A matter of honour;: An account of the Indian Army, its officers and men

by Philip Mason

How did a few thousand British troops hold down a subcontinent of 200 million people? In his superb short history of the Indian army, Philip Mason, himself a longstanding officer in the elite Indian civil service, evokes the threads of loyalty that bound the British and the sepoys together until the threads snapped in 1857, and even after that brutal rupture were sewn up again, so that the British influence lingers on in the far larger army that independent India deploys today.

Genres: History, India, Military Fiction, War, Nonfiction

580 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

From the obituary in The Independent: PHILIP MASON OBE, CIE will be remembered first and foremost as a writer of history, not of the exhaustively researched, academic kind addressed to fellow specialists, but sound, well-reflected, worldly-wise history, beautifully written and effortlessly read, such as appeals to people of experience in every walk of life. Less well-known, but no less important, was his career as an outstandingly able member of the Indian Civil Service during the 20 years leading up to Indian independence, and also his pioneering work in promoting the study of racial and minority problems as the founding director of the Institute of Race Relations.

He took a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1928, and served successively as Assistant Magistrate in the United Provinces, Under-Secretary in the War Department, Deputy Commissioner in the Himalayan district of Garhwal - a remote, sub-Himalayan district of more than 5,000 square miles - Deputy Secretary in the Defence and War Department, Secretary to the Chiefs of Statf Committee and finally as Joint Secretary to the War Department, when his highly promising career was ended by Indian independence.

During the war years he had worked closely with Wavell and later with Mountbatten, and there could surely have been a continuing future for him in some other part of the Commonwealth or else in the rapidly expanding field of diplomacy, had he chosen to go that way. Instead, he decided for early retirement with his wife and four children to a smallholding in the west of England, where they hoped, with the help of his ready pen, to make ends meet.

It was a gamble and it did not work. The books came - seven novels and two volumes of The Men Who Ruled India (as The Founders and The Guardians were called when reprinted as one volume in 1985), about the major figures of the Indian Civil Service, all published under the pen name of Philip Woodruff between 1945 and 1954. But the financial return did not meet the needs of a family of six, and in 1952 he found part-time employment at the Royal Institute of International Affairs as Director of Studies in the newly established field of Race Relations.

Nine more books were to follow during the first 15 years of Mason's retirement before blindness drew its curtain on his literary work. They included a short history of the Indian Army, A Matter of Honour (1974), a life of Kipling, The Glass, the Shadow and the Fire (1975), his Bampton lectures published as The Dove in Harness (1976), and two delightful volumes of autobiography, A Shaft of Sunlight (1978) and A Thread of Silk (1984).

The first concerns his Indian years and breathes the romance of empire (at least for those who ruled), with long days in the saddle and long evenings by the camp fire listening to the varied problems of his Indian clients. The second, necessarily less glamorous in content, centres on the world of ideas, institutions, and family.

Both are notable for the frank discussion of the part played in his life by his deep commitment to the Christian religion. For most of it he was an Anglo-Catholic, prepared for adult life by the Cowley Fathers, and with a faith much strengthened during a period of temporary blindness caused by a shooting accident in 1941, when his wife Mary read to him daily from the New Testament and they discussed its contents together.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a dense but exquisitely-written account of the old British Indian Army, an institution unique in history as a force of hundreds of thousands of men (during the World Wars it numbered in the millions and was no small contributor to the Allied victory) who were natives of a foreign-controlled colony and officered by the foreign colonial power. One can basically divide the history of this army into two more-or-less equal eras, divided by the great Indian Mutiny of 1857; before the rebellion, the army was made up mostly of peninsular native troops (Madras, B0mbay, Bengal, etc.) and subsequently by northern Indians (Sikhs, Gorwalis, Marathas, Punjabi Muslims, etc.) and Gurkhas. The book is not a battle or campaign history but rather uses those events to illustrate the attitudes and behavior of the Indian troops and the British officers who led them.

[Rakesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will answer some vexing questions for any soldier. Should we be proud of our conquests in the colonial past, given we were mercenaries killing our own people. What made the Brits rule such a huge country using our people. The British army was a unique experiment in the world where at a point there were just 50k odd Brits over a population of 2 million.
Also the section on the Indian National Army and how it was perceived by the Indian Army troops gives good insight on why they were ostracised. The author has presented a very balanced account on the Army, one of the best I have found. No opinions are thrust and you are free to make your own. Strongly recommended

[Indranil Banerjie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece - terrific insight into British India and its army.

[Mansoor Azam · Rating 5 out of 5]

a lovely lucidly written account of how the indian army came into being. it gives the broader picture coupled with narrated personal accounts and statements of key players. it gives a real insight into those days. overall a must read

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Matter of Honour: An Account of the Indian Army, its Officers and Men by Philip Mason – The Book is history of undivided India from British Army point of view. The Book covers History of India from the beginning of the 18th century to independence of India in 1947. East India Company established itself on three important locations- Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. They came in contact with the Moughals in Calcutta and Madras; the French in Madras while at Bombay the Marathas Soverigns. The Book describes the Indian model of Moughal Army consisting of Elephants and Cavalry and armed walking men while Army of Marathas consisted for Cavalry and armed walking men. The British model of army was looking after their army men well and on incident financial security for dependents. Sons of Moughal emperors wanted the Kingship for themselves soon and planned a revolt against their father and asked help from the foreign tradesmen. Second problem raised was return of commission by European officer in Company Army. One reason was that Army was being paid Batta- special battle allowance to army personnel which was at the rate of half, equal or doubles the salary. Until the batta was to be paid to Company army in Calcutta by Mir Jafar, there was no difficulty but when the Company had to pay, it was difficult. This created a big difference between the take away salary of officers at Calcutta and that at Madras and Bombay cantonment. Clive was sent to Calcutta was powers of the Company to resolve the issue. The pay and allowance of Company officers were already higher than that of the British army but these was revised to higher pay for officers above the rank of Major and a fund received from Mir Jafar was made available to aid officers who were sick, wounded or dead. Taking of gifts by Company officers was stopped. Payment of Batta was only for Oudh officers. In Chapter II, The difference between the British and French Company is that the British were a Company which could take its decisions and Governor General could make a law while the French were completely dependent on the French Government for decision and directions. The East India Company looked after its troops well, they were properly trained in weapons and there was a trust between the officers and jawans. Devotion to duty, personal initiative and obedience to commander were three virtues in East India Company by help gain Indian Territory upto 1857 when sepoy revolution started. This brought the replacement of King by the East India Company. This brought Viceroys like Curzon who administered the territory by dividing large areas in smaller governable areas. Soon the two world wars came and as a result India was liberated gained freedom from British Rule. The description in the Books are supported by maps and thus the Book is a top reference book on the subject. It is a must read for all.

[Divya Pal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why did Indians join the British Army when the latter was all out to conquer their land and impose taxes on them?

The princes of the past had ‘hereditary troops’ and hired troops; the former served in recognition of feudal overlordship, the latter were hired for the campaign. Neither had any expectation of a pension. Again, neither the Mughals nor the Marathas paid a man regular monthly pay for the period of his career, nor did they accept any responsibility for him after he left them. The permanence of the Company’s service had been a strong point from the first.

The book may be of some relevance if one is interested in the history of the Indian Army's regimental system, which, in any case, is in danger of slowly disappearing due to the Agniveer style of recruitment.
The narration is more anecdotal, even the sources of factual material are conjecture. However, at times, remarkably prescient

but a sufficiently intelligent observer should have been able to see that Pakistan would find it more difficult than India to keep the army out of politics. Pakistan was from its foundation an islamic state; in islam, there is traditionally no division between Church and State, no distinction of priest form husband and father, of citizen from soldier… But the division of function is an essential part of Hinduism, and though India after partition was supposed to be a secular state, its thought and the structure of its society are still deeply Hindu. It was traditionally the brahmin who was counsellor and the Rajput who was warrior; the new officers became in a modified form a new occupational caste and they perform their proper function outside politics.

Here the latter argument seems to be stretching credulity a bit. This is how the book ends

The soldier seals his devotion to his craft with his life. He may by chance also win hour in the eyes of other men, but not in the highest degree unless his concern is with his own honour, with his own determination to perform his proper function to his own best ability. This is a central virtue of Hinduism and it is close enough to what is best in islam and in Christianity to have made it possible for men of these three faiths to live and work and die together.

Strongly biased views of the author labelling the British as ‘us’ and the native Indians as ‘them,’ and the tone is undoubtedly patronising. There is an occasional nugget. The account of some loyal servants/soldiers - archetypal stuff of Kipling – are shown as representational of all natives, but in truth the feelings were more ambivalent. Better books for Indian military history for he lay person would be: India's War: World War II and the Making of Modern South Asia, India's Wars: A Military History 1947-1971, Full Spectrum: India's Wars, 1972-2020, Ayo Gorkhali : A History of the Gurkhas.

[Mike Hanford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book for the casual reader; rather, for someone looking for the broad sweep of history, and the social and organizational evolution of a military institution over time; serving in an exotic setting.

Most of my knowledge of the Indian Army, prior to reading this work, came from Rudyard Kipling and Jack Masters. I was sure that I had much of it wrong.

This is a well written account, with wonderful insights into the milieu and minds of those serving in this army. A truly unique military situation; with locally recruited troops fully committed to the goals and role of an army policing a multicultural continent.

[Harjeet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

anyone who wants to understand or know about India and its history, this is a must must read. I was unable to put it down for days altogether, untill I finished it. This one book provides a full view on critical events which shaped India between 1630-1947.

[Sam Rana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to read recommended by Friends.

[Aidan Mc Carthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first books I bought on the Old Indian Army, and in my opinion still one of best books available. Whenever I buy a military history book in the years since, I am constantly reminded of a passage in the book, where the author says " we should judge these men against their times".
A comment I always bear in mind looking over my historical military books.
No PC in the bygone world of the Military…
This book has all you need to start into the army of the Raj, and if you decide on just one book, look no further.
It's all here, swashbuckling characters, forcing their way into the history books, living by the sword, and many dying by the sword, under the patronage of the Empress Of India.
After all dear fellow, it was just "A Matter Of Honour"...

[Kamran syed · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most comprehensive book written by Philip Mason, a British officer at the time of British Raj in India. The author has very lucidly described that how the Subcontinent Army came into being, with which two of the important states benefited. The run down of the book, Part wise is as given below.
Introductory Ruffle of Drums
1. How it Began
3. High Noons of Sepoy Army
4. The storm
5. Soldiers of the Queen
6. Under which King
7. One World More

[Steve Groves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do I keep coming back to this book? This is the third or fourth time I have read it since buying it as a teenager in the late 1970’s. An underlying reason is an interest in the history which it covers, but the opening sentence of the book sums it up…” This is a book about people and how they sometimes behave.”