About India 1914

India1914 website is a part of our ‘Remembering Indian Soldiers’ project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Remembering Indian Soldiers is working to profile the legacy of Indian soldiers and their important contribution during WW1. The project is looking at Indian soldiers from all the various communities and regions regardless of their race or religion. One of its primary aims is to share the heritage with the various ethnic communities, in particular with the Dharmic (Hindu, Jain, Buddhist) and Zoroastrian community in the United Kingdom.

This shared history is relevant as in today’s multi-faith Britain with more than a million people from these faiths have made the UK their home.

The Indian contribution during WW1 was considerable, but much of the story is missing from the public domain. India provided the largest voluntary force ever assembled in history with around 1.5 million individuals. Remembering Indian Soldiers will help broaden the engagement and understanding of WW1 among these communities, as well as within the wider public sphere. We will put particular emphasis on engaging with the younger generation by providing a ‘relevancy’ framework of how their ancestor’s contribution on the world stage impacted the future paths of the two nations in terms of independence, migration and national identity.

The Board

The India1914 website and the Remembering Indian Soldiers which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund is managed by the Palan Foundation.

The Team

India1914 team consists of a small team that is motivated and inspired to help raise awareness nationwide. The project is supported by the Palan Foundation.

Partners

India 1914 is developing partnerships with like-minded organisations and as the work develops in the coming months we will be profiling our partners here.

Supporters

In order to progress the understanding of the role of Indian soldiers in the First World War and its implication on modern times, the Palan Foundation has developed additional projects that are of benefit to its Remembering Indian Soldiers Heritage Lottery supported the project.

Palan Foundation

The Palan Foundation is a charitable organisation established in 2013 to offer life-changing opportunities for people to help fulfil their aspirational goals.

It has a broad spectrum of charitable aims nurturing the philosophy of personal, social and economic growth.

The inspiration behind the Foundation stems from a philanthropic mission to fulfil its personal and corporate social responsibility. There is particular emphasis on projects related to the ‘younger generation’. Its ethos is to secure opportunities for future generations by working for and with them. Only by such inclusive partnerships, is their hope for future social and economic wealth for us all.

People Supporting Our Work