'Respectful homage to Lt. (Dr.) Pandit Piaray Lal Atal - an unsung hero of WW-I' - by K J S Chatrath

 

 

 Late Lieut. (Dr.) Pandit Piaray Lal Atal.

World War -I was really a European war. India got sucked into it being under British colonial rule. Between August 1914 and December 1919, India had sent overseas 1,096,013 (Indian) men, including 621,224 soldiers, both officers and other ranks, and 474,789 non-combatants. Many of them died in foreign lands.  These are at best approximate figures. 

Though Commonwealth War Graves Commission , to which India contributes for the upkeep of WW-I and WW-II cemeteries the world over, does a good job, there were many who have been forgotten even in the countries of their origin. While a good deal of research has gone into the Indian combatants of the WW_I, very little has been documented systematically about non-combatant, unarmed Indians who died during WW-I and whose are commemorated in various erstwhile theaters of War. 

 This is a brief presentation on one such brave Indian who died in France during WW-I.  He was Lieut. (Dr.)   Pandit Piaray Lal Atal.  He was in the Indian Medical Service attached to the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis. He held the rank of  Lieutenant Indian Army. He was  born August 2, 1872.

He died at Ypres, France in the destruction of a hospital due to shell fire while he was attending to a wounded officer. He died on November 23, 1914, aged 42. 

He was son of Kishanlal Atal, of Hardoi, United Provinces and was the husband of Tara Atal. One of his sons Hira Lal Atal rose to become a Major General, while another son Kanhaiyalal ‘Bagga’ Atal was a Brigadier in the Indian Army. 

This brave Indian doctor lies commemorated in Panel 42, at Neuve Chapelle Memorial, France. 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Some stunning AI portraits by Polish painter Dorota Piotrowiak' - shared by KJS Chatrath

Image
Dorota Piotrowiak' obtained a diploma in the painting studio of prof. Mieczyslaw Ziomek at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń in 1996. . She works in painting, sculpture and graphics. Since 2013, she has been creating models and dioramas of nature, as well as maquettes and thematic displays for national parks, landscape parks and museums. She conducts authorial workshops for children and young people using the papier-mâché technique. She is the initiator and organizer of “Sztuka Papieru” ( the Art of Paper ) Festival in cooperation with the Friends of the Lower Vistula Society and Paper Technical School in Świecie on Vistula. Associated with the Art of Paper studio ( www.sztukapapieru.pl ). Here are some of the portraits made by her: Disclaimer: The copyright remains with the original holder. This blog is intended to introduce this amazing artist to a wider audience.
Read more

Arthuna- a cluster of gems waiting to be 'discovered' - by K J S Chatrath

Image
  I was lucky to have visited Arthuna, located in Banswada district of Rajasthan early this week. I took a train up to Ratlam and from there Arthuna by excellent road is about 130 kms. The place is a gem for archaeology lovers waiting to be visited and written about.I am grateful to my facebook friend and a remarkable traveller and blogger Mr. Sabya Sachi Ghosh for getting me interested in visiting Arthuna. I look forward to soon meeting Mr. Ghosh in person.  Previously known as   Utthunaka, Arthuna was the capital of Paramara rulers of Vagada during eleventh-twelfth centuries A.D. They patronized both Jainism and Saivism simultaneously, so they constructed a number of Siva temples. An inscription of the Paramara prince Chamundaraja records that he built a temple of Siva called Mandalesa in honour of his father in A.D. 1079. Another inscription of A.D. 1080 mentions that his officer’s son named Anantapala also founded a temple of Siva.  In a group of temples known as Hanumangarhi i
Read more

'Achars- the Indian pickles' - by K J S Chatrath

Image
  According to Hobson-Jobson: The Definitive Glossary of British India , the word ‘ āchār’ finds a mention in CE 1563, in works by Garcia da Orta, a Portuguese physician, describing a conserve of cashew with salt which he refers to as ‘and this they call Āchār.’ In his book A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food , the late food historian KT Achaya notes that pickles fall into the category of ‘cooking without fire’; however, many pickles today do use heating or fire to some extent during preparation. Pickles in India have a rich legacy, which is clear when the historian further adds that a ‘Kannada work of CE 1594, the Lingapurana of Gurulinga Desika describes no less than fifty kinds of pickles’! Another later mention is found in the 17th-century Śivatattvaratnākara , an encyclopedia of ancient Indian lore of Basavarāja, King of Keladi. Pickles in India are of three basic types: those preserved in vinegar; those preserved in salt; and those preserved in oil.   Gosht Achar
Read more

Total Pageviews