A significant historical undertaking has brought recognition to thousands of Punjabi soldiers who served in World War I. The UK Punjab Heritage Association has spent several years digitizing and analyzing fragile, handwritten records, a process that has led to nearly 10,000 soldiers' names being added to the official database of war dead.
These records, housed in leather-bound volumes each embossed with a village name, detail the service of servicemen from Punjab, a region that was divided between India and Pakistan following the 1947 partition. During World War I, approximately 1.4 million individuals from the subcontinent, which now comprises India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, served in the British Indian Army. Of these, 320,000 hailed from the state of Punjab alone.
![Seven leather bound books in a line, with the names of different districts on them, all with the title 'The Great War 1914-1918' on them.]( "The Great War 1914-1918" volumes)
The digitization project has been a labor of love for those involved, including PhD student Jasmin Basra from the University of Greenwich. "As a Punjabi myself I feel really proud that I can do this part for the community," Basra stated. During her research, she discovered the names of two of her own relatives, a great-great-grandfather and his brother, who had served in the war. She described the connection as emotional, offering a tangible link to her heritage for herself, as a second-generation British Punjabi.
Officials had previously visited towns and villages in Punjab to record the names and fates of servicemen after the war. However, the subsequent partition of Punjab and the passage of time led to many of these records being largely forgotten until this recent initiative.
The effort aims to ensure that the sacrifices of these soldiers are no longer overlooked, providing a sense of closure and historical validation for their descendants.