The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

has declared repugnant some

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s earned by

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- ...

units, which are descended from erstwhile units of the

Presidency armies The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the presiden ...

under the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

and later under the British Indian Army of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. Indian Army units do not inscribe these battle honours on their

colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

and do not celebrate commemoration days associated with these battles. This decision was taken post-

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 ...

regarding those battle honours concerned with battles in India and Pakistan which the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

regards as part of the "subjugation" of India and in some cases, neighbouring countries.Singh, Sarbans (1993) ''Battle Honours of the Indian Army 1757 - 1971''. Vision Books (New Delhi)

List of repugnant battle honours

Repugnant battle honours include : * Assaye (1803) * Carnatic * Sholinghur * Mangalore *

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

* Sedaseer * Seringapatam * Egypt * Delhi * Leswarree * Deig * Kirkee * Nagpore * Maheidpoor * Corygaum * Nowah * Ava * Kemmendine * Arracan * Bhurtpore * China * Meeanee * Hyderabad * Maharajpoor * Punniar * Moodkee * Ferozeshah * Aliwal * Sobraon * Punjaub * Chillianwallah * Mooltan * Goojerat * Pegu * Delhi 1857 * Lucknow * Defence of Arrah * Behar * Central India * Egypt 1882 * Burma 1885-87 * Defence of Chitral * Punjab Frontier

Non-repugnant battle honours

The earliest battle honour held by the modern Indian Army which is not considered by the Indian Government to be "repugnant" and can be emblazoned on colours is "Bourbon" (dated 8 July 1810) which is held by the 3rd 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 ...

. Battle honours prior to this period have either been lost due to disbandment, are now held only by units transferred to Pakistan during Partition, or are considered by the Indian Government to be repugnant. Other pre-World War I battle honours not considered by the Indian Government to be repugnant are as follows : *

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

1868 *

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

1839 *

1878-80 * Ahmed Khel 1880 *

Ali Masjid Ali Masjid (Pashto and ) is the narrowest point of the Khyber Pass. It is located in Khyber District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is around east of the city of Landi Kotal (West of Peshawar) and has an elevation of . The width of the Kh ...

1878 * Bani Bu Ali 1821 * Bourbon 1810 *

Bushehr Bushehr, Booshehr or Bushire ( fa, بوشهر ; also romanised as ''Būshehr'', ''Bouchehr'', ''Buschir'' and ''Busehr''), also known as Bandar Bushehr ( fa, ; also romanised as ''Bandar Būshehr'' and ''Bandar-e Būshehr''), previously Antio ...

1856 *

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

1842 *

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

1842 * Charasiah 1879 * China 1858–59 * China 1860–62 * China 1900 * Cutchee *

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

1839 *

1842 *

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

1811 *

1879 * Kahun 1840 *

1880 * Khelat 1839 *

Khushab Khushab ( punjabi: خُوشاب) is a town as well as a district of Sargodha Division, located in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The word ''Khushab'' means "sweet water." Khushab city also serves as the headquarters of Khushab Tehsil, an admin ...

1856 * Malakand 1897 * Peiwar Kotal 1878 * Pekin 1860 * Pekin 1900 *

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

1856-57 * Reshire 1856 * Samana 1897 * Somaliland 1901-04 * Dagu Forts 1900 *

Tel-el-Kebir Tell El Kebir ( ar, التل الكبير lit."the great mound") is 110 km north-north-east of Cairo and 75 kilometres south of Port Said on the edge of the Egyptian desert at the altitude of 29 m. Administratively, it is a part of the Isma ...

1882 *

Tirah The Tirah also spelled Terah ( ps, تیراہ) also called the Tirah Valley (), is a mountainous tract located in the Khyber district, lying between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley in Pakistan. Society Lying close to the Pak-Afghan borde ...

1897-98 * Tofrek 1885

Gallery

Image:Egypt_(Sphinx).jpg, Sphinx symbol depicting the campaign in Egypt, 1801 awarded to

Madras Sappers Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. It has been declared repugnant by the Indian government. Image:Assaye (Elephant).jpg, Elephant emblem depicting the

Battle of Assaye The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British forc ...

, 1803 awarded to

. It has been declared repugnant by the Indian government. Image:China (Dragon).jpg, Dragon symbol depicting the campaign in China, during the First Opium War, 1840 awarded to

. It has been declared repugnant by the Indian government.

Notes

*Sandes, Lt Col E.W.C. ''The Indian Sappers and Miners'' (1948) The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham. Pages i to xxx, 1 to 726, frontispiece and 30 illustrations, 31 general maps and 51 plans.

References

Military history of British India Battle honours of the Corps of Engineers Indian military-related lists {{india-mil-stub

List of repugnant battle honours

Non-repugnant battle honours

Gallery

See also

Notes

References