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The 5th Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the
Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...
and later of the ''raj''-period
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 cou ...
. It could trace its lineage back to 1803, when it was raised as the 2nd Battalion, 21st Bengal Native Infantry. The regiment was known by a number of different names: the 42nd
Bengal Native Infantry The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing int ...
1824–1842, the 42nd Bengal Native (Light) Infantry 1842–1861, the 5th Bengal Native (Light) Infantry 1861–1885 and the 5th Bengal (Light) Infantry 1885–1903. Its final designation 5th Light Infantry was a result of the
Kitchener Reforms 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 ...
of the Indian Army, when all the old presidency titles (
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
) were removed. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
the regiment was stationed in Singapore and was notorious for its involvement in the 1915 Singapore Mutiny. The regiment was disbanded in 1922, after another set of reforms of the post World War I Indian Army.


History


Early history

First raised in 1803, the regiment was awarded the distinction of becoming light infantry in 1843.R.W.E. Harper & Harry Miller, page 3 ''Singapore Mutiny'' As the 42nd Bengal Native (Light) Infantry the regiment carried as battle honours "Arakan, Afghanistan and Kandahar 1842", "Ghunze 1842", and "Kabul and Moodkee, Ferozeshah and Sobroan 1857". The 42nd BNI was one of only twelve infantry regiments of the old
Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...
to remain fully loyal to the British
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...
and to escape mutiny or disbandment during 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 for ...
of 1857–58. It was then renumbered as the 5th Bengal Native (Light) Infantry. As noted above the regimental title underwent several subsequent changes until it became the 5th Light Infantry in 1903. Throughout its history the 5th LI was known to its Indian soldiers as "Jansen-ki-Paltan" or Johnson's Regiment after its first commander (Captain Jeremiah). After serving in the Second Afghan War of 1879–80 and the Third Burmese War of 1885–87, the regiment saw only garrison duty until World War I. In 1914 the regiment was stationed at Nowgong in the Central Provinces. From there they were posted to Singapore in October to replace a British battalion. The regimental centre was at
Benares Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tra ...
and for enlistment and training purposes the 5th LI was linked with the
17th Infantry The 17th Infantry (The Loyal Regiment) was an infantry regiment of the Bengal Army, later of the united British Indian Army. It was formed at Phillour in 1858 by Major J. C. Innes from men of the 3rd, 36th and 61st Bengal Native Infantry regimen ...
and the
18th Infantry The 18th Infantry were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. Their origins trace back to 1795, when they were known as the Calcutta Native Militia. Over the years they were known by a number of different names, such as the Alipore Regim ...
. Unusually for Indian Army regiments of the period, the 5th Light Infantry was an entirely Muslim unit. The regiment comprised Ranghars (Muslims of Rajput origin) making up the Right Wing, and Pathans making up the Left Wing. Numbering 800 men at full strength, the regiment was commanded by both British and Indian officers.


Singapore Mutiny The 1915 Singapore Mutiny, also known as the 1915 Sepoy Mutiny or the Mutiny of the 5th Light Infantry, was a mutiny involving up to half of a regiment of 850 Indian Muslim sepoys against the British in Singapore during the First World War. ...

Following the entry of Turkey into the War in October 1914 the loyalty of the Muslim troops who made up a large proportion of the Indian Army came under some strain. In most regiments this did not cause major problems. However the 5th Light Infantry had, since its arrival in Singapore, been plagued by internal discord and there were intelligence reports that agents of the Indian revolutionary group ''Ghadr'' were trying to foment rebellion amongst Muslim soldiers from Bengal, Delhi and UP areas. Also, Colonel Martin, newly promoted to command, was unpopular with his officers and there was further discord between factions amongst the sepoys focussing on issues of promotion, pay and other conditions of service. Garrison duties in Singapore included guarding German internees who attempted with some success to persuade the Indian soldiers that Britain was losing the War. Some of the sepoys attended a mosque where the resident local
Maulvi Mawlawi ( ar, مولوي; also spelled Maulvi, Molvi, Moulavi and Mawlvi) is an Islamic religious title given to Muslim religious scholars, or ulama, preceding their names, similar to the titles Mawlānā, Mullah, or Sheikh. Mawlawi generally ...
preached that Turkey was the seat of the Khalifa of Islam and that no Muslim should fight against him. Finally, in mid-February 1915 the regiment received orders to embark for further garrison duty in Hong Kong. With poor communication between British officers and sepoys, and morale already low, the rumour that they were being sent to fight the Turks spread amongst the sepoys. On 15 February while final preparations were being made for departure, mutiny broke out amongst four companies of the eight comprising the 5th LI. During the hours that followed about 40 British and local soldiers and civilians were killed by the mutineers, including two officers of the regiment. About half of the Indian personnel of the regiment did not take part in the mutiny but scattered in confusion and could not be brought to act against their fellow sepoys. Sepoys who rallied to their officers at Colonel Martin's bungalow overlooking the barracks, were registered and ordered to disperse "to a safe place" to avoid nighttime confusion between mutineers and loyalists. On the 17 and 18 February local volunteer units together with sailors and marines from Russian, Japanese and French warships operating near Singapore moved to disperse the mutineers, who after the first day of violence had broken up into small groups seeking to escape from Singapore. The Sultan of
Johore Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime bor ...
provided units of the Johore Military Forces to round up mutineers who had escaped to the Malaya mainland. Following suppression of the mutiny, more than two hundred men were brought to court martial. Forty-seven mutineers were executed, some in public. Amongst those shot by firing squad were two Indian officers accused of leading the mutiny. A further 184 sepoys were sentenced to terms of imprisonment of up to life. Colonel Martin was the subject of severe criticism by a subsequent court of inquiry and retired from the Army.


Post mutiny

On 3 July 1915 the remnants of the 5th LI – seven British and Indian officers and 588 other ranks – sailed from Singapore to West Africa where they arrived in time to see active service in the German Cameroons. Following the German surrender the regiment was transferred to German East Africa (modern Tanzania) where it saw further action in the Lindi area. In 1917 the 5th LI was moved to Aden, then under threat by Turkish forces. Finally it returned to its cantonments in India during 1918. Following the departure of the regiment from Singapore members of the
Ahir Ahir or Aheer are a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...
community were recruited to replace the Ranghars who had formerly comprised the Right Wing. A second wartime battalion was raised but spent the war in India, providing drafts for the overseas 1st Battalion, before being disbanded in 1919. In spite of its credible performance in Africa during 1915–17, the 5th Light Infantry was amongst those regiments disbanded after the war as part of a general restructuring of the Indian Army. The date of disbandment for the 5th LI was 12 January 1922.John Gaylor, page 19 ''Sons of John Company'',


Campaigns

*
First Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...
*
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 ...
*
Third Anglo-Burmese War The Third Anglo-Burmese War ( my, တတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် – မြန်မာစစ်, Tatiya Anggalip–Mran cac), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance conti ...
*
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...


References


See also

*{{cite book, last=Sumner, first=Ian, title=The Indian Army 1914–1947, year=2001, publisher=Osprey Publishing, isbn=1-84176-196-6 British Indian Army infantry regiments Honourable East India Company regiments Military units and formations established in 1803 Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 Bengal Presidency