=1–20|publisher=Routledge|date=March 2006 |doi=10.1080/13507480600586726 |s2cid=144987021}}</ref> while the 'non-martial races' were those races which the British considered unfit for battle because of their [[sedentary lifestyle]]s. The British had a policy of recruiting the martial Indians from those who has less access to education as they were easier to control.<ref name="Khalidi2003">{{cite book|author=Omar Khalidi|title=Khaki and the Ethnic Violence in India: Army, Police, and Paramilitary Forces During Communal Riots|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B-NtAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Three Essays Collective|quote= Apart from their physique, the martial races were regarded as politically subservient or docile to authority|page=5|isbn=9788188789092}}</ref>

According to modern historian Jeffrey Greenhut on military history, "The Martial Race theory had an elegant symmetry. Indians who were intelligent and educated were defined as cowards, while those defined as brave were uneducated and backward". According to Amiya Samanta, the martial race was chosen from people of mercenary spirit (a soldier who fights for any group or country that will pay him), as these groups lacked nationalism as a trait.<ref>Greenhut, Jeffrey (1983) The Imperial Reserve: the Indian Corps on the Western Front, 1914–15. In: ''The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'', October 1983.</ref><ref name="Samanta2000">{{cite book|author=Amiya K. Samanta|title=Gorkhaland Movement: A Study in Ethnic Separatism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4GqdfG0EU8C&pg=PA26|year=2000|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-166-3|pages=26–|quote=Dr . Jeffrey Greenhut has observed that “ The Martial Race Theory had an elegant symmetry . Indians who were intelligent and educated were defined as cowards, while those defined as brave were uneducated and backward. Besides their mercenary spirit was primarily due to their lack of nationalism.}}</ref> British-trained Indian soldiers were among those who had rebelled in 1857 and thereafter, the [[Bengal Army]] abandoned or diminished its recruitment of soldiers who came from the [[catchment area]] and enacted a new recruitment policy which favoured castes whose members had remained loyal to the British Empire.<ref name="Street">{{cite book |title=Martial Races: The military, race and masculinity in British Imperial Culture, 1857–1914 |last=Streets |first=Heather |year=2004 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-6962-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BscnZT_1po8C |access-date=20 October 2010}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2019}}

The concept already had a precedent in Indian culture as one of the four orders ([[Varna (Hinduism)|varnas]]) in the [[Vedic]] social system of Hinduism is known as the [[Kshatriya]], literally "warriors".<ref name="gbook1">{{cite book | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_SrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA301 | title=The Indian Postcolonial: A Critical Reader | publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |editor1-first=Elleke |editor1-last=Boehmer |editor2-first=Rosinka |editor2-last=Chaudhuri |first=Santanu |last=Das |chapter=India, empire and First World War writing |page=301 |isbn=978-1-13681-957-5}}</ref> [[Brahmins]] were described as 'the oldest martial community',<ref name="Singh2014">{{cite book|author=Gajendra Singh|title=The Testimonies of Indian Soldiers and the Two World Wars: Between Self and Sepoy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cVMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|date=16 January 2014|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-78093-820-2|pages=29–}}</ref> in the past having two of the oldest British Indian regiments, the [[1st Brahmans]] and [[3rd Brahmans]].  Now, except a clan known as [[Gaur Brahmins|Gaur]] whose habits are simpler, very few are found in the army.<ref name="MacMunn 1979">{{Cite book |last=MacMunn |first=George Fletcher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uiQKAQAAIAAJ&dq=Gaur+Brahmin+martial+race&pg=PA272 |title=The Martial Races of India |date=1979 |publisher=Mittal Publications |language=en}}</ref>  Following the transfer of the British Indian Armed forces to the Indian Armed forces, these communities continued to have a high representation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=YADAV |first=ATUL |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pH9aEAAAQBAJ&dq=pandit+lal+chand&pg=PA22 |title=Valour Unlimited : Haryana and the Indian Armed Forces (1914-2000) |date=22 January 2022 |publisher=K.K. Publications |language=en}}</ref>

Following Indian independence, the Indian government in February 1949 abolished the official application of "martial race" principles with regard to military recruitment, although it has continued to be applied formally and informally in certain circumstances.<ref>{{cite web|title=No More Class Composition in Indian Army|url=http://pibarchive.nic.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/DEFENCE/1949-JAN-DEC-DEFENCE/PDF/DEF-1949-02-01_035.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|date=1 February 1949|access-date=16 February 2020}}</ref> In Pakistan, such principles, although no longer rigidly enforced, have continued to hold considerable sway and have had major consequences for the nation's political life—the most extreme case being the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], following decades of continued [[Bengali people|Bengali]] exclusion from the armed forces.<ref name="Lakshmi_2016">{{cite news |last1=Lakshmi |first1=V. Vidya |title=Pakistan Army: Martial Race or National Army? |url=https://mantraya.org/pakistan-army-martial-race-or-national-army/ |access-date=25 August 2021 |work=Mantraya |date=1 June 2016}}</ref>

==Criteria==
In their attempts to assert control after the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], the British faced fierce resistance in some regions while easily subduing others. British officials sought 'martial races' accustomed to hunting, or from agricultural cultures from hilly or mountainous regions with a history of conflict. Others were excluded due to their 'ease of living' or branded as [[Sedition|seditious]] agitators.<ref name="Khalidi2006">{{cite web |url=http://www.defenceindia.com/def_common/ethnic_group_recruitment.html |title=Ethnic Group Recruitment in the Indian Army: The Contrasting Cases of Sikhs, Muslims, Gurkhas and Others|author= Dr. Omar Khalidi| website=www.defenceindia.com |access-date=26 June 2023}}{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020114933/http://defenceindia.com/def_common/ethnic_group_recruitment.html |date=20 October 2006 }}</ref> The doctrine of 'martial races' postulated that the qualities that make a useful soldier are inherited in certain races by birth, and that the rest of the Indian races did not have the requisite [[phenome|traits]] that would make them warriors.<ref>Greenhut, Jeffrey "Sahib and Sepoy: an Inquiry into the Relationship between the British Officers and Native Soldiers of the British Indian Army". (In: ''Military Affairs'', Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jan. 1984), p. 15.</ref>

British general and scholar Lieutenant-General George MacMunn (1869–1952) noted in his writings "It is only necessary for a feeling to arise that it is impious and disgraceful to serve the British, for the whole of our fabric to tumble like a house of cards without a shot being fired or a sword unsheathed".<ref>MacMunn, G. F. (1911). The Armies of India; painted by Major A. C. Lovett. London: Adam & Charles Black.</ref> To this end, it became British policy to recruit only from those tribes whom they classified as members of the 'martial races', and the practice became an integral part of the recruitment manuals for the Army in the British Raj.

The British regarded the 'martial races' as valiant and strong but also intellectually inferior, lacking the initiative or leadership qualities to command large military formations.<ref name="Levine2003">{{cite book|author=Philippa Levine|title=Prostitution, Race, and Politics: Policing Venereal Disease in the British Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=It1lPzFCG9EC|year=2003|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-94447-2|quote=The Saturday review had made much the same argument a few years earlier in relation to the armies raised by Indian rulers in princely states. They lacked competent leadership and were uneven in quality. Commander in chief Roberts, one of the most enthusiastic proponents of the martial race theory, though poorly of the native troops as a body. Many regarded such troops as childish and simple. The British, claims, David Omissi, believe martial Indians to be stupid. Certainly, the policy of recruiting among those without access to much education gave the British more semblance of control over their recruits. [...]Garnet Wolseley, one of Britain's most admired late nineteenth-century soldiers, published a damning essay on "The negro as soldier" in 1888, and though his focus was on the African command with which he was most familiar, his dismissive comments are typical of those used against nonwhite soldiers more broadly. While "the Savage" lacked intelligence, was riddled with disease, and enjoyed human suffering, the Anglo-Saxon craved "manly sports" that had developed in him a "bodily strength" unmatched by any other nation.}}</ref> They were also regarded as politically subservient or docile to authority.<ref name="Khalidi2003"/><ref name="Khalidi2006"/> For these reasons, the martial races theory did not lead to officers being recruited from them; recruitment was based on [[social class]] and loyalty to the [[British Raj]]. One source calls this a "pseudo-[[ethnological]]" construction, which was popularised by [[Frederick Sleigh Roberts]], and created serious deficiencies in troop levels during the [[World Wars]], compelling them to recruit from 'non-martial races'.<ref>[http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-6146.html Country Data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614224923/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-6146.html |date=14 June 2017 }} – Based on the Country Studies Series by Federal Research Division of the [[Library of Congress]].</ref> [[Winston Churchill]] was reportedly concerned that the theory was abandoned during the war and wrote to the [[Commander-in-Chief, India]] that he must, "rely as much as possible on the martial races".<ref>Bose, Mihir. The Magic of Indian Cricket: Cricket and Society in India; p. 25.</ref>

Critics of the theory state that the Indian rebellion of 1857 may have played a role in reinforcing the British belief in it. During this event the troops from the Bengal Native Infantry led by [[sepoy]] [[Mangal Pandey]] mutinied against the British. Similarly, the [[Revolt of Rajab Ali]] from [[Chittagong]] also caused trouble with British forces. However, the loyal [[Rajputs]], [[Jat people|Jats]], [[Pashtun people|Pashtuns]], [[Sikhs]], [[Gurkha]]s, [[Kumauni people|Kumaunis]] and [[Garhwali people|Garhwalis]] did not join the mutiny, and fought on the side of the British Army. From then on, this theory was used to the hilt to accelerate recruitment from among these 'races', while discouraging enlistment of 'disloyal' troops and high-caste [[Hinduism|Hindus]] who had sided with the rebel army during the war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan - THE BRITISH RAJ |url=http://countrystudies.us/pakistan/8.htm |access-date=22 April 2022 |website=countrystudies.us}}</ref>

Some authors, such as Heather Streets, argue that the military authorities puffed up the images of the martial soldiers by writing regimental histories, and by extolling the [[kilt]]ed Scots, [[kukri]]-wielding Gurkhas and [[turban]]ed Sikhs in numerous paintings.<ref>[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050701/asp/opinion/story_4933880.asp Book review of Martial Races: The military, race and masculinity in British Imperial Culture, 1857–1914 By Heather Streets] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071621/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050701/asp/opinion/story_4933880.asp |date=4 March 2016 }} in [[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]].</ref> Richard Schultz, an American author, has claimed the martial race concept as a supposedly clever British effort to divide and rule the people of India for their own political ends.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=SHULTZ |first1=RICHARD H. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/shul12982 |title=Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat |last2=DEW |first2=ANDREA J. |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=9780231503426 |pages=47 |jstor=10.7312/shul12982 }}</ref>

==Tribes and groups designated as martial races==

===In British colonial times===

[[File:SikhsInFrancePostcard.jpg|right|thumb|French postcard depicting the arrival of 15th [[Sikh Regiment]] in France during [[World War I]]. The post card reads, "Gentlemen of India marching to chasten the German hooligans"]]

[[File:14th Murrays Jat Lancers (Risaldar Major) by AC Lovett (1862-1919).jpg|thumb|[[14th Murray's Jat Lancers]] ''(Risaldar Major), c. 1909, by AC Lovett (1862–1919)'']]
British-declared martial races in the Indian subcontinent included some groups that were officially designated instead as "agricultural tribes" under the provisions of the [[Punjab Land Alienation Act, 1900|Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900]]. These terms were considered to be synonymous when the administration compiled a list in 1925. Among the communities listed as martial were:<ref name = "Mazumdar Rajit">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4Wop9vwS9sC&pg=PA105 |title=The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab |first=Rajit K. |last=Mazumder |page=105 |publisher=Orient Longman |year=2003|isbn=9788178240596 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=MacMunn |first=George Fletcher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uiQKAQAAIAAJ&q=Brahmin+martial+race&pg=PA272 |title=The Martial Races of India |date=1979 |publisher=Mittal Publications |pages=271 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shukla |first=S. P. |url=https://archive.org/details/indiasfreedomstr0000shuk/mode/2up?q=Gaur |title=India's freedom struggle and the role of Haryana |date=1985 |publisher=New Delhi : Criterion Publications : Distributed by Deep & Deep Publications |others=Internet Archive}}</ref>

*[[Ahir]]
*[[Arain]]
*[[Awan (tribe)|Awan]]
*[[Baloch tribe|Baloch]] 
*[[Dogras|Dogra]]
*[[Gakhars|Gakhar]]
*[[Gaur Brahmins]]
*[[Gurjar]]s
*[[Janjua]]
*[[Jat people|Jat]]
*[[Kamboh]] 
*[[Khokhar]]
*[[Labana]]
*[[Mahton]]
*[[Mughal tribe|Mughal]]
*[[Saini]]
*[[Pathan]]
*[[Rajput]]s
*[[Rowther]]s
*[[Qureshi]]
*[[Sial tribe|Sial]]
*Syed

Communities that were at various times classified as martial races include:
*[[Sudhan]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWw8AAAAIAAJ |title=History of Jammu and Kashmir State: The making of the State |last=Kapur |first=Manohar Lal |publisher=Kashmir History Publications |year=1980 |isbn= |location=India |pages=51}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris |chapter=Jammu and Jammutis|first=Christopher |last=Snedden |year=2015|publisher= HarperCollins India |isbn= 9781849043427|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5KMCwAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref name="Iffat Malik">{{citation |last1=Malik |first1=Iffat |title=Kashmir: Ethnic Conflict International Dispute |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9J8QgAACAAJ&q=kashmir+ethnic+conflict+international+dispute |page=62 |year=2002 |chapter=Jammu Province |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-579622-3}}</ref>
*[[Bhumihars]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpXijlqeRpIC&pg=PA98|title = India's Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil|isbn = 9788178241098|last1 = Roy|first1 = Kaushik|year = 2004| publisher=Orient Blackswan }}</ref> 
*[[Garhwali people|Garhwali]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4Wop9vwS9sC |title=The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab |first=Rajit K. |last=Mazumder |page=99 |publisher=Orient Longman |year=2003|isbn=9788178240596 }}</ref>
*[[Vokkaliga#Tulu and Kodagu Vokkaliga|Gowdas]]<ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |author-link= |year= 1898 |title= Historical Records of the XIII Madras Infantry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sxs9AAAAYAAJ&dq=coorgs+gaudas+service&pg=PA191|location= |publisher=W. Thacker |page=191 |quote= …Coorg for the purpose of trying to induce Coorgs and Gaudas to take service, but, after working the whole of Coorg, one recruit only, a Gauda, was obtained . According to the report of the native officer in command of the party, the inhabitants of Coorg, although a warlike race, are much… |isbn=}}
</ref>
*[[Gurkha]]s<ref name="eup">{{Cite journal|last=Surridge|first=Keith|year=2007|title=Martial Races: the Military, Race and Masculinity in British Imperial Culture, 1857–1914 (review)|journal=Journal of Victorian Culture|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|location=Edinburgh|volume=12|issue=1|pages=146–150|issn=1355-5502 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/journal_of_victorian_culture/v012/12.1surridge.html|doi=10.1353/jvc.2007.0017|s2cid=162319158|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
*[[Kumaoni people|Kumaoni]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5bJlCgAAQBAJ&q=kumaoni+people+as+a+martial+race&pg=PT14|title=mountain echoes a reminiscense of kumaoni women|first=namita|last=gokhale| publisher=Roli pvt ltd.| year=1998|isbn=9788174360403}}</ref>
*[[Kurmi]]<ref name="i9788178357751">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRwS6FmS2g0C|isbn = 9788178357751|title = Martial races of undivided India|year = 2009|publisher = Gyan Publishing House}}</ref>
*[[Marathas]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=U5FdJnnDhSwC&pg=PA189 Creative Pasts: Historical Memory And Identity in Western India, 1700-1960] From book: "In the early twentieth century, the Marathas were identified as a "martial race" fit for the imperial army, and recruitment of Marathas increased after World War I."</ref>
*[[Mohyal|Mohyal Brahmin]]<ref name="Khushwant">{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Khushwant |author-link=Khushwant Singh |title=The End of India |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0143029946 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQjYaXkTqdcC&pg=PA98 |quote=Punjabi Mussalmans and Khalsa Sikhs were declared 'martial races' for recruitment to the army or the police; only one small Hindu caste, the Mohyal Brahmins, qualified as martial.}}</ref>
* Agricultural Brahmins of [[Oudh]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Gajendra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cVMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|title=The Testimonies of Indian Soldiers and the Two World Wars: Between Self and Sepoy|date=16 January 2014|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-78093-820-2|language=en}}</ref>
*[[Naga people]]<ref name="i9788178357751"/>
*[[Mukkulathor]]<ref name="i9788178357751"/>
*[[Nair]]s<ref>{{Cite book| title = The Mass Media and Village Life: An Indian Study |first1=Paul |last1=Hartmann |first2=B. R. |last2=Patil |first3=Anita |last3=Dighe | publisher = Sage Publications | year = 1989 | page = 224| isbn = 0-8039-9581-4}}</ref>
*[[Vellalar]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mazumder |first=Rajit K. |title=The Indian Army and the making of Punjab |date=2003 |publisher=Permanent Black ; Distributed by Orient Longman |isbn=978-81-7824-059-6 |series=Permanent Black monographs. The "Opus 1" series |location=Delhi : Bangalore}}</ref>

==Post-colonial period==
===India===
India was quick to formally disclaim the martial races theory after gaining independence. The largest single source of recruitment for the [[British Indian Army]] had come from [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], with Sikhs and Punjabi Muslims particularly preferred, with the result that at independence over 90% of the new [[Indian Armed Forces]]' senior officers came from [[East Punjab]]  despite the fact that it made up just 5% of the new country's population.<ref name="Wilkinson_2015">{{cite book |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Steven I. |title=Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy Since Independence |date=2015 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=9780674967007}}</ref> Recognizing the destabilising potential of an unrepresentative armed forces, Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] soon urged the [[Commander-in-Chief, India]] and [[Defence Secretary (India)|Defence Secretary]] to undertake "large scale reform to the armed forces”.<ref name="Guruswamy_2016">{{cite news |last1=Guruswamy |first1=Menaka |title=Why the Indian army needs to abandon the colonial concept of 'martial races' |url=https://scroll.in/article/811303/why-the-indian-army-needs-to-abandon-the-colonial-concept-of-martial-races |access-date=25 August 2021 |work=The Scroll |date=16 July 2016}}</ref>

However, while most caste or tribal bars on recruitment were lifted, recruitment in regions populated by the former "martial races" was progressively intensified, with the result that by the beginning of the 1970s, India had more than doubled the number of "martial class" units. The [[Punjab Regiment (India)|Punjab Regiment]], which recruits mainly [[Sikhs]] and [[Dogras]], had gone from five to 29 battalions since independence, while the [[Rajputana Rifles]], which is mainly composed of [[Jats]] and [[Rajputs]], increased from six to 21 battalions over the same time period.<ref name="Guruswamy_2016" /> The three states that comprised the former [[East Punjab]]—[[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], and [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]—remain substantially over-represented in the contemporary Indian Armed Forces. In the 1968-1971 period, Haryana, which accounted for 2.2% of India's population, accounted for 7.82% of the armed forces' headcount; the figures for Himachal Pradesh were 0.6% of the population, and 4.68% of the armed forces, and for Punjab, 2.6% of the population and 15.3% of the armed forces.<ref name="Khalidi_2001">{{cite journal |last1=Khalidi |first1=Omar |title=Ethnic Group Recruitment in the Indian Army: The Contrasting Cases of Sikhs, Muslims, Gurkhas and Others |journal=Pacific Affairs |date=2001 |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=529–552 |doi=10.2307/3557805 |jstor=3557805 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3557805 |access-date=25 August 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> By the 1996-97 period, the proportion of the armed forces coming from each state had fallen from 4.7% to 4.4% to Himachal Pradesh, from 7.8% to 5.1% in Haryana, and from 15.3% to 7.6% in Punjab.<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/> 

{{Table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable collapsible sortable col1left" style="text-align:right"
|+ State-wise Composition of the Indian Army<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/>
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[States and union territories of India|State]]
! colspan="1" |[[List of states and union territories of India by population|% of national population]], [[2011 Census of India|2011]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Population and decadal change by residence : 2011 (PERSONS) |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/PCA_Highlights/pca_highlights_file/India/Chapter-1.pdf |publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |page=2 |access-date=15 January 2019 |archive-date=24 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624015117/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/PCA_Highlights/pca_highlights_file/India/Chapter-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
! colspan="1" |% of Indian Army, 1968-1971
! colspan="1" |% of Indian Army, 1996-1997
! colspan="1" |Change in %
|-
!{{Abbr|%|Percentage}}
!{{Abbr|%|Percentage}}
!{{Abbr|%|Percentage}}
!{{Abbr|+%|Percentage Change}}
|-
|[[Uttar Pradesh]] (including [[Uttarakhand]])
|17.3
|15.6
|20.6
|{{Percentage | 5.0| 15.6 | 2 }}
|-
|[[Rajasthan]]
|5.7
|7.0
|7.9
|{{Percentage | 0.9| 7.0| 2 }}
|-
|[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
|2.3
|15.3
|7.6
|{{Percentage | -7.7| 15.3| 2 }}
|-
|[[Maharashtra]]
|9.3
|7.6
|7.3
|{{Percentage | -0.3| 7.6| 2 }}
|-
|[[Bihar]] (including [[Jharkhand]])
|11.3
|5.1
|7.0
|{{Percentage | 1.9| 5.1| 2 }}
|-
|[[West Bengal]]
|7.5
|3.6
|5.7
|{{Percentage | 2.1| 3.6| 2 }}
|-
|[[Haryana]]
|2.1
|7.8
|5.1
|{{Percentage | -2.7| 7.8| 2 }}
|-
|[[Andhra Pradesh]] (including [[Telangana]])
|7.0
|4.1
|4.9
|{{Percentage | 0.8| 4.1| 2 }}
|-
|[[Tamil Nadu]]
|6.0
|5.1
|4.9
|{{Percentage | -0.2| 5.1| 2 }}
|-
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|0.6
|4.7
|4.4
|{{Percentage | -0.3| 4.7| 2 }}
|-
|[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (including [[Ladakh]])
|1.0
|2.9
|3.7
|{{Percentage | 0.8| 2.9| 2 }}
|-
|[[Karnataka]]
|5.1
|2.8
|3.7
|{{Percentage | 0.9| 2.8| 2 }}
|-
|[[Kerala]]
|2.8
|5.4
|3.1
|{{Percentage | -2.3| 5.4| 2 }}
|-
|[[Madhya Pradesh]] (including [[Chhattisgarh]])
|8.1
|5.1
|3.0
|{{Percentage | -2.1| 5.1| 2 }}
|-
|All other states and union territories combined{{efn|[[Gujarat]], [[Odisha]], [[Assam]], [[Delhi]], [[Tripura]], [[Meghalaya]], [[Manipur]], [[Nagaland]], [[Goa]], [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]], [[Mizoram]], [[Chandigarh]], [[Sikkim]], [[Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu]], [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], and [[Lakshadweep]].}}
|13.9
|7.9
|11.1
|{{Percentage | 3.2| 7.9| 2 }}
|-
|}

Explicit ethnic- or caste-based requirements have nevertheless persisted among some military formations. The most notable instance is the [[President's Bodyguard]], the most senior and arguably the most prestigious unit of the [[Indian Army]], which recruits exclusively from Sikhs, Jats and Rajputs in equal proportion. The Indian government has defended what it terms as "class composition" restrictions on the grounds of the "functional requirements" of the ceremonial detachment, namely its "ceremonial duties [which] demand common height, built, appearance and dress for reason of pomp and projection".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ahsan |first1=Sofi |title=President's bodyguards: Govt defends recruitment process, says it's based on 'functional requirements' |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/presidents-bodyguards-govt-defends-recruitment-process-says-its-based-on-functional-requirements-5835027/ |access-date=25 August 2021 |work=[[Indian Express]] |date=18 July 2019}}</ref>

Sikhs continue to be strongly over-represented in the armed forces  despite the discontinuation of the martial race theory. While religious data of soldiers is not collected, the number of religious preachers for each group in the Army was disclosed by the government to the [[Lok Sabha]] in early 1997, a number believed to proportionate to the number of each religion's adherents in the army, and indicated that over 10% of the Army was Sikh as opposed to under 2% of the general population.<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/> Notably, the [[Sikh Regiment]] and [[Sikh Light Infantry]] are largely homogenous regiments with around 20 battalions highly used as a strike force,<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/> with the Sikh Regiment being the most decorated regiment in the Indian Army.<ref name="Ahsan_2019">{{cite news |title=Sikh Regiment: Legacy of Valour and Bravery in Indian Army|url=https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/sikh-regiment-legacy-of-valour-and-bravery-in-indian-army20230530153308// |access-date=18 October 2024 |work=[[ANI News]] |date=30 May 2023}}</ref> Sikhs compose up to 20% of the Indian Army officer corps.<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/> Nonetheless, Sikhs have alleged that their proportion in the armed forces has been dropping,<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/> and the [[Anandpur Sahib Resolution]] called for "the present ratio of their strength in the Army should be maintained".<ref>{{cite web|last=Singh|first=Khushwant|title=The Anandpur Sahib Resolution and Other Akali Demands|url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195673098.001.0001/acprof-9780195673098-chapter-20|work=oxfordscholarship.com/|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=5 April 2013}}</ref> Major General Jaswant Singh Bhullar complained that Sikhs were having trouble joining the armed forces due to religious quotas, which may have fuelled the [[Sikh insurgency]] and [[Sikh diaspora|Sikh migration abroad]].<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/> Lieutenant General [[Joginder Singh Dhillon]] complained that migration abroad was leading an officer shortage, measured at 13,000, which may lead to lowering of education standards and test scores.<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/> 

{{Table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable collapsible sortable col1left" style="text-align:right"
|+ Estimated religion-wise Composition of the Indian Army<ref name="Khalidi_2001"/>
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Religion in India|Religion]]
! colspan="1" |% of national population, [[2011 Census of India|2011]]<ref name="censusindia.gov.in">{{Cite web |title=C -1 POPULATION BY RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY - 2011 |url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01%20MDDS.XLS |access-date=2 October 2023 |website=[[censusindia.gov.in]]}}</ref>
! colspan="1" |estimated % of Indian Army, 1997
! colspan="1" |Proportion
|-
!{{Abbr|%|Percentage}}
!{{Abbr|%|Percentage}}
!{{Abbr|%|Percentage}}
|-
|[[Hinduism in India|Hindu]]
|{{Percentage|966,257,353|1,210,854,977|2}}
|{{Percentage|1568|1,854|2}}
|{{Percentage|84.57|79.80|2}}
|-
|[[Sikhism in India|Sikh]]
|{{Percentage|20,833,116|1,210,854,977|2}}
|{{Percentage|194|1,854|2}}
|{{Percentage|10.46|1.72|2}}
|-
|[[Islam in India|Muslim]]
|{{Percentage|172,245,158|1,210,854,977|2}}
|{{Percentage|54|1,854|2}}
|{{Percentage|2.91|14.23|2}}
|-
|[[Christianity in India|Christian]]
|{{Percentage|27,819,588|1,210,854,977|2}}
|{{Percentage|27|1,854|2}}
|{{Percentage|1.46|2.30|2}}
|-
|[[Buddhism in India|Buddhist]]
|{{Percentage|8,442,972|1,210,854,977|2}}
|{{Percentage|11|1,854|2}}
|{{Percentage|0.59|0.70|2}}
|-
|}

===Pakistan===
At independence, the new [[Pakistan Armed Forces]] likewise reflected the institutional legacy of the "martial races" theory, although it was no longer formally applied there as well. The British preference of Punjabis, combined with the fact that Bengalis (who were the single largest group in the new nation) had been disfavored ever since the Revolt of 1857, led to an even more ethnically lopsided army corps than in India. At the [[Pakistan Army]]'s establishment in 1947, [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], with 25% of the new nation's population, accounted for 72% of the Army's headcount, while [[East Bengal (province)|East Bengal]], with 55% of the total population, was virtually unrepresented. In the [[Pakistan Armoured Corps|Armoured Corps]], there was not a single Muslim member from Sindh, Balochistan or Bengal, which together comprised 70% of Pakistan's total population.<ref name="Lakshmi_2016" />

This imbalance created tensions, particularly among the [[Bengali people|Bengalis]] of [[East Pakistan]], who felt humiliated by the continued belief in the theory which continued to hold sway in [[West Pakistan]], that they were not 'martially inclined' compared to the [[Punjabi people|Punjabis]] and [[Pashtuns]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+bd0139%29 |title=Library of Congress studies. |access-date=7 November 2006 |archive-date=5 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705131255/http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r%3Ffrd/cstdy:@field(DOCID%2Bbd0139) |url-status=live }}</ref> Pakistani author [[Hasan Askari Rizvi|Hasan-Askari Rizvi]] notes that the limited recruitment of Bengali personnel in the Pakistan Army was because the West Pakistanis "could not overcome the hangover of the martial race theory".<ref>{{cite book |title=Military, State and Society in Pakistan |first=Hasan-Askari |last=Rizvi |date=September 2000 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=0-312-23193-8 |page=128}}</ref> As a result, in 1955, out of the Pakistan Army's 908-strong officer corps, 894 hailed from West Pakistan and a mere 14 from East Pakistan. Thus, following the [[1958 Pakistani coup d'état|coup d'état of 1958]], the exclusion of East Pakistani Bengalis from military leadership translated into their exclusion from the nation's political leadership. This deepened the alienation of East Pakistanis from the Pakistani government, which would eventually lead to the [[independence of Bangladesh]].<ref name="Guruswamy_2016" />

Furthermore, it has been alleged that the continued influence of the theory among the command of the [[Pakistan Armed Forces]], whose rank and file had largely drawn from the martial races, contributed to an otherwise unjustified confidence that they would easily defeat India in a war, especially prior to the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]].<ref>Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat [[Richard H. Shultz]], Andrea Dew: "The Martial Races Theory had firm adherents in Pakistan and this factor played a major role in the under-estimation of the Indian Army by Pakistani soldiers as well as civilian decision makers in 1965."</ref><ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+in0189) United States Library of Congress Country Studies] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120719232027/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+in0189) |date=19 July 2012 }} "Most Pakistanis, schooled in the belief of their own martial prowess, refused to accept the possibility of their country's military defeat by 'Hindu India'."</ref> Based on this belief in martial supremacy<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/indo-pak_1965.htm Indo-Pakistan War of 1965] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509223002/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/indo-pak_1965.htm |date=9 May 2017 }}.</ref><ref>[http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/990718.htm "End-game?" By Ardeshir Cowasjee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023234619/http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/990718.htm |date=23 October 2010 }} – 18 July 1999, [[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]].</ref><ref>''India'' Stanley Wolpert Published: University of California Press 1990. "India's army... quickly dispelled the popular Pakistani myth that one Muslim soldier was 'worth ten Hindus.'"</ref> numerical superiority of the foe could be overcome.<ref name="Cohen">''The Idea of Pakistan'' [[Stephen P. Cohen]] Published: Brookings Institution Press 2004 {{ISBN|0-8157-1502-1}} pp. 103–104.</ref> Defence writers in Pakistan have noted that the 1971 defeat was partially attributable to the flawed 'martial races' theory which led to [[wishful thinking]] that it was possible to defeat the [[Mukti Bahini|Bengali Rebel Forces]] based on the theory alone.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/nov/pak-army.htm |title=Pakistan's Defence Journal. |access-date=29 February 2008 |archive-date=7 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307232548/http://defencejournal.com/2000/nov/pak-army.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Author [[Stephen P. Cohen]] notes that "Elevating the 'martial races' theory to the level of an absolute truth had domestic implications for Pakistani politics and contributed to the neglect of other aspects of security.".<ref name="Cohen"/>
 
In contemporary Pakistan, army recruitment still reflects the biases of "martial races" theory, with a considerable over-representation of ethnic [[Pashtuns]] and [[Punjabis]], particularly from the [[Salt Range]], and under-representation of [[Balochis]] and [[Sindhis]].<ref name="Lakshmi_2016" /> In the past few decades there have been some efforts to rectify these imbalances and make the Armed Forces more representative, in part by relaxing recruitment standards in Sindh and Balochistan.<ref name="Lakshmi_2016" /> In 2007 a report published by the [[Inter-Services Public Relations]] claimed success bringing the army's composition closer to national demographics; the proportion of Punjabis in the army had fallen from 71% in 2001 to 57% in 2007, and was expected to reach 54% by 2011.{{update inline|date=August 2021}} In turn, the proportion of Sindhis was expected to increase from 15% to 17%, and Balochis from 3.2% in 2007 to 4% in 2011. The report also projected an increase in the soldiers from Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan from 0% to 9% by 2011.<ref name="Lakshmi_2016" /> However, noting that, for instance, a disproportionately large share of new recruits from Sindh are ethnic [[Pathans of Sindh|Pathans (Pashtuns)]] rather than Sindhis, critics have alleged that such figures, in measuring provincial origin rather than ethnicity ''per se'', mask continued biases in recruiting.<ref name="Lakshmi_2016" />

==See also==
*[[Criminal Tribes Act]]
*[[Historical definitions of races in India]]
==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |jstor=2943173 |title=The Untouchable Soldier: Caste, Politics, and the Indian Army |first=Stephen P. |last=Cohen |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=28 |issue=3 |date=May 1969 |pages=453–468 |doi=10.2307/2943173}} {{subscription required}}
*{{cite book |first=Stephen P. |last=Cohen |title=The Indian Army |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |year=1971}}
*{{cite journal |title=Militarized Masculinities: Shaped and Reshaped in Colonial South-East Punjab |first=Prem |last=Chowdhry |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=47 |issue=3 |date=May 2013 |pages=713–750 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X11000539 |jstor=24494165|s2cid=145147406 }}
 
{{Historical definitions of race}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Race, Martial}}
[[Category:Military history of India]]
[[Category:Military history of British India]]
[[Category:Caste system in India]]
[[Category:Historical definitions of race]]
[[Category:Warriors]]
[[Category:Military history of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Military of India]]