The 125th Napier's Rifles was an

infantry regiment Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mari ...

of the British Indian Army. At various points in history it was also known as the 1st Extra Battalion Bombay Native Infantry, the 25th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry (1826–1889) and the 25th Bombay Rifles. Amalgamated with five other regiments in 1922, it is now the 5th Battalion, Rajputana Rifles. The Battalion celebrated its bicentenary on 17 Feb 2020.

History

Origins

The regiment traced its origins to the 1st Extra Battalion of Bombay Native Infantry, raised in 1820 out of the Poona Auxiliary Force as part of the

Honourable 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 Southea ...

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of Presidencies and provinces of British India, British India. It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India A ...

. In 1826, this battalion was elevated into a separate regiment called 'The 25th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry'.Sharma, Gautam, ''Valour and Sacrifice: Famous Regiments of the indian Army'' (Allied Publishers, 1990,
page 99
at books.google.co.uk, accessed 4 August 2008 After serving in

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 bord ...

and in the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...

, the regiment joined the

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Expedition, coming under the command of General Sir Charles James Napier, who conquered Sindh in 1843 and sent back to the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

the one-word message ''"Peccavi"'' –

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for ''"I have sinned"''. At the Battle of Meeanee, a bond was cemented between Napier and the regiment, which sixty years later was given his name. Napier later wrote: "The 25th played a distinguished part in the engagement. Had the 22nd (The Queen's Regiment) and the 25th given way, all would have been lost." During the

Indian Mutiny 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 regiment was in

Chanderi Chanderi, is a town of historical importance in Ashoknagar District of the state Madhya Pradesh in India. It is situated at a distance of 127 km from Shivpuri, 37 km from Lalitpur, 55 km from Ashok Nagar and about 46 km ...

and at

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the ...

. There, on 20 June 1858, two of its officers, Lieutenants Rose and

W. F. F. Waller Colonel William Francis Frederick Waller VC (20 August 1839 – 29 January 1885) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonweal ...

, organized a surprise attack by night on the Gwalior Fort, their party succeeding in breaking open a number of gates and, after hand-to-hand fighting, taking the fort. Rose was killed, but for his part in the action Waller was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. In a despatch dated 5 September 1858, the regiment's commanding officer Lt Col. G. H. Robertson reported from a camp near Beejapoor that he had led a column of the 25th with men of other units out of Powree on 27 August in pursuit of

Maun Singh Maun may refer to: Places * Maun, Botswana, a town * River Maun, a river in England * Maun (island), an island in the Adriatic Sea People * Caroline Maun (born 1968), American professor, author, poet, lyricist and musician * Danny Maun (born 1981) ...

, on the 29th engaged a party of Singh's infantry, and early on 5 September arrived near Beejapoor where he caught up with Singh, attacked him at 5.15 and had routed him by 7 a.m., destroying "at least 450 mutineers". Robertson reported only four of his men killed, and twenty men and fifteen horses wounded. He recommended Havildars Ram Lal (10th Bengal Light Infantry) and Dowlut Sing of the 25th "to the consideration of the Brigadier-General commanding" as they had "acted as spies and risked their lives in procuring information in a country where Maun Sing's influence is paramount". On the advice of Brigadier-General Sir Robert Napier, commanding the Gwalior Division, the Commander in Chief recommended that the two Havildars should receive the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

, 3rd class, "for their exertions in procuring intelligence of the movements of the enemy". Captain W. Rice of the 25th Bombay Native Infantry, commanding the Goonah Column, wrote from camp at Arone to Sir Robert Napier on 23 December 1858 to report the success of his men, after a moonlight march through dense jungle, in breaking up the camp near Sypoor of rebels led by Feroz Shah, capturing "100 horses, several camels, and many arms", causing the enemy to "flee with the utmost despatch, and seek shelter among the dense foliage, on all sides around their position". Napier wrote to the Chief of the Staff on Christmas Day of this action "Although they did not lose many men killed, the capture of their horses and property must tend greatly to cripple and break up the party. I hear that two of the elephants were left in the Arone jungles, and may be recovered; there are, therefore, only two remaining with the enemy. In 1861 the unit was constituted as a

Light Infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

regiment, and in 1889 it was renamed 'The 25th Regiment (3rd Battalion Rifle Regiment) of Bombay Infantry', then in 1901 'The 25th Bombay Rifles'.125th Napier's Rifles
at britishempire.co.uk, accessed 3 August 2008 After the Mutiny, the regiment went on to serve in

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 (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 2 ...

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

and

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the ...

, remaining part of the army of the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

until a reorganization of the Indian Army by

Lord Kitchener Lord Kitchener may refer to: * Earl Kitchener, for the title * Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...

in 1903 (the

Kitchener Reforms 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 cou ...

) gave it the new name; '125th Napier's Rifles'.

First World War

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 fig ...

, the regiment fought in both the European and

Middle Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...

theatres of the war, from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

, and participated as part of the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning ...

in General Allenby's march to take

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, getting the better of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and Ottoman opponents. At the outbreak of the war, the regiment was an unbrigaded unit of the

5th (Mhow) Division The 5th (Mhow) Division was a regular division of the British Indian Army and part of the Southern Army which was formed in 1903 after Lord Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India between 1902 and 1909. He instituted large-scale refo ...

of the Indian Army. However, in 1914 it joined the Army's 3rd (Lahore) Division as part of its

9th (Sirhind) Brigade The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troo ...

, landing at

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

on 26 September 1914 and taking part in Winter Operations (1914–1915), the

Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. The attack was intended to cause a rupture in the German lines, which would then be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge an ...

(10–13 March 1915), the Battle of Aubers, the

Battle of Festubert The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915) was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. The offensive formed part of a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army and the British F ...

(15–25 May 1915), and the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

subsidiary attack at the Moulin-du-Piètre on 25 September 1915. The 125th left the 3rd Division in 1915 to join the 7th (Meerut) Division. As part of the 7th Division's

21st (Bareilly) Brigade The 7th (Meerut) Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army that saw active service during World War I. Pre-1857 The Meerut Division first appeared in the Indian Army List in 1829, under the command of Sir Jasper Nicolls, ...

, the regiment sailed from Marseilles to go to Mesopotamia, landing at

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

on 31 December 1915 and taking part in the attempt to relieve the besieged garrison of Kut al Amara. It proceeded under Allenby to Palestine, and arrived at

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same b ...

on 13 January 1918. The unit suffered some problems and criticism during the First World War. A

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

officer of the Indian Army, Amar Singh, who kept a diary in English from 1905 to 1921, paid particular attention to the regiment's wartime role. This diary was published in 2005 as ''Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905–21''.

Later

In a further reorganization of the Indian Army in 1921–1922, the regiment was amalgamated with the

104th Wellesley's Rifles The 104th Wellesley's Rifles were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1775, when they were raised as the 5th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys and presently its designation is 3 Guards (1 Rajputana Rifles) o ...

, 120th Rajputana Infantry,

122nd Rajputana Infantry The 122nd Rajputana Infantry were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment traces their origins to 1818, when they were raised as the 2nd Battalion, 11th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry. The regiments first action was duri ...

and

123rd Outram's Rifles The 123rd Outram's Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. History It traced its origins to the 12th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry, part of the British East India Company's Bombay Army. It fought in the Battle of Khadki ...

to become one of the six battalions of the new 6th Rajputana Rifles.The Rajputana Rifles
at bharat-rakshak.com, accessed 4 August 2008 The 125th was renamed 'The 5th Battalion (Napier's)'. In 1945, the regiments of the British Indian Army lost the numerals in their titles, and the Rajputanas arrived at their present name of Rajputana Rifles. In 1947, when the Empire of India gained independence from the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading post ...

and was partitioned into the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...

and the

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...

, the regiment was allocated to India and is now the most senior rifle regiment 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 ...

Names

* 1820–1826: 1st Extra Battalion of Bombay Native Infantry * 1826–1889: 25th Regiment of Bombay Native (Light) Infantry, ''or'' 25th Bombay Native Infantry * 1889–1901: 25th Regiment (3rd Battalion Rifle Regiment) of Bombay Infantry * 1901–1903: 25th Bombay Rifles * 1903–1922: 125th Napier's Rifles ;Successor unit * 1922–1945: 5th (Napier's) Battalion, 6th Rajputana Rifles * 1945–: 5th Battalion (Napier’s),

The Rajputana Rifles The Rajputana Rifles is the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally a part of the British Indian Army, when six previously existing regiments were amalgamated to form six battalions of the 6th Rajputana Rifles. In 1945, the ...

Notable Soldiers

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

William Francis Frederick Waller VC (1840–1885) *

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Thomas Wynford Rees Major General Thomas Wynford Rees, (12 January 1898 – 15 October 1959) was a Welsh officer in the British Indian Army during the First World War, the interwar years and the Second World War Early life and military career The son of the Rever ...

CB CIE DSO MC DL (1899–1959) *General Sir Robert Phayre GCB (1820-1897) * Lieutenant General A.M. Sethna, PVSM, Padma Vibhushan * Lt Gen Iqbal Singh Singha, AVSM, VSM

Battle Honours

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession di ...

* Battle of Meeanee,

, 1843 *

, 1858 *

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 historical ...

, 1868 *

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, 1885 to 1887 *

, 1914 and 1915 *

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...

, 1915 and 1916 *

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

, 1917, including

Bibliography

* Cardew, F. G., ''Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army: To the Year 1895'' (Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1903, reprinted by Naval and Military Press Ltd., 2005, ) * Macmunn, Lt General Sir George, ''The Armies of India'', with 72 plates in colour by Major A. C. Lovett (London: A. & C. Black, 1911, reprinted by Crecy Books, 1984, ) * Barat, Dr Amiya, ''The Bengal Native Infantry: Its Organization & Discipline, 1796-1852'' (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1962) * Mollo, Boris, ''The Indian Army'' (Blandford Publ., 1981, ) * Napier, Priscilla, ''I Have Sind: Charles Napier in India, 1841-1844'' (Michael Russell Publishing, 1990, ) * Ellinwood, DeWitt C., Jr., ''Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905–21; Based on the Diary of Amar Singh of Jaipur'' (University Press of America, 2005, ) *Rawlinson H.G. , ''Napier's Rifles, The history of the 5th Battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles'' ( Humphrey Milford London University Press 1929 )

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1826 British Indian Army infantry regiments Bombay Presidency Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 1826 establishments in British India