--- title: यह सिपाही हिन्दुस्तान की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है (This Soldier Is Defending India), Indian Army recruiting poster, Bombay url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/indian-army-hindi-recruiting-poster-1914/ description: A khaki-uniformed Indian infantryman with fixed bayonet stands in front of a red map of the subcontinent, above a Hindi panel saying that this soldier… section: Collection --- [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) [![यह सिपाही हिन्दुस्तान की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है (This Soldier Is Defending India), Indian Army recruiting poster, Bombay](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/indian-army-hindi-recruiting-poster-1914.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/indian-army-hindi-recruiting-poster-1914.jpg) # यह सिपाही हिन्दुस्तान की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है (This Soldier Is Defending India), Indian Army recruiting poster, Bombay A khaki-uniformed Indian infantryman with fixed bayonet stands in front of a red map of the subcontinent, above a Hindi panel saying that this soldier defends Hindustan and his own home and household, and that the best way to help one's household is to join the army. The tell is the reframing: enlistment is presented as the same duty as protecting one's family, so the pull of household loyalty is transferred onto army service. - **Date:** 1914 - **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi) - **Made by:** Indian Army recruiting in British India (sponsor not named on the sheet); printed by The Times Press, Bombay - **Region:** [South Asia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=south-asia) - **Country:** [British India](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=british-india) - **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster) - **Issuer type:** [Mixed](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=mixed) - **Regime:** [British Raj](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=british-raj) - **Leader:** [Charles Hardinge](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=charles-hardinge) - **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public) - **Purpose:** [Recruit](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=recruit) - **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Home front](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=home-front) - **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i) - **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) - **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are - **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons (Imperial War Museums, PST 12594)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_Army_World_War_I_Hindi_Recruitment_Poster.jpg), retrieved September 29, 2026 - **Rights:** Public domain (printed in Bombay, 1914-18, before 1931; Commons: UK Crown copyright expired) Imperial War Museums (IWM PST 12594), via Wikimedia Commons ## Text on the object Original (Hindi) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` यह सिपाही हिन्दुस्तान की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है । वह अपने घर और घरबारवालों की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है ॥ अपने घरबारवालों की मदद करने का सब से अच्छा तरीक़ा यह है कि फ़ौज में भरती हो जाओ ॥ THE TIMES PRESS, BOMBAY [illegible small number at top right, cut by the sheet edge] ``` English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader) ``` This soldier is protecting Hindustan. He is protecting his own home and his household. The best way to help your household is to join the army. ``` Devanagari read from the 1280 px image; the nukta on some letters is faint. Translation is a literal machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader. [← Сдал австриец русским Львов (The Austrian Surrendered Lvov to the Russians)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/austrians-surrendered-lvov-1914/) [Подошёл колбасник к Лодзи (A Sausage-Maker Came to Łódź) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sausage-maker-came-to-lodz-1914/) ## Using the same techniques - [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer) - [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer) - [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking) - [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon) - [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)