Over the centuries in the past, India has borne the brunt of invasion by foreign armies, mostly who come and indulge in plunder and looting. Once they have gathered all the wealth they could lay their hands on, they depart.
Prominent amongst them were Genghis Khan and Mahhamud Ghazni who had no interest in acquiring territorial gain and set up their own rule. India was considered to be the land of plenty and used to be called ‘Sone ki Chidiya’ (the Bird of Gold).
The famous temple of Somnath in Gujarat was the favorite target of Mahmud Ghazni because of its sheer wealth who plundered this temple many times. Those who came with territorial ambition included the Lodi Dynasty, the Mughals, and the last- the British. During the Mughal rule, not much development happened in the country. The Mughals only created monuments, forts, and palaces.
The Battle of Hydaspes is one of the most remarkable military encounters in ancient history.
It was fought between Alexander the Great and King Porus of the Paurava kingdom in 326 BC in which, Porus was defeated. He was arrested and produced before Alexander. When asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated, Porus replied, “Treat me like one king will treat another king”. Alexander had a good sense of humor and was impressed by Porus’s reply. Not only did he set him free but also gave back his kingdom to him.
It is only during British rule that the real development work in the country was accomplished. They built roads and rail networks throughout the length and breadth of the country, set up Colleges, Schools, and Universities for higher learning. This included the Medical and Engineering institutions also. The British truly helped India evolve as a nation. Also during their regime two major Wars were fought, like World War I and World War II.
When we went into war in 1971 the Army Chief, Sam Manekshaw had gone around visiting various stations, addressing the troops. No elaborate stage was set up for his address. His address was short and crisp. He would hop onto the bonnet of the jeep flamboyant style without any PA equipment. He would stress on three things:-
1- Do not touch the women.
2- Treat the prisoners with respect.
3- Do not touch what does not belong to you.
These messages had circulated down to all ranks that in this
war in Bangladesh and there would be no war booty to carry back home.
It is sad that some greedy people did manage to pick up
a few things on the sly and brought them home. Some of them were caught and dealt very harshly, in that they were court marshaled and cashiered ( dismissal with disgrace).
After the war had ended my first trip to Dhaka was on a
mission to escort a Pak Army General from Bhairab Bazaar to our advance headquarter in Dhaka Cantt. On that trip, we had a glimpse of a battle scarcity with no evidence of law and order. There were dead bodies lying on the main road which on inquiry were found to be of Pak sympathizers. They had sided with the Pak army and promptly captured and eliminated after the cease fire came into force.
My second trip was on 9th January 1972, when the local Government had taken charge and life had become normal with the marketplace open and functional. My aim was to buy a TV set which I did by paying around 2200 rupees for a Japanese brand Toshiba BW TV set.
In India, we only had Doordarshan with locally made TV sets that were of poor quality so the TV set was a great acquisition in those days. You needed a license to own a TV from the P&T department. Months later I got a notice from the Customs department with a demand to pay customs duty for the import of the TV set. I stuck to my stand that I did not import the product and bought it in the Indian market with Indian currency so there were no questions of paying any duty. After a few reminders, they stopped bothering me.
On the subject of war booty, I am reminded of a real story that happened in Germany in WW II, and infantry battalion part of the Indian army was operating in Germany. The local citizens had fled from their homes and the troops went around picking up things that they liked from the German homes. The battalion was living in a tentage accommodation opposite a large mansion.
Meet Mamraj. That is his full name without any frills if any initials or a surname to go with it. He was the JCO in charge of quartermaster stores. One day, a few of his men came and told him that the building opposite was lying vacant with no one living there. They expressed a desire to go in and check out what it contained. But the approach route was mined. Mamraj was an expert in mine clearing operations and he offered to come along to help them create a safe lane through the mined area. It must have taken them an hour or so to create a safe lane, which they marked by placing stones on the ground as they had to return by the same route.
On reaching the building they found the main door locked. There was no way to enter except to break the door. Mamraj was a wrestler from childhood and was powerfully built with enormous physical strength. With bare hands, he managed to wrench out the structure holding the lock out of the door, and they all entered the building.
Their search for valuables brought them to a vault which they broke open to find it stuffed with currency notes, jewelry, and other valuables. While others were busy stuffing the currency notes in the kit bags they had brought along, Mamraj noticed three small sachets lying in a corner. He picked up and opened one of them. His eyes dazzled with the sparkle as they contained diamond solitaires. He instantly knew that he had laid hands on a valuable treasure. He quietly put the sachets in his pocket and ignored the other stuff.
The news of their adventure somehow reached the top and a surprise baggage search was ordered. Mamraj got the wind of this and thought to himself that maybe he could hide it somewhere and come back later to retrieve it when things had quieted down. He looked around and spotted a telephone pole which was hollow from the inside with a cap on top the pole was very prominent and could be easily identified from its features. He climbed the pole and pulled out the diamonds with a sad feeling in his heart, a possible dead loss that it might become.
When the search was conducted, a solitaire diamond that was stuck in his pack fell out of his haversack promptly confiscated by the officer who was conducting the search.
The clever officer however conveniently forgot to deposit the diamond in the treasury that he was duty born to do. On arrival in Mumbai when the battalion returned from Germany, this officer went to a Jewellery shop in Zaveri bazaar, he showed the diamond to them and wanted to know its worth and was told that the solitaire was worth Rupees 75,000.
They were willing to buy the piece from him if he wanted to sell it. One can imagine the big packet of currency he would have carried back home as the higher denomination notes were available in limited numbers.
At that time Gold was sold in ‘Tolas’ where a Tola would cost Rs 25/-, which meant that for 75,000 rupees he would have got 3000 Tolas of Gold, approximately equating to 37.5 Kg. With the current rate at Rs 70,000/- per ten grams the value of the Gold would have been around rupees 260 Crores, that is a lot of money by any standard.
Mamraj was a very talented person and played several musical instruments well, especially the piano. When the victorious Army contingent returned from Germany, several receptions were held to felicitate them. In all entertainment programs, Mamraj would be the star performer. One such program was watched by R.D Burman, the famous music director in Indian Films who offered him a job in his troupe at a very attractive salary. Mamraj politely refused saying that music was his passion only and could never become a profession. He was quite happy doing soldiering in the Army.
Mamraj had a very interesting beginning in the Army as a career. He initially joined Jai Palten which was part of Alwar state Armed forces. They were later reorganized into a regular infantry battalion and became part of The Rajputana rifles of the Indian Army.
When Mamraj initially joined Jai Palten he was on the personal staff of Tej Singh the Maharaja of Alwar State and accompanied him wherever he went. Sometimes Hasti, who was the State Wrestler would also go along with them. Hasti would often tease Meet Mamraj by elbowing him. The Maharaja saw this happen once or twice and later asked Mamraj why doesn’t he object to being troubled by him. Mamraj replied, “ Hukum is senior to me in age and I do not have any problem with him on this account.” The Maharaja then expressed a desire for a wrestling bout to be held between the two. Mamraj had no option but to agree and sought the advice of his Ustad. The Ustad advised him of two things.
1. Do not allow your body to be grabbed by Hasti he has very strong arms and you will not be able to extricate yourself.
2. Your strength is in your hands try to grab his hands and interlock his fingers. If you can do this the rest will be easy.
Mamraj remembered this advice and when the bout started Hasti would try to grab him and Mamraj would wriggle out and get himself free. For some time it looked like Mamraj was running around in the Akhara and Hasti was trying to grab him. A few close bouts followed and Mamraj somehow managed to grab both his hands in his grip and interlock his fingers. It was now the turn of Hasti to try and free himself from the vice like grip with which Mamraj held him. In a swift move, Mamraj overturned Hasti, resulting in both his wrists being broken. It took 6 months for Hasti to become fit but he had retired as a wrestler for good.
Mamraj retired from the army in 1952 and picked up a job as a PT instructor in a High School in his village Tijara located in the Alwar district. The ambition of going back to Germany to retrieve the wealth left behind in the telephone pole remained a dream only as the elaborate map of the location of the telephone pole drawn up by him was eaten away by the rats.
Post WW II development in the field of science and technology saw rapid changes in the communication technique. Telephone poles and cables soon became extinct and were replaced by more modern means of communication. Perhaps some scrap dealer who took the tasks of dismantling the telephone poles and wires in the country must have stumbled upon the enormous wealth left behind by Mamraj and became a multi millionaire overnight. Who knows?