Madras Regiment

The Madras Regiment is the oldest infantry regiment of the Indian Army, originating in the 1750s as a unit of the British East India Company. The regiment took part in numerous campaigns with the British Indian Army and the post-independence Indian Army. The Madras Regiment primarily recruits from the erstwhile Madras state (present-day Tamil Nadu, southern Karnataka, parts of Andhra Pradesh, and northern Kerala) and the kingdom of Mysore (present-day Karnataka). However, the 9th and 16th battalions were later formed from troops from the kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin in present day Kerala.
The Madras Regiment was initially formed as the Madras European Regiment in the 1660s by the East India Company, and would see its first action during the First Carnatic war. The first of the sepoy levies were mostly irregulars, consisting of Indo-Portugese guards, Europeans, and some natives, with no standard issue uniforms or equipment. Unlike the English East India Company, the French Indies Company had begun to recruit and train local Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam speaking recruits, and would have two regiments of sepoys fully drilled and equipped in the French Manner. In 1746, the newly trained French sepoy regiments under Admiral La Bourdonnais would capture Madras after quickly overwhelming the underequipped garrison.
In 1748, Major Stringer Lawrence, a veteran of action in Spain, Flanders and the Highlands, was hired by the East India Company to take charge of the defence of Cuddalore. Training the levies to become a militia, he formed the Madras Levies into companies, and trained them to become a disciplined fighting force. In 1758, Lawrence raised the Madras Regiment, forming the several Companies of Madras Levies into two battalions. 2 Madras was raised in 1776 as the 15th Carnatic Infantry at Thanjavur (and underwent many name changes thereafter). The original title of these battalions was 'Coast Sepoys'. In 1769, these battalions were numbered and named differently with the battalions in the South being called 'Carnatic' and numbering 1 to 13, while those serving in the North were named 'Circar' and numbered 1 to 6. In 1784, this distinction between 'Carnatic' and 'Circar' was abolished and they were henceforth known as 'Madras' battalions. In 1796, the units were numbered 1st to 50th Madras Native Infantry. In 1891, the word 'Native' was dropped.
In August 1758, they were formed into regular companies of 100 men each with a due proportion of Indian officers, havildars, naiks, etc. and in December of that year the first two battalions were formed with a European subaltern to each company and a captain to command the whole. (These officers were mostly seconded from the King's service with a step-in rank. They were of a better class, better educated and above all had far more military experience than the company's officers).
The regiment has been through many campaigns with the British Indian Army and the Indian Army. Many well-known British officers have commanded this regiment, among them Robert Clive, and Arthur Wellesley, the later Duke of Wellington. This regiment fought in the Carnatic wars, which were fought in South India. The elephant crest symbolises its gallantry in the Battle of Assaye.
The Madras sepoys fought in a majority of the East India Company's campaigns in the subcontinent. The regiment fought alongside Robert Clive at the Siege of Arcot, and would later fought under him in Battle of Plassey. The regiment saw action against the French during all of the Carnatic Wars, and fought in several campaigns against native rulers like Hyder Ali, his son Tipu Sultan, and the Polygars such as Puli Thevan, Dheeran Chinnamalai, Maruthu brothers, Kattabomman, Pazhassi Raja, etc. At its zenith in the 1800s, the regiment consisted of 52 battalions. The regiment saw many overseas deployments during this period, such as the First Anglo-Burmese War, First Opium War of 1839-42, and the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852-54. A contingent of the regiment would even land in Egypt in 1801 under David Baird, to fight the French during their invasion of Egypt, but never saw action.
The regiment played an important role in suppressing the Revolt of 1857 in Lucknow and Central India, going on to serve in the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1879-80, Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885-87 and the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. The coming of the British rule and merging of the Presidency armies into a British Indian Army led the erstwhile regiments to be reorganised. After conquest of India, the main perceived threat to British was from Russia. So, recruitment was re-oriented towards north Indians of Punjab and Nepal. This resulted in the British reducing the strength of the Madras Regiment, since the southern borders were relatively peaceful. As part of this change, seventeen Madras regiments, were converted into Punjab and Gorkha regiments between 1890 and 1903. They were renamed the 1st, 2nd and 8th Punjab and 1/7th and 1/10th Gorkha Rifles.
By the time of World War I, the once large regiment was left with eight Carnatic Regiments, the 63rd, 73rd, 75th, 79th, 80th, 83rd, 86th and 88th. These battalions were with a reduced strength of 600 men, as they were intended to perform duties of garrison troops only. During 1917-18, eight additional battalions were raised. In 1922, the regiment was allotted one regiment each of Pioneers and Infantry. During the re-organisation of the Indian Army in 1922, the regiments were numbered according to their seniority. The 1st and 2nd Punjab Regiments, which ironically were raised from senior Madras Regiment battalions were given precedence and the regiment was renamed as 3rd Madras Regiment. Following the great war, nearly the whole of the regiment was disbanded between 1922 and 1928. What remained were four Indian Territorial Force (ITF) and one University Training Corps battalions. This decline was arrested in 1941, when Sir Arthur Hope, the then Governor of Madras put in efforts to revive the regiment. The ITF battalions were converted to regular ones and new ones raised. A training centre was raised at Madukkarai in Coimbatore district in July 1942. After many years, the regiment was re-raised with fresh recruits and a draft of troops from the Queen's own Sappers and Miners (Madras Paraiyar Regiment) and the Madras Sappers during World War II. The newly reborn Madras Regiment performed very creditably during the Burma Campaign. In 1947, the numeral ‘3’ was dropped from the name of the regiment and it came to be known by its present name.
After independence, the infantry battalions of the Travancore "Nair Pattalam", Cochin and Mysore State forces were amalgamated
into the Madras Regiment. This included what is now the 9th Battalion, which is the oldest battalion of the Regiment (and thus the Indian Army). It was formerly known as the Nair Brigade (Nair Pattalam/"Nair Army"). This militia was raised in 1704 at Padmanabhapuram as body guards for the Maharajah of Travancore, and saw action in the Battle of Colachel by defeating the Dutch forces. The army was made up of soldiers from Nair warrior clans, however after the 1940s, non-Nairs were permitted to join. The "Nair Army" became incorporated into the Indian Army in April 1951.
Post-independence saw the consolidation of the Regiment and re-affirmation of the versatility and valour of the South Indian troops, when the battalions of the Regiment fought fierce battles during the 1947–48 Jammu & Kashmir Operations, the 1962 Sino-Indian Conflict, the Indo-Pak Wars of 1965 and 1971 and Operation Pawan in 1987–89 as a part of the IPKF.
The regiment still recruits heavily from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh with a slight majority of Tamil- and Malayalam-speaking recruits. Drill commands by NCOs are commonly given in Tamil or Malayalam. However, since the 1990s the percentage from Kannadiga and Telugu speaking recruits has increased, commands are also given through Telugu and Kannada. As is the practice in all the army, the officers of the regiment can be from any part of India.
The present Crest of the Madras Regiment consists of the Assaye Elephant surmounting a pair of Malabar swords with a shield at the crossing, and a scroll below inscribed 'THE MADRAS REGIMENT'. It is bi-metallic, the shield being in brass and the rest in white chrome. The elephant faces west as seen from the front, and has an arched back, a slightly curved trunk, tusks pointing upwards, and a sagging belly, with the tuft of the tail resting at the rear edge of its left thigh. The Assaye Elephant was sanctioned as a special honour-badge to the 2nd, 4th, 8th, 10th and 24th Madras Infantry following the victory at the Battle of Assaye in 1803.
During the Victorian era, European officers within the Madras regiments largely followed British regulations, as photographic evidence and surviving uniforms conform to the standard British pattern tunics, including but not limited to the 1856, 1867, and 1881 pattern officer's tunics. The transition from coatee to tunic is believed to have taken place from January 1856 onwards, as Dress Regulations of the army dictate that tunics were to be purchased once coatees had been worn. Regimental facings were often regimentally specific; for example, the 27th Madras regiment wore scarlet tunics with yellow facings, and the buttons were gilt with the battle honor 'Mahdipore'. European officers at first in the 1850's wore the 'Air Tube Styled' tropical helmet but later transitioned to the official pattern Foreign Service Helmet with a regimentally specific puggaree.
The present uniform of the Madras Regiment includes a green lanyard on the left shoulder and the shoulder title Madras (brass / green letters over scarlet background). The green beret (common to all infantry units in India) has the regimental crest on a scarlet diamond base stitched to the beret and a black pom pom. The latter, a black woollen ball, is unique to the Regiment and it gives a distinct identification. It was adopted on 07 January 1949 following a proposal by the then Commanding Officer of 4 Madras (WLI) - Lieutenant Colonel MK Sheriff. The regimental turban is worn by personnel during ceremonial occasions, parades, on guard duty and by those in the regimental band. It was adopted in November 1979 and consists of a dark green background with yellow, scarlet and white stripes. On the left of the wearer is a yellow silken jhallar with the same stripes. On the front top is a black pom pom and below is the regimental crest on a scarlet background.
The motto of the regiment is from chapter 3, verse 35 of Bhagavad Gita. It is स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेय: (Swadharme Nidhanam Shreyaha), which translates to “It is glory to die doing one’s duty”. The motto was adopted 08 June 1955. The war cry of the regiment is “Veera madrassi, adi kollu, adi kollu, adi kollu !”, which means “O brave Madrassi, hit and kill, hit and kill, hit and kill !”. This was adopted during the Battalion Commanders’ Conference in 1969. The salutation used by the regiment is ‘Namaskaram’. It was adopted by 4 Madras (WLI) in 1956 and subsequently adopted by all the battalions.
The Madras Regimental Centre is presently located in Wellington and is commanded by an officer of the rank of Brigadier. The centre traces its history to the raising of the 36 Madras Battalion at Tanjore in 1794. The unit has been subsequently designated as 2/13 Madras Native Infantry (1798), 26 Madras Native Infantry (1824), 86th Carnatic Infantry (1903) and 10/3rd Madras Regiment (1922) it was subsequently placed under suspended animation. The Centre was re-raised at Madukkarai as the 3rd Madras Regiment - Recruits Training Centre on 19 July 1942. The centre received the colours of old 10/3rd Madras Regiment on 23 September 1942 (Assaye Day).
The centre relocated from Madukkarai to its present location in Wellington in February 1947. It occupied the Wellington barracks, which were built between 1852 and 1860. The Wellington barracks was subsequently renamed Shrinagesh Barracks after independence. The museum of Madras Regimental Centre is located in the Shrinagesh Barracks Complex and was inaugurated in 1993. The Madras Regiment Record Office was formed in Madukkarai in October 1942 and moved to Wellington in 1947.
The Madras Regiment Band a full-time military band, that serves as part of the Madras Regimental Centre in Wellington. It was raised in 1951 purely as a brass band and has evolved over the years to become a symphonic band as well. Today, it consists of a concert band, a brass band and a percussion section. It performs at arrival ceremonies for state visits as well as state dinner hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan by the President of India, as well as regimental and community events.
Let those who come after, see to it that these names be not forgotten, For they who at the call of duty, left all that was dear to them, Endured hardships, faced dangers, and finally passed out of sight of men, In the path of duty and self-sacrifice, Giving their lives that we might live in freedom.
The list consists of 21 battalions, four Rashtriya Rifles battalions and three Territorial Army battalions.
The battle honours in italics indicate those awarded prior to the independence of India.
The list of battle honours is evidence to the long history and valour of the regiment. Some of these honours have been declared repugnant after the independence of the country.
The theatre honours earned by the battalions of the regiment are as follows -
The Colonel of the regiment is a senior officer of the regiment, usually the senior-most, who is a father-figure to the regiment and looks after the interests of the regiment. This is a tradition and position that the Indian Army has inherited from the British Army. The officers who have graced this position are as follows -