The Rajputana Rifles is the oldest
rifle regiment of the
Indian Army. It was originally a part of the
British Indian Army, when six previously existing regiments were amalgamated to form six battalions of the 6th Rajputana Rifles. In 1945, the numeral designation was dropped from the title and in 1947 the regiment was transferred to the newly independent
Indian Army. Since independence, the regiment has been involved in a number of conflicts against Pakistan, as well as contributing to the Custodian Force (India) in Korea under the aegis of the United Nations in 1953–54 and to the UN Mission to the Congo in 1962. As a
rifle regiment, it uses a bugle horn as its insignia, the same as the British
Light Division, but unlike its British counterparts, the Rajputana Rifles march at the same march pace used in the Indian Army as a whole.
The name Rajputana Rifles is derived from northwest, and the word
Rajputana, a historic region in northwest India that is roughly coextensive with the modern Indian state of
Rajasthan, as well as small sections of
Madhya Pradesh and
Gujarat. It is based on the word Rajaputra, meaning "son of a king, which came in 6th century. The name Rajputana means "land of the Rajputs". The
Aravalli Range crosses the southern part of the region from northeast to southwest. The northwestern part is largely the
Thar desert, but to the southeast, the land is extremely fertile. Rajput power rose here between the 6th and 13th centuries, and the princes resisted the early Muslim incursions, which began in the 11th century. Rajput power reached its peak in the early 15th century, but the area fell to the
Mughals when
Akbar captured the
Chittor Fort in 1568. The
Marathas held feudatories in the region from c. 1750 to 1818, when it passed to Great Britain. When Britishers came Rajputs did treaty. The Rajput princely states came under British protection by treaties in the early 19th century; most of the area was formed into Rajasthan state in 1948. Under the British, Rajputana included more than 20 princely states, notably
Bikaner,
Jaipur,
Jodhpur,
Udaipur, and
Ajmer. The internal autonomy of many of the states was guaranteed.
Recruitment
The Rajputana Rifles is a fixed class regiment with equal proportions of
Jats and
Rajputs but some units have also the minor proportion of
Ahir,
Gurjar and
Hindustani Muslims .[2][3]
Lineage
The regiment's origins lie in the 18th century when the
East India Company (HEIC) recruited
Rajputs to protect its operations. The impressive performance of French local units which were composed of local recruits mixed with French officers, helped the HEIC to decide that it needed to do something similar. In January 1775, it raised its first local infantry units which included the 5th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys, which is considered to be the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army.[4] The 5th Battalion was successively redesignated as 9th Battalion Bombay Sepoys in 1778; 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry in 1796; 4th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry in 1824, and then 4th Regiment Native Infantry (Rifle Corps) in 1881.[5] It thus became the first rifle regiment of the
British Indian Army.[4] In 1899 the battalion was once more renamed as 4th Regiment (1st Battalion Rifle Corps) Bombay Infantry and again in 1901 as 4th Bombay Rifles.[5]
In
Kitchener's 1903 reorganisation of the Indian Army, 4th Bombay Rifles became 104th Wellesley's Rifles, to commemorate the fact that the regiment had been commanded in 1800 by
Arthur Wellesley (later the
Duke of Wellington).[6] In the further re-organisation in 1921, the following six regiments were brought together to form the six battalions of the 6th Rajputana Rifles Regiment:[7]
In 1945, the regiments of the
British Indian Army dropped the numeral in their titles and so the Rajputana Rifles assumed its current name. In 1947, after the
partition of India, the regiment was allocated to the newly formed
Indian Army. In 1949, the 1st battalion was transferred to the newly raised
Brigade of the Guards, becoming the 3rd battalion, Brigade of the Guards.
History
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adding to it. (March 2009)
In 1817, the 4th battalion met the
Marathas at the
Battle of Khadki. The defence earned the regiment the battle honor of "Khadki". In 1856–57 the 1st, 2nd, and 4th battalions were together in the
Persian theatre of operations. In 1856, Captain
John Augustus Wood of the 2nd battalion (then the 20th Bombay Native Infantry) was awarded the
Victoria Cross for storming
Bushire Fort.[9] This was the first Victoria Cross to be won in an Indian unit.[10] Sub. Maj Mohammed Sharief and Sub. Peer Bhatt were recommended for the Victoria Cross for their actions in the same battle, but were turned down as at that time the medal category was not open to Indians.[11][12]
In 1878–1880, during the
Second Afghan War, the 1st battalion marched 145 miles in 5 days from
Quetta to
Kandahar and laid siege to the city. In 1900–1902, the 3rd battalion was part of a force used to contain the
Boxer Rebellion in
China.
During
World War II, the regiment was expanded to thirteen battalions and served in the Middle East, Burma and Malaya.[13] The 4th battalion had the distinction of earning two Victoria Crosses during this conflict.[14]
Raised as 5th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys. Converted to 3rd Battalion,
Brigade of the Guards on 1 September 1949. Pre-independence : 28 battle honours, post-independence : battle honour Gadra Road
Raised as the 2nd Battalion, 10th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry. Designated
120th Rajputana Infantry in 1903 and 2nd (Prince of Wales's Own), 6th Rajputana Rifles in 1922. Battle honours of Persia, Reshire, Bushire, Koosh-Ab, Mesopotamia, Shaiba, Kut-Al-Amara, and Ctesiphon. Captain
John Augustus Wood won the
Victoria Cross in 1856 at
Bushire,
Persia. Post independence battle honours – Poonch, Tololing and Drass; theatre honour – Kargil.
Raised on 26 May 1820 from elements which took part in the
Battle of Khadki in November 1817, as the First Battalion of the 12th Regiment of the East India Company Indian Army. In the reorganisation of 1903, it took on the name of
Sir James Outram and was designated the
123rd Outram's Rifles. Won two Victoria Crosses (Subedar
Richhpal Ram and CHM
Chhelu Ram), and 23 Battle/Theatre Honours during the pre-independence period. Post-Independence battle honours – Charwa and Uri, theatre honour Punjab 1965.
Raised as 1st Extra Battalion of Bombay Native Infantry, underwent many changes, designated
125th Napier's Rifles in 1903 and present designation in 1945. Won one Victoria Cross in 1858 and 27 battle honours before independence.
Nicknamed the Param Vir Chakra Paltan and Shooting Sixth, the regiment was raised in 1940 by Lieutenant Colonel NG Gane MC at
Faizabad. Theatre honour Burma during World War II. CHM
Piru Singh was awarded the PVC during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. The battalion was awarded the theatre honour Jammu and Kashmir and battle honour Darapari.
Raised 1941, fought in
Malaya, disbanded at the end of war. Re-raised in 1962 at Delhi Cantonment. Battle honour Mynamati and theatre honour East Pakistan, 1971.
Raised as 11 Rajputana Rifles (TA), disbanded 1947, re-raised 1966 by Lieutenant Colonel Harbhajan Singh at
Golconda. Nicknamed Fighting Fourteen because of the consistent performance of the Batalian in Firing Competitions
Former
Imperial Service Troops, raised as Sawai Man Guards of Jaipur State Forces, battle honour Ledi Gali during 1948 operations, absorbed into Indian Army in 1951.
The Rajputana Rifles Regimental Museum in the Rajputana Rifles Centre is located inside the
Delhi Cantonment. The museum covers the rich history of the regiment in the most modern fashion. The museum is around 7000 square feet in size and covers the history of the regiment from its inception. The museum exhibits weapons and uniforms and narrates the history through large format images and audiovisual film. The museum was designed and conceived by Holistic Design a Delhi-based design studio headed by Nikhil Bhardwaj who specializes in designing museums and exhibitions. Col. M. S. Niranjan of the 19th battalion was the director of the museum project. It is rated as the finest military museum in India and even compared to the
Imperial War Museum in London.
Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Herbert Bruno Beyts, Lieutenant Colonel PRH Skrine, Lieutenant Colonel WAL James, Lieutenant Colonel R Lawrenson, Lieutenant Colonel RB Scott, Lieutenant Colonel L Jones, Lieutenant J. McHadden, Major (temporary) John Lewis Haycroft Davis, Lieutenant-Colonel (acting) George Edgar Parker.[56][57]
Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Brigadier (acting) Victor George Joseph Barton,[58] Lieutenant-Colonel (Temporary Brigadier) Franz Reginald Lindsay Goadb,[59] Major Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert James Sheppard,[60] Colonel (temporary) Bertram Bayliss,[61] Lieutenant-Colonel (local) George Roy Stevens,[62] Major RB Broadbent
Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Lieutenant Colonel (temporary) Denis Gill Ryan,[63] Major (temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) Claude Morgan Hutchings,[64] Major (temporary) Alan Philip Young, Major (temporary) David Ralph Morgan,[65] Captain Alan Stuart Roger,[66] Captain DL Powell Jones, Captain (temporary) John Lewis Warren,[67] Captain (Temporary) Liaqat Saeed Khan Lodi,[68] Captain (temporary Major) George Edgar Parker,[69] Captain (temporary) Harold Anthony Burke,[70] Captain Stanley Broadbent, Major (temporary) Abdul Rashid Choudhri,[71] Captain (temporary) Ghulam Nabi[72] Jemadar Farman Ali.
Military Cross
Major (temporary) Leslie Louis Fleming, Major (temporary) Geoffrey Arthur Hasler, Major (temporary) George Edgar Parker, Major (temporary) John Keith Parry, Major (acting) John Campbell Anderson, Major (temporary) Hubert Michael Close, Captain GE Charter, Captain Mian Khan, Captain CE Cayley, Captain GR Riddick, Captain KR Gentles, Captain Ivan Bernard St. Regis Surita, Captain JRM French, Captain EW Dixon, Captain AT Murray, Captain Dinesh Chandra Misra, Captain (temporary) John Michael Beamish, Lieutenant Geoffrey Earle Dubois, Lieutenant Daljit Singh Randhawa, Captain (temporary) Ivon Charles Jameson, Lieutenant (temporary Captain) Edward Wilberforce Dixon, 2nd Lieutenant NL Kapur, 2nd Lieutenant Bashir Ahmed, Captain Alexander Hendrick Roosmale Cocq, Lieutenant Gilbert Llewellyn Young-Western, Lieutenant Denis Oswald O'Leary, 2nd Lieutenant JM Ashworth, 2nd Lieutenant PK Horwood, Lieutenant (temporary Captain) Sworup Singh Kalaan, Subedar Tota Ram, Subedar Kesari Singh, Jemadar Sanwal Ram, Jemadar Kalu Ram, Subedar Kalyan Singh, Jemadar (acting Subedar) Usman Ghani, Jemadar Anwar Beg.[73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85]
^Until 1911, the
Indian Order of Merit was the highest gallantry award that Indian soldiers were eligible for. After 1911, the Victoria Cross was extended to all soldiers of the British Empire.