Udaya Raghunatha Birje, nice grandson of soldier Raghunatha Rao Birje who served within the Mysore Lancers in the course of the First World Conflict, recalled how his nice grandmother used to explain the march of the Mysore Lancers by way of what’s now the RT Principal Highway in Bengaluru. “My nice grandmother used to inform me that your complete space used to shake beneath the hooves of the horses belonging to Mysore Lancers,” stated Birje.
The Mysore Lancers Haifa Memorial – an iconic landmark representing the valour and bravado of the Mysore Lancers within the First World Conflict – is an attraction within the neighbourhood.
Positioned on the juncture of at the moment’s RT Nagar and JC Nagar Principal Highway, the memorial is round 103 years outdated and was commissioned by the then Maharaja of Mysore Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. The memorial is engraved with a Roll of Honour mentioning the names of Mysore Lancers martyrs within the First World Conflict.
Based on specialists, the memorial has been constructed on a ‘no man’s land’. Yashaswini Sharma, an architect who’s planning the restoration work of the memorial and in addition designing a statue commemorating the Mysore Lancers, stated the memorial falls on the border between RT Nagar and JC Nagar.
The Mysore Lance Heritage Basis together with Sharma has submitted a proposal to the Indian Military to arrange the statue on the Parachute Regiment Coaching Middle, about 300 meters from the memorial.
The members of the heritage basis, who’re additionally the descendants of Mysore Lancers, marked the 104th anniversary of Haifa Day on September 23, by organizing a wreath-laying ceremony on the memorial.
Of the numerous heroic deeds of the Mysore Lancers within the First World Conflict, the battle to liberate the port metropolis of Haifa (in present-day Israel) from Ottoman invaders is usually talked about. Based on the descendants of the Mysore Lancers, the battle was one in all its type the place the Mysore cavalry triumphed over enemies’ machine weapons and different ammunition. Notably, the fifteenth Cavalry Brigade of the British Empire consisted of the Imperial Service Troops from the princely states of Hyderabad, Mysore, Patiala, Alwar and Jodhpur.
Because the story goes, regardless of combating with naked minimal assets, the horses, being significantly good at mountain warfare, helped the troopers at Mount Carmel dodge the assaults of machine weapons. This gave them a strategic benefit over the enemies.
The Mysore Lancers additionally performed a victory march by way of the cities of present-day Israel on horseback.
Based on a memorandum offered by the muse, the Mysore Lancers contingent within the First World battle consisted of 29 officers, 444 non-commissioned officers with 528 horses, 49 mules and 132 followers. They fought beneath the command of Chamaraj Urs Bahadur; and the then Maharaja of Mysore, Nalvadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar, despatched his brother-in-law Col J Desaraj Urs, the chief commandant of the Mysore State Troops, as his private consultant to Haifa.
The names of among the troopers engraved on the ‘Roll of Honour’ of the memorial are Lingaraj Urs, Venkata Rao Maney, Raghunatha Rao Birje, Mohammad Abdul Sattar, Sheik Ibrahim, Mohan Singh, Mahadeva Rao Bhobely, and Rama Rao Gaikwad, amongst others.
However regardless of holding immense historic and diplomatic significance, the upkeep and the possession of the memorial has not but been mounted. The truth is, the memorial has developed just a few cracks down the years.
Whereas talking with indianexpress.com, Sharma stated: “Many residents of Bengaluru have no idea in regards to the memorial and the story of the unsung heroes whose names are etched on the memorial. However the memorial is definitely an emblem of cultural and historic relationship between two nations – India and Israel. We now have submitted the proposal earlier than the federal government and the Indian Military to revamp the memorial and in addition set up a statue of the Mysore Lancers. As well as, now we have additionally submitted a proposal to the state archaeological division to record the memorial as a heritage monument.”