On September 23, 1918, the Jodhpur, Mysore and Hyderabad Lancers, part of the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade, rode up the slopes of Mount Carmel and seized the Ottoman‑held port city of Haifa, a move that British war diaries describe as decisive in opening the road to Damascus.
More than a million Indians served overseas in the First World War, and over 74,000 lost their lives; the Haifa charge stands out as one of the most dramatic episodes of Indian valour abroad, illustrating the global footprint of Indian troops in a conflict that was not of their own making.
Contemporary British records credit the Indian cavalry with breaking the Ottoman defensive line, allowing the Allied forces to advance northward and secure a strategic foothold in the Levant during the war’s final phase.
In independent India, the battle has been reclaimed as a symbol of national military heritage; a First World War memorial in Delhi was renamed “Teen Murti Haifa Chowk” to honour the Indian cavalry’s contribution and to embed the episode in the country’s post‑colonial narrative.
Israel has incorporated the memory of the Indian charge into its own story of gratitude and friendship, erecting memorials in Haifa and holding annual ceremonies that celebrate the Indian soldiers as liberators of the city.
Palestinian representatives, however, view the same event as a stepping stone to British control of Palestine, the implementation of the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent displacement that culminated in the 1948 Nakba, prompting them to question the celebratory tone of Indian commemorations.
Scholars in both countries dispute the relative weight of the Indian contribution; some Israeli historians argue that British and Australian units played the larger role, while Indian military historians point to British war diaries that single out the Indian cavalry as the decisive force.
Recent diplomatic visits by Indian leaders to the Haifa memorial and warm statements from Israeli officials have reinforced the battle’s role as a bridge in the deepening strategic partnership between New Delhi and Jerusalem, even as the narrative fuels debate over historical ownership.
The contested memory of Haifa underscores a broader post‑colonial challenge: how to honour the courage of soldiers who fought under imperial command without endorsing the political outcomes of that empire, a tension that continues to shape India’s relations with both Israel and the Palestinian people.