The 104th Wellesley's Rifles 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 1775, when they were raised as the 5th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys and presently its designation is 3 Guards (1 Rajputana Rifles) of Indian Army. The regiments first action was during the Mysore Campaign in 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 ...

. This was followed by their participation in the

Battle of Seringapatam The siege of Seringapatam (5 April – 4 May 1799) was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore. The British, with the allied Nizam Ali Khan, 2nd Nizam of H ...

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 ...

. They were next called to serve in the Beni Boo Ali campaign in 1821, against the

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. Returning to India they took part in the

Siege of Multan Siege of Multan may refer to, * Siege of Multan, 1296–1297, Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Multan. * Siege of Multan (1398) part of the Timurid invasion of India * Siege of Multan (1528), Babur annexes Langah dynasty * Siege of Multan (1772) ...

during 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 ...

. They were next involved in the

Anglo-Persian War The Anglo-Persian War, also known as the Anglo-Iranian War (), was a war fought between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and Qajar Iran, Iran, which was ruled by the Qajar dynasty. The war had the British oppose a ...

in 1856, followed the next year by the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

taking part in the Central India Campaign. Twenty years were to pass until their next action in the Battle of Kandahar during the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai ...

. They were also in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

during the

Sudan Campaign The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later th ...

. 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 were in the

6th (Poona) Division The 6th (Poona) Division was a division of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1903, following the Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army. World War I The 6th (Poona) Division served in the Mesopotamian campaign. Led by Major General Ba ...

during the

Mesopotamia Campaign The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front () was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the British Empire, with troops from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, Australia and the vast major ...

. After a string of early successes particularly during the

Battle of Es Sinn The Battle of Es Sinn was a World War I military engagement between Anglo-Indian and Ottoman forces. It took place on 28 September 1915, during the Mesopotamian campaign, Mesopotamian Campaign. The sides fought to determine control of the lower Ti ...

, the 6th Division was defeated at the Battle of Ctesiphon in November 1915. Following this engagement, the division withdrew to

Kut Kūt (), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare, Kut al-Imara, or Kut Al Amara is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad, and the capital of the Wasit Governorate. the estimated populatio ...

and

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 ...

began. After a lengthy siege all they surrendered in April 1916. 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 104th Wellesley's Rifles became the 1st Battalion

6th Rajputana Rifles The 6th Rajputana Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. Formed in 1921, it initially consisted of five active battalions and one training battalion. History Formation and class composition In 1921, the British Indian Army ...

. 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

*5th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys - 1775 *9th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys - 1778 *2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry - 1796 *4th Bombay Native Infantry - 1824 *4th Bombay Infantry (or Rifle Corps) - 1885 *4th (1st Battalion Rifle Corps) Bombay Infantry - 1889 *4th Bombay Rifles - 1901 *104th Wellesley's Rifles - 1903

Successor Names

*1st Battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles-1921 *1st Battalion Rajputana Rifles-1945 *Allocated to India on Partition-1947 *3rd Battalion, Brigade of the Guards(1st Rajputana Rifles)-1949

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * https://www.amazon.in/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AO+B+E+M+C+Lieut+Colonel+F+H+James * * * * *Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum. {{ISBN, 1-870423-30-5 British Indian Army infantry regiments Bombay Presidency Military units and formations established in 1775