The 98th Ahir Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It could trace its origins to 1788, when it was raised as the 1st Battalion of the Ellichpur Brigade for the Princely state of

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 ...

. Until 1853, the regiment was part of the Nizam of Hydrabad's Army; then, after the signing of a treaty with the then Governor General of India, the Nizam's Contingent was renamed the Hyderabad Contingent and became part of the regular Indian Army. The regiment fought in the

Battle of Mahidpur The Battle of Mahidpur was fought during the Third Anglo-Maratha War between the Holkar faction of the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company at Mahidpur, a town in the Malwa region, on 21 December 1817. On 21 December 1817, ...

during the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the English East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha ter ...

. It then participated in the Siege of Nowah and the later Capture of Nowah. It next took part in the Central India Campaign after the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 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 fo ...

. It was sent to China in 1900, as part of the relief force during the Boxer Rebellion. During the

First World War 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 regiment was part of the

Indian Expeditionary Force B The Indian Army during World War I was involved World War I. Over one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom 62,000 died and another 67,000 were wounded. In total at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war. In World War I the ...

for service in

British East Africa East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Bri ...

. After the First World War, the Indian government reformed the army, moving from single-battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments.Sumner p.15 In 1922, the 98th Infantry became the 4th Battalion,

19th Hyderabad Regiment The 19th Hyderabad Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed at the time of reforms of the Indian Army after the First World War, when it moved from single-battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. The reg ...

. This regiment was allocated to 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- ...

after independence.

Predecessor names

*1st Battalion of the Ellichpur Brigade - 1788 *7th Regiment of Infantry, Nizam's Army - 1826 *5th Infantry, Hyderabad Contingent - 1854 *96th Berar Infantry - 1903

References

* * * * *Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum. British Indian Army infantry regiments Military units and formations established in 1788 Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 Military history of the Madras Presidency Military units and formations of the Boxer Rebellion Indian World War I regiments 1788 establishments in British India {{India-mil-stub