War Office Second World War Official Collection IND4718

Stamp of India - 2005 - Colnect 158855 - 300 Years of 15 Punjab Patiala

Stamp of India - 2008 - Colnect 157974 - 14 Battalion Punjab Regiment Nabha Akal 250 Years

Stamp of India - 2010 - Colnect 259553 - 16 Punjab 2nd Patiala

The Punjab Regiment is the second oldest regiments still in service in 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- ...

, and is the most senior regional infantry regiment. It was formed from the

2nd Punjab Regiment The 2nd Punjab Regiment was a British Indian Army regiment from 1922 to the partition of India in 1947. The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of other regiments: *1st Battalion, from the 67th Punjabis The 67th Punjabis were an infantry ...

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 ...

in 1947 and has taken part in various battles and wars since, winning numerous honours for the same. Prior to

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

and

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

there were a number of "Punjab Regiments" in the British Indian Army. These were amalgamated to form six regiments: the

1st Punjab Regiment The 1st Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamate ...

, the

8th Punjab Regiment The 8th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to Pakistan Army on Partition of India in 1947 and merged with the Baluch Regiment in 1956. History Madras Infantry The 8th Punjab Regim ...

, the

14th Punjab Regiment The 14th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to the Pakistan Army on independence in 1947, and amalgamated with the 1st, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments in 1956, to form the Punjab Reg ...

, the

15th Punjab Regiment The 15th Punjab Regiment was a infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947 and of the Pakistan Army from 1947 to 1956. Following its allotment to Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947, it was amalgamated in 1956 with ...

and the

16th Punjab Regiment The 16th Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamated ...

. At the onset of independence in 1947, the 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments went over to the newly raised

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

, while the 2nd Punjab Regiment was retained in the Indian Army. Troops were transferred between regiments based on whether the soldiers would be a part of Pakistan or India.

History

The Punjab Regiment is one of the oldest in the Indian Army. The first battalion which today constitutes this regiment was raised in 1805, by the then

Maharaja of Patiala The Maharaja of Patiala was a maharaja in India and the ruler of the princely state of Patiala, a state in British India. The first Maharaja of Patiala was Baba Ala Singh (1695–1765). Yadavindra Singh became the maharaja on 23 March 1938. H ...

. The first four British-raised battalions of what later became the 2nd Punjab Regiment and finally the Punjab Regiment, were raised during the hostilities in the Carnatic in South India between 1761 and 1776. The first and second battalions have been moved to other regiments and the fourth battalion was disbanded. The third battalion still continues as part of the regiment. The numbers and titles of the battalions changed during the successive reorganisations of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

Army, the

and the

during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The names changed from Coast Sepoys to Carnatic Infantry, Madras Native Infantry, Punjabis and finally to the Punjab Regiment. 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 ...

, the British applied the

martial races Martial race was a designation which was created by army officials in British India after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which they classified each caste as belonging to one of two categories, the 'martial' caste and the 'non-martial' caste. T ...

theory and north Indian troops replaced the south Indians, the regiment eventually being renamed as the Punjab Regiment. The 1st battalion of the 2nd Punjab Regiment initially formed part of the 44th Airborne Division in an airborne role on the disbandment of the Parachute Regiment in 1946 and was called 1st battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment (Para). The unit retained most of the Punjab Regiment's uniform, but donned the maroon beret, qualification wings and allied insignias of airborne forces. In 1952, when the Parachute Regiment was re-raised and a Regimental Centre formed, the 1st battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment (Para) became the first battalion of the Parachute Regiment and was renamed as the 1st battalion, Parachute Regiment (Punjab). The uniform changed to the Parachute Regiment's, but the battalion retained the Punjab Regiment's hackle on its headgear. In 1951, four experienced battalions of the former princely states of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

joined the Regiment. These were a battalion each from the

Jind Jind is one of the largest and oldest city in Jind district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is administrative headquarter of Jind district. Rani Talab is the main destination for tourists while Pandu-Pindara and Ramrai are the main religiou ...

and

Nabha Nabha is a city and municipal council in the Patiala district in the south-west of the Indian state of Punjab. It was the capital of the former Nabha State. Nabha is also a sub-division city which comes under Patiala district. Geography Nabha ...

State Forces and the first and second Battalions of

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, 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, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

Infantry. They were designated as the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th battalions of the Punjab Regiment. Additional battalions have been raised since 1963.

15 Punjab

15 Punjab (formerly First Patiala) completed 300 years of service on 13 April 2005. The battalion was raised on the auspicious Baisakhi Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji day in 1705 by Baba Alla Singh, the founder of

Patiala State Patiala State was a self-governing princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but ra ...

. It was the first battalion of the state forces of the

. Apart from being the oldest infantry battalion in the Indian Army, 15 Punjab also has the proud distinction of being the second highest decorated battalion of the Army, with 22 Battle Honours, one Theatre Honour (Punjab) and numerous gallantry awards. The battalion took part in numerous campaigns in India and abroad, carving a mark for itself in every operation. In May 1900, the battalion was re-designated as First Patiala Imperial Service Infantry (Rajindra Sikh). During World War I, it took part in operations in the Middle East under the British Expeditionary Force. In 1932, the battalion was re-designated as First Patiala Rajindra Sikh Infantry. During World War II, the battalion participated in the Burma Campaign. It successfully cut off the Japanese lines of communication, thus halting their advance towards India. Thereafter, the battalion sailed to Port Dickson for action in Malaya and Batavia (now Java).

2 Punjab

2 Punjab (now 1st battalion,

Brigade of the Guards The Brigade of The Guards is a mechanised infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was raised as the first "all India", "all class" infantry unit of the Army where troops from all parts of India serve together, as opposed to other regiments that ...

) was raised in 1762 as the tenth battalion of the Coastal Sepoys and has been redesignated eighteen times since then. The troop composition of the unit was changed to a North Zone Battalion in 1902 and the unit was redesignated as 69 Punjab. In 1922, the unit was redesignated as 2nd battalion, 2 Punjab Regiment. The battalion, by virtue of its seniority and efficiency, was handpicked by the then Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. (later Field Marshal)

K. M. Cariappa ' Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa (28 January 1899 – 15 May 1993) was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army. He led Indian forces on the Western Front during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. He was appoin ...

to be redesignated as 1st battalion, Brigade of the Guards, in April 1951. Lt. Col. (later Brigadier) Shivinder Singh was the first commanding officer of the battalion. Since then, 22 commanding officers have commanded the battalion. Of them, Lt. Col. M.C.S Menon, Lt. Col. Sehdev Sahgal and Lt. Col. P.P Singh retired as Generals.

UN Peacekeeping Operations

In recent years, the Punjab Regiment has contributed towards

UN peacekeeping missions This is a list of United Nations peacekeeping missions since the United Nations was founded in 1945, organized by region, with the dates of deployment, the name of the related conflict, and the name of the UN operation. Peacekeeping, as defin ...

by sending six of its battalions overseas: 3 Punjab to Gaza, 14 Punjab to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, 15 and 26 Punjab to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and 16 and 24 Punjab to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Regimental Centre

The Regimental Centre was first raised at

Loralai Loralai ( ps, لورلايي, ur, ), also known as Bori ( ps, ), is the division headquarter of Loralai Division and district headquarter of Loralai District. It is in the northeast of Balochistan province in Pakistan. It is above sea level ...

and was shifted to

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

in 1922,

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

in 1929 and its present location in

Ramgarh Cantonment Ramgarh Cantonment, usually referred to as Ramgarh Cantt or just Ramgarh is a cantonment town, belonging to the Ramgarh district of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Historically, a subdivision of the larger Hazaribag district, Ramgarh was fin ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

, in 1976.

Units

* 3rd Battalion * 9th Battalion * 13th Battalion - (former Jind Infantry) - Princely State Forces unit of Imperial Service Troops * 14th Battalion - (former Nabha Akal Infantry) - Princely State Forces unit of Imperial Service Troops * 15th Battalion - (former 1st Patiala Rajinder Sikh Infantry) - Princely State Forces unit of Imperial Service Troops * 16th Battalion - (former 2nd Patiala Yadvinder Infantry) - Princely State Forces unit of Imperial Service Troops * 17th Battalion * 18th Battalion * 19th Battalion * 20th Battalion * 21st Battalion * 22nd Battalion * 23rd Battalion * 24th Battalion * 25th Battalion * 26th Battalion * 27th Battalion * 28th Battalion * 29th Battalion * 30th Battalion * 31st Battalion * 102nd Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Punjab) : Kalka, Haryana * 150th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Punjab) : New Delhi * 156th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Punjab) (Home and Hearth) Punjab : Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir * 7th Battalion

Rashtriya Rifles The Rashtriya Rifles (RR; ) is a counter-insurgency force in India, formed in 1990, to specifically serve in the Jammu and Kashmir region. They also maintain public order by drawing powers from the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Po ...

* 22nd Battalion

* 37th Battalion

* 53rd Battalion

Others: * 1st Battalion is now 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) * 2nd Battalion is now 1st Battalion,

(Mechanized) * 4th Battalion was disbanded in 1938 * 7th Battalion is now 8th Battalion,

Mechanised Infantry Regiment The Mechanised Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, comprising 27 battalions dispersed under various armoured formations throughout India. Together with the 21 battalions of Brigade of the Guards, they form part of the '' ...

* 8th Battalion was disbanded after World War II * 10th Battalion is the Punjab Regimental Centre The regiment has an affiliation with , a heavy

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

Class Composition

The original battalions of the regiment that were transferred to India after 1947 were composed primarily of

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

and

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal ...

soldiers who belonged to the districts of Punjab that were given to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. However the second and third generations for the regiment were recruited both among this refugee community but recruitment was opened up to all castes and communities of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

and

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

in the late 1960s. The regiment currently consists of Dogras and Sikhs primarily drawn from north Indian regions of

and

. However, as an exception, two regular battalions (19 and 27 Punjab) have troops from other Indian castes as well.

Key Battles

Battle of Longewala

During the

Indo-Pakistan 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 Decemb ...

, A

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

(reinforced) of the 23rd battalion, Punjab Regiment, consisting of about 120 soldiers under the command of Major (later Brigadier) Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, fought off an assault by a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

of the

. The battle was fought at the desert border post of

Longewala Longewala is a border town in the Thar Desert in the western part of Jaisalmer district, in the state of Rajasthan, India. See also * List of military disasters * Battle of Longewala The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was one ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

. The unit fought during the last five hours of the night of 5 December 1971 unsupported as the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

aircraft at the time did not have night attack capabilities. For his leadership during the battle, Maj. Chandpuri was decorated with the

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

, the second highest gallantry award in India.

Regimental Insignia

The regiment is perhaps the only infantry regiment with naval

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

as an insignia, anywhere. It was awarded to 69th Punjabis (later 2nd Punjab) in recognition of the readiness to serve overseas, after the battalion had fought in eight overseas campaigns by 1824.

Battle honours

Pre-Independence

Sholinghur, Carnatic, Mysore, Mehidpore, Ava, China, Pegu, Lucknow, Burma, Afghanistan, Laos, Flanders, Hellis, Krithia, Gallipoli, Suez, Egypt, Sharon, Nablus, Palestine, Aden, Kut-al-Amara, Baghdad, Mesopotamia, North Western Frontier, Mersa Metruh, Buthidaung, Ngakyedauk Pass, Imphal, Kangla Tongbi, Tonzang, Kennedy Peak, Meiktila, pyinmana, Malaya, Ipoh, Singapore, Kern and Casa Bettini.

Post-Independence

Zoji La, Ichhogil, Dograi, Barki, Kalidhar, Bedori, Nangi Tekri, Brachil Pass, Laungewala, Garibpur, Chak Amaru and Jessore

In fiction

;Films * ''

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

'', a 1997

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film directed by J.P.Dutta, depicts the

Battle of Longewala The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was one of the first major engagements in the western sector during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, fought between assaulting Pakistani forces and Indian defenders at the Indian border post of Longewa ...

. * '' Lakshya'', a 2004 Bollywood film depicting the Kargil War, places the protagonist (played by

Hrithik Roshan Hrithik Roshan (; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He has portrayed a variety of characters and is known for his dancing skills. One of the highest-paid actors in India, he has won many awards, including six ...

) as an acting captain in 3 Punjab.

References

{{Indian Army Infantry Regiments Military units and formations established in 1761 Military units and formations established in 1922 P P Honourable East India Company regiments