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The 61st Cavalry Regiment is a horse-mounted cavalry unit 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- ...
. It is notable for being one of the largest, and also one of the last, operational unmechanised horse-mounted cavalry units in the world. Formerly deployed into active conflict, 61st Cavalry is currently employed on ceremonial occasions, though it can be deployed for
internal security Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility for internal secu ...
or
police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
purposes if required. On
Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...
each year the 61st Cavalry and the
President's Bodyguard The President's Bodyguard (PBG) is an elite household cavalry regiment of the Indian Army. It is the senior-most regiment in the order of precedence of the units of the Indian Army. The primary role of the President's Bodyguard is to escort and ...
parade in full
dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is the most formal type of uniforms used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, ...
in New Delhi, in what is probably the largest assemblage of traditional cavalry still to be seen in the world. The regiment is presently based in
Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...
.


Modern role

Today the 61st Cavalry is one of the few non-mechanised horse mounted cavalry regiments in the world, alongside such units as the
Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army tasked primarily with ceremonial duties. Part of the Household Division, it is classed as a regiment of guards, and carries out mounted (and some dismount ...
and the Presidential Cavalry Escort Battalion of the
Kremlin Regiment The Kremlin Regiment (russian: Кремлёвский полк, Kremlyovskiy polk), also called the Presidential Regiment (russian: Президентский полк, Prezidentskiy polk), is a unique military regiment and part of the Russian F ...
of the Federal Protective Service. While a number of armies still maintain mounted units these are generally intended for parade and other ceremonial purposes. The Army of the People's Republic of China maintains operational mounted cavalry for frontier duties but these are believed to be of only squadron size.


History


Formation

At the time of Indian Independence in 1947, the only mounted cavalry remaining in service were the President's (formerly Viceroy's) Body Guard and several units that had formed part of the Imperial Service State Forces, provided by the
Indian Princely States A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to a ...
. Upon the integration of the State Forces into the regular Indian Army in 1951, the remaining horsed cavalry units were reorganized and reconstituted into the Gwalior Lancers, the
Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...
/Kachhawa Horse, the
Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
Lancers, and B Squadron, 2nd
Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the '' Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...
Lancers. In May 1953 it was decided to amalgamate these separate horsed cavalry units into a single regiment. On 1 October 1953 the "New Horsed Cavalry Regiment" was established at
Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
, with Lieutenant Colonel Phulel Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces as its first Commandant. The new regiment was re-designated as the "61st Cavalry Regiment" in January 1954. The following cavalry regiments were amalgamated to form the 61st Cavalry: *Gwalior Lancers, formed by amalgamation of 1st and 2nd Gwalior Lancers * Jodhpur/Kachhawa Horse, formed by amalgamation of Dungal Lancers, Mangal Lancers, Jodhpur Lancers, Kachhawa Horse, Mewar Lancers, Rajendra Lancers and Sardar Rissalia *Mysore Lancers *B Squadron, 2 Patiala Lancers *Saurashtra Horsed Cavalry Squadron


Deployments

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, 61st Cavalry was deployed as part of the 67th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Bant Singh, to cover approaches to
Ganganagar Sri Ganganagar is a planned city and the northernmost city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, near the international border of India and Pakistan. It is the administrative headquarters of Sri Ganganagar district. It is named after Maharaja Shri ...
, under then-Commandant Lieutenant Colonel Thakur Govind Singh. The area of responsibility was nearly a hundred kilometres of semi-desert terrain. While armed police detachments manned border outposts to mark sovereignty, 61st Cavalry carried out intensive night patrols on horseback. No enemy infiltration or penetration was reported. In 1970, Lieutenant General Mohinder Singh Wadalia, the regiment's long-standing colonel, retired. During this time, when the Indian Army was being pruned, it was suggested that the unit's future depended on having a strong, energetic successor. In a strategic move it was decided to invite the then-Army Chief, General
Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of ...
, to be the next colonel of the 61st Cavalry. Manekshaw realised that the 61st Cavalry needed a change in role, otherwise the military and civilian bureaucracy would mechanise it. In the prelude to the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
, Manekshaw moved the regiment to Delhi to guard the Rashtrapati Bhawan, ensure the internal defence of Delhi, and conduct dismounted ceremonials. The 61st Cavalry presented the first guard of honour to
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...
on his release from a Pakistani prison in January 1972. In 1974, the Krishna Rao Committee, in its report on the Army's reorganisation, recommended a cutdown in the 61st Cavalry's strength. Consequently, a whole sabre squadron was disbanded along with specialist troops for mortars, medium machine guns, light machine guns, and signals communication. One sabre squadron was permanently stationed at Delhi for performing ceremonial duties. In 1977, the regiment participated in the Military Tattoo at
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
and the
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in the capital of S ...
in Scotland to commemorate the
Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth throughout 1977, ...
. The regiment has taken part in several combat operations, including
Operation Pawan Operation Pawan ( hi, कार्यवाही पवन ''Kãryvãhi Pavan'', lit. "Operation Wind") was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers o ...
,
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 ...
, Operation Vijay, 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 ...
.


Possible mechanisation and disbandment

Based on the recommendations of the 2016 Shekatkar Committee report, the Indian Army reportedly initiated a move in mid-2020 to mechanise the 61st Cavalry and create a new armoured regiment. The move plans to bring together three independent squadrons of other regiments under the headquarters of 61st Cavalry to form the new armoured regiment. The move is being initiated to cut costs and draws from a proposal to change the regiment's role to an active armoured regiment.


Battle honours

The 61st Cavalry has 39 battle honours passed on from its predecessors, including " China, 1900", " Cambrai, 1917", " Waziristan, 1917", " France and Flanders 1914-1918", " Suez Canal – Egypt, 1917-1918", " Gaza", "
Megiddo Megiddo may refer to: Places and sites in Israel * Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley * Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel * Megiddo church (Israel) * Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel * Megiddo Junctio ...
", " Sharon", " Damascus and Palestine, 1917-1918", "Afghanistan, 1919", and "
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
- Aleppo, 1919".


Cenotaph

The Teen Murti Memorial is a
cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
memorializing soldiers from the 15th Cavalry Brigade, from the princely states of
Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...
,
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...
, and
Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
, who fought and died under British command while taking part in the Battle of Haifa on 23 September 1918, during
World War I 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 ...
, during which the brigade fought a joint force of Ottoman, German, Austrian, and Hungarian troops. The capture of Haifa and its port allowed the Allies to send supplies closer to the front. 23 September is remembered annually in India as Haifa Day, commemorating the 15th Cavalry Brigade's actions during the Battle of Haifa.


Regimental insignia

The regimental insignia is adapted from the
Gandaberunda Gandaberunda () or Bheruṇḍa (Sanskrit: भेरुण्ड, lit. ''terrible'') is a two-headed bird in Hindu mythology, believed to possess immense magical strength. Later Vaishnava traditions hold it to be a form of Vishnu to fight Sharabha ...
of the Mysore Lancers. It consists of the two headed eagle and a scroll below with the words 'Sixty First Cavalry'. The shoulder title consists of "61C" in brass. The motto of the regiment is अश्व-शक्ति यशोबल (Ashva Shakti Yashobal) which translates to ‘"Horse Power is Supreme Strength".


Recruitment

The regiment recruits
Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
s,
Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...
, and Qaimkhanis in equal numbers. This ratio was established on Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
's instructions.


Sports

The regiment has a strong polo tradition, producing some of India's best polo players. Members of the regiment have won 12 Arjuna awards—India's highest award for outstanding sportsmen—five times for polo and seven times for equestrian events.


Notable servicemen

*Captain Manjinder Singh Bhinder, who died off-duty during the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire while attempting to guide theatregoers to safety. *Colonel Ravi Rathore, an Indian polo player and an Arjuna awardee. He has been the commandant of the 61st Cavalry and is the highest handicapped polo player in the Indian Army.


See also

*
15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade The 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade was a brigade-sized formation that served alongside British Empire forces in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, during World War I. Originally called the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade it was formed ...
*
Battle of Haifa (1918) The Battle of Haifa was fought on 23 September 1918 towards the end of the Battle of Sharon which together with the Battle of Nablus formed the set piece Battle of Megiddo fought between 19 and 25 September during the last months of the Sinai ...


References


External links


''61st Cavalry - India's Horse Warriors''
History Channel Documentary

at IndiaPolo.com {{Indian Army Armoured Corps Armoured and cavalry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947 Military units and formations established in 1954