The 103rd Mahratta Light Infantry were an infantry regiment of the
British Indian Army
The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...
. They could trace their origins to 1768, when they were raised as the 2nd Battalion, Bombay Sepoys. The regiment was first in action in the
Mysore Campaign during the
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Travancore, Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, Maratha Confederacy, and the Nizam of Hyderabad ...
, quickly followed by the
Battle of Seedaseer and the
Battle of Seringapatam in the
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War
The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore against the British East India Company and the Hyderabad Deccan in 1798–99.
This was the last of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. The British captured the capi ...
. Their next action was at
Beni Boo Ali against
pirates
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
in Eastern
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
and the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
region led the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
to carry out a
punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beha ...
in 1819 to
Ras al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...
which destroyed the pirate base and removed the threat from the Persian Gulf.
In 1848, the regiment took part in the
Siege of Multan and the
Battle of Gujrat
The Battle of Gujrat was a decisive battle in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, fought on 21 February 1849, between the forces of the East India Company, and a Sikh army in rebellion against the company's control of the Sikh Empire, represented by ...
in the
Second Anglo-Sikh War
The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...
. The
1868 Expedition to Abyssinia
The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, ...
was next for the regiment. This was a
punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beha ...
carried out by
armed forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...
of the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
against the Emperor
Tewodros II of Ethiopia
Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...
, he had imprisoned several missionaries and two representatives of the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
government. During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
they took part in the
Mesopotamia Campaign. With the
17th (Ahmednagar) Brigade they were at the
Battle of Es Sinn. They were captured by the Turks with the
6th (Poona) Division after the
Siege of Kut
The siege of Kut Al Amara (7 December 1915 – 29 April 1916), also known as the first battle of Kut, was the besieging of an 8,000-strong British Army garrison in the town of Kut, south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army (1861–1922), Ottoman Ar ...
.
After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.
[Sumner p. 15] In 1922, the 103rd Mahratta Light Infantry became the 1st Battalion
5th Mahratta Light Infantry
The 5th Mahratta Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, when
the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. The regiment fought in World War ...
. After independence they were one of the regiments allocated to the
Indian Army
The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...
.
Predecessor names
*2nd Battalion, Bombay Sepoys – 1768.
*1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry – 1796.
*3rd Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry – 1824.
*3rd Regiment of Bombay (Light) Infantry – 1871.
*3rd Bombay Light Infantry – 1901.
*103rd Maharatta Light Infantry – 1903.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum.
{{Refend
British Indian Army infantry regiments
Military units and formations established in 1768
Military units and formations disestablished in 1922
Bombay Presidency
1768 establishments in the British Empire