The 77th Moplah Rifles 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 ...

. They could trace their origins to 1777, when they were raised as the 17th Carnatic Battalion.

Early history

The regiment's first action was during the

Carnatic Wars The Carnatic Wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, India. Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1744 and 1763. The conflicts involved n ...

followed by the

Battle of Sholinghur The Battle of Sholinghur was fought on 27 September 1781 at Sholinghur, West of Chennai (Madras), between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore led by Hyder Ali and East India Company forces led by General Eyre Coote. Haider Ali's forces were surpris ...

in the

Second Anglo-Mysore War The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in ...

. They also took part in the

Battle of Nagpore A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

Predecessor names

*17th Carnatic Battalion - 1777 *16th Madras Battalion - 1784 *2nd Battalion, 5th Madras Native Infantry - 1796 *16th Madras Native Infantry - 1824 *17th Madras Infantry - 1861 *1st Moplah Rifles - 1902 *77th Moplah Rifles - 1903

As Moplah Rifles

In 1902 the basis of recruitment for this regiment and one other (the

78th Moplah Rifles The 78th Moplah Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment's origin could be traced to 1794, when it was raised as the 35th Madras Battalion. At the beginning of the 20th century the basis for recruitment was changed ...

) was changed from Madrasis to Moplahs. The latter were Muslim immigrants of Arab origin who had settled along the coastal region of

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

. In initial encounters the British had found the Moplars to be a warlike race and in 1901 it was decided to try and recruit them for the Indian Army. The 77th and 78th Moplar Rifles were accordingly raised as battalion-sized units A problem from the beginning was that with a population basis totalling only one million the number of Moplah males available for recruitment was limited. In addition few British officers were immediately familiar with the language and culture of the community. While the 77th MR remained in Madras on garrison duty the 78th were assigned to active service on the North West Frontier in 1905. Used to a moist and humid environment the Moplah sepoys encountered difficulty in acclimatising to the harsh dry climate of the frontier region. The two regiments of Moplah Rifles were assessed negatively in their final annual reports for both field and garrison service. Accordingly both were disbanded between April and July 1907 and their British officers reassigned.

Uniform

The Arab origin of both Moplar regiments was reflected in the adoption of red fezs - an unusual item of uniform in the Indian Army of the period where turbans of various patterns were the norm. The uniforms of the 77th MR from 1903 to 1907 were of dark green serge with scarlet facings.W.Y. Carman, page 226, ''Indian Army Uniforms Under the British - Artillery, Engineers and Infantry'', Morgan-Grampian London 1969 The 78th MR revereded this pattern with scarlet jackets faced in green.

Memorial at the St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore

After the regiment's disbandment, the military colours of the 77th Moplah Rifles was buried within the west wall of St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore. There is also a memorial for the lives lost in the Moplah revolt. File:77th Moplah Rifles Colours 01.jpg, The Colours of the 77th Moplah Rifles with the Royal Mace at the

St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore St. Mark's Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Mark the Evangelist, is the cathedral ( Ecclesia Matar) of the Diocese of Central Karnataka of the Church of South India. The cathedral church, noted for its English Baroque architecture inspired by t ...

File:77th Moplah Rifles Colours 02.jpg, The Colours of the 77th Moplah Rifles at the

References

* * * * *Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum. British Indian Army infantry regiments Mappilas Military history of the Madras Presidency Military units and formations established in 1777 Military units and formations disestablished in 1907 {{BritishIndia-mil-stub