KAVITA PURI explores lesser-known stories from our past Kavita Puri is a journalist and broadcaster for BBC Radio 4 whose history series include Three Pounds in My Pocket. She is also the author of Partition Voices: Untold British Stories (Bloomsbury, 2019)
HIDDEN HISTORIES
WHEN THE RENOWNED ANGLO-HUNGARIAN painter Philip de László died in 1937, an unusual double portrait was found in his private collection. It depicts two Indian men in military uniform, standing in a dignified pose, both wearing khaki turbans. The piece – pictured below – clearly stood apart from much of his work, which chiefly involved painting the most wealthy and powerful in European society, including monarchs and nobles. Today the importance of this painting is being recognised – and not just by art historians.
On 14 April this year, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport posted a plea on its Instagram page: “This rare… painting is valued at £650,000… It is at risk of leaving the UK unless a domestic buyer can be found.” That post identifies the sitters as “Troop commanders in the British Indian Army’s Expeditionary Force – Risaldar Jagat Singh and Risaldar Man Singh – [who] fought in the battle of the Somme.”
These soldiers sat for László two months before that clash in 1916 – two of many from across the British empire who came to fight in the war in Europe. In a handwritten note accompanying the painting, each of the men gave his name, regiment and rank.
In 2014, the painting was displayed at the Empire, Faith and War exhibition presented by the UK Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) in London’s Brunei Gallery. Working with the National Army Museum and its archives, the UKPHA did some digging to learn more about these two soldiers.
Man Singh – on the right of the picture – joined the Indian Army on 1 March 1890 as a Sowar (cavalry trooper). He was awarded the Indian Order of Merit, Third Class for his gallantry during the attack on Camp Wano in Waziristan, then on the north-west frontier of India, on 3 November 1894. On 1 May 1910 he was promoted to the rank of Jemadar (junior Indian officer) in the 21st Prince Albert Victor’s Own Cavalry, before further promotion to Ressaidar (lieutenant) in the 20th Deccan Horse on 11 April 1916. He seems not to be listed after 1917, though he is not recorded among the dead in the Indian Army Lists.
Jagat Singh (on t
