Indian Soldiers on the Western Front: The Role of Religion in the Indian Army in the Great War

This article illustrates the role of religion in the Indian Army of the Great War. It demonstrates the importance of religion in the martial race ideology that set forth British views on eligibility for military recruitment. It explains how an interpretation of the origins of the Mutiny underwrote p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions of South Asia
Main Author: Robinson, Catherine Anne (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Equinox 2015
In: Religions of South Asia
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Britisch-Indien, Army / Western Front / Soldier / Religion / World War
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
KBF British Isles
KBM Asia
ZC Politics in general
Further subjects:B Indian Religions
B Martial Race
B World War One
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:This article illustrates the role of religion in the Indian Army of the Great War. It demonstrates the importance of religion in the martial race ideology that set forth British views on eligibility for military recruitment. It explains how an interpretation of the origins of the Mutiny underwrote preference for those peoples regarded as being less religious but made it necessary to enable soldiers to practise their faiths, even informing the conception of these races in British thinking. It also discusses what this meant in practice for Indian soldiers fighting on the Western Front and then for casualties taken to the Pavilion Hospital. It focuses upon the special arrangements made by the military authorities to satisfy the soldiers’ religious requirements as the British understood them, ranging from places of worship to diet, caste and funeral rites. Finally, it argues that martial race ideology, not excluding religious issues, continues to exercise an influence in contemporary Britain.
ISSN:1751-2697
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions of South Asia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/rosa.v9i1.23964