1st Brahmans

1st Brahmans
Active	1903 - 22
Country	British India
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Nickname	Neelwar ki Paltan
Colors	Scarlet; faced white
Engagements	Second Anglo-Maratha War 1803-05 Anglo-Nepalese War 1814-16 First Anglo-Burmese War 1824-26 Siege of Bhurtpore 1826 First Afghan War 1839 Third Anglo-Burmese War 1885-87 First World War 1914-18
Commanders
Colonel of the Regiment	Major General LHP de H Larpent

The 1st Brahmans was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised at Oudh by Captain T Naylor in 1776 for service in the army of Nawab Wazir of Oudh, and was known as the Nawab Wazir's Regiment. It was transferred to the East India Company in 1777. In 1922, it was designated as the 4th Battalion 1st Punjab Regiment. It was disbanded in 1931. Over the years the battalion was known by a number of different designations:

• 1776 Nawab Wazir's Regiment
• 1777 30th Battalion of Bengal Sepoys
• 1781 23rd Regiment of Bengal Sepoys
• 1784 29th Regiment of Bengal Sepoys
• 1786 29th Bengal Sepoy Battalion
• 1796 2nd Battalion 9th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
• 1824 21st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
• 1861 1st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
• 1885 1st Regiment of Bengal Infantry
• 1901 1st Brahman Infantry
• 1903 1st Brahmans
  

  British and Indian officers of the 1st Brahmans, 1912.
• 1922 4th Battalion 1st Punjab Regiment

While in the service of the East India Company the regiment was awarded battle honours for service in the Second Maratha War 1803-05, the Anglo-Nepalese War 1814-16, the Second Anglo-Burmese War 1824-26 and the Bhurtpore Campaign 1826. The regiment was the senior-most among the twelve Bengal Native Infantry regiments that survived the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857-58. Renumbered as the 1st of the Bengal line, it subsequently saw active service in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885-87. Following the Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army, when the names of the presidencies were dropped, the regiment became the 1st Brahman Infantry in 1901.^[1]

In 1914, the regimental centre of the 1st Brahmans was located at Allahabad and it was linked with the 3rd Brahmans. The regiment was recruited from United Provinces Brahmans, Garhwali Brahmans and some Punjabi Mussalmans. Full dress uniform of the sepoys included a high khaki turban with red fringe, a scarlet kurta (long coat) with white facings, white waist-sash, dark blue trousers and white leggings.^[1]

The regiment spent part of World War I in India before being posted to Aden, then under threat from the Turks. A second battalion raised in 1917 saw service in the Persian Gulf. After the war, major reorganization was undertaken in the Indian Army and the various single-battalion infantry regiments were grouped together to form larger regiments of four to six battalions. The 1st Brahmans became the 4th Battalion of 1st Punjab Regiment in 1922. It was disbanded in 1931 due to retrenchment in the Indian Army.^[1][2][3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Barthorp p.15
2. ^ Qureshi. The First Punjabis.
3. ^ Sumner, p.15

• Barthorp, Michael; Burn, Jeffrey (1979). Indian Infantry Regiments 1860–1914. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-307-0. 
• Sumner, Ian (2001). The Indian Army 1914–1947. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-196-6. 
• Qureshi, Maj MI. (1958). The First Punjabis: History of the First Punjab Regiment, 1759-1956. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.

See also

• 1st Punjab Regiment

External links

• 1st Punjab Regiment by John Gaylor at Pakistan Military Consortium