Records of Indian soldiers who served in WWI in British Indian Army released for 1st time

detailed records of at least 3,20,000 soldiers from undivided Punjab who served in World War I have been uncovered for first time in ‘Punjab Registers’. Ahead of world observing 'Remembrance Sunday' on 14 vember, names and details of half a million World War One (WWI) soldiers have been uncovered, providing fresh information regarding allied war effort and valuable information about British Indian Army troops from Punjab, before partition. 

Citing an official release by UK Punjab Herit Association (UKPHA), ANI reported that records of hundreds of thousands of Indian Army soldiers from undivided Punjab have been disclosed for first time after y lay in a forgotten archive. 

Punjabis across all faiths including Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs made up for around a third of British Indian Army during WWI even though y amounted to less than 8% of population of British India at time. UKPHA said, “That equates to one-sixth of all Empire's overseas forces hailing from Punjab making ir contribution larger than that of Australia. And yet until w, very little was kwn about m, in most cases, t even ir names.”

World War I ended in 1919 and n Punjab Government had put toger a series of registers that listed names and information of each man that had served in British Indian Army but records remained “unresearched for almost a century.” Named ‘Punjab Registers’, it reportedly comprised of at least 26,000 ps listing over 300,000 individual names. records even consisted of vill-by-vill data on war service and pensions of Punjabi recruits, family background, rank and regiment. 

'y offer a detailed breakdown of recruiting practices of Indian Army a century ago and into individual soldiers revealing insights into ir occupational, social, political and faith backgrounds. In some cases, y also detail awards y received and far-flung atres of war that y served in, and from which at least 15,000 did t return,'  release said.

It is also pertinent to te that while historians and descendants of UK and Irish soldiers had option of searching public databases of service records, re was such facility for families of Indian soldiers who served during WWI until latest revelation. records have been digitised and published just in time for Armistice day on Thursday. 

Registers give new information on colonial casualties 

UKPHA also said that Punjab Registers offer new information on colonial casualties and help to correct omissions in historical record identified by Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). It added, “y also help us to understand why Punjab was so badly affected by influenza pandemic which rd across globe from 1918 and which was largely brought back by returning soldiers. Registers have been tracked down and are being painstakingly digitised by volunteers from UK Punjab Herit Association (UKPHA)” while ting that project is a collaboration with University of Greenwich which has also helped fund a new website.

(IM: @UKPHA/Twitter)

(With ANI inputs)