The Khanjar (knife) of Tipu Sultan of 1799, an 1840 painting of Skinner’s horse regiment, objects of silver and an extensive collection of uniforms are among a range of items of the British Indian Army in the collection of the National Army Museum in London.
Over the next couple of years, a range of this collection will be exhibited in a new gallery, Museum Director Brig. Justin Maciejewski (retd). said.
Vast collection
“We have the most comprehensive collection of British Indian Army uniforms, medals, paintings and objects anywhere in the world from its earliest beginnings in the 18th century till 1947. With that we are going to tell the story of the soldier and with the vibrant military history community here in India we want to bring it to life,” Brig. Maciejewski said in a conversation with The Hindu .
With the centenary of the end of World War-I coming up in November, the museum is keen to seize the opportunity and tell this amazing story, he observed.
On November 11, 1918 an armistice was signed between the Germans and the Allies, ending World War-I, also called the Great War. Indian soldiers under the British Indian Army played a decisive role in several battles in many theatres across the globe.
“The mission is to tell the story of our Army and the soldiers who served in it and to inspire and educate the widest possible audience,” Brig. Maciejewski stated.
The Army museum has just undergone a £24m refurbishment and the next step is to create the gallery for the British Indian Army to put out the “shared history”.
“We have identified the space and the gallery to put up the collection. One is the Indian Army Museum in Sandhurst, which will get a facelift. The other is a dedicated gallery in London where we want to put up all the collection in one place,” Brig. Maciejewski added.
While the idea is to position the gallery as a must see for visitors to London interested in military history of the Indian sub-continent, there are plans to host the collection online to enable access from across the globe.
Underscoring that World War-I was a moment of shared history where the British Army and British Indian Army fought together, Brig. Maciejewski stated that the Museum wanted to use the centenary of the war to accelerate work on the project.
November 11 or Armistice Day is observed as Remembrance Day to mark the sacrifices of the Great War. India Gate in the national capital had a memorial dedicated for the fallen Indian soldiers of WW-I and has over 72,000 names inscribed on it.
The National Army Museum is working with the United Service Institution (USI) of India in this endeavour and is also exploring opportunities with other stakeholders.
Published - October 07, 2018 10:10 pm IST
