Throwing Snowballs in France
Muslimsipahisof the Indian Army and Sheikh Ahmad's dream, 1915-1918
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3607481 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gajendra Singh (0000-0002-4708-0664), Gajendra Pratap Singh (0000-0002-7642-2715, Kellogg's (Canada), corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1024-1067 |
| Publication date | 2014-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Modern Asian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0026749x13000188 |
| OpenAlex | W2098509246 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 9 |
The arrival of Indiansipahis(or 'sepoys') to fight alongside soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force in France in October 1914 was both a victory and a source of concern for the British Raj. It proved to be the zenith of martial race fantasies that had been carefully codified from the 1890s, and birthed fears about the effects that Europe and the rapidly intensifying conflict on the Western Front would have upon the 'best black troops in the world'. The situation resulted in the appointment of a special military censor to examine the letters sent to and from Indiansipahisand compile a fortnightly summary of Indian letters from France for the duration of the First World War. This paper investigates a portion of the letters contained in these reports. More particularly, it investigates the life of a single chain letter and the effect its chiliastic message had upon Muslim troops of the Indian Army during the First World War. As the letter was read, rewritten, and passed on, it served as a rejoinder to missionary efforts by theAhmadiyyaMovement, reinterpreted as a call for soldiers to purify their own bodies and oppose interracial sexual relationships, before, finally, being used as a critique of the British war effort against the Ottoman empire
Adversary · Ancient history · Dream · Front (military · Geography · Muhammad-Ali · Political science · Politics · Spanish Civil War · Victory · Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies · History · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,63 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2021 (4) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |