NEW DELHI: “Cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them volley’d and thunder’d, storm’d at with shot and shell, boldly they rode and well, into the jaws of death, into the mouth of Hell...” Verses of Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem Charge Of The Light Brigade may well run in the veins of the Chauhan family. So does blood, which they have been willing to shed for their country for seven generations.
For over 250 years—from the historic Battle of Plassey fought in the scorching June summer of 1757 on the banks of the Bhagirathi river in Bengal—the Chauhans’ seven generations have devoted their lives to the army. From Siraj-ud-Daulah’s cannons mounted on wooden carts and soldiers armed with firelocks in the battle for Bengal to state-of-the-art Arjun tanks clambering across the burning desert sand and Howitzers shooting screaming shells at the enemy, the Chauhan generations have seen it all in uniform, being perhaps the only Indian family to have done so.
On March 14, when 26-year-old Lieutenant Arjun Singh Chauhan was commissioned into the Indian Army, he became the seventh-generation army officer of his family. From Plassey to Kargil in 1999, Lieutenant Arjun’s family has participated in almost every war fought in this country.
Besides fighting in all great Indian battles, Arjun’s grandfather served in the British army and one of his ancestors rose to the rank of an aide-de-camp (ADC) to Lord Ampthill and Lord Wellington in the early 20th century.
Arjun’s forefathers kept a record of their battle history from 1757. In the Battle of Plassey, Commandant Kesar Singh commanded the entire Indian expeditionary forces of the East India Company headed by Robert Clive into Bengal. Kesar Singh’s younger brothers, Commandant Parvat Singh of the 3rd Light Infantry and Commandant Bawan Singh, joined the British army’s 1st Jhageer Batallion in 1766 and in 1770 respectively.
The war cry rang on in the family. Kesar Singh’s son Subedar Shivram Singh served in the British army under Lord Cornwallis, the commander-in-chief of British India.
Shivram’s brother Summer Singh joined the British army as a subedar and fought under the command of Sir Eyre Coote and Lord Cornwallis.
Subedar Shivram’s son followed in his fathers steps. Hari Singh enlisted in the 28th Prince of Wales Light Cavalry and was soon promoted to the rank of Risaldar. His exemplary service record led him to be appointed ADC to Lord Ampthill, a much coveted post for an Indian soldier.
Then there was Shivram Singh’s son Hari Singh, who joined 28th Prince of Wales Light Cavalry, and was promoted to Risaldar. Hari Singh was appointed ADC to Lord Ampthill, a key post for an Indian soldier. He was awarded a Sword of Honour and was decorated with the Royal Victoria Order by King George V, who visited Madras (now Chennai) as Prince of Wales.
Hari Singh’s son Shankar Singh also wore a uniform in Madras. After him came Major Krishen Singh, grandfather of Lieutenant Arjun Singh, who joined the British Indian army, which soon turned into the first Indian army after independence. As an officer in the Corps of Electrical & Mechanical Engineers [EME], Major Krishen Singh fought in the 1962 Indo-China war and in the 1965 war with Pakistan.
Colonel Anoop Singh carried forward his family’s patriotic tradition. He was commissioned into the 56 Field Regiment of the Artillery in 1977 and was later transferred to the Intelligence Corps. As a military intelligence officer, Colonel Anoop Singh played a key role during the Kargil War and in Operation Parakaram in 2001 after the Parliament attack. He commanded the internal security unit of the Western Command and Central Command in seven states before retiring in 2009.
However, the story of Lieutenant Arjun Singh is different from his forefathers. Shying away from the family tradition, Arjun decided to become an attorney and went to National Law University for a five-year graduate degree in 2008. After graduating, he started working with an intellectual property right firm in 2013. But destiny had laid out its olive green cards for Arjun. He walked out of civilian life and joined the Army in 2014 and is commissioned in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Branch.
Colonel Anoop Singh sums it all up: “A long family tradition has changed the colour of our blood to olive green (the colour of the army’s uniform). In one word if I may describe it: comradeship. The most important thing in life is human relations. No amount of wealth or power can earn one genuine friendship. Besides patriotism to do something for your nation, the army is the only establishment where bonding between colleagues is above all.
The Army provides the strongest comrades amongst men, the bond is cemented in the face of death. When one comes face to face with death, you experience a deep silence and you realise what is life is all about. You care for the men with you, you carry each other back dead or wounded in the battle field. None will leave the other.”