Followers of Krishna: Yadavas of India
Yadavas: The Battle-Hardened ‘Chandravanshi’ Warriors of Bharatvarsha
It is a matter of great pride for me to say, that, I have had the honour of serving under SDS Yadava in war. He was my Commanding Officer in the 1965 War / operations against Pakistan, when I was serving with 4/3 Gorkha Rifles, in the Naoshera Sector on the Cease Fire Line ( now known as the Line of Control, or simply, LoC ) in Jammu & Kashmir. He used to be a very pro-active battalion commander, who was always on he move and ever ready to help out those under his command. Under his leadership 4/3 GR became the apple of the eye of Maj Gen TN Raina, MVC, (later the Indian Army Chief) the then General Officer Commanding 25 Infantry Division. We did extremely well in operations as well as sports and other competitions. He used to be a keen sportsman himself, and had played with the 2/3rd football and hockey first strings. Physically very fit, and mentally very robust, he used to take on the iterant ( and some very pesky, persistent and short-tempered) UN MOGIP Observers at the drop of a hat, and, take them up walking double-quick-time to the posts for verification of the alleged cease fire violations lodged by the Pakis! He was good with the pen even then; clear-headed, he did not need to draft or redraft. The citation for a Vir Chakra, made by him for an act of gallantry attributed to me, is still a treasure I preserve with a lot of reverence and fond memories.
A Book Review
“Followers of Krishna: Yadavas of India”, by retired Maj Gen SDS Yadava (Published in 2006), by Lancer Publishers & Distributers. 2/42 (B) Survpriya Vihar New Delhi Pp186 Price Rs 595 ISBN: 81 7062 2166
“Followers of Krishna :Yadavas of India” has been written ( and now, also translated in to the Devnagri Hindi script, this version of the book is available at a throw away price) with same clarity and straight forwardness that is the hall mark of military writing: without ambiguity, and to the point to make a great impact. It reads very well, and the reader will be that much wiser on the Yadavas of India, for his/her endeavour. Strongly recommended for those interested in the research of valourous feats of arms of the sub-continental soldier form the very dawn of civilization.
The ahirs (Yadavas) faced many foreign invasions, right from 326 BC when Alexander, the Great came to conquer the fertile Indus valley and beyond; and the Persians and the Afghans in the 10th & 11th centuries. Hence, it is in the field of battle, that, the Ahirs first claimed fame. The poignant ‘last man last round’ stand of the ahir rifle company of 13 Kumaon Regiment in the Sino Indian of October/November 1962, in the epic battle of Rezangla, is stuff that legends are made of. For sheer bravery and mental toughness in the face of overwhelming enemy odds in numbers and war-like stores; multiplied many folds by the harshness of the elements, and the high altitude terrain, no one can beat the one displayed by Major Shaitan Singh and his ahir boys of 13 Kumaon, whilst holding off repeated Chinese assaults on his Charlie Company post, in Rezangla on 18 November 1962. The pacifist attitude of a Fabian Pandit Nehru; suddenly aware, and woken up to the reality of Red China’s no-nonsense appraisal of his forward policies; now breathing down fire and brimstone down their necks; did not help at all. Nor did the shrilly mouthed chants of ‘Hindi-Chini bahi bahi”. There were only four survivors. 109 out of total of 118 fell in field of battle. The Chinese dead; were estimated to be around 1310. Three months later, the frozen bodies of the Ahir defenders were recovered from the post……..all in their fire positions, all with their weapons cocked,… all with gun-shot and shrapnel wounds, many with bayonet scars… some holding on to the stocks of their rifle-butts, some still clutching safety-pins removed from hand grenades…… the 2 inch Mortar Number 2 about to load his bomb….! Very moving, very poignant, yet how very true. For their efforts the company earned One posthumous Param Vir Chakra, eight Vir Chakras, and four Sena Medals. But for four of these , all the rest were given posthumously! This record of valour has never been surpassed since any where in the world! It is truly an unmatched saga of selfless call to honour and duty, with only the mute icy heights as witnesses! Rightly, The Battalion earned the battle honour ‘Rezangla’ for the Regiment, only one of the two given to the Indian Army in the 1962 War.
A monument to this rare feat of Indian Arms has been erected in Chushul, Ladakh, where sadly, only the mute mountain peaks look on over the decades, in the glum silence as solemn sentries. What is required, as very rightly pointed out by Gen Yadava, is another one in Ahirwal ( Gurgaon, Mahendargarh and Rewari) Haryana, where the kith and kin of these fallen heroes can be enabled to come and pay homage, and inspire others to even greater deeds of valour in line with the ahir traditions and lore and their steadfast loyalty to their community and country. The powers, that be, need to look at this matter with the sympathy and dispatch that it merits. It will cost next to nothing, but will contribute immensely towards shaping of national character of the youth, and accord recognition of the soldierly deed, when it becomes the need of the hour. Similarly, the case for a Ahir regiment needs to be taken up.
Much later, in 1999, during Operation Vijay, Grenadier Yogendra Yadav won a hard fought Param Vir Chakra on Tiger Hill. He survived 18 bullet wounds to receive this gallantry award from the President personally during the Republic Day Parade on Rajpath in 2000. Rao Tula Ram made life miserable for the East India Company by openly siding with the sepoys in the 1857 Uprising. During the Burma Campaign of the Second World war, Havildar Umrao Singh, a gunner, won the Victoria Cross; which is a world–wide symbol of the recognition of the highest form of bravery in the face of the enemy; in hand to hand combat with the Japanese infantry, when its do or die squads raided his gun position, in the Kaladan Valley. He killed ten of them with his bare hands armed only with the gun bearer ( a heavy metallic tool) ! They found him exhausted and bleeding in the morning but still alive amidst a pile of Japanese corpses littered around the gun, which, remarkably, was found to be still fit for immediate firing!
Some other notable celebrities of the, Ahirs (Yadavas) of India are Rao Tula Ram & Rao Gopal Dev both of 1857 Uprising (against the English East India Company’s mismanagement ) fame, who battled the pre-colonial European army of the East India Company at Narnaul and Nasibpur ( both now in Haryana) and; Rao Birendra Singh, the former Union Minister of Agriculture.
The Ahirs have been a clan to themselves. Right from the times of the Shakyas, the Kushans and the Synthians (6000 BC) they have been warriors par excellence, and only then agriculturists and farmers. They are the only community that; perhaps with the sorry exception of the Bhuttos of Sindh; who defied the devout and very severe Muslim Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb’s might and parried repeated attempts at conversion to Islam.
Members of this clan are ardent followers and worshippers of Lord Krishna (a chandravanshi of the Yadava kul), the cow-herd, the mesmerizing bansari-wala ( flutist ); famed and worshipped for his ras-lilas (devine –dances) with hundreds and hundreds of gopis ( milk-maids) at the same time; Krishna, the raja of the kingdom of Dwarka on the Saurashtra coast of Western Bharatvarsha; the consort of Radha, yet husband of Rani Rukmini; the great God Krishna, the Dhanajaya, the wise charioteer of Arjuna, the Pandava prince, in the mahayudh ( great war) of the Mahabharata, in the fertile fields around Kurukshetra ( now, in Haryan). Krishna could have taken up arms on behalf of either the pandavas or the kauravas, but for a silly quirk of time (and timing!) and the arrogance of kaurava emissary, seeking his alliance in the imminent great battle, who reached Krishna’s chambers first, but finding him in siesta, chose to wait at his bed-side, decided to seat himself near his head, which he considered to more majestic a spot than the feet. The panadva representative, who reached a little while later, humbly sat down on the only available spot near Krishna’s feet. When Krishna awoke, his eyes fell first on him, and immediately agreed to be on their side. But for this, Krishna may have well fought on the opposite side! He almost did get to wield his fiery sudarshan chakra ( almost like the hi-tech cruise missiles of today) once during this epic battle though, but was brought back to his solemn commitment; when reminded by Bhishma Pitamah; and of his promise of not taking up arms in this epic maha-mother of all battles.
Verging on the mythology, this epic ballad of the Mahabharat is a source of inspiration to the Hindus, who along with the Ramayana; another of our epic poems; regard it with reverence that only a gospel merits. Krishna’s sermon; in his virat roop ( magnificently magnified appearance); or updesh ( that is, a peppering-up prior to battle..?) to the dithering and reluctant warrior Arjuna; who could not bring himself up to slaying his kith and kin, fore-fathers and close relatives in battle; are enshrined in The Bhagwad Gita, the soul-stirring scriptures and store-house of all Hindu religious discourse and perceptions. This is their timeless contribution to the sub-continent. They established the Hindu; which is synonymous with, Indian; in ways more than one; as one of the oldest civilizations on planet Earth, with the Bhattis of Jaisalmer, Yadvas of Devgiri and the Hoysala Yadavas of Mysore being the more prominent of the kingdoms.
This is a rare treat of a book on the heroics of the Yadavas of India, in battles & WAR, from time immemorial. All interested in martial traditions and folklore, will be well advised, to read it over & over again. It sears the soul. It rends the heart. It mesmerizes the reader & lifts him to unbelievable heights as he enjoys him self en route nirvana, & the sure-shot bliss of a un-forgettable reading pleasure.
(The Writer Lt. Col A.K. ‘Sam’ Sharma is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla. Col Sharma was commissioned into the 3rd Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in Februray 1964, He retired in 1997 after serving for 33 years. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, he holds a MSc Degree in Defence Studies from the Madras University. This officer has been on the instructional staff of two of Indian Army’s premiere training institutes: the College of Combat; now known as the War College; (Directing Staff Junior Command Wing-1972-1975) and the Infantry School ( Senior Instructor, Platoon Commander’s Wing—1984-87) both located in Mhow (MP); where he taught tactics at the unit and sub-unit levels to students, some of who were from friendly foreign armies. He has also served at the world- renowned Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. Col Sharma can be contacted at aksh9@airtelbroadband.in)
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