44 Armoured Regiment is an armoured regiment of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

Formation

44 Armoured Regiment was raised on 15 December 1981 at

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

under the command of Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier) DS Dhillon based on a ‘mixed class composition’ and equipped with

Vijayanta The ''Vijayanta'' (en: "Victorious") was a main battle tank built in India based on a licensed design of the Vickers Mk.1. The Vijayanta was the first indigenous tank of the Indian Army. The prototype was completed in 1963 and the tank entered ...

tanks. Major General (later General) BC Joshi was the first Colonel of the Regiment.

History

The Regiment was presented the ‘ President’s Standards’ at

Suratgarh Suratgarh is a city and a municipality, just nearby Sri Ganganagar city in Sri Ganganagar district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded by Maharaja Surat Singh (1765 - 1828). Hindi, Bagri and Rajasthani are the widely spoken languag ...

on 25 February 2015 by General

Dalbir Singh General Dalbir Singh Suhag, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC (born 28 December 1954) is the former Indian High Commissioner to Seychelles and a former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. He was the 25th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the In ...

, Chief of the Army Staff, on behalf of the President of India, Mr

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

Equipment

The Regiment had the

tanks at the time of raising. It converted to

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks ha ...

M1-Ajeya tanks in 1997.

Operations

The regiment has participated in

Operation Meghdoot Operation Meghdoot ( "Operation Cloud Messenger" after a famous Sanskrit poem by Kalidasa) was the codename for the Indian Armed Forces' operation to seize control of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir, precipitating the Siachen conflict. Exe ...

Operation Rakshak Capt. Sanjay Chauhan, SC, was an Indian Army officer of the 16 Rajputana Rifles. During a military counter-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir, India, Captain Chauhan attempted to infiltrate an enemy militant group. On the basis of actiona ...

and

Operation Parakram Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. It has contributed its officers and men to

Rashtriya Rifles The Rashtriya Rifles (RR; ) is a counter-insurgency force in India, formed in 1990, to specifically serve in the Jammu and Kashmir region. They also maintain public order by drawing powers from the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Po ...

and

Assam Rifles The Assam Rifles (AR) is a central paramilitary force responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in Northeast India. It guards the Indo-Myanmar border. The Assam rifles is the oldest paramilitary force ...

for counter-insurgency duties. The Regiment has won the following awards for gallantry and distinguished service – 2

Vishisht Seva Medal The Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) is a decoration of the Indian Armed Forces. It is awarded to recognize "distinguished service of a high order" to all ranks of the Indian Armed Forces. From 1980, the Yudh Seva Medal was introduced to recognize excep ...

s, 1

Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak The Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak is a civilian lifesaving award presented by the Government of India. Established on 30 September 1961, the award was originally called the Jeevan Raksha Padak, Class II. Criteria The Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak is award ...

, 22 Chief of Army Staff Commendation Cards, 6 Vice Chief of Army Staff Commendation Cards, 20 GOC-in-C Commendation Cards and 1 UN Force Commander Commendation.

Regimental Insignia

The Regimental insignia consists of crossed

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...

s with

pennon A pennon, also known as a pennant or pendant, is a long narrow flag which is larger at the hoist than at the fly. It can have several shapes, such as triangular, tapering (square tail) or triangular swallowtail (forked tail), etc. In maritime ...

s of the regimental colours. The numeral "44" is inscribed on the crossing of the lances inside a circle, mounted with the "mailed fist" or gauntlet. There is a scroll at the base with the Regimental Motto in

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental syste ...

script. The shoulder title consists of the numeral "44" in brass. The colours of the Regiment are Red and Gold – which are the same as the colours of the

Indian Armoured Corps The Indian Armoured Corps was a unit of the British Empire's Indian Army. The Corps was formed on 1 May 1941 to administer existing armoured units within the Indian Army. Its headquarters was located at Ferozepore. Upon partition in 1947, the unit's ...

. The Regimental motto is युध्यस्व जेतासि रणे (Yudhyasva Jetasi Rane), which has been taken from the

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

(Chapter 11, Shloka 34). It translates to "Fight, and Victory shall be yours".

References

{{Indian Army Armoured Corps , state=expanded Military units and formations established in 1981 Armoured and cavalry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947