#history
Troops of Princely States in British India.
The history of British rule in India is remarkable for the reason that first the East India Company and later the British Crown was able to control large areas of the country with the help of a limited number of armed soldiers.
However the British authorities were acutely aware of the need for supplementing its army in case of any emergency.
In 1885, the British launched the Imperial Service Troops Scheme, which created a reserve force from the various princely states.
The Indian princely states were quite rich in resources as well as fighting men. The British felt they could be used to ‘support’ the British Indian Army without becoming a threat. The British provided them training and equipment, while the princely states paid for it and provided men.
The forces of the princely states played a key role in World War I, when Imperial Service Troops from Bikaner, Jodhpur, Hyderabad and Mysore were dispatched to Egypt and Mesopotamia to engage in combat. The troops’ biggest achievement was in the Battle of Haifa (September 1918), when forces from Jodhpur, Mysore and Hyderabad liberated the important town of Haifa (now in Israel) from Ottoman rule. This battle was historic as it was the last cavalry battle ever fought!
Indian independence created its own problems. With the integration of States, the question arose what to do with the armed forces of the princely states.
The Republic of India came into effect in 1950 consequent to the adoption of the new Constitution.
In April 1951, the forces of different states were absorbed into the Indian Army, after the political integration of Indian princely states, which took place between 1947 and 1950, thanks to the efforts of the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the Secretary of States,V P Menon.
