The 71st Coorg Rifles was 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 ...

. Established in 1767, it had a long history as a Madrasi unit but in 1902 enlistment was changed in an attempt to trial the employment of Coorg tribesmen in the Indian Army.

Early history

Until 1901 the regiment was designated as the 11th Madras Infantry. In 1902 the regiment was reorganised and the basis of recruitment changed from

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and

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Coorg Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

soldiers. The Coorgs had not previously been recruited into the Indian Army and this conversion was seen as a test of both their availability and suitability for military service. The origins of the regiment could be traced to 1767, when it was raised as the 15th Battalion Coast Sepoys. The regiment served in the

Third Anglo-Mysore War The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was the third of four Anglo- ...

but saw no more active service during the nineteenth century.

Establishment as Coorg regiment

The restructured regiment was renamed the 71st Coorg Rifles in 1903, and given dark green uniforms with scarlet facings. Red

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zes, which were an unusual item of uniform in the Indian Army, are reported to have been worn by the sepoys. Subsequently described as "an-out-of-the-run unit" and "an experiment that failed", they were disbanded in 1904 because of insufficient recruits. The mess funds and silver were bequeathed to the newly raised 2/9th Gurkha Rifles.

Subsequent recruitment

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 ...

the rapid expansion of the Indian Army led to a further attempt to enlist members of the Coorg community. No attempt was made to recreate a class regiment but 700 Coorgs were recruited for service in various southern Indian units. Surveys indicated that there were only 4,000 Coorg males of military age at that time.Peter Kersten, page 112 "Recruiting, Drafting and Enlisting: Two Sides of the Raising of Military Forces" In 1942 Coorgs were again recruited, into the newly raised 1st Coorg Battalion. Like the 71st Coorg Rifles, the new battalion had a badge incorporating crossed Coorg knives. In 1946 it was converted to the 37 (Coorg) Anti-Tank Regiment Unit of the Royal Indian Artillery. It is now a part of the modern Indian

Regiment of Artillery The Regiment of Artillery is a combat/fighting arm of the Indian Army, which provides massive firepower during all ground operations of the Indian Army. It is a successor to the Royal Indian Artillery (RIA) of British Indian Army, which itsel ...

Predecessor names

*15th Battalion Coast Sepoys1767 * *11th Coorg Infantry1902 *71st Coorg Rifles1903

References

Bibliography