To expand their control over lands across the globe and retain a firm hold on them, the British were heavily dependent on the services of Welsh, Scottish, Irish soldiers, and even some native rulers. As the old adage about the British Empire goes: “The Irish fought for it, the Scottish and Welsh ran it, but the English kept the profits.” The driving force behind this peculiar arrangement was what the British called Britishness—a feeling of racial superiority rooted in the belief that they were chosen by God to rule and not to be ruled. This superiority complex helped justify conquests, massacres, suppression of freedom movements, and the ruthless exploitation of colonies, particularly India.
Irish presence in British India – A dark and bloody legacy
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| John Nicholson statue Dungannon, Northern Ireland.en.wikipedia.or |
As far as Irish connection with respect to British rule in India was concerned, it had been a sad story of perpetuating violence and viciousness all along to help the British fill up their coffers, and in the aftermath, they earned a bad name among the native Indians more than the British under whose instigation they acted. It all began in 1680 with East India company who recruited a small number of troops. Between 1756 and 1763 hiring of Irish took a new turn. By 1693, almost 1500 Irish soldiers were on the company pay role.
The Irish connection with British rule in India was tragic and soaked in violence. They were used as foot-soldiers for Empire building, and in the process earned a reputation even more notorious than the English themselves. It began in 1680 when the East India Company started recruiting small Irish contingents. By 1693, nearly 1,500 Irish soldiers were employed by the Company. Between 1756 and 1763, their recruitment dramatically increased, coinciding with British territorial expansion after the Battle of Plassey and Buxar.
Economic misery back home drove Irishmen to enlist in India. Ireland was suffering from poverty, political conflict, and lack of opportunities. A military career in India offered good pay, the chance of promotion, and sometimes land or pension. They were well aware that serving in the Indian subcontinent—especially in the North-West Frontier or Afghanistan—was as good as courting death. Yet, by the mid-18th century, Irishmen were disproportionately represented among Company ensigns and junior officers.
Ironically, the British still treated them as inferior whites. English officers disliked commanding Indian troops; as a result, Irish officers found quicker promotion in Indian regiments. Between 1885 and 1914, it became almost routine for the post of Commander-in-Chief in India to be held by an Irishman.
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| Regimental Colours88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers), en.wikipedia.org |
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| Irish soldier in the British army..irish-society.org |
In the second half of 19th century, the number of Irish soldiers declined down below 7000. Because of large scale participation of Irish soldiers in the oppressive British rule and their tendency to resort to brutal means to achieve results,
Notable Irish officers — heroes to Britain, villains to India
A few Irish officers such as Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, and Brigadier-General John Nicholson helped expand and defend the Empire. Roberts became a Victorian-era legend after the Second Afghan War. Auchinleck commanded British Indian forces during WWII.
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| Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts en.wikipedia.org |
Above image: Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914).He fought in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, seeing action during the siege and capture of Delhi where he was slightly wounded. He was then present at the relief of Lucknow.He was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions on 2 January 1858 at Khudaganj......
But many Irish officers gained infamy. The most feared among them was Brigadier-General John Nicholson, idolized in Britain as a war hero but remembered in India as a mass murderer. During the 1857 rebellion he turned executions into public spectacles—lining up suspected “mutineers” before cannons and blasting them to pieces. He even hanged cooks on suspicion of poisoning without trial, bragging about it later. He once proposed laws for “flaying alive, impalement or burning,” stating he would do so “with a perfectly easy conscience.”
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| Brig.Gen.R.E.H. Dyer,Jallianwala Bagh massacre.traderji.co |
Above image: Brig. General R. E. H. Dyer and his 50 men troop. massacred more than 1000 innocent people, including children. This day is observed as Jallianwala Bagh Day13 April 1919 in Amritsar. For this despicable act Dyer got a special award and a purse - a large sum for having saved the modesty of British women
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| Gov. Sir Michael O' Dwyer approved firing. Sikh heritage com. |
Above image: Sir Michael Francis O' Dwyer, KCSI (April 1864 – March 1940) was Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab province in India from 1912 until 1919. Sir Michael 'Dwyer, in his capacity as the highest ranking civil officer of that region, gave official endorsement to General Reginald Dyer's action regarding the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and called it a "correct action. Gen. Reginald O' Dwyer, was the architect of the famous Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, worst tragedy in Indian history.......
The Irish participation in the most horrific colonial massacre in Indian history deepened the bitterness. Brig. Gen. Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, supported by the Irish-born Lieutenant Governor Sir Michael O’Dwyer, ordered firing on a peaceful crowd in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, on 13 April 1919. With 50 riflemen and 1,650 bullets, he butchered more than a thousand unarmed men, women and children. Though dismissed later, he was celebrated in Britain as a hero, showered with money and praise for “saving the honor of the Empire.”
The feared Connaught Rangers – brutality and irony
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| the Connaught Rangers AssociationBadge,1920 |
Irish regiments, especially the Connaught Rangers, were notorious among Indians. They used fists, rifle butts and boots on civilians, and the word “Rishti” became a slang term for violent Irish troops, feared more than the English “Angrez.” The Connaught Rangers, mostly made of Irish was the most dreaded British regiment. The use of ''Rishti'' to differentiate the Irish from the English ''Anhrese'' was quite prevalent among the native Indians, in particular, in the north. The natives hated them very much. Brigadier-General John Nicholson earned a notorious name as the mass murderer in the province of Punjab.
Final legacy
By late 19th century, Irish numbers fell sharply. Except for missionaries, educationists, and some ICS officers, the Irish legacy in India remains heavily stained by their role in military oppression. They were instruments of British imperialism—victims of colonialism at home, but collaborators in colonial cruelty abroad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connaught_Rangers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_military_diaspora
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nicholson_28East_India_Company_officer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Edward_Harry_Dyer
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/aug/18/uncovering-truth-british-empire-caroline-elkins-mau-mau
