Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)

The Punjab Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army.The Army‘s most senior fighting arm is the Punjab Regiment. In fact, two battalions of the Punjab Regiment are the oldest in the sub-continent, with foundation dates as early as 1759.

History

Prior to the partition of India, the 14th Punjab Regiment formed a part of the British Indian Army. It was formed in March 1922 by the amalgamation of the
*1st Battalion, formed by redesignation of 19th Punjab Infantry,
*2nd Battalion, formed by redesignation of 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Punjab Infantry,
*3rd Battalion, formed by redesignation of 22nd Punjab infantry
*4th Battalion, formed by redesignation of 24th Punjab infantry,
*5th Battalion, formed by redesignation of 40th Pathan Regiment,
* 10th (Training) Battalion, formed by redesignation of 21st Punjab infantry.

The 1st and 5th battalions were deployed in Malaya during the opening stages of the WWII in South East Asia. The was overrun by superior Japanese forces on the Selangor river, and the 5th battalion was forced to surrender along with the rest of commonwealth troops when Singapore fell.

A number of troops of the unit however later joined Indian National Army, and formed a part of the Hindustan Field Force of the first INA.

In 1947 the British Government announced the Independence and partition of the sub-continent between Pakistan and India. British Indian Army was divided also. Battalions of the Punjab Regiments were also divided between Pakistan and India. Out of six regiments, 1st Punjab, 8 Punjab, 14 Punjab, 15 Punjab and 16 Punjab were allotted to Pakistan Army and 2nd Punjab to Indian Army The Punjab Regiment was formed in 1956 when four of the five Punjab Regiments allocated to Pakistan were merged.

Punjabi Regiments allocated to Pakistan now forming the Punjab Regiment

* 1st Punjab Regiment
*14th Punjab Regiment
*15th Punjab Regiment
*16th Punjab Regiment

Punjabi Regiments allocated to India

*2nd Punjab Regiment

1st Punjab regimental center was located at Jehlum. In early September 1947 Pakistani personnel arrived from 2nd Punjab regimental center Meerut and Indian personnel (Sikhs) were dispatched to 11 Sikh RC and Rajputs to 6 Rajputana Rifle Center.

The Punjab regiment at its height totalled 58 battalions; however, 11 were transferred in 1980 to the Sindh Regiment.

Class & Religious Composition before 1947

Punjabi Muslims 50%; Sikhs 25%; Rajputs 25%. after 1947, the regiment is made up of 50 % Pashtuns and 50% Panjabi.

Recipients of the Nishan-e-Haider

4 members of the Regiment have received the highest gallantry award "Nishan-e-Haider" (Sign Of the Lion) for showing an incredible amount of valor and courage on the battle field in the face of staunch adversity, these are as follows:

Note: "honorary title as a sign of respect: "Shaheed" meaning "martyr" for deceased recipients and "Ghazi" meaning "victor" for living recipients."

# Captain Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed (1910–July 27, 1948)
# Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed (1914–August 7, 1958)
# Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed (1928–September 10, 1965)
# Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz Shaheed (1944–December 17, 1971)

The Nishan-e-Haider (Sign of the Lion) has been awarded to "only" 10 soldiers 4 of whom are from the Punjab Regiment.Despite Pakistan having been involved in 3 wars...

# Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
# Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
# Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

...And a major conflict in Kargil with India during the summer of 1999 which is classed as a war by many.

Modern Regiment

Presently the Punjab Regiment is the largest regiment of the Pakistan Army with 47 battalions. The Punjab Regimental Centre is located in Mardan, NWFP. They range from Mechanized Infantry to Light Anti-Tank (LAT) battalions.

After independence of Pakistan, Punjab Regiment has seen three colonel-in-chiefs; Field Marshal Ayub Khan, General Asif Nawaz and General Muhammad Aziz Khan, the last one of which was appointed on 21 March, 2003. [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_22-3-2003_pg7_4 "Army can defend every inch: Musharraf"] "Daily Times", March 22, 2003]

The current Colonel Commandant of the regiment is Lt General Masood Aslam, who was installed as the colonel commandant on 16 March, 2008. [ [http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=101600&cid=1143077412&ei=Q2_dR5cZgaCqA53zuZ4G "Lt-Gen Masood Aslam new Colonel Commandant of Punjab Regiment"] "The News", 16 March, 2008 ] The previous colonel commandants have included Lt General Malik Arif Hayat, [ [http://www.ispr.gov.pk/Archive&Press/Nov2006/8-Nov.htm "Malik Arif Hayat new colonel commandant"] "ISPR Press Release", 8 November, 2006] and Lt General Imtiaz Shaheen.

Prominent General Officers from the Punjab Regiment

* Field Marshal Ayub Khan
* General Mohammad Shariff
* General Muhammad Aziz Khan
* Lt Gen Mujib-ur-Rehman
* Lt Gen Ahmad Shamim Khan
* Lt Gen Naseer Akhtar
* Maj Gen Muhammad Mushtaq
* Maj Gen Asif Duraiz Akhtar
* Lt Gen Tariq Pervaiz
* Lt Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne
* Lt Gen Masood Aslam

Further reading

A complete history of the Punjab Regiment was written by Brig. Gen. Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi (Ret.), entitled "Veteran campaigners: a history of the Punjab Regiment, 1759-1981 (Pakistan Army)." It was published by Wajidalis in 1984.

Alliances

*GBR - The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment); 1st Bn
*GBR - The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border); 8th Bn
*GBR - The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires); 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th Bn
*GBR - The Mercian Regiment; 13th Bn
*GBR - The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border); 14th Bn

ee also

*Military of Pakistan

References

External links

* [http://www.regiments.org Regiments]