The 40th Pathans were an infantry regiment of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. It was raised in 1858 as the Shahjehanpur Levy. It was designated as the 40th Pathans in 1903 and became 5th Battalion (Pathans)

14th Punjab Regiment The 14th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to the Pakistan Army on independence in 1947, and amalgamated with the 1st, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments in 1956, to form the Punjab Reg ...

in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

, where it continues to exist as 16th 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 ...

.Rizvi, Brig SHA. (1984). ''Veteran Campaigners – A History of the Punjab Regiment 1759-1981''. Lahore: Wajidalis.Waters, Maj RS. (1936). ''History of the 5th Battalion (Pathans), 14th Punjab Regiment formerly 40th Pathans ("The Forty Thieves”)''. London: James Bain Ltd.

Early history

The regiment was raised by Lieutenant Edward Dandridge at

Shahjahanpur Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Uttar Pradesh, India. The city is between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. History Shahjahanpur was established by Dil ...

in 1858, during the upheaval of the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, as the Shahjahanpur Levy. It was initially composed of Hindus from North India and some

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

s. In 1888, the regiment participated in the Black Mountain Expedition, while in 1890, it dispatched a detachment to Lushai Hills. In 1890, it was reconstituted with Trans-frontier

Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

s to become the only all-Pathan regiment in the Indian Army; acquiring in the process, the nickname of "Forty Thieves". In 1901, it lost its exclusively Pathan character, when two companies each of

Punjabi Muslims Punjabi Muslims ( pa, ) are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. Primarily geographically native to the Punjab province of Pakistan today, many have ancestry in the entire Punjab region, ...

and

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal ...

s were included.

40th Pathans

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 40th Pathans. In 1904, the 40th Pathans proceeded to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

as reinforcements for the Tibet Mission Force. 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 ...

the regiment was stationed in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. It arrived in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 2 April 1915, and within days, was on the frontlines. The 40th Pathans fought with great gallantry in the

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pre ...

, where they suffered 320 casualties on 26 April, and in the Battles of

Aubers Ridge The Battle of Aubers (Battle of Aubers Ridge) was a British offensive on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front on 9 May 1915 during the First World War. The battle was part of the British contribution to the Second Battle of Artois, a ...

and Loos. In December, the regiment left for

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

, where they served till February 1918, and again distinguished themselves in the long and bitter campaign. The 40th Pathans suffered a total of 800 casualties (killed or wounded) during the war, while 1066 officers and men were invalided out of service due to sickness. In 1919, the 40th Pathans participated in the

Third Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

British and Indian officers who died in World War I

European campaign *Lt Col F. Rennik *BT Lt Col A.G. Stuart *Maj G.D. Campbell (while attached to

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

) *Maj Ac.E.C. Perking *Capt J.F.C. Dalmahoy *Capt L.de.L Christopher *2nd Lt E.G. Hodgson *Sub Jehandad Khan Bahadur *Jemadar Lehar Singh *Jemadar Saida Khan *Jemadar Kaka East African campaign *Maj H.A. Carter *Maj E.C. Irwin *Maj R.N. Maepherson *2nd Lt F.G. Gardiner *2nd Lt J.T.G. Humphreys *2nd Lt N.O. Burne *Sub Gulodu *Sub Mainu *Jemadar Shiraz *Jemadar Darjhodah * Sub Major Habib Ullah Khan

Pre-1947 partition

Indian infantry band 40th Pathans playing on a French farm (Photo 24-46)

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 40th Pathans with

19th 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

20th 20 (twenty; Roman numeral XX) is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score. In mathematics *20 is a pronic number. *20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20. *20 is the ba ...

, 21st, 22nd and

24th Punjabis The 24th Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 11th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 24th Punjabis in 1861 and became 4th Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, i ...

. The battalion's new designation was 5th Battalion (Pathans) 14th Punjab Regiment. 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 The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

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 th ...

following the British surrender on 15 February 1942.Haig, Brodie. ''Fourteenth Punjab Regiment 1939-1945''. London: Lund Humphries.

Post-1947 partition

The battalion was re-raised in 1952. In the meantime, the 14th Punjab Regiment had been allocated to the Pakistan Army following the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1947. In 1956, the 14th Punjab Regiment was merged with the 1st,

15th 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...

and

16th Punjab Regiment The 16th Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamated ...

s to form one large

, and 5/14th Punjab was redesignated as 16 Punjab. During the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistan Wars, the battalion fought on the

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Front.

Genealogy

*1780 Raised as Bengal Native Infantry *1858 Shahjahanpur Levy *1861 44th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry *1861 40th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry *1864 40th (Shahjahanpur) Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry *1885 40th Regiment of Bengal Infantry *1890 40th (Baluch) Regiment of Bengal Infantry *1892 40th (Pathan) Regiment of Bengal Infantry *1901 40th Punjab Infantry *1903 40th Pathans *1922 5th Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment *1934 5th Battalion (Pathans) 14th Punjab Regiment *1942 Captured by the Japanese at Singapore *1952 Re-raised *1956 16th Battalion The Punjab Regiment

References

External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Punjab Regiment (Pakistan) British Indian Army infantry regiments Military units and formations established in 1858 1858 establishments in India