What is sikh regiment?

The Sikh Regiment is a 19 battalion strong, infantry regiment of the Indian Army, drawing a bulk of its recruits from the Sikh community. The first battalion of the regiment was officially raised just before the annexation of the Sikh Empire on August 1, 1846, by the British Empire. It is currently one of the highest decorated regiments in the Indian Army and was at one stage one of the highest decorated regiments in the British Empire. The Sikh Regimental Centre is located in Ramgarh Cantonment, 30 km (19 mi) from Ranchi, which is the capital of the state of Jharkhand in India. The Centre was earlier located in Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The modern Sikh Regiment traces its roots directly from the 11th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army. When transferred to the Indian Army like its sister regiments, the numeral prefix (in the case of the Sikh Regiment, 11) was removed and extra battalions were raised, transferred or disbanded to meet army needs. With a humble beginning of two battalions, today the fraternity has grown to a regiment of 19 regular infantry and two reserve battalions strong. Enlisted soldiers are strictly recruited from the Sikh community and trained internally by the regiment, in which they tend to spend most of their careers. While officers are trained externally from either IMA, or NDA and tend to leave the regiment subject to promotion, officers assigned to the Sikh Regiment are drawn from all regions and areas of India. The war cry of regiment, taken from Sikh scriptures is: 'Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal' ('whoever utters (the phrase following) shall be happy(fulfilled), true is the Holy God').

The history of the Sikh Regiment ties closely with the Sikh people of the Punjab. Sikhism was created in the state of Punjab and throughout the creation of the religion Punjab was seen as a junction of cultural and religious influence from the Arabic West and the Mathra east, hence the lands of Punjab were wrestled by both spheres of influence either by sublime cultural influence or by force of arms. By the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev, Punjabi culture was recognised as a third juncture and independent Punjabi culture flourished with the new religion, as such Punjabis following Sikhism were targeted as a potential rival of Islamic influence. As followers of Sikhism were targeted for religious beliefs, Sikhs were encouraged to maintain a degree of martial tenants. As Islamic persecution of Sikhs, Hinduism increased, Sikhism became more militant coining the theory "saint-soldier" in which Sikhism maintained its martial tenants. With the dissolution of Sikh Gurus, the Sikhs leaderless were broken into smaller confederacies which were more akin to fighting amongst themselves and only uniting under Dal Khalsa to fight external threats. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a Sikh, unified the confederacies and formed "Khalsa Army". Numerous heroic and valiant battles were fought by the Khalsa Army, including wars with Mughals, Afghan-Sikh wars and Anglo-Sikh wars. The Maharaja's Sikh Empire was annexed by the Second Anglo-Sikh war.

The Sikh Regiment came into existence on August 1, 1846, with the raising of Regiment of Ferozepore Sikhs and Regiment of Ludhiana Sikhs by Captain G. Tebbs and Lieutenant Colonel P. Gordon respectively and were used in great effect in the 1857 Indian Rebellion. The outcomes were extremely beneficial for the Sikhs, as their loyalty and fighting tenacity made them the backbone of recruitment for the British Indian Army, which were previously recruited from South Indian regions. In this campaign the Sikhs were awarded their first two battle honours for operations conducted at the siege of Lucknow and the defence of Arrah. In addition the Sikh Regiment were awarded a one rank seniority over other Indian Sepoys and awarded the authorisation to wear the converted red turban (which is still worn by the regiment today) opposed to the standard blue head dress worn by British Indian Army Units at the time.

In September 1897, 4 Sikh was deployed in Khanki valley on Samana ridge in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan. At that time, 4 Sikh was known as XXXVI Sikh of the British Indian Army. The battalion, deployed in two groups, occupied Fort Lockhart with picquets at Dar, Sartope, Sangar, Carg and Saragarhi. Among all the piquets, Saragarhi was the most important, due to its position on the highest point between Fort Lockhart and Gulistan. Twenty one soldiers, under the command of Hav Ishar Singh, held the Saragarhi piquet.

To separate Fort Gulistan and Lockhart, 10000 Orakzai and Afridi Lashkars attacked Saragarhi on September 12, 1897 at daybreak. The attack was initially repelled with the enemy sustaining a loss of over 60 men. Lt. Col J Haughton, the then Commanding Officer, made all efforts to hold Saragarhi. However, the battalion was forced to retreat initially as the enemy repeatedly attacked Saragarhi. The Sikhs did not move back from the fort. One Sepoy took control of the guardroom and shot not less than 20 enemies, before tribesmen set the guardroom on fire and burnt him to death. By about 3 p.m., men and ammunition ran short and the assailants destroyed the battalion post by setting it on fire. The Sikhs killed 450 tribesmen before making the supreme sacrifice.

On receiving the news, the British Parliament interrupted its proceedings and gave standing ovation to the men of Saragarhi. Each hero was awarded an Indian Order of Merit (IOM), the highest award given to an Indian soldier in British Indian Army for valour and sacrifice. Altogether, a record 21 IOMs were awarded that day. The battle of Saragarhi gave the concept of "last man, last round". Now, September 12 is celebrated as "Saragarhi Day" by all the battalions of the elite Sikh Regiment. UNESCO recognises this battle as one among eight battles of the world known for collective bravery.[1]

The Sikh Regiment was further used as a unit for the British Empire being used to garrison India internally, protect Indian frontiers (such as the North-West Frontier Province) and to serve in overseas deployments such as operations in Hong Kong. By 1914 Sikh Regiments were deployed as part of the British Indian Army for operations in World War I. The Regiment served in all theatres of operations and earned 28 battle honours. In both the World Wars 83,005 turban-wearing Sikh soldiers were killed and 109,045 were wounded while fighting across 3 continents.[2]

In the years to 1945, 14 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the Sikhs, a per capita record given the size of the Sikh Regiments.[3] In 2002, the names of all Sikh VC and George Cross winners were inscribed on the pavilion monument of the Memorial Gates on Constitution Hill next to Buckingham Palace, London.

A total of 40 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the Indian soldiers including those who hailed from the present day Pakistan.[4]

Sikhs make up 25% of all ranks in the Indian Army and 30% of its officers, whilst Sikhs only forming 2% of the Indian population, which makes them over 10 times more likely to be a soldier and officer in the Indian Army than the average Indian. The Sikh Regiment is one of the highest decorated regiment of the Indian Army, with 73 Battle Honours, 14 Victoria Crosses, 21 first class Indian Order of Merit (equivalent to the Victoria Cross), 15 Theatre Honours and 5 COAS Unit Citations besides 2 Param Vir Chakras, 14 Maha Vir Chakras, 5 Kirti Chakras, 67 Vir Chakras and 1596 other gallantry awards.

General Joginder Jaswant Singh(born 17 September 1945) was the first Sikh chief of army staff of India. He served as chief of army staff from January 31, 2005, to September 30, 2007. He was named 22nd chief of army staff on November 27, 2004, and took over the role when his predecessor, General N C Vij, retired on 31 January 2005. He was succeeded by General Deepak Kapoor. He is the first Sikh to have led the Indian Army and the 11th chief of army staff from the Western Command based at Chandigarh. His selection was not a surprise, as at the time of his appointment he was the most senior officer in the army after General Vij.He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the 9 Maratha Light Infantry on 2 August 1964. Following his retirement, he became governor of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in January 2008.

In the last two World Wars 83,005 Sikh soldiers were killed and 109,045 were wounded while fighting across 3 continents.[5] In the years to 1945, 14 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the Sikhs, a per capita record given the size of the Sikh Regiments.[6] In 2002, the names of all Sikh VC and George Cross winners were inscribed on the pavilion monument of the Memorial Gates on Constitution Hill next to Buckingham Palace, London.

Others

Following Operation Blue Star, an Indian Army operation which attacked the Sikh community's most prominent shrine, some of the recruits at Ramgarh, Bihar mutinied. They shot and killed the commandant of the Sikh Regimental Center, Brigadier S.C. Puri, and wounded some other officers. They then got hold of a number of trucks and started to proceed towards Punjab, but were stopped by army men in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. A part of 9 Sikh which was in the Ganganagar area of Rajasthan also mutinied. This battalion was disbanded on April 1, 1985. Following Operation Blue Star, the then COAS, General Arun S. Vaidya, wanted to have more mixed battalions. So he passed an order that single-class battalions should begin recruiting other classes as well as their parent class. These mixed battalions came to be known as Vaidya's Battalions. The 13 Sikh was raised as Vaidya's battalion with class composition: a company each of Sikhs, Dogras, Garhwalis and South Indians. However these units were reverted to their original class composition later.

General Vaidya was later assassinated by Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha for the perception of his involvement in Operation Blue Star and failing to rehabilitate mutinied Sikh soldiers.

The Museum of the Regimental Centre displays a record of the Sikh Regiment in four halls viz.,

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) made a special instant award of "Unit Citation" to 8th Battalion, The Sikh Regiment for their meritorious and gallant performance in isolation of Tiger Hill, which facilitated the capture of Tiger Hill top and Helmet and India Gate, features to the West of Tiger Hill top, on night 07/8 July 1999, in Dras. During Operation Vijay 1999 during Indo-Pak Kargil War, the units of the regiment displayed sterling performance marked with exceptional valour and grit in the face of the enemy.

In all, the Regiment has to its credit 1652 gallantry awards and honours including

In addition it has also earned:

Advanced plans by the British Army to raise a UK Sikh infantry regiment were scrapped due to accusations by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) that such a creation could be viewed as racist or sectarian. The Sikh regiment had many supporters including Prince Charles.[10]

The Sikh Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Sikh regiment is the highest decorated regiment of the Indian Army and in 1979, the 1st battalion was the Commonwealth's most decorated battalion with 245 pre-independence and 82 post-independence gallantry awards, when it was transformed into the 4th battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment.[4][5][6] The first battalion of the regiment was officially raised just before the partial annexation of the Sikh Empire on 1 August 1846, by the British East India Company. Currently, the Sikh Regimental Centre is located in Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand. The Centre was earlier located in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

The modern Sikh Regiment traces its roots directly from the 11th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army. When transferred to the Indian Army like its sister regiments, the numeral prefix (in the case of the Sikh Regiment, 11) was removed and extra battalions were raised, transferred or disbanded to meet army needs. With a humble beginning of two battalions, today the fraternity has grown to a regiment of 19 regular infantry and two reserve battalions strong. The 6th battalion takes over as ceremonial battalion of President's palace of India.[7][8]

After the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-1846), Sikhs who lived in the territory ruled by the Sikh Empire (the Punjab region) began to be recruited into the Bengal Army of the British East India Company. Among the earliest entirely Sikh units of the Bengal Army were the Regiment of Ferozepore (raised in 1846) which later became the 14th King George's Own Ferozepore Sikhs, and the Regiment of Ludhiana (also raised in 1846) which later became the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs.[9] After the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-1849) more Punjabis began to be recruited into the Bengal Army, forming regiments such as the 1st Bengal Military Police Battalion, which later became the 45th Rattray's Sikhs. Sikh units generally remained loyal to the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which many regiments of the Bengal Army (which mainly recruited from Bengal, Bihar and Awadh) mutinied against their British officers. After the rebellion, troops from Bihar and Awadh were recruited less as they had led the mutiny; the centre of recruitment then shifted to the Punjab and the North-West Frontier, resulting in more Sikhs being recruited into the Bengal Army. A number of new Sikh regiments were raised, such as the 36th Sikhs and 35th Sikhs, both raised in 1887. 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs fought in the Battle of Saragarhi against 6,000-10,000 Pashtun tribesmen in 1897 during campaigns in the North-West Frontier, in what is considered by some military historians as one of history's greatest last stands.[10] In 1922 the Indian government reformed the British Indian Army by amalgamating single battalion regiments into multi-battalion regiments; this led to the formation of the 11th Sikh Regiment from the 14th King George's Own Ferozepore Sikhs, the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, the 45th Rattray's Sikhs, the 36th Sikhs, the 47th Sikhs, and the 35th Sikhs. The 11th Sikh Regiment served during World War II and on the partition of India, the regiment was allotted to the newly formed Indian Army, becoming the Sikh Regiment.

As part of the British Indian Army, Sikh regiments fought in numerous wars all over the world, such as the Second Opium War in China, the Second Anglo-Afghan War, many campaigns on the North-West Frontier, the Western Front, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia campaigns of the First World War, the Third Anglo-Afghan War, and the North African, Italian and Burma campaigns of the Second World War, earning many gallantry awards and battle honours in the process.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948, the 1st battalion of the Sikh Regiment was the first unit to be airlifted to Srinagar to aid in the defence of the Kashmir Valley against Pakistani irregular forces.[11] Battalions of the Sikh Regiment also fought in the Sino-Indian War in 1962, the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971, and the Kargil War in 1999.

Sikh regiment is a "single class" regiment.[12] Its soldiers are solely recruited from Jat Sikhs and its officers are non-Jat Sikhs.[13][14] They are trained at the Sikh Regimental Centre, currently located in Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand. The war cry of the regiment, taken from Sikh scriptures, is Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal.[a]

Territorial Army (TA) Units-

Others:

About 5000 Sikh soldiers, some belonging to the regiment, mutinied after the storming of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army as part of Operation Blue Star in 1984.[15] The Sikh Regiment's 9th battalion was disbanded after a large number of its troops mutinied.[16]

The museum of the Sikh Regimental Centre displays a record of the Sikh Regiment in four halls viz.,

In all, the regiment has to its credit 1652 gallantry awards and honours including:

In addition it has also earned:

21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs were posthumously awarded the Indian Order of Merit for their actions in the Battle of Saragarhi in 1897:[17][18]

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

The Sikh Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Sikh regiment is the highest decorated regiment of the Indian Army and in 1979, the 1st battalion was the Commonwealth's most decorated battalion with 245 pre-independence and 82 post-independence gallantry awards, when it was transformed into the 4th battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment.[4][5][6] The first battalion of the regiment was officially raised just before the partial annexation of the Sikh Empire on 1 August 1846, by the British East India Company. Currently, the Sikh Regimental Centre is located in Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand. The Centre was earlier located in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

The modern Sikh Regiment traces its roots directly from the 11th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army. When transferred to the Indian Army like its sister regiments, the numeral prefix (in the case of the Sikh Regiment, 11) was removed and extra battalions were raised, transferred or disbanded to meet army needs. With a humble beginning of two battalions, today the fraternity has grown to a regiment of 19 regular infantry and two reserve battalions strong. The 6th battalion takes over as ceremonial battalion of President's palace of India.[7][8]

After the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-1846), Sikhs who lived in the territory ruled by the Sikh Empire (the Punjab region) began to be recruited into the Bengal Army of the British East India Company. Among the earliest entirely Sikh units of the Bengal Army were the Regiment of Ferozepore (raised in 1846) which later became the 14th King George's Own Ferozepore Sikhs, and the Regiment of Ludhiana (also raised in 1846) which later became the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs.[9] After the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-1849) more Punjabis began to be recruited into the Bengal Army, forming regiments such as the 1st Bengal Military Police Battalion, which later became the 45th Rattray's Sikhs. Sikh units generally remained loyal to the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which many regiments of the Bengal Army (which mainly recruited from Bengal, Bihar and Awadh) mutinied against their British officers. After the rebellion, troops from Bihar and Awadh were recruited less as they had led the mutiny; the centre of recruitment then shifted to the Punjab and the North-West Frontier, resulting in more Sikhs being recruited into the Bengal Army. A number of new Sikh regiments were raised, such as the 36th Sikhs and 35th Sikhs, both raised in 1887. 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs fought in the Battle of Saragarhi against 6,000-10,000 Pashtun tribesmen in 1897 during campaigns in the North-West Frontier, in what is considered by some military historians as one of history's greatest last stands.[10] In 1922 the Indian government reformed the British Indian Army by amalgamating single battalion regiments into multi-battalion regiments; this led to the formation of the 11th Sikh Regiment from the 14th King George's Own Ferozepore Sikhs, the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, the 45th Rattray's Sikhs, the 36th Sikhs, the 47th Sikhs, and the 35th Sikhs. The 11th Sikh Regiment served during World War II and on the partition of India, the regiment was allotted to the newly formed Indian Army, becoming the Sikh Regiment.

As part of the British Indian Army, Sikh regiments fought in numerous wars all over the world, such as the Second Opium War in China, the Second Anglo-Afghan War, many campaigns on the North-West Frontier, the Western Front, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia campaigns of the First World War, the Third Anglo-Afghan War, and the North African, Italian and Burma campaigns of the Second World War, earning many gallantry awards and battle honours in the process.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948, the 1st battalion of the Sikh Regiment was the first unit to be airlifted to Srinagar to aid in the defence of the Kashmir Valley against Pakistani irregular forces.[11] Battalions of the Sikh Regiment also fought in the Sino-Indian War in 1962, the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971, and the Kargil War in 1999.

Sikh regiment is a "single class" regiment.[12] Its soldiers are solely recruited from Jat Sikhs and its officers are non-Jat Sikhs.[13][14] They are trained at the Sikh Regimental Centre, currently located in Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand. The war cry of the regiment, taken from Sikh scriptures, is Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal.[a]

Territorial Army (TA) Units-

Others:

About 5000 Sikh soldiers, some belonging to the regiment, mutinied after the storming of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army as part of Operation Blue Star in 1984.[15] The Sikh Regiment's 9th battalion was disbanded after a large number of its troops mutinied.[16]

The museum of the Sikh Regimental Centre displays a record of the Sikh Regiment in four halls viz.,

In all, the regiment has to its credit 1652 gallantry awards and honours including:

In addition it has also earned:

21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs were posthumously awarded the Indian Order of Merit for their actions in the Battle of Saragarhi in 1897:[17][18]

Notes

Citations

Bibliography