The 15th Lancers (Baloch) is an armoured regiment of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

. It was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 17th Cavalry and the 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse).Ahmad, Lt Col RN. (2010). ''Battle Honours of the Baloch Regiment''. Abbottabad: The Baloch Regimental Centre.

Predecessor regiments

17th Cavalry

The 17th Cavalry was raised in 1857 at

Muttra Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

by Colonel CJ Robarts and was composed entirely of Afghans. Throughout its existence, the regiment remained an exclusively Muslim unit. In 1861, after several changes in nomenclature, it was designated the 17th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry. In 1865, it saw action as part of the

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

Field Force, while in 1879–80, the regiment operated on lines of communication during the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the ...

as part of the

Kabul Field Force The Kabul Field Force was a field force created in September 1879 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, under the command of General Frederick Roberts. It combined British and Indian Army regiments, and initially numbered around 7,500 men, but la ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, it dispatched a squadron to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

where it took part in the East African Campaign. In 1919, the regiment fought in the

Third Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

. The regiment maintained a mounted pipe band from 1895 to 1902. The uniform of the 17th Cavalry was blue with white facings. The regimental badge consisted of a silver star and crescent over "XVII" with a title scroll below.''15th Lancers (Baloch): Through the Ages 1858-1998''. (1998). Lahore: 15th Lancers. * 1857 Muttra Horse * 1857 Muttra Police Corps 37 Lancers (Baluch Horse), 36 Jacob's, 35 Scinde

37 Lancers (Baluch Horse), 36 Jacob's, 35 Scinde

* 1858 Rohilkhand Auxiliary Police Levy * 1859 Robarts’ Horse * 1861 17th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry * 1882 Disbanded * 1885 Re-raised * 1900 17th Regiment of Bengal Lancers * 1901 17th Bengal Lancers * 1903 17th Cavalry

37th Lancers (Baluch Horse)

The 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse) was raised in 1885 as the 7th Bombay Cavalry (Jacob-ka-Risallah) from the manpower of the 3rd Scinde Horse (Belooch Horse), which had been disbanded in 1882. This regiment was also an all-Muslim unit made up of Pathans and Baluchis. Their first chance of active service came in 1919, when they served in the Third Afghan War, although one of their squadrons operated in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

during the First World War. Prior to 1914 the regiment's dress uniform was dark blue (khaki drill for hot-weather parade and field dress), with buff facings. The badge consisted of crossed lances and pennons with "37" over crossed lances.Cadell, Sir Patrick. (1938). ''History of the Bombay Army''. London: Longmans & Green. * 1885 7th Bombay Cavalry (Jacob-ka-Risallah) * 1886 7th Bombay Cavalry (Belooch Horse) * 1890 7th Bombay Lancers (Belooch Horse) * 1903 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse)

15th Lancers

After the First World War, the number of Indian cavalry regiments was reduced from thirty-nine to twenty-one. However, instead of disbanding the surplus units, it was decided to amalgamate them in pairs. This resulted in renumbering and renaming of the entire cavalry line. The 17th Cavalry and 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse) were amalgamated at

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divis ...

in 1922 to form the 15th Lancers. Meanwhile, an existing

15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis) The 15th Lancers (''Cureton's Multanis'') was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army which existed from 1858 to 1921. Raised during the 1857 uprising, the regiment later saw service in the Second Afghan War of 1878–80 and the First W ...

joined the

14th Murray's Jat Lancers The 14th Murray's Jat Lancers, also sometimes known as the Murray's Jat Horse, was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was first raised at Aligarh as an irregular cavalry unit in 1857 as the Jat Horse Yeomanry, for the Eas ...

to form the 20th Lancers. The uniform of the new 15th Lancers was dark blue with buff facings, while the badge consisted of crossed silver lances bearing pennons with "XV" at the crossing and a scroll below. The same uniform and badges are still in use by the regiment. In 1937, the 15th Lancers became the training regiment of the 1st Indian Cavalry Group. It was converted into a training centre in 1940 by amalgamating it with the

12th Cavalry (Frontier Force) The 12th Cavalry Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in the British Indian army in 1922 by the amalgamation of 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) and 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) ...

. However, the next year, the centre was disbanded. In 1955, the 15th Lancers was re-raised by the Pakistani Army as a Reconnaissance Regiment of the

Pakistan Armoured Corps The Armoured Corps ( ur, ﺁرمرڈ كور) of the Pakistan Army is a combat branch tasked with armoured warfare. Equipped with more than 3,742 main battle tanks, the corps is headquartered in the garrison town of Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Th ...

and equipped with

M24 Chaffee The M24 Chaffee (officially Light Tank, M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II; it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the War in Algeria and the Firs ...

light tanks. During the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

, the regiment served with distinction in the

Kasur Kasur (Urdu and pa, ; also romanized as Qasūr; from pluralized Arabic word ''Qasr'' meaning "palaces" or "forts") is a city to south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The city serves as the headquarters of Kasur District. Kasu ...

Sector and was awarded the

Battle Honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

' Khem Karan 1965.' In 1969, the 15th Lancers was affiliated with the Baluch Regiment (now called the

Baloch Regiment The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of ...

) due to the old link with the 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse). It added the title of 'Baluch' to its designation in 1989. * 1922 17th/37th Cavalry (amalgamation of 17th Cavalry and 37th Lancers) * 1922 15th Lancers * 1940 1st Indian Armoured Corps Centre (amalgamation of 15th Lancers and 12th Cavalry) * 1941 Disbanded * 1955 15th Lancers (re-raised) * 1989 15th Lancers (Baluch) * 1991 15th Lancers (Baloch)In 1991, the spelling of 'Baluch' was changed to 'Baloch' to better reflect the correct pronunciation.

Affiliations and alliances

* The

* The Royal Dragoon Guards

References

External links

Uniforms of the late 19th Century
{{British Indian Army Cavalry Regiments 1903 - 1946 Armoured regiments of Pakistan British Indian Army cavalry regiments Honourable East India Company regiments 1922 establishments in India Military units and formations established in 1922 Military units and formations disestablished in 1937 Military units and formations established in 1955