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India's greatest: the late Dyan Chand
Independent
India’s historical tour of East Africa 1947-48
On 30 January in 1948, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was
assassinated. That time the Indian men’s hockey team led by Dhyan Chand was
touring East Africa. They came to know the assassination when in Dar-es-Salam,
Tanganyika. More such details in the meticulously researched article – Editor
by Dil Bahra (UK) and Del Mudher (Kenya) (With thanks to Dil and Del)
India’s first overseas tour after Independence
was to British East Africa in December 1947. Hockey in Kenya during that period
was run by The European Hockey Association of Kenya and The Asian Sports
Association of Kenya until Hockey Association of Kenya (H.A.K.) (later renamed
as Kenya Hockey Union [K.H.U.]) was formed on 2nd June 1949.
The Kenya Asian Sports Association, which was
founded on 4th August 1912, was the biggest sporting organisation in the
country. The leading clubs of the Association in Nairobi were Asian Civil
Service Club; Sir Ali Muslim Club; Goan Gymkhana; Goan Institute; Sikh Union;
Railway Goan Institute and Railway Indian Institute. Goan Sports Association
Kenya was founded in 1945, although Goan Institute was in existence since 1905.
The annual report on the Colony and Protectorate
of Kenya for the year 1947 shows that on 31 January 1947 the proportion of the
various races to the total non-native population was Europeans 17.7% (23,284);
Indians 59.8% (78,588) and Goans 4.5% (5,993).
The Europeans had been the dominant community with
political power bearing no relation to numbers but enabling them to influence
all aspects of the colony’s life in their favour.
An Indian tennis team had toured Kenya in 1936 and
since then the Asian Sports Association were trying to arrange a tour by some
other team from India. Protracted negotiations were conducted in 1945 through
Captain Naidoo for a cricket team but without success.
Mahan Singh Sandhu
Mahan Singh Sandhu, who was born in Punjab, India
in 1902, immigrated to Kenya in 1921. He was a very passionate hockey player,
coach and administrator. He was one of the founders of Sikh Union Club,
Nairobi, and through the club he helped develop hockey in East Africa. He was a
patron and a past president of the club.
Sikh Union Club one of the top clubs in Africa in
the 20th century and the club was Kenya Hockey’s backbone at the Olympic Games
during a golden period in the 1950s, 60s and 70s when Kenya was a powerhouse in
world hockey.
During a visit to India in 1946, Mahan Singh
Sandhu, who was at the time the president of Asian Sports Association, held
talks in Bombay with Naval H. Tata who had recently been elected President of
the Indian Hockey Federation (I.H.F.). As a result of this meeting, a tour to
East Africa by the Indian hockey team the following year was agreed upon.
Mahan Singh Sandhu had agreed that Asian Sports
Association would meet all the travel and accommodation charges for 17 players
and two officials and also pay the touring party expenses. He took an
undertaking with the IHF that the team would travel first class throughout the
tour.
IHF decides.K. Arumugam collection
A liaison committee for the Indian tour was
established by officials of the Asian Sports Association and Hockey Association
of Kenya which consisted of:
Mr Mahan Singh Sandhu as chairman; Mr Harbans
Singh Sehmias, secretary; Mr N. R. Norbury, assistant secretary and Mr G. N.
Shah, treasurer. Hon. F.W. Carpenter; Mr W. Boddy; Mr E.J. Cohen and C. C.
Ferrao were committee members.
Pamphlets announcing the tour and appeal for funds
were distributed to all the hockey centres in Kenya on 24th June 1947. One
interesting note in the pamphlet read:
“Never before in this country was there a cause so
near the sportsman’s hearts and welcome to the sports institutions as this one.
Through your efforts, gentlemen, is being written a new chapter in the history
of British East Africa. Think of the service you render to Mother Country and
unite yourselves. Make the tour a SUCCESS.”
Mahan Singh added in his circular to all the
centres who would be hosting the team, that, besides the undertaking that the
Indian team will travel first class on the tour, “there are good reasons that
the representatives of India in hockey should go about in this country in a
manner befitting the status and dignity of the country they represent”.
The original team submitted to the Kenya Asian
Sports Association by the IHF included A.I.S. Dara (Punjab) and Abdul Quayum
(Delhi). A few months before partition, Dara had captained a unified Punjab
team that won the National championship in Bombay. Both withdrew from the tour
following the partition in August 1947. Both players went on to represent
Pakistan at the London 1948 Olympic Games, with Dara who had played alongside
Dhyan Chand for India at Berlin 1936 Olympic Games captaining the Pakistan
team. The joint-managers in the original team submitted, Professor Sri Ram and
Mohammad Hamiduddin were also replaced.
The Indian team was selected by an I.H.F.
Committee which was Dr A.C. Chatterji (I.H.F. secretary); Mr Lourdes Pereira
(Bombay); Mr Barkat Ali (Madras); Mr Siri Ram (N. F. Province) and Mr P. Gupta
(Bengal)
The Indian touring team was:
1. Leo Pinto (Bombay), goalkeeper
2. Ranganathan Francis (Madras), goalkeeper
3. Walter D’Souza (Bombay), back
4. Randhir Singh Gentle (Delhi), back
5. Mushtaq Ahmed (Bengal), back
6. Keshav Chandra Dutt (Punjab), half-back
7. B. Kapoor (Bengal), half-back
8. Maxie Vaz (Bombay), half-back
9. Lt. Manna Singh (Gwalior), half-back
10. R.J. Carr (Bengal), forward
11. Kunwar Digvijay Singh ‘Babu’ (U.P.), forward
12. Kishan Lal (Bombay), forward
13. Pat Jansen (Bengal), forward
14. Gurbachan Singh (Punjab), forward
15. Lt. Abdul Shakoor (Bhopal), forward
16. M. Rajagopal (Mysore), forward
17. Lt. Dhyan Chand (Army), forward
S.K. Sinha (Bengal) and B Pearce (Bombay) were
appointed joint-managers of the touring party.
IHF President, Naval Tata. Photo KA
Before the team sailed for East Africa, Naval H
Tata sent each player a personal note “The East African Indians want to treat
your team as an ambassadorial side, visiting Africa with a view to impressing
the European population of East Africa of the high standard of education,
culture and ability to mix freely with confidence in social circles. Your
mission is not merely to win matches, but after giving a good account of your
proficiency in the game, you are expected to create an impression by which you
will be remembered as a side which left a good name for your country, by your
good behaviour and self-discipline”
The team assembled in Bombay on 23 November 1947
and sailed, in first class, for Kenya on 6th December, reaching Port of Mombasa
on Monday, 15th December 1947. The team were met by officials from Kenya led by
the Provincial Commissioner for Coast who welcomed the Indian team to Kenya on
behalf of the Governor of Kenya, Sir Mitchell. The reception committee included
officials from Asian Sports Association, Indian Commissioner for Trade in
Mombasa and other Indian dignitaries.
Representatives of The Coast Gymkhana; The
Ithashiri Club; Mombasa Goan Institute; The Railway Indian Institute; Sikh
Union Mombasa; The Indian Sports Club; The Bohora Sports Club; The Hindu
Gymkhana Club; H.H. The Aga Khan Club formed a committee for arranging the
matches and receptions in Mombasa for the touring party.
The Indian team opened their tour of 28 matches
against a Combined Mombasa XI in Mombasa on Tuesday, 16th December 1947, and
beat the home side by seven goals to nil. The team then travelled, by train,
first class, to Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city on Thursday, 18th December 1947.
The Indian team played three
matches in Nairobi before travelling north to Nakuru and Kisumu en route to
Uganda.
On Saturday 20th December 1947, the Indian team
defeated the Asian Sports Association 5-0 and two days later they defeated the
European Hockey Association 9-1.
On Wednesday 24 December, 1947, the Indian Team
defeated a Nairobi XI 4–0.
Nairobi XI v India 24.12.1947
All the matches in Nairobi were played at
Parklands Sports Club. With the assistance of the military, stands were erected
for the spectators for the matches in Nairobi.
The matches in Nairobi were witnessed by such
distinguished persons as: H. E. The Governor Sir Philip Mitchell and Lady
Mitchell, Major General William Alfred Dimoline, Brigadier General Sir Godfrey
Rhodes, Sir Graham Paul, Chief Justice, Tanganyika, Mr J D Rankins, C.M.G.,
Chief Secretary, Kenya and Mrs Rankine, Sir Richard Woodley, Mayor of Nairobi.
On 24 December 1947, a sundowner, was held at Sikh
Union Club Nairobi in honour of the All India Hockey team, which was attended
by Brigadier General Sir Godfrey D Rhodes.
During this sundowner, Dhyan Chand, the captain of
the All India Hockey Team was made a Patron of Sikh Union Club and the rest of
the team and Team Managers were made Honorary Members of the Club. A
certificate of Patronage was presented to Dhyan Chand by Jaswant Singh,
President of Sikh Union Club and membership cards were presented to the rest of
the team.
The team spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day in
Nairobi. On Monday, 29th December, they travelled to Nakuru where they played
two matches. The first of these matches was against a Nakuru Asian Combined X1
which they won 9-0 and the second one against a Nakuru European Combined X1
which they won 14-1.
The team then travelled to the port city of Kisumu
on Wednesday, 31st December 1947, where they played two matches against Kisumu
Combined X1, winning the matches 16-0 and 17-0. The team celebrated New Year’s
Day in Kisumu. They travelled to Uganda on Saturday, 3rd January 1948 where
they played seven matches in Jinja, Kampala and Mbale. The Uganda leg of the
tour was organised by the Indian Association of Uganda.
The Indian team played two matches en route back
to Nairobi, one in Eldoret on Friday 16th January and one in Kitale on
Saturday, 17th January. Five more matches were played in Nairobi, all at
Parklands Sports Club. On Monday, 19th January 1948 the Indian team defeated
European Hockey Association 10-0 and the following day they defeated the Asian Sports
Association 11- 0.
The Asian Sports Association team that played
India on Tuesday, 20th January, 1948 was:
Goalkeeper: Avtar Singh Deol (Sikh Union)
Right-back: Swaraj Singh (Sikh Union)
Left-back: Gurdial Singh Toor (Sikh Union)
Right-half: Teja Singh (Sikh Union)
Centre-half: Surjeet Singh Deol (Sikh Union)
Captain
Right-half: Kartar Singh (Asian Civil Service)
Right-wing: Hari Singh (Sikh Union)
Right-inner: Bachan Singh (Sikh Union)
Centre-forward: Sat Punja (Asian Civil Service)
Left-inner: Harbans Singh Deegan (Sikh Union)
Left-wing: Dharam Vir (Sikh Union)
On Thursday, 22nd January 1948, they defeated
Nairobi Combined team 13-0.
The much-awaited match, against Kenya X1, was
played on Saturday, 24th January 1948. Large crowds attended from all over the
country to see this match at Parklands Sports Club, Nairobi. India won 5-0Kenya X1 v
India 24.01.1948
The final match in Nairobi was against a Kenya and
Uganda X1 on Monday, 26th January 1948 at Parklands Sports Club, Nairobi. India
won 7-2.
Only one player from Uganda, Baldev Singh from
Kampala was regarded good enough for this combined team which was:
Goalkeeper: Dick Carver (Old Cambrians; Nairobi
and Kenya)
Right-back: Harbans Singh (Kisumu Sikh Union;
Kisumu and Kenya)
Left-back: Gurdial Singh Toor (Sikh Union; Nairobi
and Kenya)
Right-half: Benny Carvalho (MombasaGoan Institute;
Coast and Kenya)
Centre-half: Surjeet Singh Deol (Sikh Union;
Nairobi and Kenya) Captain
Right-half: Baldev Singh (Kampala and Uganda)
Right-wing: Maurice Gracias (Railway Goan
Institute; Nairobi and Kenya)
Right-inner: Graham Luckhurst(Old Cambrians;
Nairobi and Kenya)
Centre-forward: George Simpson (Nakuru Athletic
Club; Rift Valley and Kenya)
Left-inner: Jerome S Monteiro (Mombasa Goan
Institute; Coast and Kenya)
Left-wing: Ron Cooper (European Gymkhana; Nairobi
and Kenya)
The team then travelled to Tanganyika (now
Tanzania) where they played five matches. They defeated Arusha combined 12-0 en
route to the capital and port city of Dar-es-Salaam where they heard the news
of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on 30th January 1948.
In the first match against Dar-es-Salaam combined
on Monday, 2nd February, they won 10-2. The Dar-es-Salaam team was Peter Coelho
(gk); Jaswant Singh (capt); L. Caldeira; Cooper; Trilochan Singh; James D’Lord;
E. Mendes; Hardial Singh; W.R. Varma; Pritam Singh; and John D’Souza.
The following day they defeated Dar-es-Salaam
combined 10-0. A match was also played in Zanzibar against Zanzibar Combined
which they won 10-0. A final match was played against Tanganyika Combined in
Dar-es-Salaam which they won 14-0. The team returned to Mombasa where they
played their last match of the tour against Mombasa Combined which they won 5-0.
The team sailed from Mombasa to Bombay on the S.
S. Amra on Tuesday, 10th February 1948.
In his report of the tour, Sinha, the manager
mentioned “Indians in East Africa, especially Mr Mahan Singh, President of the
Asian Sports Association, our sponsor, and his colleagues were very kind and
generous. In many places we were accommodated by local Indian residents in
their own homes and we came to know intimately their way of life”
Another win.
At the Annual General Meeting of Sikh Union Club
in 1948, the minutes recorded: “Mr Mahan Singh whilst on leave in India, as the
President of the Asian Sports Association shouldered the responsibility of
inviting the All India Hockey Team to visit East Africa. It is a great venture
in his career – the visit will be remembered forever in the history of Kenya –
and he deserves a special mention for his untiring effort to bring this tour to
a great success. The Management wish to congratulate him for this great
achievement”.
LEGACY
As a result of this historical tour, Hockey in
Kenya went from strength to strength. Kenya became a powerhouse in world hockey
in the 1960s and 1970s. On 2nd June, 1949, the Kenya Hockey Union was formed
with Brigadier General Sir Godfrey Rhodes elected president, W. Boddy and E. I.
Gledhill vice-presidents, Mahan Singh Sandhu, secretary and G.N. Shah,
treasurer. F.W. Carpenter and Harbans Singh Sehmi were elected as council
members. All these personalities had been instrumental in the successful tour
by the Indian team.
The inaugural meeting was attended by 18
hockey-playing clubs in Kenya viz:
1.The Goan Institute, Nairobi
2. Asian Civil Service Club, Nairobi
3. Old Cambrian Society, Nairobi
4. Railway Goan Institute, Nairobi
5. R.A.F. Eastleigh, Nairobi
6. Vagabonds, Nairobi
7. Parklands Sports Club, Nairobi
8. Gymkhana Club, Nairobi
9. Sir Ali Muslim Club, Nairobi
10. 401 Command W/Shops and REME, Nairobi
11. Goan Gymkhana, Nairobi
12. Railway Indian Institute, Nairobi
13. Caledonian Hockey Club, Nairobi
14. The Sikh Union, Nairobi
15. The Sikh Union, Mombasa
16. Command H.Q. Officers – Harlequins
17. Command H.Q. W/Os & Sgts.
18. Oswal Sports Club, Nairobi.
The following Associations were approved for
membership of Hockey Association of Kenya: The Asian Sports Association; The
European Hockey Association of Kenya and The Kenya Goan Sports Association (The
Coast Hockey Association, Mombasa and Nakuru Sports Association, Nakuru were
approved on 12.6.1950).
Paper cutting on EA tour
One of the first tasks of the newly formed
association was to build a stadium. Application for constructing a hockey
stadium in Nairobi was submitted on 5th September 1949, just three months after
the formation of the Association. Nairobi City Hockey Stadium (now known as
City Park Hockey Stadium) was completed on 16th October 1950. The Indian Hockey
team visited Kenya again from 16 December 1950 to 11 January 1951 and played
their matches in Nairobi at City Hockey Stadium. The Kenya team defeated the
British & Irish team 3-2 at this new stadium on 20 September 1951.
Hockey Association Kenya was affiliated to the
International Hockey Federation (F.I.H.) in 1950.
Mahan Singh Sandhu went on to the become coach of
Kenya’s team at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games and President of Kenya Hockey
Union in 1957. Later on he became coach of the Kenya women’s team and has been
regarded as “Father of Kenya Hockey”.
Surjeet Singh Deol who captained Nairobi XI, Kenya
and Kenya & Uganda team during this visit by the Indian team went on to
captain Kenya at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games and also played at the Rome
1960 Olympic Games.
Pritam Singh Sandhu, who played for Dar-es-Salaam
against India on 2nd February 1948, at the age of 17, went on to represent
Kenya at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games. He was Kenya’s Team Manager at the Los
Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. He played for Sikh Union Nairobi and was elected
chairman of Kenya Hockey Union from 1988-1992.
Gurdial Singh Toor who played for Kenya during the
tour match moved to Uganda and captained Uganda during India’s tour of East
Africa in 1959. He later became an FIH Umpire.
Harbans Singh Sehmi, who was the secretary of the
Liaison Committee for the tour, was selected as Chef de Mission for Kenya at
Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games.
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