Martial race was a designation created by Army officials of British India after the mutiny of 1857, where they classified each ethnic group into one of two categories, 'martial' and 'non-martial'. The ostensible reason was that a 'martial race' was typically brave and well-built for fighting, while the 'non-martial races' were those whom the British believed to be unfit for battle because of their sedentary lifestyles. However the real reason was to justify that, after British-trained Indian soldiers rebelled after the war of 1857, the British increased recruitment from the races which had remained loyal to the British and diminished or abandoned recruitment from the catchment area of the Bengal army. The concept already had a precedent in Indian culture as one of the four orders (varnas) in the Vedic-Hindu social system are known as the Kshatriya, literally "warriors."
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Famous quotes containing the words martial and/or race:
“Let the martial songs be written, let the dirges disappear. Let a
race of men now rise and take control!”
—Margaret Abigail Walker (b. 1915)
“‘Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their color is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.”
—Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753–1784)