"Badluram ka Badan" ("Badluram's Body") is the regimental song of the

Assam Regiment The Assam Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment consists of 25 battalions: 15 regular battalions, 3 Rashtriya Rifles battalions, 5 Territorial Army battalions (including 2 ecological battalions). It recruits exclusiv ...

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- ...

. Major M. T. Proktor created the song in honour of Rifleman Badluram, a soldier of the

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 ...

who died while fighting against the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

in World War II. After Badluram's death, the

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

Sub Kandarpa Rajbongshi IDSM (Indian Distinguish Service Medal) did not remove his name from the rations roster and the company continued to draw rations in Badluram's name. This extra ration helped the company survive through a siege when Japanese troops surrounded them during the

Battle of Kohima The Battle of Kohima proved the turning point of the Imperial Japan, Japanese Operation U-Go, U-Go offensive into British Raj, India in 1944 during the World War II, Second World War. The battle took place in three stages from 4 April to 22 June ...

and supplies were cut. Accordingly, the song was composed in Badluram's honour with the lyrics "We get rations because Badluram's body is buried beneath".

Background

Badluram was a

rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifling, rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction o ...

in the 1st Battalion,

of the

. In 1944 the 1st Assam Regiment was posted in and around

Kohima Kohima (; Angami Naga: ''Kewhira'' ()), is the capital of the Northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. With a resident population of almost 100,000, it is the second largest city in the state. Originally known as ''Kewhira'', Kohima was founded ...

and were part of the first line of defence between the Fifteenth Army, a formation of the

led by Lt. Gen. Renya Mutaguchi, and the rest of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. In what would go on to be labelled "Britain's Greatest Battle" by a popular vote conducted by the British

National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the "Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public body. ...

, the

and the

Battle of Imphal ) , partof = the Operation U-Go during the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II , image = Imphalgurkhas.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = Gurkhas advancing with Grant tanks ...

was also called the "British-Indian

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...

" by Earl

Louis Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

, the

Supreme Allied Commander Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Allies during World War I, and is currently used only within NATO for Supreme Allied Comm ...

in the theatre,Ministry of Defence (April 2004)
''The Battle of Kohima, North East India 4 April – 22 June 1944''
British MOD, World War Commemorative Booklets. Retrieved 23 April 2020. pg - 3, 6 and is also referred to as "

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

of the East"''.'' Badluram was killed in the early days of the battle from a gunshot wound. After Badluram's death, the

did not remove his name from the rations roster and the company continued to draw rations in Badluram's name. (Some say the Quartermaster purposely did not report Badluram's death while others say he forgot to. The wireless also would give a lot of problems.) But by 6 April, the Japanese troops of the Fifteenth Army had Kohima under

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

, and supply lines were cut. A 1st Royal Berkshires company commander at the time penned down in this diary "Water was short and restricted to about one pint per man per day ..Air supply was the key, but the steep terrain and narrow ridges meant that some of the drops went to the Japs". The Japanese also brought anti-aircraft guns with them, breaking the supply chain even more. For Badluram's company, because of the extra supplies that had been arriving in the days leading up to the siege, things were easier. This extra ration helped the company survive through the siege. The song was composed in his honour with the lyrics "''Badluram ka badan zameen ka neeche hai/ toh humey uska ration milta hai''" ("Badluram's body is buried but we get his rations"). Created in 1946 by Major M. T. Proktor, the song was inspired by and set to the tune of "

John Brown's Body "John Brown's Body" (originally known as "John Brown's Song") is a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The tune arose out of the folk hymn tradition of t ...

" – "

Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

". It has become the regimental song of the Assam Regiment, and is sung by Assam Regiment recruits at their attestation parade in

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...

. In September 2019, a video emerged of American and Indian soldiers singing the song together during a joint exercise at

Joint Base Lewis-McChord A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw ...

Lyrics

References

{{reflist Indian Army Indian military marches 1944 in British India

Background

Lyrics

Further reading

See also

References