In the early years of British expansion ambitions in the Indian sub-continent, a major empire stood guard in the North Western region. This empire was not ordinary as it was headed by one of the greatest military minds the world had ever seen.
He was a genius strategist, an excellent administrator, a brave warrior and above all widely respected as "The Lion of Punjab". He was a one-eyed Emperor, having lost its use in a childhood bout of smallpox but that did not deter his ambitions. His name was Maharaja Ranjit Singh. This story is about his elite brigade comprising of foreign officers called the "Fauj-i-Khas".
Before the arrival of the Maharaja, the mighty Punjab region had remained a central area of various historical incidents for centuries. Around the end of the eighteenth century, Punjab was a confederacy which comprised a union of multiple 'misls' or clans. It was around then that a young prince belonging to the Sukerchakia clan after a series of battles and violent clashes conquered a great part of the area and proclaimed himself the Maharaja of Lahore(Punjab) in 1801.
Maharajadhiraja Ranjit Singh was far ahead of his time and he appointed many European and American officers in his Army and administrative service. While the practice of hiring the services of foreigners had pre-existed among the Marathas and other Indian powers, Maharaja Ranjit Singh took it to a different level by bringing a bunch of these experienced officers under a common command. These officers included one General Josiah Harlan, Prince of Ghor, an American who is said to have inspired the famous Rudyard Kipling story -"The Man Who Would Be King".
The Sikh Emperor raised this special military brigade modelled on the European lines with its separate flag, called the Fauj-i-Khas or the Special Brigade which comprised many elite foreign officers and mercenaries. While the Sikh militia already had Generals like General Hari Singh Nalwa and Ilahi Baksh, the presence of these foreign-trained officers brought the required technological expertise which was developing or in practice in the European war theatres.
Colonel Alexander Haughton Campbell Gardener, popularly known as Gordana Khan because the soldiers had difficulty pronouncing his name, was a probable American adventurer or an Irish deserter. His memoir- "Soldier and Traveller: memoirs of Alexander Gardener" was edited by one Major Hugh Pearse and throws a great deal of light on this elite Brigade, its structure and its unique heterogeneous composition which among others even had a Greek official. The book "A Memoir of India and Avghanistaun" by Prince Josiah Harlan also give us some idea.
This army also included Italian archeologist-soldier Jean Baptiste Ventura and French adventurer Jean-Francois Allard who had previously served in Napoleon's army and was a decorated soldier, who further received the Kaukab-i-Iqbal-i-Punjab(Order of the Propitious Star of Punjab) from the Sikh Emperor. Another Napoleonic soldier was General Claude Auguste Court who had also served in Persia. Interestingly the famous Transylvanian physician Johann Martin Honigberger who is often credited with the introduction of Homeopathy in Asia, was also associated with the Fauj-i-Khas in a way as he served for some time with the Royal Gunpowder Factory of the Sikh emperor. Maybe as a sign of motivation, the Sikh Empire also introduced its own chivalric orders and medals which were modelled on the Western counterparts like Legion of Honour and Knighthood orders. This included among others the Order of Guru Gobind Singh.
The Fauj-i-Khas was comparatively small when compared to other Sikh Army brigades but it was involved in many battles and wars including the Anglo-Sikh and Afghan-Sikh wars. It saw its demise after the decisive Battle of Gujarat in 1849 which acted as the sledgehammer blow on the existence of the Sikh Empire in Asia. Though it ceased to exist, its legends did not. The officers and their tales that travelled back to Europe and America after the fall of the Sikh Empire further added to the aura and myths associated with this legendary force which was dreaded by its enemies as it charged with its blue banners and the motto of "Deg Tegh Fateh".
