The 19th Punjabis was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 7th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 19th Punjabis in 1903 and became 1st Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment i.e. 1/14 Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 5th Battalion The

Punjab Regiment Punjab Regiment may refer to the following existing units: *Punjab Regiment (India) *Punjab Regiment (Pakistan) From 1922 to 1947, the British Indian Army included 6 numbered Punjab Regiments: *1st Punjab Regiment * 2nd Punjab Regiment *8th Punj ...

(5th Punjab).Rizvi, Brig SHA. (1984). ''Veteran Campaigners – A History of the Punjab Regiment 1759-1981''. Lahore: Wajidalis.

History

Early history

The regiment was formed during the upheaval of the Indian Mutiny in 1857 as the 7th Regiment of Punjab Infantry on the orders of John Lawrence, the British Chief Commissioner of the Punjab, and saw service in North India. In 1864, it participated in the

Bhutan war The Duar War (or Anglo-Bhutan War) was a war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864–1865. It has been the only military conflict between the two states since 1774. Background Across the nineteenth century, British India commissioned ...

, and during the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the ...

of 1878-80, the regiment fought with distinction in the Battle of Ahmed Khel. In 1891, it took part in the Black Hill Expedition and the 2nd Miranzai Expedition on the North West Frontier of India. In 1903, the 19th Punjab Infantry took part in the

British expedition to Tibet The British expedition to Tibet, also known as the Younghusband expedition, began in December 1903 and lasted until September 1904. The expedition was effectively a temporary invasion by British Indian Armed Forces under the auspices of the T ...

.Pigot, G. (1946). ''History of the 1st Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment, Sherdil-ki-Paltan (late XIX Punjabis)''. New Delhi: Roxy Printing Press.

19th Punjabis

Subsequent to the

reforms Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

brought about in the Indian Army by Lord Kitchener in 1903, the regiment's designation was changed to the 19th Punjabis. On the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it initially remained in India guarding the North West Frontier as part of the 4th (Quetta) Division. In February 1916, it moved to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, where it had the unique distinction of being actively engaged against the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

in 1918 during the hard-fought actions at

Merv Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...

, Kaka and

Dushak Dushak ( tk, Duşak) is a small town in the Karakum Desert on the rim of the Kopet Dag mountains of Ahal Province, Turkmenistan. See also * Railway stations in Turkmenistan Railway stations in Turkmenistan include: Maps UN MapUNHCR Map ...

in the

Russian Turkestan Russian Turkestan (russian: Русский Туркестан, Russkiy Turkestan) was the western part of Turkestan within the Russian Empire’s Central Asian territories, and was administered as a Krai or Governor-Generalship. It comprised the ...

. At Dushak, all of the British officers, and the Indian

Subedar Major Subedar Major is the senior-most rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian and Pakistani Armies, formerly known as the Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. History During the British Raj, Subedar-Major was the hi ...

of the regiment, were either killed or wounded, and the battalion was led by a Subedar. In 1917, the 19th Punjabis raised a second battalion, which was disbanded after the war.

Subsequent history

In 1921-22, a major reorganization was undertaken in the British Indian Army leading to the formation of large infantry groups of four to six battalions. Among these was the 14th Punjab Regiment, formed by grouping the 19th Punjabis with the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 24th Punjabis, and the 40th Pathans. The battalion's new designation was 1st Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment. The battalion was often referred to by the British as the Battalion of Sherdil or ''Sherdil ki Paltan'' because of a Muslim Sepoy Sherdil known to hold some special spiritual powers and was found out by a British officer for offering prayers at one place and being on sentry duty at other at exactly the same time. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the battalion fought in the Malayan Campaign and was taken prisoner by the Japanese on

Singapore Island Singapore Island, or Mainland Singapore, is the main constituent island of the sovereign island country and city-state of the Republic of Singapore. It is located at the southern tip of Malay Peninsula, in-between the Straits of Malacca and the ...

following the British surrender on 15 February 1942. 90% of the officers and men of the battalion joined the Japanese Supported Indian National Army and fought against the British in the subsequent Battles. The battalion was re-raised in 1946.Haig, Brodie. ''Fourteenth Punjab Regiment 1939-1945''. London: Lund Humphries. In 1947, the 14th Punjab Regiment was allocated to Pakistan Army. In 1956, it was merged with the 1st, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments to form one large

, and 1/14th Punjab was re designated as 5 Punjab ''Sherdils''. During the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War, the battalion fought in

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, while in 1971, it was deployed in a defensive role at Mandi Sadiq Ganj in the Punjab. 19th Punjabis (5 Punjab) (Afridi, Sikh, Bangash, Swati, Yusufzai, PM) 1910

19th Punjabis (5 Punjab) (Afridi, Sikh, Bangash, Swati, Yusufzai, PM) 1910

Lineage

*1857: 7th Regiment of Punjab Infantry *1861: 23rd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry *1861: 19th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry *1864: 19th (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry *1885: 19th (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Infantry *1901: 19th Punjab Infantry *1903: 19th Punjabis *1916: 1st Battalion 19th Punjabis *1919: 19th Punjabis *1922: 1st Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment *1956: 5th Battalion The Punjab Regiment

Notable former personnel

*Maj.

Malik Munawar Khan Awan Malik Munawar Khan Awan () was a Major rank officer in the Pakistan Army, whose career had begun in the British Indian Army and included spells in the Imperial Japanese Army and the revolutionary Indian National Army that fought against the A ...

, Sitara e Jurat, Title: King of Rajauri, went over to the Japanese side and took command of the 2nd INA Guerrilla Battalion during the Battle of Imphal. Later he joined the Pakistan Army, where he was posted to the 21 AK Regiment and became Commander

Ghaznavi Force Operation Gibraltar was the codename of a military operation planned and executed by the Pakistan Army in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir in August 1965. The operation's strategy was to covertly cross the Line of Control (LoC) an ...

, which infiltrated Mehndar-Rajauri Area during Operation Gibraltar 1965. *Capt. Mohan Singh (general), defected to the Japanese side and later appointed C IN C of Indian National Army. He was later elected as a member of the Parliament of India. *Capt.

Shah Nawaz Khan (general) Shah Nawaz Khan (January 1914 – 9 December 1983) was an Indian politician who served as an officer in the Indian National Army (INA) during World War II. He was profoundly influenced by Subhas Chandra Bose's speeches asking POWs to join the ...

, turned to Japanese Side, held command of Gandhi Brigade. Later elected as Indian MP.

History

Early history

19th Punjabis

Subsequent history

Lineage

Notable former personnel

See also

References

Further reading